Post by CTGull on Nov 13, 2022 12:49:10 GMT -5
THE STORY: I have been looking for one of these for a few years, it’s the late 70’s version of the Black label FG-75-1 and the Red label FG-75. Yamaha's Guitar Archive say this model was made in 1977 and 1978, but this one was made in 1979. As typical with the lowest models, there is no internal date code. It was at $55 with 3 hours to go so I threw $101.01 at it, assuming it would go higher. It didn’t. I got it for $72. It looks minty, but pictures can be deceiving.
THE OBSERVATIONS: It was shipped 11/5, and I finally got it 11/11. It was packed very well, lots of bubble wrap. The red Naugahyde case looked kind of cool except it opened on the large end, and getting the guitar out is nearly impossible because the string ends and tuners got hung up in it. It’ll get tossed!! the first thing I notice is it isn't as light as a FG-75-1. It weighs 3.76 lbs vs 3.40 lbs for the typical FG-75-1. We will see why later. The guitar does look very minty, only a few dings. AND!! Drop damage on the front lower bout!!! There must be some damage on the inside because part of the top is raised. The high E string is missing. I tuned it to approx "D". The nut action is high for the wound strings. The neck relief is a little high. The action is a little over 1/8" low D and 1/8" B. With string tension, a nearly 4" long section of top is loose and lifted .010”/.020" at the drop damage. The bridge is .33" thick, the saddle sticks out .14"/.10". The strings are very old.
THE PLAN: Inside, the drop damage is not obvious. I put my miniature car jack in the guitar to lift up the top slightly, but it won't adjust high enough. I will have to make some addons to extend its reach and stabilize it. I won’t be touching that until after the neck is off.
The bag. I should have taken an interior pic showing it being a bit torn up.
MINTY!! Except for something in the lower right corner.
OUCH!! Somehow, I didn't see this in the pictures. They could have mentioned it.
Again, almost minty. Barely a few minor dings.
A minor crack at the end of the heel.
And the typical later 70's thick lacquer radius in the heel corner, with some cracks.
And the lacquer radius crack too far from the corner. That's going to get a little messy when it falls off.
One of only a few dings on the sides.
And another one.
And more detail of the drop damage. The outer black binding is cracked and partially separated.
The old strings, a thick bridge, and an OK saddle height.
Decent break angle.
I'm attempting to show some belly behind the bridge.
The action is a bit high!
Under tension, you can see what is loose.
The third digit was confusing, I couldn't decide if it was a 5 or 6, but this makes it clear it's a 5.
A worse than typical splintered Yamaha bridge plate.
Looking in at the damaged area, with no tension. You can see a slight separation.
A closer look.
They removed quite a bit of kerfing in the lower bout to clear for the bracing.
The top bracing. Definitely heavier than the FG-75-1.
The bridge plate is 3 piece laminated, with a mahogany core.
This is the toy jack I'm planning on using to push the top up slighty to be able to get glue in the gaps. The hard part is I can't reach in far enough to touch the gaps to know where I'm squirting the glue.
THE OBSERVATIONS: It was shipped 11/5, and I finally got it 11/11. It was packed very well, lots of bubble wrap. The red Naugahyde case looked kind of cool except it opened on the large end, and getting the guitar out is nearly impossible because the string ends and tuners got hung up in it. It’ll get tossed!! the first thing I notice is it isn't as light as a FG-75-1. It weighs 3.76 lbs vs 3.40 lbs for the typical FG-75-1. We will see why later. The guitar does look very minty, only a few dings. AND!! Drop damage on the front lower bout!!! There must be some damage on the inside because part of the top is raised. The high E string is missing. I tuned it to approx "D". The nut action is high for the wound strings. The neck relief is a little high. The action is a little over 1/8" low D and 1/8" B. With string tension, a nearly 4" long section of top is loose and lifted .010”/.020" at the drop damage. The bridge is .33" thick, the saddle sticks out .14"/.10". The strings are very old.
THE PLAN: Inside, the drop damage is not obvious. I put my miniature car jack in the guitar to lift up the top slightly, but it won't adjust high enough. I will have to make some addons to extend its reach and stabilize it. I won’t be touching that until after the neck is off.
The bag. I should have taken an interior pic showing it being a bit torn up.
MINTY!! Except for something in the lower right corner.
OUCH!! Somehow, I didn't see this in the pictures. They could have mentioned it.
Again, almost minty. Barely a few minor dings.
A minor crack at the end of the heel.
And the typical later 70's thick lacquer radius in the heel corner, with some cracks.
And the lacquer radius crack too far from the corner. That's going to get a little messy when it falls off.
One of only a few dings on the sides.
And another one.
And more detail of the drop damage. The outer black binding is cracked and partially separated.
The old strings, a thick bridge, and an OK saddle height.
Decent break angle.
I'm attempting to show some belly behind the bridge.
The action is a bit high!
Under tension, you can see what is loose.
The third digit was confusing, I couldn't decide if it was a 5 or 6, but this makes it clear it's a 5.
A worse than typical splintered Yamaha bridge plate.
Looking in at the damaged area, with no tension. You can see a slight separation.
A closer look.
They removed quite a bit of kerfing in the lower bout to clear for the bracing.
The top bracing. Definitely heavier than the FG-75-1.
The bridge plate is 3 piece laminated, with a mahogany core.
This is the toy jack I'm planning on using to push the top up slighty to be able to get glue in the gaps. The hard part is I can't reach in far enough to touch the gaps to know where I'm squirting the glue.
