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Old 05-09-2012, 01:53 AM
steveyam steveyam is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Chinodinho View Post
Hi guys I was just wondering, why is it that Yamaha "Red Label" guitars are so expensive for an all laminate guitar. Also, why are they so desirable?
You know, it's more of a myth than a hard fact that they are "so desirable". Why do I say that? Well, I'm always scanning the internet and indeed buying red label (and other) early Yamahas, and you know what? you can buy them at relativley cheap prices; I just bought an FG512-12 in excellent condition for £94, and I also bought an FG-360 for £155. The FG-360 is a veritable cannon of a guitar and is essentially the same guitar as the sought after 300, but without the fancy scratchplate and the adjustable bridge.

Yes, there are quite a few afficianados and 'appreciators' of the early FGs, but in general they do not command a high price when you consider what you are getting for your money. What I'm saying is, they are a bargain! But anway, I'm clearly not trying to hide the fact how good/good value they are, and so long as people continue to (generally) ignore that, and allow them to be sold for low prices, I'm happy to buy them!

Incidentally, the 140 is a great bargain. Most people refer to (and seek) the 180 as being the D-18 clone, but the 140 is also, and it too is a cannon. You can buy them from £120 to £250.

Also note, the red label does not always mean 'made in Japan'. The Japanese ones actually say 'Nippon Gakki'. I'm not qualified to comment on whether the Thai red label guitars compare favourably with the Japanese ones, having not owned one. I'm certainly not 'pre-prejudiced' against them if one came my way.

Some info:

Look at page 3 of this brochure, there's a Yamaha acoustic guitar timeline:

http://www.giles.com/yamaha1/pdf/bro...rs/AG_sogo.pdf

If you then want to know more about a specific model from that brochure, take the model number and insert it here (no gap between letters and numbers):

http://www.yamaha.com/apps/guitararc...hive2.asp?t=ac
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