Members kydog Posted December 12, 2008 Members Share Posted December 12, 2008 new guy looking for information - Yamaha FG12-301, years made, solid top. solid b/s, made of what ya know what I mean any info would help . Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tincob Posted December 12, 2008 Members Share Posted December 12, 2008 Pictures would help. You have one of the label so you should have others... Anyway, looking at the Yamaha archive site, one would find FG301 Year(s) Sold: 1975-78 Top: Ezo Spruce Back / Sides: Indian Rosewood (3 Piece Back) Neck: African Mahogany Fingerboard: Indian Rosewood Bridge: Indian Rosewood Color(s): Natural String Length: 636mm Notes: No MSRP/No US distribution So my guess would be that you have a 12 string version of this. Typically Yamaha would say that the wood is solid if it was, so again my guess is that you have a laminate guitar. That's not necessarily a bad thing as some old laminate Yammys sounded great. There are a lot of lammy Yammy lovers on this board. Hope this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kydog Posted December 13, 2008 Author Members Share Posted December 13, 2008 front and back photo's. My luther says that the top is solid along with the back and sides. I dont know but will take his word for it. Flat out beautiful sound. Compared to my fg-260 and my fg-230 red lables from japan (nippon gakki), this guitar eats them both up as far as tone and volume. well I hope the photo's work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members OldGuitarPlayer Posted December 13, 2008 Members Share Posted December 13, 2008 That's a beauty! As far as I know...if the model number doesn't include the letter "S" for "solid" it's not a solid top or body. Most of the older FG series guitars seem to have been laminates. Your luthier might think the top is solid because Yamaha did a very good job of making it look that way. Either way...it's how it sounds that counts and I bet it sounds really good. How is it to play? Do you tune it to standard tuning or do you tune it down a half or whole step down? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members babablowfish Posted December 13, 2008 Members Share Posted December 13, 2008 Very pretty! Yamaha really had the technique of making laminates that looked like and sounded like solids. Lots of folks here have had Yammie Lammies that swore that their's was solid because they sounded so good. It is a good idea to tune it down a full step to keep it from pulling itself apart from the string tension. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kydog Posted December 13, 2008 Author Members Share Posted December 13, 2008 tuned to standard I could never get used to a cappo and don't like the rub marks on the back of the neck. Had a set up done a week ago with a new nut and saddle the top is as flat as the day I got her so tuning full has not hurt in any way Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members babablowfish Posted December 13, 2008 Members Share Posted December 13, 2008 tuned to standard I could never get used to a cappo and don't like the rub marks on the back of the neck. Had a set up done a week ago with a new nut and saddle the top is as flat as the day I got her so tuning full has not hurt in any way A good capo shouldn't ruin your neck. Yammies are built like tanks so if it works for you, go for it. But, you might want to reconsider using a capo just because they can be so useful in allowing you to play a song with open chords in a key that matches where you want to be vocally. I rarely play without a capo. I use a Shubb and it hasn't hurt my finish any. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members zenbu Posted December 13, 2008 Members Share Posted December 13, 2008 yeah I`m one of those who would have lost a bet that my FG-170 was a solid top. But if the archives don`t mention solid, then I`d guess it ain`t, expecially the back and sides, my books say that even then Yamaha was listing the solid tops with an S, they also say the FG-301 and 301B retailed for 30,ooo yen in 1975 and `78 respectively. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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