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I have a Yamaha FG230. I've straightened the neck, new bone nut/saddle, JLD bridge doctor. When I put a straightedge to the bridge, it touches 3/32 below the high point on the bridge (see pic). The bridge from the guitar top to the high point is 10/32. The saddle is 4/32 above the bridge. The low E string at the 12th fret is 4/32. Should I consider this a candidate for neck reset or work on the saddle and bridge?

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Lee, I'm sure you will get lots more advice but it seems to me that going any lower on the saddle will ruin the break angle unless you shave the bridge first. Even if you do that, you will still face a reset down the road if you want to keep this guitar with the added complexity of replacing the bridge and saddle. If it were mine ( and I could figure out how to get the neck joint apart) I would just do the reset now or live with the action as is.

Hi Ned.Thanks for the reply. For now, I'm gonna play it the way it is and see if I can deal with it until I've had practice on doing neck resets on the lesser expensive guitars I have.

Yup, reset time! 


 I don't even try to steam Yamaha necks out anymore.  Getting the goddam fingerboard extension loose, is trouble enough; when you've got the glue hot enough to let loose, you've also heated the glue in the plies of the top, so it's never clean.

That said, old Yamaha are worth it.  Fix it up, and your great-grandchildren will play it!

Hello Jeffrey. Thanks for your reply. If you don't steam then would you mind describing how you do get the neck off? I have the stuff to steam and I also have a Japanese flush cut saw. I'd like to know how you do it so I can practice until I feel confident I can do a good job. Looking forward to hearing from you.

I don't have any problem getting the fingerboard extension off.  After that, see Frank Ford's article on using an autopsy bone saw (those vibrating saws you can get almost everywhere are fine)  to saw the heel off.  Then using furniture bolts, turn it into a bolt on.  You'll have an incredibly playable old yamaha.

Hi Fred. Thanks for the reply. I'll go back and read Frank's article again. I wasn't sure which way to go to get the neck off.

Funny, I've got a red label here with a fingerboard extension that simply won't come off. Mine is from Taiwan, so maybe there is a particular iteration of Asian mystery glue that was used on some Yamahas and not others?

Fred-

You're just cooking them off?  Tell all!

I couldn't agree more, about reviving old Yamahas.  I use 1/4-20 hangerbolts.

http://s294.photobucket.com/albums/mm91/yundev/FG150%20Saw-off%20ne...

Just a quick 'clarification' on "red label" Yamaha's:

Although some Taiwanese Yamies have red labels, the cool & somewhat collectible ones are the red labels that say Nippon Gakki (translation: Made in Japan). The MIJ FG's are much better designed & built instruments.

Let's also not forget that the MIJ FG's were sold as "beginners" instruments.  I bought my first FG180* in late 1969 for $90 including a hardshell case. The fact that so many were bought, have survived AND are still seen on stages worldwide is testament to their original design & build quality. Were they "fine" quality? No, but they were of "great utility" quality.

After production of the FG series left the Japanese mainland, their quality was lessened (by design) to keep the guitars in the $150-$200 street price range. 

The  solid top FG style guitar made in Japan is now called the LL series.  They street in the $500 range and are a completely different "class" of guitar (night & day 'better') entirely from the Taiwan made FG's.

IMO: unless it's a MIJ Yamaha, I stay away from them.

Best of luck(:

* I bought 6 FG 180's from the same dealer over a 16 month period.  Whenever I took my 180 on campus, all the guys playing D-28's & J-45's would stop & check out my "rice burner". They were amazed by the Yamaha. 

So, I'd sell them mine (for exactly what I'd paid.....the greedy lure of capitalism hadn't set in yet) and go back to the dealer and buy another.  My fellow players were happy & the dealer gave me great deals on everything for the next decade(: 

BTW:  I was introduced to the FG180 by that dealer.  I walked into his shop in '69 with $450 in my pocket to buy a new & beautiful Gibson Dove he had.  He took me to the side and asked me if I wanted a guitar that played & sounded better for less than a fourth the price of the Dove.  I was leery until I played the 180. At that point, they had a fan for life (of the MIJ FG's).  We don't see that kind of commercial altruism nowadays, do we?

BTW: The FG 180 laid the Gibson Dove (WITH the TOM bridge..possibly Gibson's first venture into WTF engineering) to waste in a side by side.  Sonically, it was like comparing a plastic uke to a D-28.

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