Members Yamaneck Posted July 4, 2010 Author Members Share Posted July 4, 2010 "Playability Improvements" ? The seller should have spent his $400.00 a little bit more wisely and had the Yam's neck reset. Yep! FG150s, by the way, are killer guitars, when setup right...which nearly always means a neck reset. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members frailer5 Posted July 7, 2010 Members Share Posted July 7, 2010 Glad I tripped over this thread, as it fills in the last few blanks on the page. I bought a '75 FG-150J from a Japanese 'home dealer'. I guess. (I'm in Australia). I simply love this guitar. I think I paid about AUD$175, plus about $190 freight. I was a babe-in-the-woods on these then, but he had really good Picasa gallery of it, so was reasonably confident. To cut a long story short, when I got it, the action was a bit high. Took it to a setup guy who diagnosed mild neck-angle shift, and was able to lower saddle only. His next level would have been a bridge-shave, but he didn't have to, at this stage, at least. Interestingly, I was under the assumption too, that it was solid top. I felt a bit of a goose when he told me that it was a lammy, but he quickly reassured me it was a 'good guitar'. Now I can't walk past it without picking it up. It's what Yamaha must have called a 'Southern Jumbo"...of sorts. anyway...More of a dreadbo, really. The body depth is less than a full dread, which suits me fine. I love the tone. Oh, it's a Black Label...not red. P.S. Setup guy says a neck reset would 'not be worth it' on this guitar. By this, I take it he meant that the reset would cost more than the guitar would sell for. But if you loved the thing, you may have it done anyway, correct? What's ball-park $$ for a competent neck reset? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted July 7, 2010 Members Share Posted July 7, 2010 Glad I tripped over this thread, as it fills in the last few blanks on the page. I bought a '75 FG-150J from a Japanese 'home dealer'. I guess. (I'm in Australia). I simply love this guitar. I think I paid about AUD$175, plus about $190 freight. I was a babe-in-the-woods on these then, but he had really good Picasa gallery of it, so was reasonably confident. To cut a long story short, when I got it, the action was a bit high. Took it to a setup guy who diagnosed mild neck-angle shift, and was able to lower saddle only. His next level would have been a bridge-shave, but he didn't have to, at this stage, at least. Interestingly, I was under the assumption too, that it was solid top. I felt a bit of a goose when he told me that it was a lammy, but he quickly reassured me it was a 'good guitar'. Now I can't walk past it without picking it up. It's what Yamaha must have called a 'Southern Jumbo"...of sorts. anyway...More of a dreadbo, really. The body depth is less than a full dread, which suits me fine. I love the tone. Oh, it's a Black Label...not red. P.S. Setup guy says a neck reset would 'not be worth it' on this guitar. By this, I take it he meant that the reset would cost more than the guitar would sell for. But if you loved the thing, you may have it done anyway, correct? What's ball-park $$ for a competent neck reset? Don't let anyone shave the bridge - that is not the correct fix and can result in other problems. Going rate for a neck reset on a normal dovetail is about $300 US. That should include a new nut (probably) and saddle (certainly) and a good setup. Because of the potential problems resetting Yammies I can't say for sure - Yamaneck says they can be reset in the usual fashion, others report difficulty with them. There are other options to correcting the neck angle, but if it will pop with heat/moisture the cost should be around 300. I'm building up steam (pun intended) to reset my old FG-180 later this year - wonderful old guitar that I love dearly but don't play much because of the high action (I keep it in open C and play a lot of slide and Kottke/Fahey on it). Here's a couple of pics of it over almost 40 years http://www.thekrashsite.com/annex/freeman.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members frailer5 Posted July 7, 2010 Members Share Posted July 7, 2010 Thanks FK. Good info! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted July 7, 2010 Members Share Posted July 7, 2010 Thanks FK. Good info! Btw - welcome. There are several big fans of older Yamahas here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members zenbu Posted July 7, 2010 Members Share Posted July 7, 2010 when I got my FG-170...my only FG but not my only old Yamaha...I would have bet that it was a solid top however when I got it home and looked with my watchmakers loupe I saw a paper thin upper layer...a thicker mid layer with another paper thin bottom layer. From what I`ve gathered it`s from the early `70s...cool little guitar but by no means my best sounding old Yamaha. FGs are everywhere here, stands to reason I guess since this is Japan, but I`m after certain FGs, and I doubt I`ll find one locally and even if I do they will not be cheap...never know, I`ve had more than my share of luck with old MIJs so far but I ain`t holding my breath. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Yamaneck Posted July 7, 2010 Author Members Share Posted July 7, 2010 when I got my FG-170...my only FG but not my only old Yamaha...I would have bet that it was a solid top however when I got it home and looked with my watchmakers loupe I saw a paper thin upper layer...a thicker mid layer with another paper thin bottom layer. From what I`ve gathered it`s from the early `70s...cool little guitar but by no means my best sounding old Yamaha. FGs are everywhere here, stands to reason I guess since this is Japan, but I`m after certain FGs, and I doubt I`ll find one locally and even if I do they will not be cheap...never know, I`ve had more than my share of luck with old MIJs so far but I ain`t holding my breath. They fooled nearly everyone; I've had heated exchanges w/dealers who insist that they're solid topped guitars. The FG170 was the successor to the FG150, very nice guitars, too. Yamaha did wonders with plywood, all's I can say... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Yamaneck Posted July 7, 2010 Author Members Share Posted July 7, 2010 Well, yes, but they're rarely a walk in the park... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members zenbu Posted July 8, 2010 Members Share Posted July 8, 2010 yeah the 170`s OK...not nearly my best Yamaha. One of my Japan Vintage books on acoustics has an extensive article on Yamaha with tons of pics and lots of models listed by year...I go to it often and it has been an invaluable source for information. Theres another volume with added info on the Dynamics, that book came later so they had additional data for it. The third in the acoustic series is dedicated to Morris guitars and I don`t have that one `cause I know about the Morris acoustics I own, they are from the last decade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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