Yamaha's answer re: solid or laminate

[guit30]

Here's a link to what my yammie 12 looked like

http://www.angelfire.com/music4/starlight_w/

Jim:lol:

[babablowfish]

 

6 String Jumbo

 

 

The 6 string Jumbos listed are (with perhaps a few exceptions) not Jumbos, they are Dreadnoughts.

[Queequeg]

baba, you am the yammy swami!

[babablowfish]

baba, you am the yammy swami!

 

[Bamadawg]

Thats what Yamaha called them tho. The DW Series are the only ones they call their "top-of-the-line" "full-size" dreadnought. The FG-75 was called a "Spanish Body" and the "Folk Body" was later called a "Semi-Jumbo".

 

Further reading last nite in the Yamaha History Book states that the FG-500 was the first solid-top guitar they produced. Late 60's early 70's - the "high-end/handbuilt" series, very collectible they say.

 

I have read that some info on the Yamaha site isn't 100% accurate, and probably hasn't been corrected/updated in awhile as far as their timeline/models back then.

 

 

The 6 string Jumbos listed are (with perhaps a few exceptions) not Jumbos, they are Dreadnoughts.

 

[babablowfish]

Thats what Yamaha called them tho. The DW Series are the only ones they call their "top-of-the-line" "full-size" dreadnought. The FG-75 was called a "Spanish Body" and the "Folk Body" was later called a "Semi-Jumbo". Further reading last nite in the Yamaha History Book states that the FG-500 was the first solid-top guitar they produced. Late 60's early 70's - the "high-end/handbuilt" series, very collectible they say. I have read that some info on the Yamaha site isn't 100% accurate, and probably hasn't been corrected/updated in awhile as far as their timeline/models back then.

 

I wasn't criticizing you. I just happen to have 3 of the Yamahas listed and they all are Dreads. I also have a Jumbo so the difference is clear. This won't be the first or last time that info on the web was less than accurate. Hell, for all you know the info you got is right on and I am full of it.

[Bamadawg]

No criticism taken!

 

Go here:

 

http://www.giles.com/yamaha1/pdf_base.html

 

Under "Guitars" click "Acoustic" - a .pdf will download - page 3-4 has their timeline and models.

 

Nate

[zenbu]

 

Further reading last nite in the Yamaha History Book states that the FG-500 was the first solid-top guitar they produced. Late 60's early 70's - the "high-end/handbuilt" series, very collectible they say. I have read that some info on the Yamaha site isn't 100% accurate, and probably hasn't been corrected/updated in awhile as far as their timeline/models back then.

 

 

 

not sure where that info comes from because as I said, the Dynamics were all solid wood and made well before the FGs appeared. Perhaps the first solid top FG?...that could be. The FGs were not even the first guitars Yamaha exported...they did make some Dynamics destined for other markets...the # s 30, 50 and 70 as well as the #15. And the problem with split tops occured when they began shipping overseas, which led to them experimenting with laminates...but now I`m repeating myself.

[moga]

Great insight..

 

i own FG-500 and love the guitar and the sounds great!!

[Grant Harding]

I've worked on a whole bunch of laminate Yamahas over the years and I have to say that they did a VERY good job on most of them to make the edges of the soundhole look like solid wood rather than ply (OK laminate if the term offends). I believe that's got a whole bunch to do with the mystique and misinformation that floats around. If you really want to be sure, compare the grain inside with the grain outside to see if they match.

 

To my ears they sound lound and boomy without the subtle overtones and harmonics that high quality solid wood guitars provide, but a life of people stating that these sound WAY better than $5000 hand made guitars has convinced me that my ears are poked and must be replaced.

[zenbu]

and now I can add a little to the last post I entered above...I recently read the Dynamics were in fact NOT made by Yamaha but made for Yamaha by Suzuki and/or Tenryu, goes a long way in explaining why Yamaha always seems to ignore the Dynamics when discussing their history, guess they don`t consider them Yamahas even though evidently they`d been designing guitars since the `40s, they didn`t have a facility to build them `til Mr. Hideo Ueda was transferred from the Yamaha Motor division to the guitar division to set up production in `64/`65.

[babablowfish]

and now I can add a little to the last post I entered above...I recently read the Dynamics were in fact NOT made by Yamaha but made for Yamaha by Suzuki and/or Tenryu, goes a long way in explaining why Yamaha always seems to ignore the Dynamics when discussing their history, guess they don`t consider them Yamahas even though evidently they`d been designing guitars since the `40s, they didn`t have a facility to build them `til Mr. Hideo Ueda was transferred from the Yamaha Motor division to the guitar division to set up production in `64/`65.

 

Thanks for that info.

[Hamhand]

Woohoo flashback. I remember. Great info. If I don't forget it again....

[Delphinius Hume]

Hmm... Interesting.

[GuitarmanUGA]

If this is true then why do my sides and the back have the same wood grain on the inside as on the outside? Also, how did they ever manage to get it to look like the same wood grain all the way through the top which is evident when looking at the worn spot on the sound hole on my FG150 from a previous owner? That's some awfully amazing detail all for nothing!

 

I tried to upload some pics from my phone but it won't let me, says the size is too big.

[DeepEnd]

If this is true then why do my sides and the back have the same wood grain on the inside as on the outside? Also, how did they ever manage to get it to look like the same wood grain all the way through the top which is evident when looking at the worn spot on the sound hole on my FG150 from a previous owner? That's some awfully amazing detail all for nothing!

 

I tried to upload some pics from my phone but it won't let me, says the size is too big.

I dunno, my Alvarez RD10 beater has grain on the inside that runs at a right angle to the grain on the outside but beyond that wood grain pretty much looks like wood grain. Anyway, you can believe whatever you want but according to the OP, who is a standup guy, Yamaha support says the guitars in question have laminated tops and it is vanishingly rare to have a laminated top and solid back and sides.

As for uploading pics, there are a number of sites that will let you resize pics online: https://www.bing.com/search?q=resize+pictures+online+free&qs=AS&pq=resize+pictures+online&sk=HS1&sc=6-22&sp=2&cvid=967DF280E5A14F15A456548FB22DC846&FORM=QBRE. One of them should work with your phone. Personally, I do stuff like that on a computer, using a specialized image editing program. Finally, welcome to the Forum but you might have better luck starting a new thread rather than reviving one that's more than nine years old.

[GuitarmanUGA]

I dunno, my Alvarez RD10 beater has grain on the inside that runs at a right angle to the grain on the outside but beyond that wood grain pretty much looks like wood grain. Anyway, you can believe whatever you want but according to the OP, who is a standup guy, Yamaha support says the guitars in question have laminated tops and it is vanishingly rare to have a laminated top and solid back and sides.

As for uploading pics, there are a number of sites that will let you resize pics online: https://www.bing.com/search?q=resize...C846&FORM=QBRE. One of them should work with your phone. Personally, I do stuff like that on a computer, using a specialized image editing program. Finally, welcome to the Forum but you might have better luck starting a new thread rather than reviving one that's more than nine years old.

 

Well, the more responses I've read, which I should've done before, I'm learning that Yamaha made it very difficult to determine if it is laminate or not with the naked eye. I guess that's my fault for not reading more.

 

 

Either way, my little FG150 is a tough guitar. I love how it looks, it is still shiny but it also has those small blemishes that only come with time and give the instrument character. It was my first so I'll always love it, even if it isn't a Taylor, Martin, or Gibson, lol.

 

Oh, and I just noticed the date on this thread after you said that, lol. I can't believe I did that. I learned my lesson on the F150 truck forum I'm on, you'd think I would have carried that over to here.

[DeepEnd]

^ No worries. It happens. Be sure to come back again. We need new blood.

[onelife]

I have a Yamaha F-310 which, when I bought it, was the cheapest guitar that Yamaha made. It cost $175 about ten years ago. They don't even try to hide the fact that it is laminate.

 

The intonation is spot on and the guitar sounds so good that I gave away my Gibson jumbo - that's not as drastic as it sounds because the guy I gave the Gibson to had given me a Les Paul a year or so earlier and the reason I gave it to him was because I wasn't using it. The Yamaha served me well for both live and recording

[GuitarmanUGA]

So apparently laminate is quite common in guitars. I've been playing since 1997 off and on, but I'm still quite novice to the art, lol. I was looking at a beautiful Taylor 114ce Grand Auditorium today and played it. Beautiful sound, and upon educating myself on the guitar I have found out it has a solid tip but laminate sides and back. I really love the Yamaha FG700S, I had to sell mine when I got out of the military. It has a solid top as well. I have yet to find a guitar shop that doesn't like that model and it's not a bad priced guitar at all. I think one would look great hanging beside my FG150.

[DeepEnd]

So apparently laminate is quite common in guitars. I've been playing since 1997 off and on' date=' but I'm still quite novice to the art, lol. I was looking at a beautiful Taylor 114ce Grand Auditorium today and played it. Beautiful sound, and upon educating myself on the guitar I have found out it has a solid tip but laminate sides and back. I really love the Yamaha FG700S, I had to sell mine when I got out of the military. It has a solid top as well. I have yet to find a guitar shop that doesn't like that model and it's not a bad priced guitar at all. I think one would look great hanging beside my FG150.[/quote']

Laminated wood is fairly common in lower-end guitars and even some fairly nice ones. If you see a Yairi guitar it will probably have laminated back and sides. The 114ce you played is a nice guitar but distinctly low end for a Taylor, thus the laminated back and sides. You'd have to go up to the 3XX series to get an all solid Taylor. There are all solid guitars in the lower priced realm but whether they're "better" than more expensive guitars with laminated backs and sides is debatable. The FG700S, gets a lot of love hereabouts, along with the FG720S and FG730S, so I'm not surprised your local shops like it.

[FretFiend.]

^This. Couldn't say it better myself.

 

The date of the last post in the thread you responded to was January of 2009. You'll have a better chance of getting your questions answered if you start a new thread instead of reviving a seven year old thread.