My old Yamaha FG340

[babablowfish]

Welcome to the forum. Please let us know how it all works out. The FG-340 is a great guitar and it would be wonderful if it can be saved.

[Harmonycat]

Hey while just finding this yamaha fg340 thread on the net I decided to register to answer this post. So hello all! I have the same guitar Yamaha fg340 with that similar condition, slightly higher action and a saddle that is bottomed out so much that the strings come out of the peg holes and rub the rosewood bridge and barely touch the saddle. Now the guitar sounds amazing tone wise! agreed heres what I did to improve what was there. Keeping in mind I used basic common sense and precautions: 1/Took off strings 2/Put masking tape all over the guitar body and especially right up to the bridge 3/Used a dremel(not a planer cause I didn't want to put extensive downward pressure on the top of guitar) with a fair sized (cone shaped) toolbit and cut down into the bridge about 1/8 of an inch. The reason is to create a witness mark of how low I want the overal height of the bridge to be. 4/Next you could use either a random orbital sander with 80 grit sandpaper or a belt sander if your careful. Or you could just use a block and hand sand it to that witness mark keeping all the sanding consistant and flat. 5/Now you should have enough wood cleared on that bridge for the saddle to be lowered to your ideal action and also there should be enough meat to hold that saddle in the long narrow pocket. Hopefully this works heres what it looks like now I just have to countersink the holes again.

 

That is a pretty innovative solution!

 

I have a guitar that is still playable, but will eventually get to that point. It is a 1984 "Campfire Beater", that sounds great.

 

I will save your post to my computer.

 

Some of the most economical fixes that I have ever completed were prefaced by the "what do I have to lose" approach. If it is junk otherwise and a neck reset is out of the question, why not? It cost me $85.00.

 

BTW: I also tune that guitar to a "D" in order to relieve tension on it.

[OldGuitarPlayer]

This is a pretty common thing in classical guitar repair. The necks on those generally are not easy to be re-set and in most cases this type of thing is done with a mini block plane. One ot two passes over the bridge/saddle slot area and you are good to go. Just touch up the bare wood and no one knows the difference and now you have enough saddle height again.

 

Thanks for tip!

[hrcnsfan]

This post has really made me miss my sweet ol' FG335. Traded it some years back for some equipment I don't have anymore and never really needed in the first place. Mom bought it new for my step-dad to learn on back in '78 or '79. It never really caught on for him so I adopted it.......really miss it. Good luck with your old "Yammies".

[Ohioarrow]

Hey, I have a late 70's Yamaha FG340 that is simply beautiful and the nicest sounding guitar I have ever played, but the action is way high and the saddle on the bridge is already as low as it can be. Is there any way to fix this other than having the neck reset? The techs won't even touch it since they say the guitar isn't worth what it would cost to have it done.

 

The heck with the techs, the FG 340 is a sweet sounding instrument. I got advice in another thread that lowered the action on mine. Freeman and OGP fixed me up.

 

I am currently in the process of restoring mine, a previous owner didn't treat her very well. But I will say this, I will never get rid of that instrument. It's the sweetest sounding (and playing) low end guitar I have every messed with.

 

Don't listen to the tech's the guitar is worth the hassle

[happy hours]

 

I do really love the tone and looks of this guitar. I guess I just need to find the right luthier. Anyone have any recommendations for the Eastern North Carolina region??

 

 

you can e-mail this guy and see if he will look at it for you.

 

http://http://davenportguitars.com/sitemap.aspx

 

if he does let me know so I can get him to look at my 180

[butthreeleftsdo]

I hate to resurrect such an old thread, but I just picked up a mint condition 1977 FG 340 for $250 from the original owner. The guy said he probably didn't play it more than a half dozen times and based on the condition, it's not hard to believe. It also has the nicest back I have ever seen on this particular model guitar. When I got it, the action was around 3/16" at the 12th fret, and it still had the original strings, luckily they were loose. I took about an 1/8" off of the saddle and put a set of 011 Elixirs on it, and now it fairly rings. Next string change will be a set of 012 Elixirs, and a bone saddle and pins. Here's a couple pics

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]329163[/ATTACH]

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]329164[/ATTACH]

[FretFiend.]

Well, I was wondering who was responsible for raising a zombie thread, but man, that old guitar looks pretty good. Finding one like that is a stroke of luck.