Grant Harding

....

My understanding is that this brand was manufactured by Tokai, then Suzuki. Seems like they have a Yamaha FG180 mystique going on. 

Not if you use NOS Russian contact cement from 1952.

Congrats! That's a fine looking geetar!

I wouldn't worry about the little fret blemish if you can't feel it. Make up a little story, like that's where you knocked out a guy's tooth in a bar fight. 😀

I'm still on cork-sniffer duty. 

Nice job! I've had a couple of those fishing expeditions as well. Good for you getting it done without smashing the whole thing.

I'm always amazed at how many guitars leave the factory with too tall nut slots and never get tweaked. When I do set ups for friends I normally take these closer to the limit, allowing for a smidge of wear. The results are almost always "Is this the same guitar? How did you make it so much easier to play?"

On 3/9/2009 at 3:57 PM, M1K3999 said:

Who cares, he will out shred anyone.

He should try music for a change.

I'm now convinced that the dumpster diving by one post wonders is an underhanded way for some marketing person to get the stats up. It's ruining what's left of the forums.

Both of these dumpster divers joined the forum just to post this nonsense on a decade old thread. Bot much?

Victor is a victim of his own incredible skill. Anyone that's listened to his work with Bela Fleck knows that he can play slow and tastefully, but I think the clinics and his reputation as a super technician have led to over-playing. I also think people like him can get bored, like a caged tiger. Why play 1 great note when you can spray slapped 16th notes?

Nice work!

I've worked on several old FGs and I played an FG180 for decades. I think they braced them lightly to allow for more bass and that's what made everyone flip out over them in the day. 

Unfortunately when compared to higher end guitars with solid woods there's just no comparison. The mid punch just isn't there and there are way less overtones, so they sound anemic.

Ah - the old "my laminated FG slays high end acoustics" schtick. So nostalgic. Can you say loose, overpowering bass and weak midrange with no snap?

😃

Zombie thread from a fake member, bumped out of the trash by other fake members. This is a new low. 😃

Where am I?????????

I think the first number is the month and the last 2 are the year. So probably March 1935 at a guess.

Pretty sure DR manufacture their own strings as well.

Fair comment. They're great bang for the buck though.

I'll be over here with my cork collection...

Have a look at Reverend as well. They make excellent guitars.

Epiphones are good guitars, but by design must not be better than their Gibson cousins. This would probably have been a decent one until it had it's accident, but I wouldn't buy it.

Fair enough - I don't have a clue what the actual impact of the bridge plate is tonally. Seems like the sort of thing that can have a real significant effect.

I made a DIY plate-mate for my old FG450SA out of a chunk of ebony that I glued in place, so the strings had little chamfered holes to lock into. Since my brother had exactly the same guitar I got to hear them side by side for years before and after. My take is that it lost a bit of the dreadnought big bottom and got more articulate with more sustain. Fun party trick to pull a bridge pin out between songs, examine it, then stick it back in. The guitarists in the crowd go WTF?

That's looking really good.

Does the choice of bridge plate material and size affect the stiffness? Is ebony an option to bring you back from the edge of stiffness and tighten up the articulation?

Is this the part where I show up and say I don't believe it's solid wood or capable of shaming a nice Martin or is that 2017?

Looking good so far. Thanks for sharing.