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NGD -- Yamaha FG 450S


missedmyexit

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Ok first off I think this is my third NGD this year so at some point I am going to have to inquire on when the group meetings are. I'm not sure this counts though since it was a gift.

 

Yamaha FG 450s

 

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I am guessing it's circa 1988. I did some google work last night and the serial number gives me 78 88 or 98. The model according to bluebook was made 89-94 Solid Spruce top the wood that beings with the letter "O" back and sides (I forget the name of the wood but really can there be many woods that begin with the letter O and are tone woods it is not OAK)

 

The Jumbo I had shipped up from NY wasn't for me. It sounded very thin and not at all Jumbo like. I wanted to like the sound cause I liked the look of it but in the end couldn't do it. I mentioned this guitar in a previous post, it had busted bridge pins, a couple nickle electric strings mixed with some old cruddy brass wound strings. The Neck had a thick layer of caked dirt. I asked the guy at Daddys if he could restring it and offered to pay for the strings if he wanted.

 

He did restring it, replaced the bridge pins, and scrubbed down the fret board.

It had a little buzzing at the store but I noticed that someone filed grooves into the saddle. Think of someone filing a saddle like it was a nut, very strange. This dropped the action way to low. I pointed this out and the sales person told me he could send it the shop to get a free setup if I bought it. I decided to just get a new saddle not wanted to wait the 15 day turn around. All they had was the cheap pre formed plastic saddles. I will be replacing this asap.

 

Went home replaced the saddle, it raised the action to 2/32's at the 12th fret. 98% of the buzzing is now gone. I also ran through a couple of Freeman's tests.

 

As mentioned action is 2/32 at the 12th fret. When I put the ruler across the frets to check the neck angle the bottom of the rulers bottom edge lines up slightly BELOW the top of the bridge. If I am reading Freeman's post correctly this means I have a neck problem. The question is what kind of neck problem?

 

I am happy with the overall sound of it. I'll give more in depth review once we've spent more time together.

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Happy NGD, and the third this year? Are we to anticipate nine more before January 1, 2009?


Bill

 

 

Ha! not if I plan on seeing 2009. I think from now to the end of the year I'm going to focus any extra money into learning how to play them. Thinking of taking some lessons. Just haven't decided what I want to take lessons on.

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Nice guitar!

 

I usually set my 12th fret action at 4/64" (2/32") on the high E and 5/64" on the low E. I take the action down as low as possible at the nut (the strings almost touch the 1st fret when I fret the 2nd fret).

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Ok first off I think this is my third NGD this year so at some point
I am going to have to inquire on when the group meetings are. I'm not sure this counts though since it was a gift.

Yamaha FG 450s


yam1.JPG

yam2.JPG

yamhs.JPG

I am happy with the overall sound of it. I'll give more in depth review once we've spent more time together.

 

The fact you made that statement means, you're in denial. But we'll let this slide since it's a Yammie. Any other purchases after the FG-450S, we're doing an intervention. :poke: Congrats on the Yam, ya know I :love: 'um. Look forward to the review.

 

 

Trina

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Went home replaced the saddle, it raised the action to 2/32's at the 12th fret. 98% of the buzzing is now gone. I also ran through a couple of Freeman's tests.


As mentioned action is 2/32 at the 12th fret. When I put the ruler across the frets to check the neck angle the bottom of the rulers bottom edge lines up slightly BELOW the top of the bridge. If I am reading Freeman's post correctly this means I have a neck problem. The question is what kind of neck problem?


I am happy with the overall sound of it. I'll give more in depth review once we've spent more time together.

 

 

Sweet, a happy goat for sure! Slightly below the bridge isn't bad, half way between the bridge an top is something to worry about. Looking at the pictures (first, all I can say is "nice") it looks like there is a moderate amount of saddle sticking out - if you raise the action 1/32 (which I would) you will get 1/16 more at the bridge. That is really the bottom line on the neck angle - if your action is acceptable AND you have around 1/8 inch of saddle sticking out you should be good to go. Get the saddle fixed and enjoy that puppy!

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Ok first off I think this is my third NGD this year so at some point I am going to have to inquire on when the group meetings are. I'm not sure this counts though since it was a gift. . . .


. . . Solid Spruce top the wood that beings with the letter "O" back and sides (I forget the name of the wood but really can there be many woods that begin with the letter O and are tone woods it is not OAK) . . .


. . . As mentioned action is 2/32 at the 12th fret. When I put the ruler across the frets to check the neck angle the bottom of the rulers bottom edge lines up slightly BELOW the top of the bridge. If I am reading Freeman's post correctly this means I have a neck problem. The question is what kind of neck problem? . . .

Your third this year?? Holy cow, man, it's barely April! At this rate, you'll have amassed 10 or more by year's end.

 

The wood you're thinking of is probably ovangkol.

 

I generally shoot for 3/32" at the 12th fret for the low E and 2/32" for the high E so you're in the ballpark.

 

As for the neck, if the ruler hits 1/16" below the top of the bridge, that's only about 1/3 degree off from ideal. Not bad at all for a 20-year-old guitar. A ruler hits 3/32" below the top of the bridge on our daughter's 30-year-old Epi and that's only about half a degree. As long as you have plenty of saddle sticking out of the bridge, don't worry about it. As I said, the action still sounds a tad low to me. Anyway, congratulations and I hope you recover from your addiction. ;)

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