Post by CTGull on Jan 28, 2021 20:23:20 GMT -5
My previous article on the FG-45 said that it is fairly rare and the most unique model in the FG line, although it was the least expensive FG they made. It’s “successor”, the FG-45-1, seems to be even rarer. I’ve only found 4 so far, of which I have 1. This is odd because Yamaha’s guitar archive says the FG-45 was made from 1972 to 1974, and the FG-45-1 1974 to 1977. You would think the FG-45-1 would be just as, or more common. Since they are inexpensive, short scale, small body models, they were probably bought as beginner guitars for kids and ended up getting thrown out after they lost interest or moved up to a better guitar.
Yamaha’s guitar archive lists the specs for the FG-45-1 the same as the FG-45, including the $75 list price, it probably sold for $50. The next expensive model was the FG-75-1 at $109.50. A big jump!
The first change was the label, from Tan to Black, as with other -1 models. That would eliminate the possibility of the FG-45-1 being made in 1974, unless some were made with the Tan label. The first Black label FG I’ve found is June 1975. The (2) FG-45-1 serial numbers I’ve found were made a day apart in October 1976. Is it possible they only made (1) batch?? Two serial numbers are hardly scientific.
Visibly, this FG-45-1 looks very similar to my FG-45, other than it has the standard Yamaha shape bridge (although the saddle is still .079” thick vs. .116” for normal FG’s) vs. the FG-45’s classical style bridge; the FG-45-1’s pickguard is black vs. the FG-45’s striped reddish brown; and the grain on the top of my FG-45 is much tighter and the color is darker. Actually, the overall color of the FG-45 is darker than the FG-45-1. I think the FG-45-1 looks much better.
The FG-45-1 has the same flat fretboard, 12 frets to the body, no truss rod, the internal X bracing laid flat, and the bridge pin holes coming thru the back edge of the bridge plate. At least this FG-45-1 doesn’t have the excessive belly bulge behind the bridge and tipped bridge my FG-45 has.
Dimensionally, the 2 guitars are the same, although the body of this FG-45-1 is very slightly larger than my FG-45 (about 0.3%), but amazingly they both weigh the EXACT same 2.83 lbs!!
I’ve waited a few days after completing the neck reset on my FG-45-1 to compare them audibly. They both have the same Elixir Nanoweb PB medium strings. So far, the FG-45 has a slightly deeper & darker tone, than the slightly brighter, clearer sounding FG-45-1. Overall I’d say the FG-45-1 sounds better, but not by much. Neither of them sound great! Not even close!
The FG-45-1 on the left.
Yamaha’s guitar archive lists the specs for the FG-45-1 the same as the FG-45, including the $75 list price, it probably sold for $50. The next expensive model was the FG-75-1 at $109.50. A big jump!
The first change was the label, from Tan to Black, as with other -1 models. That would eliminate the possibility of the FG-45-1 being made in 1974, unless some were made with the Tan label. The first Black label FG I’ve found is June 1975. The (2) FG-45-1 serial numbers I’ve found were made a day apart in October 1976. Is it possible they only made (1) batch?? Two serial numbers are hardly scientific.
Visibly, this FG-45-1 looks very similar to my FG-45, other than it has the standard Yamaha shape bridge (although the saddle is still .079” thick vs. .116” for normal FG’s) vs. the FG-45’s classical style bridge; the FG-45-1’s pickguard is black vs. the FG-45’s striped reddish brown; and the grain on the top of my FG-45 is much tighter and the color is darker. Actually, the overall color of the FG-45 is darker than the FG-45-1. I think the FG-45-1 looks much better.
The FG-45-1 has the same flat fretboard, 12 frets to the body, no truss rod, the internal X bracing laid flat, and the bridge pin holes coming thru the back edge of the bridge plate. At least this FG-45-1 doesn’t have the excessive belly bulge behind the bridge and tipped bridge my FG-45 has.
Dimensionally, the 2 guitars are the same, although the body of this FG-45-1 is very slightly larger than my FG-45 (about 0.3%), but amazingly they both weigh the EXACT same 2.83 lbs!!
I’ve waited a few days after completing the neck reset on my FG-45-1 to compare them audibly. They both have the same Elixir Nanoweb PB medium strings. So far, the FG-45 has a slightly deeper & darker tone, than the slightly brighter, clearer sounding FG-45-1. Overall I’d say the FG-45-1 sounds better, but not by much. Neither of them sound great! Not even close!
The FG-45-1 on the left.