Yamaha Label Color

[missedmyexit]

Hey Guys,

 

I thinking of picking up a Yamaha Acoustic Dread. I know there was talk about the labels and how the represent different time periods. Can anyone give me a breakdown of the different models?

 

Thanks

 

Keith

[Freeman Keller]

I think the label colors have more to do with where they were build, which seems to have some effect on desirability. My 69 FG-150 is a red label which are supposed to be very desirable.

 

One thing to be very aware of is that often old Yamies will have a bad neck angle and they are very difficult (read, not cost effective) to reset. Be sure to check that on any that you find.

[daklander]

The label colors showed, to a point what country the guitar was made, though not completely to my knowledge. Why does it matter? Are you looking for a player or an investment?

[missedmyexit]

 

The label colors showed, to a point what country the guitar was made, though not completely to my knowledge. Why does it matter? Are you looking for a player or an investment?

 

 

I'm likely buying online so all the information I can get on the build and quality is more to the good. I never think of guitars as investments, at least not good ones. I wanted to get a guitar from or around my birth year. I don't want to spend a fortune so I've been looking at the older Yamaha Dreads I hear so much about.

 

Freeman, I remember you mentioning that some of the older necks on these are non adjustable. Do you know what year this changed?

[daklander]

 

I'm likely buying online so all the information I can get on the build and quality is more to the good. I never think of guitars as investments, at least not good ones. I wanted to get a guitar from or around my birth year. I don't want to spend a fortune so I've been looking at the older Yamaha Dreads I hear so much about. Freeman, I remember you mentioning that some of the older necks on these are non adjustable. Do you know what year this changed?

 

 

 

Go Here and input various model numbers, or specific models you're interested in. That will give you the years a particular guitar was built.

 

As to the neck, they were adjustable in they, at least the steel strings, had an adjustable truss rod. The problem comes in when you need a neck re-set. The necks are glued in with a quite permanent glue and they do not steam apart, or otherwise lend themselves to easy disassembly for resetting.

[zenbu]

In Japan according to the books I own, the mid `60`s light green labels were the first steel string only acoustics...prior to those they made the S series laminate Dynamics...which followed the all solid Dynamics...are strung with either steels ot nylons over here by some players, the Dynamics went through several label changes from their introduction in the early `50s to the time the laminates came out mid `60s...and those light greens came in two models, the FG-150 and FG-180...a very nice FG-180 sold for $800.oo last week on the web here...I posted a link to it before. After the light green labels came the red labels which everybody is after these days outside the country, collectors/players here buy the first ones up as well though, and certain Dynamic models go into the hundreds of dollars but not all, I bought some of mine for very little...see the sunburst thread here. I have seen black labels, beige labels, leather labels, and pentagon shaped beige labels and there may be some I`m not thinking of at this moment...waiting on my first cup of coffee of the day.

[babablowfish]

There are a whole bunch of different model Yammies. I can only speak to the ones I know something about, which means that the vast majority of the models might be real crap or might be real gold, but I wouldn't know.

 

The FG-140 has a neck like a baseball bat which makes it very difficult if not impossible to do reach around thumb fretting on an F chord for instance. Outside of that it is amazingly loud and with a bone nut and saddle it has wonderful resonance and tone. These were called "the poor man's Martin."

 

The FG-150 is a great smaller bodied guitar that sounds so good it even fooled Freeman into thinking it was a solid top - listen to it on the string test and pin test

 

The FG-180 can be heard being played by Paul Brady on the thread "For those who doubt the power of the laminate." Listen and decide for yourself. I think it has great tone. These are going for a lot now on eBay. One of the early models came with a beautiful 3 piece back.

 

The FG-331 is another smaller body guitar that will fill a room with its sound.

 

The FG-340 is my personal favorite. Laminate tops are not supposed to sound this good. It has a very deep resonant tone. There were several variations of these. The FG-340 came with a three-piece back with the center piece black. The FG-340T came with a tinted top and a 2 piece back. The FG-340 II came with a 3 piece back with the center piece much lighter or the same color. Also, the FG-340II has the truss rod adjuster in the sound hole. Yamaha, for reasons unknown, later put out another FG-340 that has none of the distinctive features - it has no binding, different bridge, different back, different headstock - it is just a totally different guitar. It pisses me off when I see these on eBay using quotes about the original FG-340.

 

The FG-365s is a solid top which has a brighter tone than the FG-340 - it sounds more like a Taylor to the FG-340's Martin-like sound. The FG-365S II has the truss rod adjuster in the sound hole.

 

The FG-401 is OK but nothing to write home about. But it is an excellent and very dependable beater. What it lacks in tone it makes up for in its very comfortable neck.

 

As stated previously, the older the guitar, the more likely you are to need a neck reset. Hope this helped a little.