WHERE ARE YOU FROM??

I'm from New Hampshire. A couple of years ago when I took back up the guitar after a hiatus of 30-40 years or so, the first guitar I bought was a Seagull solid wood series mini jumbo. I still have it, nice guitar. I thought it was cool that you could get a solid wood guitar at a reasonable price that was made (relatively speaking) in my own back yard!

Thanks again for all the info.....the work you have done to amass all this useful data here is quite an effort!  I will take a look at the Seagull forum to see what it's all about.  I told my son about Seagull guitars & he ended up buying one at a really good price on Craigslist.  He's very happy w/ his, as well.  They are available as used instruments in the seconday markets pretty regularly & at reasonable prices, too.  I have a couple of Norman acoustics....same story, good guitars, well built.  I feel I have done my part to keep Godin in business 

CTGull, sshhh.....we will keep it our secret 

Hello, I'm Kenny from California. I have a 1978 FG-301 with an orange oval label, made in Japan. I got it used and abused in 1984 for about $30. The saddle was missing, so i made a new bone saddle for it. The nut was broken, the frets were pretty rough, so I had a luthier level and dress the frets, and put on a graphite nut. One of the tuners was broken, so I replaced them with a new set of Gotoh tuners that had the exact same screw pattern. Finally I was able to play her, and she was wonderful. I named her "Anna" after my mom, and she was my constant companion for over 20 years. I traveled all over the USA for my job during the 1990s, and she always went with me, usually as checked baggage, in just a standard dreadnought case. I have tried many Yamahas since, and none of them have the same feel nor tone of Anna. Not even close. The slightly arched 3-piece back makes this one of the loudest acoustic guitars I've ever played. Dark, boomy, and sweet all at the same time. The fingerboard is narrow, but the neck profile is deep. While most guitars don't like hard strumming, this one loves it. My singing voice is pretty strong, and it's all because I had to compete to be heard over this loud guitar. She has a special place in my heart, but since I got my Seagull acoustic-electric (named "Jonathan Livingston") in 2007 I never play her. Times are hard right now, and I'm afraid I'm going to have to sell most of my 10 guitars, including Anna. I came here to find more info about her. Thanks to your info, I was able to locate the date code, but I still have not located any sign of a serial number. Because the back and sides are rosewood and therefore quite dark, I can only make out the first 3 numbers of the date code, which are 804, so April of 1978 if I'm not mistaken. Thanks for all the work you did to put all of this together!
-Kenny

Very cool. My Seagull is a 2007 Performer CW Cedar GT QII, and I absolutely love it. Incredible tone, a beautiful voice. Solid cedar top and cherry laminate back & sides.  

But back to my FG-301, I have new info. I got a better pic, and it appears to be 50.4.01. I found a page describing "Japanese Emperor Datecodes" (I think that site is also yours) and that points to 1975. However, on another board I found someone saying that the FG-301 didn't go into production until November of 1975. There's also some other marks right next to the datecode that could be a sideways 11?  Anyway, based on the wear and tear on it when I got it in 1984, I can easily believe it's from 1975 instead of 1978.  Any thoughts?  

CTGull, I'm on my way to BUY another Yammie,  its an 80's , BLACK FG 435. From what I have read this black beauty has the same VOLUME a Bluegrass picker loves on the low-end. This will cause a little DI-SPUTE with the MRS. but I just can't resist!! This will be #5 for me. I also have 2 GODIN'S....Great tone and playability. Since my last posting, I have a bell cover FG-180, FG 160,FG 230 and a S-70 CLASSICAL. I took 6 strings off the 230 and WOW, the action is very low and the sound is BOOMING!! Yammies over Martin. Yes I have a 1986 D-28. The Yammies win, bar none! The 180 is great and the only bell cover I have found!

frankie, I'm from Chickamauga Ga. Its just a spit away from Chattanooga Tenn. My Dad found a Yamaha Nippon Gakki S-70 at a flea mkt. That's was over 50 years ago, I guess Johnny Cash and the Carter family, other than Dad have touched that Yammie. Other famous artist have also signed it. All my life "60" years I wanted a Martin D-28, found one I could afford at a local Pawn Shop. It is neither as loud or sounds as good as my "Not so cheap anymore" YAMAHA'S. What I see is an "EXSPLOSION" of the VALUE of VINTAGE YAMAHA'S Appearing front and center stage!!