Post by CTGull on May 18, 2017 18:31:13 GMT -5
I'm sorry, this is going to be long. I just realized next month is the 5 year anniversary of getting my first Yamaha FG.
My first 2 acoustic guitars were Seagulls, which I still have. Then I heard about vintage Yamaha FG acoustics. I wanted to find a FG-180 at a reasonable price but they're always $300 and up. Insane money for a midrange guitar at the time. And most of them need neck resets to be playable.
June 2013 I was lucky enough to find a 1977 FG-350W for $200 on CraigsList. I watch CraigsList a lot and I know the guy bought that guitar on there for $500 6 months earlier. He needed to raise some cash fast and I saw the ad 10 minutes after it went up. I had a grin ear to ear when I strummed it for the first time. That model listed for $600 back then, it was the top of the line of the commercially produced FG's. In 4 years of watching CraigsList I've only seen 2 FG-350W's for sale within 100 miles of me (central Connecticut).
August 2014 I was lucky enough to trade a 1998 Seagull Grand Parlor for an all solid wood 1978 FG-770S. This was the first commercially made all solid wood FG guitar (excluding the high end handmade FG's). This is confirmed by Yamaha, not the assumed all solid wood FG's just because they sound that way.
November 2014 I found a FG-160-1BK SPECIAL EDITION for $151 on Shopgoodwill.com. It's all black with a white pick guard. That model isn't listed in Yamaha's guitar archive. I've only been able to find 3 other references to that model, including I guy I talked to by email. This guitar was well loved with some fret and finish wear on the neck.
May 2015 I found a 1982 FG-340II for $150 on CraigsList. She had originally listed it for $75, but just before I was about to drive up to look at it (about an hour drive) she found out it was worth more and raised the price. I wasn’t thrilled, but it looked like it was in really great shape and didn’t want to lose the opportunity to see it. I don’t consider this model vintage because the models that started being made in 1981 had the truss rod adjustment moved to inside the sound hole. Just about all acoustic guitar manufacturers made this change at this time. There are some 80’s models I wouldn’t mind having (like a model with the “dove” logo on the headstock, made 1985-86) but the construction methods changed in the 80’s and the guitars don’t sound as good as the earlier models.
June 2015 I found a 1977 FG-412SB for $120 on CraigsList. A beautiful cherry sunburst slot head 12 string. Great to look at, tough to play, the strings pairs are spaced so far apart at the saddle it's like having 12 different strings. Very tough to finger pick. And the sound is kind of thin.
August 2015 I found a 1982 SJ-180 for $40 from the original owner. Nothing spectacular but it is different looking. It's not as big as a traditional jumbo but the proportions are about the same. I don’t consider this vintage for reasons above.
October 2015 I found a beat up 1973 FG-200 for $35 on CraigsList. The action was too high so I did some research, built a steam setup and a neck removal jig, and removed the neck. It hung around for 13 months and I finally finished the neck reset December 2016. Most say the FG-200 is a slightly better version of the sought after FG-180, and they are fairly unknown and can be found for more reasonable prices.
But my absolute favorite (and the "Holy Grail" of the affordable older FG's) is the 1970 FG-300 (the model was replaced by the FG-350W in 1977) I found November 2015 on ShopGoodwill.com. WITH the original Yamaha hard case and truss rod wrench. It's in nearly new condition with only 3 little marks on the top and no buckle rash on the back and very little fret wear. The pick guard was about to fall off, but it was still there. Many of these are missing them or the pick guard has cracked or crumbled. Heat causes the celluloid pick guard to break down. You can tell the ones that were stored in an attic. This one must have been in a closet for the past 45 years. All I had to do was properly reattach the pick guard (a lot harder than I thought it would be) and clean it up. The neck is nice and straight, no need to even consider a neck reset. I used to think the FG-350W was my favorite sounding older FG acoustic, but this one blows it away. It's just dripping with tone.
January 2016 I found a near mint 1970 FG-75 on CraigsList for $50. His Mother bought it new and it doesn’t look like it was played much. I was able to adjust the truss rod and make it playable. The unique thing about this model is it is ladder (parallel) braced, not X braced like modern guitars. Since it has a smaller body, maybe it was patterned after the classical guitar but with steel strings.
Also in January 2016 I found a 1973 FG-160 for $40 on CraigsList. His wife bought it new. It’s not in perfect condition; it has a few dings on the top a little drop damage on the lower bout. It was less than 10 minutes away and the price was right. It’s currently in the middle of a neck reset.
February 2016 I found a near mint 1973 FG-200 on OfferUp for $75. He bought it used and didn’t play it, but it must have been a few years, the strings were very oxidized. And it needs a neck reset.
May 2016 I found what looked to be a near mint 1973 FG-170 on Shopgoodwill.com. A neighbor brought a FG-170 over 3 weeks before and I was blown away by the tone, like many of the old Yamaha’s. I have many dread size Yamaha’s, but this one is a folk size. Its biggest problem is a few big dings on the back of the neck, something they didn’t show in the pictures. I can fill that. The other problem is the high action and high neck relief.
Also in May 2016 I found a near mint 1975 FG-160 for $75 on Letgo. She bought it new and must not have used it much. It has the usual high action and will require a neck reset. It came with an unmarked medium “tortoise shell” that is my absolute favorite pick. It makes every guitar sound better. I never gave much thought to picks before, but they do sound different.
October 2016 2005 I found a near mint FG-730S with a stand for $60 on Offerup. I’ve always wanted to hear one. I tried a couple at Guitar Center but the strings were dead. The strings on this one were REALLY dead!! They probably hadn’t been changed since it was new. Unfortunately with new strings it wasn’t much better. There’s NO COMPARISION between the new FG’s and the vintage FG’s. I sold it a couple months later.
Late October 2016 I found a 1980 FG-345 in a Facebook guitar selling group for $125. BEAUTIFUL rosewood back and sides!! This guitar is a basic version of the top of the line FG-350W. It was a bit beat up and badly needed a setup and new strings. It cleaned up pretty good and sounds even better!!
Also in late October 2016 I found a 1971 FG-180 for $20!! My first FG-180!!!! A college kid found it in a closet of a house he was renting. It had unplayable high action, even with the nylon strings it came with. It’s currently has the neck off waiting for a neck reset.
November 2016 I found a 1974 FG-170 on Shopgoodwill.com for $89. Extremely old strings, a cracked bridge and a few dings here and there. It currently has the neck off waiting for a neck reset.
___________________
February 2017 I found a 1969 FG-230 in a guitar selling Facebook group for $115. The usual high action, currently waiting for a neck reset. Normally with a price like that I would have offered $100. BUT… I was talking to her about my love of history of Yamaha guitars and she said she had an older guitar and asked if I'd like to see it. Of course I said yes!!!
She brings out an old Gibson archtop with a pin bridge! It was her Grandfathers. She's 70 something. She said she thought it was 1890's but the latest patent date on the label is 1906. It's VERY clean! 2 fine cracks in the top, some worn finger grooves in the fretboard but the frets are ungrooved. The rest of it is as glossy as it probably came from the factory!
She loaned it to a friend in the 60's and forgot about it. The guy custom made a wood case and had someone hand deliver it in the 90's. He wrote a letter of apology and also included a receipt for work done to it in 1981.
The serial number 7386 dates it to 1907. 110 year old!
I FORGOT TO TRY TO PLAY IT!! I'd be afraid to tune it!
I figured it was worth $10,000 due to its age, so I sent the info to a Gibson guy and he said it’s probably only worth $1000 because there’s no interest in pin bridge archtops, the big bucks is in the WWII flat tops. He said the sound is an “acquired taste”.
___________________
Also February 2017 I found a 1970 FG-110 in a guitar selling group on Facebook for $40. He knew nothing about it, he got it in a house clean out. It’s old and dirty and he wanted it gone. The strings were so old they “plinked” when they broke free of the nut slots when I tuned it. It’s a bit beat up. Smelled like Grandma’s attic. I noticed the guitar seemed very light in comparison to any others. So I bought a digital luggage scale. It weighs 3.50 lbs, vs. 4.50 to 5lbs for modern guitars. That made me weigh many of my guitars, especially the vintage Yamaha’s. All of the FG-1xx guitars are the lightest I have, but the FG-110 is the absolute lightest. But the sound!!! I assume the very light weight lets it resonate freer than a heavier guitar. And resonate it does!! It has awesome clarity and depth. This guitar is the ultimate “sleeper” guitar. I’m leaving it beat up looking. One strum and your jaw will drop!!!
Also February 2017 I found a 1980 FG-300D for $30 on Letgo. I drove 2 hours each way for it, it’s a model not imported into the US. Ezo spruce top & walnut back and sides. It was her Grandfathers but she had no stories. She just wanted it gone. I grabbed it without even looking at it. When I got it home I found a little clouding in the top finish and some delamination on the sides. The bottom of the case was very moldy and the guitar also suffered from the water damage. Also, the 80’s models were built much heavier than the 60’s & 70’s models, so the sound is nothing to talk about. Whenever I get to fixing the delaminations, this guitar will be sold.
I also have a non-vintage left hand 1998 FG-412L I bought in August 2013 for $60, another CraigsList find. I messed around with playing chords left hand a little.
I still check CraigsList, Facebook, Letgo, OfferUp and Shopgoodwill.com often. I used to search CraigsList for the whole country with searchtempest.com, but at one point every time I used it CraigsList wound block my IP address, I’d have to email them and wait to be let back in. I occasionally search Reverb.com. Rare and models not imported into the US do occasionally pop up, just never in my area. I’ll keep searching!
I’m amazed what I’ve found so far. Both informational and guitars. But I’ve got too many guitars already. I have to be very selective on what I get next. I really should sell a few.
Dave has 43 Yamaha guitars and he gets 1 one more. What does Dave have now? Happiness. Dave has happiness. :?)
My first 2 acoustic guitars were Seagulls, which I still have. Then I heard about vintage Yamaha FG acoustics. I wanted to find a FG-180 at a reasonable price but they're always $300 and up. Insane money for a midrange guitar at the time. And most of them need neck resets to be playable.
June 2013 I was lucky enough to find a 1977 FG-350W for $200 on CraigsList. I watch CraigsList a lot and I know the guy bought that guitar on there for $500 6 months earlier. He needed to raise some cash fast and I saw the ad 10 minutes after it went up. I had a grin ear to ear when I strummed it for the first time. That model listed for $600 back then, it was the top of the line of the commercially produced FG's. In 4 years of watching CraigsList I've only seen 2 FG-350W's for sale within 100 miles of me (central Connecticut).
August 2014 I was lucky enough to trade a 1998 Seagull Grand Parlor for an all solid wood 1978 FG-770S. This was the first commercially made all solid wood FG guitar (excluding the high end handmade FG's). This is confirmed by Yamaha, not the assumed all solid wood FG's just because they sound that way.
November 2014 I found a FG-160-1BK SPECIAL EDITION for $151 on Shopgoodwill.com. It's all black with a white pick guard. That model isn't listed in Yamaha's guitar archive. I've only been able to find 3 other references to that model, including I guy I talked to by email. This guitar was well loved with some fret and finish wear on the neck.
May 2015 I found a 1982 FG-340II for $150 on CraigsList. She had originally listed it for $75, but just before I was about to drive up to look at it (about an hour drive) she found out it was worth more and raised the price. I wasn’t thrilled, but it looked like it was in really great shape and didn’t want to lose the opportunity to see it. I don’t consider this model vintage because the models that started being made in 1981 had the truss rod adjustment moved to inside the sound hole. Just about all acoustic guitar manufacturers made this change at this time. There are some 80’s models I wouldn’t mind having (like a model with the “dove” logo on the headstock, made 1985-86) but the construction methods changed in the 80’s and the guitars don’t sound as good as the earlier models.
June 2015 I found a 1977 FG-412SB for $120 on CraigsList. A beautiful cherry sunburst slot head 12 string. Great to look at, tough to play, the strings pairs are spaced so far apart at the saddle it's like having 12 different strings. Very tough to finger pick. And the sound is kind of thin.
August 2015 I found a 1982 SJ-180 for $40 from the original owner. Nothing spectacular but it is different looking. It's not as big as a traditional jumbo but the proportions are about the same. I don’t consider this vintage for reasons above.
October 2015 I found a beat up 1973 FG-200 for $35 on CraigsList. The action was too high so I did some research, built a steam setup and a neck removal jig, and removed the neck. It hung around for 13 months and I finally finished the neck reset December 2016. Most say the FG-200 is a slightly better version of the sought after FG-180, and they are fairly unknown and can be found for more reasonable prices.
But my absolute favorite (and the "Holy Grail" of the affordable older FG's) is the 1970 FG-300 (the model was replaced by the FG-350W in 1977) I found November 2015 on ShopGoodwill.com. WITH the original Yamaha hard case and truss rod wrench. It's in nearly new condition with only 3 little marks on the top and no buckle rash on the back and very little fret wear. The pick guard was about to fall off, but it was still there. Many of these are missing them or the pick guard has cracked or crumbled. Heat causes the celluloid pick guard to break down. You can tell the ones that were stored in an attic. This one must have been in a closet for the past 45 years. All I had to do was properly reattach the pick guard (a lot harder than I thought it would be) and clean it up. The neck is nice and straight, no need to even consider a neck reset. I used to think the FG-350W was my favorite sounding older FG acoustic, but this one blows it away. It's just dripping with tone.
January 2016 I found a near mint 1970 FG-75 on CraigsList for $50. His Mother bought it new and it doesn’t look like it was played much. I was able to adjust the truss rod and make it playable. The unique thing about this model is it is ladder (parallel) braced, not X braced like modern guitars. Since it has a smaller body, maybe it was patterned after the classical guitar but with steel strings.
Also in January 2016 I found a 1973 FG-160 for $40 on CraigsList. His wife bought it new. It’s not in perfect condition; it has a few dings on the top a little drop damage on the lower bout. It was less than 10 minutes away and the price was right. It’s currently in the middle of a neck reset.
February 2016 I found a near mint 1973 FG-200 on OfferUp for $75. He bought it used and didn’t play it, but it must have been a few years, the strings were very oxidized. And it needs a neck reset.
May 2016 I found what looked to be a near mint 1973 FG-170 on Shopgoodwill.com. A neighbor brought a FG-170 over 3 weeks before and I was blown away by the tone, like many of the old Yamaha’s. I have many dread size Yamaha’s, but this one is a folk size. Its biggest problem is a few big dings on the back of the neck, something they didn’t show in the pictures. I can fill that. The other problem is the high action and high neck relief.
Also in May 2016 I found a near mint 1975 FG-160 for $75 on Letgo. She bought it new and must not have used it much. It has the usual high action and will require a neck reset. It came with an unmarked medium “tortoise shell” that is my absolute favorite pick. It makes every guitar sound better. I never gave much thought to picks before, but they do sound different.
October 2016 2005 I found a near mint FG-730S with a stand for $60 on Offerup. I’ve always wanted to hear one. I tried a couple at Guitar Center but the strings were dead. The strings on this one were REALLY dead!! They probably hadn’t been changed since it was new. Unfortunately with new strings it wasn’t much better. There’s NO COMPARISION between the new FG’s and the vintage FG’s. I sold it a couple months later.
Late October 2016 I found a 1980 FG-345 in a Facebook guitar selling group for $125. BEAUTIFUL rosewood back and sides!! This guitar is a basic version of the top of the line FG-350W. It was a bit beat up and badly needed a setup and new strings. It cleaned up pretty good and sounds even better!!
Also in late October 2016 I found a 1971 FG-180 for $20!! My first FG-180!!!! A college kid found it in a closet of a house he was renting. It had unplayable high action, even with the nylon strings it came with. It’s currently has the neck off waiting for a neck reset.
November 2016 I found a 1974 FG-170 on Shopgoodwill.com for $89. Extremely old strings, a cracked bridge and a few dings here and there. It currently has the neck off waiting for a neck reset.
___________________
February 2017 I found a 1969 FG-230 in a guitar selling Facebook group for $115. The usual high action, currently waiting for a neck reset. Normally with a price like that I would have offered $100. BUT… I was talking to her about my love of history of Yamaha guitars and she said she had an older guitar and asked if I'd like to see it. Of course I said yes!!!
She brings out an old Gibson archtop with a pin bridge! It was her Grandfathers. She's 70 something. She said she thought it was 1890's but the latest patent date on the label is 1906. It's VERY clean! 2 fine cracks in the top, some worn finger grooves in the fretboard but the frets are ungrooved. The rest of it is as glossy as it probably came from the factory!
She loaned it to a friend in the 60's and forgot about it. The guy custom made a wood case and had someone hand deliver it in the 90's. He wrote a letter of apology and also included a receipt for work done to it in 1981.
The serial number 7386 dates it to 1907. 110 year old!
I FORGOT TO TRY TO PLAY IT!! I'd be afraid to tune it!
I figured it was worth $10,000 due to its age, so I sent the info to a Gibson guy and he said it’s probably only worth $1000 because there’s no interest in pin bridge archtops, the big bucks is in the WWII flat tops. He said the sound is an “acquired taste”.
___________________
Also February 2017 I found a 1970 FG-110 in a guitar selling group on Facebook for $40. He knew nothing about it, he got it in a house clean out. It’s old and dirty and he wanted it gone. The strings were so old they “plinked” when they broke free of the nut slots when I tuned it. It’s a bit beat up. Smelled like Grandma’s attic. I noticed the guitar seemed very light in comparison to any others. So I bought a digital luggage scale. It weighs 3.50 lbs, vs. 4.50 to 5lbs for modern guitars. That made me weigh many of my guitars, especially the vintage Yamaha’s. All of the FG-1xx guitars are the lightest I have, but the FG-110 is the absolute lightest. But the sound!!! I assume the very light weight lets it resonate freer than a heavier guitar. And resonate it does!! It has awesome clarity and depth. This guitar is the ultimate “sleeper” guitar. I’m leaving it beat up looking. One strum and your jaw will drop!!!
Also February 2017 I found a 1980 FG-300D for $30 on Letgo. I drove 2 hours each way for it, it’s a model not imported into the US. Ezo spruce top & walnut back and sides. It was her Grandfathers but she had no stories. She just wanted it gone. I grabbed it without even looking at it. When I got it home I found a little clouding in the top finish and some delamination on the sides. The bottom of the case was very moldy and the guitar also suffered from the water damage. Also, the 80’s models were built much heavier than the 60’s & 70’s models, so the sound is nothing to talk about. Whenever I get to fixing the delaminations, this guitar will be sold.
I also have a non-vintage left hand 1998 FG-412L I bought in August 2013 for $60, another CraigsList find. I messed around with playing chords left hand a little.
I still check CraigsList, Facebook, Letgo, OfferUp and Shopgoodwill.com often. I used to search CraigsList for the whole country with searchtempest.com, but at one point every time I used it CraigsList wound block my IP address, I’d have to email them and wait to be let back in. I occasionally search Reverb.com. Rare and models not imported into the US do occasionally pop up, just never in my area. I’ll keep searching!
I’m amazed what I’ve found so far. Both informational and guitars. But I’ve got too many guitars already. I have to be very selective on what I get next. I really should sell a few.
Dave has 43 Yamaha guitars and he gets 1 one more. What does Dave have now? Happiness. Dave has happiness. :?)
