Japanese Emperor Date Codes

That's because it was made in Taiwan, using the Republic of China dates codes, that started in 1912 with the Minguo era.

63.9.14 would be 9/14/1974, the last year of production for the FG-110.

Can you post the serial numbers?  There would be an 8 digit number on the brace under the fretboard, just inside the sound hole. And a 7 digit number on the neck block, farther below the fretboard.



Also, does the label say "Republic of Chine/Made in Taiwan?

There's a very long explanation of the serial numbers, date codes & labels here.  yamahavintagefg.boards.net/thread/49/yamaha-serial-numbers-interior-markings

Thanks! The FG-110 is my favorite FG so far. It has a shimmery balanced sounds vs. the big dreads. I have (2) Red label Nippon Gakki FG110's and a Taiwan Tan label FG-110. The Taiwan model seems to have the same sound but it's hard to tell. It has very old strings and the saddle is just peeking out of the bridge (no break angle) and it needs a neck reset badly.

One thing you'll notice about the FG-110 is it's VERY light in comparison to other guitars. It made me buy a digital luggage scale to weigh all my guitars. My first FG-110 weighed 3.50 lbs, vs. nearly 5 lbs for modern guitars. The next Red label FG-110 I found weighs 3.37 lbs!! The Taiwan FG-110 weighs 3.63 lbs. One of the reasons they're so light is the open back strip tuners. But I assume the wood they used is also very light, plus they've had 45 years to dry out. For comparison I have a 1967 FG-150, same size body but it weighs 3.93 lbs, and doesn't sound as good.

BUT!! I DO NOT like the Black label -1 models! I've tried a FG-180-1 and a FG-110-1, both of which did not impress me. I recently picked up another FG-110-1 which is no better. It sounds very different, not as resonant and actually boomy. I will never touch a -1 model again.

One thing I don't like about the FG-110 (and all vintage Yamaha's) is the narrow string spacing. 1.37" at the nut and 1.97" at the saddle. A fairly simple nut replacement will bring the string spacing out to 1.43", but increasing the saddle string spacing is very difficult. You can file slots in the saddle to force the strings out wider but you can't go any further than .06". The only way to get it out to 2.12" (or more) is to replace the bridge. But you can't go more than 2.12" because the strings will get too close to the edge of the narrow fretboard.

I'm in process of building the YAMAGULL. A Yamaha/Seagull hybrid. The light airly sound of a FG-110 and the wide neck of a Seagull. When I'm done the guitar will have a 1.50" nut string spacing and a 2.25" saddle string spacing, making it very playable for fingerstyle. I have a couple of FG neck resets I should finish before I get any further into the YAMAGULL.

Based on the date codes I've found, they reached the first 7 digit number in mid 1969.  I'd expect the date code for yours to be 44.3.??.  It's not unusual for the numbers to be a smudged mess.