Post by CTGull on Feb 24, 2020 19:13:41 GMT -5
This is the second guitar I’ll work on for this customer. The previous was the 1973 Yamaha FG-260. yamahavintagefg.boards.net/thread/188/customer-repair-1973-yamaha-260
This guitar is a rare 1980 Yamaha FG-335. It is factory painted black with a white pick guard and ivory binding. There are a few black and white vintage FG’s. Most of them have “BK” at the end of the model number. This one does not.
His mother bought it for his father in 1980. It’s also the guitar he learned to play on. His father doesn’t play much anymore so he’s now the caretaker of it.
Starting in 1977 Yamaha put the lacquer on a bit heavier, resulting in a bigger lacquer radius in the heel corners, and used epoxy to hold the neck on. So this should be a challenge. There are already some cracks in the finish at the corners of the heel. I use a new scalpel to carefully cut thru the finish in the heel corners. The chances of getting this neck off without it chipping is pretty much zero. But, I had bought some black super glue to touch up black finishes. I’ll probably get to test that soon.
Bass side heel cracks.
Treble side heel crack.
I also have a black and white vintage FG, a 1976 FG-75-1BK. It is a very rare vintage FG. I’ve only found 2 of them. I had been tracking this one for about a year and finally caught up to it. I found it online in 6 places, either by marks on the top or the serial numbers. It also needs a neck reset badly, with the neck projecting 1/8” below the top of the bridge. I will be working on both black and white FG’s at the same time, at least initially. I’ll experiment with finish repair on mine.
His 1980 FG-335 BLACK on the left, my 1976 FG-75-1BK on the right.
This guitar is a rare 1980 Yamaha FG-335. It is factory painted black with a white pick guard and ivory binding. There are a few black and white vintage FG’s. Most of them have “BK” at the end of the model number. This one does not.
His mother bought it for his father in 1980. It’s also the guitar he learned to play on. His father doesn’t play much anymore so he’s now the caretaker of it.
Starting in 1977 Yamaha put the lacquer on a bit heavier, resulting in a bigger lacquer radius in the heel corners, and used epoxy to hold the neck on. So this should be a challenge. There are already some cracks in the finish at the corners of the heel. I use a new scalpel to carefully cut thru the finish in the heel corners. The chances of getting this neck off without it chipping is pretty much zero. But, I had bought some black super glue to touch up black finishes. I’ll probably get to test that soon.
Bass side heel cracks.
Treble side heel crack.
I also have a black and white vintage FG, a 1976 FG-75-1BK. It is a very rare vintage FG. I’ve only found 2 of them. I had been tracking this one for about a year and finally caught up to it. I found it online in 6 places, either by marks on the top or the serial numbers. It also needs a neck reset badly, with the neck projecting 1/8” below the top of the bridge. I will be working on both black and white FG’s at the same time, at least initially. I’ll experiment with finish repair on mine.
His 1980 FG-335 BLACK on the left, my 1976 FG-75-1BK on the right.