CTGull

I'm still looking for serial numbers and date codes. I'm up to over 350. I've found date codes in all of my Yamaha's except for the 2 Red label Taiwan models. But they are in the Tan & Black label Taiwan models, although the year numbers are different due being referenced to a different countries Emperor. I've expanded the search beyond the early Red label Nippon Gakki models, to the Taiwan models also. I've gotten many serial number sets (they have 2 sets of serial numbers) and I'm working on figuring out when each of them changes to the next. The shorter Tan label with only the model number (no reference to Taiwan) seems to have only been used for 2, maybe 3, months. It's very rare. I've written a detailed article and am waiting for a friend to read it thru.

It looked promising. Lots of dead links.

I tried to register for the OLF to find the username & email address where already in use! I joined almost exactly 5 years ago, 1 day off. I just made my first post. Almost all of the hits for "Yamaha neck reset" are in 1 thread. The typical epoxy & cut the neck off talk.

They are hard to find. I use a flashlight and my cell phone camera zoomed in. Even then they can be light or smudged. A USB endoscope attached to my cell phone works great but the resolution is a bit coarse. Can you suggest major & repair forums to post in? I've done it in the AGF and the huge thread on TDPRI.com. http://www.tdpri.com/threads/69-71-y...151311/page-28

Thanks!! The most important thing is the internal date code. Someone working on guitars would have the most opportunity to find that since you kind of have to remove the strings to do it. Unless you have a USB endoscope camera like I found. Do you know of any other sources where I could possibly find this info?? I could try contacting people selling guitars on Reverb and eBay but I'm sure I'd get a lot of rejections and it would take a ton of time.

Nice guitar!!!! I'd love to find one of those! Yea, the 8 digit system is easy and straight forward. The way it should be. I had done some research on Jacaranda. Technically, it's not even in the same family as rosewood, so it's not rosewood. But it sure looks like BRW!!! I'll take it!!

WANTED – Data from your vintage Yamaha FG guitars. See the end of the post. I’ve been collecting data on vintage Yamaha FG acoustic guitars for a few years. This past May Yamaha deleted their Yamaha Guitar Archive web page, pushing me to start a forum to share the info that I’ve collected, including all the data from the Yamaha Guitar Archive. I’ve written other articles on: the history of the Yamaha FG 1966-1981 & FG-3XX series; vintage Yamaha truss rod adjustment procedure; vintage Yamaha neck reset procedure; replacement nuts & saddles; Yamaha FG weights; Japanese emperor date codes; Republic of China date codes; and I’m working on many others. My latest interest is decoding the mystery of the 6 & 7 digit serial numbers. It’s widely known that the 8 digit serial numbers start with the year as the first number. But the 6 & 7 digit numbers (located on the neck block) are just sequential numbers used by all the guitars they built, not just the FG’s. I’ve also found there are internal date codes that will reveal when the guitar was made. Serial Number located on the neck block. Date Code located on one of the interior sides of the guitar. I’ve started a list of guitars I’ve found (including 3 of mine) with the model number, the serial number, and the date code, which will allow the 6 & 7 digit serial numbers to be grouped into a range for each year, allowing any 6 or 7 digit serial number to be cross referenced to the year it was made. On YouTube I found a guy in Japan who’s posted short videos of many vintage FG guitars, with the year, model number, partial serial numbers, and in a most cases the internal date code. He’s obviously used the internal date codes to determine the years. I sent him a message asking if he saved all the information for these guitars, but I don’t know what will be lost in the language translation, of if he’ll even get back to me. With this, and other data I’ve been finding, I’ve discovered even though Yamaha says the first Red Label models imported in the US where in 1968, I’ve found many Red Label FG guitars made in 1967. I’m also tracking the Green Label FG’s, the earliest models (1966-67) only made in Japan, that share the same pool of serial numbers. I’m looking for the transition between the Green and Red labels. I’ve also found the Green Label FG’s have a different truss rod cover, with “Reinforced Neck” on it, very different than the one you normally see. That cover made it onto the earliest FG’s imported into the US, before changing to the familiar one. Truss Rod Cover on Green Label and very early Red Label FG's. Regular Truss rod Cover used on Red Label FG's. WANTED – Could you please add to this thread with the following data from your vintage Green and Red label Nippon Gakki FG guitars that have serial numbers less than 8 digits, located on the neck block? I have 100 serial numbers so far, but only 28 of them also have the internal date code. Model number. Label color. Serial number on neck block. Internal date code (I use flashlight and a cheap USB endoscope with my cell phone, or my cell phone camera if the strings are off.) This is very important to establish the date range of the serial numbers. If it has the old style “Reinforced Neck” truss rod cover. Any other information you’d like to share about the guitar. ON SECOND THOUGHT I might as well collect the early Taiwan numbers too. They have 2 sets of numbers, the 8 digit on the cross brace and a 7 digit on the neck block. The early 70's models have a T in front of it, the mid 70's -1 models dropped the T. Thank you for your assistance.

Thanks. I forgot to turn on notifications so I didn't know about these replies. I fixed that. I got the Carlos guitar and I have a story to continue. I will start a new thread.

OK, here's another first time poster (I guess a troll in this forum) adding by own experience with a Carlos guitar. I fix acoustic guitars as a hobby. A year ago our son told his music teacher that and she said that she had wanted to teach guitar in class but there was no budget to buy guitars. So I volunteered to find donated acoustic guitars for our kids middle school music program. I put ads on FreeCycle, CraigsList and local Facebook groups. I got more responses than I expected. I repaired and delivered 10 last school year with 6 more to work on. I'm waiting for the teacher to get me strings so I can finish 8. I extended the offer to the other middle school in town, but getting string from either of them has been frustrating. I’m doing all the work (turning junk into playable instruments) and replacing the occasional saddle, and all I asked of them was to buy the strings. I’d really like to get these guitars out of my workshop, I have my own to work on. My Carlos story is about one of the guitars I was given for the school. I met a guy in a commuter parking lot and he reluctantly handed over his guitar that he's had since the early 80's. He said it is a great guitar but he hadn't used it in years and his wife convinced him to let it go. I took it home and scoffed at the brass nut, saddle and fret markers. It was a model 207. The nut and saddle action were high so I took some measurements and started sanding. THE NUT AND SADDLE ARE BRASS PLATED STEEL! Maybe some are solid brass but not this one. I sanded the bottom of the nut and replaced the saddle (TUSQ) and got the action down to where it was easy to play. And it sounded great!! Of all the guitars I’ve been given for the school, that was the only one I didn’t want to see go. To this day I still regret giving it to the school for kids to beat the crap out of. I may see it someday to repair. That brings me to my second, continuing Carlos story. Last night I won a Carlos acoustic on ShopGoodwill. $33 plus $20 for shipping. Yea, my wife is going to kill me for buying another guitar! And another project!!! The picture of the label was hard to read but I think it is a model 438, judging by other less fuzzy label pictures. I sent them an email and I should hear more info later today. It was impossible to tell what condition it was in, other than it looked like all the parts were there except one of the tuner knobs. It looks like the screw loosened and it fell off, the washers are still in place. I’ll find something in my boneyard. The nut and saddle in this one are not brass. Maybe they were replaced. Maybe I wasted $53 and this is a POS! I guess I’ll find out in a week. To be continued…