Yamaha FG180
Steven Sankowski
ago (my first guitar), .Does anyone know if this is a solid top or
laminated top guitar. Also does anyone know about the guitars made at
the Nippon - Gakki in Japan, I`ve heard they were suppose to be pretty
good guitars.
Thanx
DMadden596
>ago (my first guitar), .Does anyone know if this is a solid top or
>laminated top guitar.
Hi Steven!
I have a Yamaha FG170 that was my second guitar, bought in 1976. It has a
laminated top, and I believe yours does too - I think that it would have an "S"
in the name if it was a solid top - correct me if I am wrong, group! I like my
little Yamaha - it is fun to have around. The neck bothers me a bit so I don't
usually play it for long once I pick it up - but it is a good little guitar for
leaving out on the stand without worrying about it, and I doubt I would ever
part with it. Besides, my name is etched on the headstock. It is that kind of
a guitar. ;-)
Donna
Kevin Hall
good. When they first hit the shores of North America back in the late 60s
they were a revelation to young guitar players all over the continent. They
looked good, were well finished, played well ( in comparison to stock
Harmony Sovereigns etc.) and actually sounded like a real guitar. Although
they are all wood of the dreaded ply tree, the tops were lightly braced
producing a very nice acoustic sound. Even the tuners worked. The main
staple of the impecunious pickers' diet prior to that was the old Harmony
Sovereign which sold in the same snack bracket. These were made of solid
mahog. and spruce at that time, but in spite of that they left a lot to be
desired. The necks were tough to play as they came out of the box, the
tops were heavily braced, and so did not produce all the horsepower the
materials were capable of delivering, and they were to most eyes sort of
'clunky' looking. The peghead was often compared to a shovel. The
standards of fit and finish were not close to the Yamaha upstart, and the
market responded. A good tech can make a Sovereign into quite a useable
instrument, and many have been worked on to good effect, but the Yam.
worked out of the box. Back then good guitar techs were not nearly as
numerous as they are today, so it made sense to buy something you didn't
have to 'hot-rod' to enjoy playing.
Many of the Japanese Yamahas of the era were extremely good dollar value.
The old FG-230 12 string owned that sector of the market for many years,
and the 180s little brother the FG-150 was a sort of Japanese interpretation
of the 14 fret 000. Very nice little guitar favoured by a lot of physically
smaller or female folkies at the time for very good reason. The top of the
line in those days was a sort of semi-Hummingbird copy called the FG-300.
It was the only Yam. solid top available for quite a time, and it sported
an adjustable bridge along the lines of a Tune-o-matic, but with bone
saddles.
Back in the late 60s/early 70s I did a lot of travelling across Canada and
much of Europe playing for a living. I made a lot more money bashing on my
old FG=230 12 string than I ever did with my fancy Martins etc.!
KH
Timberline Guitars
Canada
Steven Sankowski <sank...@coastalnet.com> wrote in message
news:3930E268...@coastalnet.com...
> I have an old Yamaha FG180 I bought at a pawn shop a couple of years ago
> ago (my first guitar), .Does anyone know if this is a solid top or
Jim Barnett
>ago (my first guitar), .Does anyone know if this is a solid top or
>laminated top guitar. Also does anyone know about the guitars made at
>the Nippon - Gakki in Japan, I`ve heard they were suppose to be pretty
>good guitars.
>
>Thanx
>
I've got a Yamaha FG200 my dad bought me in 1973. It has a plywood top, I
imagine your FG180 has a plywood top also.
Jim Barnett
Carl McIntyre
The old Yamaha FG-180's were one of the best
plywood guitars ever made. They almost always sounded
good. Every one I've ever seen had a plywood top. These
guitars just seemed to have all the right combination of
factors. I don't recall ever playing one that didn't sound pretty
good. That being said, I generally hate plywood guitars. Early
in my career, I owned several FG-180 models because they
were cheap and could be dragged around without too much
worrying. I used to replace the plastic nut with bone because
the strings were entirely too close together. By spreading
them out some, the guitar could be made to play much better.
I don't see as many as I used to anymore because
in my area it has become known that I generally specialize
at repairing Martins these days, but I would still like to have
an old FG-180 to carry to the beach and places where I'm not
comfortable taking my finer guitars. There are still a good many
old 180's in use and it speaks well for how they were designed
that they have lasted for a quarter of a century. Back in the
early seventies, you could buy one new for about a hundred
bucks. Of course you could also buy a new car for a few thousand.
Those were the good ol' days.
Carl McIntyre
Steven Sankowski <sank...@coastalnet.com> wrote in article
<3930E268...@coastalnet.com>...
Dave Brichler
"Kevin Hall" <timbe...@webhart.net> wrote:
(good history of the FG180 snipped)
> The top of the line in those days was a sort of semi-Hummingbird copy
> called the FG-300.
> It was the only Yam. solid top available for quite a time, and it
> sported an adjustable bridge along the lines of a Tune-o-matic, but
> with bone saddles.
Actually, they made an "offline" top-line, limited run, from around '72
through '75 or so, known as the FG-500 series (orange Nippon Gakki
label). I say "offline" because they were handmade by their top
luthiers to exacting specifications in woods & workmanship, but not part
of regular production. You'll find almost nothing about these gems in
Blue Book or other guitar literature. They sold at top-dollar prices,
$600-$700 in the 70's being a fairly expensive guitar.
I picked up my FG-500 at Brook Mays in Houston back in those days for
about $600. Full-size dread, solid spruce top, solid jacaranda back &
sides, ebony bridge & fingerboard, tortoise pickguard, mahogany neck &
headstock with a laminated jacaranda faceplate, bone saddle & nut, MOP
logo & fret markers, white bound body & headstock. Visually striking to
say the least & a huge sound.
Still have it, only occasionally play it, as the machine heads have
begun to go, and sadly, a bit of bridge lift. "One of these days", I'll
refurbish it, since I seriously doubt I'll impair any collector's value
in a guitar line most collectors know nothing about.
Best,
Dave
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
Steve Church
difficult to find anything
which sounded better when I upgraded recently (to a Taylor 314). It may be a
ply construction but I think it has aged well. I don't think I could part
with the Yamaha though as I've sort of got sentimentally attached. To think
of anyone else owning it would be unthinkable!
Steve
Carl McIntyre wrote in message <01bfca4d$a1541d00$651e4d0c@default>...
JimLowther
>The old Yamaha FG-180's were one of the best
>plywood guitars ever made. They almost always sounded
>good. Every one I've ever seen had a plywood top. These
>guitars just seemed to have all the right combination of
>factors. I don't recall ever playing one that didn't sound pretty
>good. That being said, I generally hate plywood guitars. Early
>in my career, I owned several FG-180 models because they
>were cheap and could be dragged around without too much
>worrying. I used to replace the plastic nut with bone because
>the strings were entirely too close together. By spreading
>them out some, the guitar could be made to play much better.
I have an FG175 that was bought new in 1973 for about $100.00. Best $100.00 I
think I've spent on a guitar (actually, my brother bought it). Still play it
regularly. My guitar playing friends are always surprised by the tone.
Do you (or anyone else) remember how this guitar differed from the FG180? This
has Mahogany and Spruce veneers (pretty sure it is a veneer top), and has the
older peghead that looks a bit like a Gretsch peghead, but with straighter
sides. This is the first Yamaha guitar that I remember, but that does not mean
earlier models were not produced/imported.
BTW, I've never had anything heavier than light guage bronze strings on this
guitar, and I have heard that the thin, lightly braced top really cannot take
heavier guage strings. The slight bulge at the bridge is insignificant, IMHO,
and the action is still very good.
Best wishes,
Jim Lowther
Kevin Hall
or something. Actually diagnosing some problems with them got me my first
job as an independent product consultant for Yamaha. I finally sold my FG
1500 (or some such elevated numeral) 12 string about a year ago. It too had
jacaranda rims and back, but the back had a centre wedge of curly sycamore,
a la D-35. The ornamentation was grotesque, but the materials superb.
That segment of the line was the grandfather of the much more successful
(and better) ' L' series in about '79 or so. Starting with the L-5 in
solid mahog. and spruce, through the L-10 in solid Indian rosewood and
spruce ( these two had D-18 and D-28 equivalent appointments, more or less)
they ran up to a heavily ornamented L-25. All came in very nice plush lined
hard shells included for extremely reasonable prices. The best values in
the fleet were the 5 and 10. They were, and still are great dollar value
guitars. An interesting aspect of these things is the bracing; there were
3 tone bars between the lower legs of the X, as there were on some of the
early Gibson Advanced Jumbos. I hardly ever see any of these things on the
used market, and they must be out there because Yamaha dealers ( in Canada
anyway) sold them in large numbers for several years.
KH
Dave Brichler <da...@lone-wolf.com> wrote in message
news:8h12ng$n2n$1...@nnrp1.deja.com...
DMadden596
And while we are at it, anyone know the difference between the FG180, the FG175
and the FG170, which I got in 1976 for about $125? I also had a 12 string that
was the twin of the FG170, but it got stolen.
Thanks!
Donna
xyzj...@worldinter.net
Jeffrey
remove xyz to reply
Cal
Just my $.02 -- I just bought an old FG75, which is (I think) closer to a double-0 size. It's a "red-label"
Nippon Gakki made as far as I know in the late 60's-early 70's (no serial number on it). I like it a lot,
given that it is "plywood" and doesn't have the big voice or low end of larger solid-wood guitars. I'm
taking it to Kerrville in a couple of days, 'cause I think it will work just fine around a campfire.
Cal
JimLowther
>plywood guitars ever made.
Would it be worth the trouble to fit a bone saddle into one of these?