Best Vintage Yamaha's..?

[Kitchen Guitars]

I agree. The "Hype" has made the FG180 overpriced for what she is. Do not be fooled by the Chinese FG180. It is a different beast. The one I saw was of poor build quality. It had a 3 piece back. The same with the FG300. It is really the King of lams but they tend to sell for more than I would think fair market would be
That said. Try and find anything that plays like them!

[Weird Snake Joe]

I agree. The "Hype" has made the FG180 overpriced for what she is. Do not be fooled by the Chinese FG180. It is a different beast. The one I saw was of poor build quality. It had a 3 piece back. The same with the FG300. It is really the King of lams but they tend to sell for more than I would think fair market would be
That said. Try and find anything that plays like them!

When you say "Chinese," do you mean the Taiwanese makes, like the one Elliott Smith played? I heard that the Taiwanese ones were actually better than the Japanese ones, and the only thing making the red-label ones more desirable were just that: the labels.

Seems like I see more 180's than I care to. They always sell with the "Red Label/Nippon Gakki" thing, too, which makes me wonder just how good or truthful they are. I also wonder if they found a 340 and stopped loving their 180...

[Antonio Salieri]

Originally Posted by sneaky

the Suzukis have been discovered...by me...I have a few of them, some high ends some not, but they all sound great to my ears.


my 1950 Kiso-Suzuki...under $250.00...all solid wood...




...

Whoa! Now that's sweet. How does she play & sound?

[Kitchen Guitars]

Originally Posted by Weird Snake Joe

When you say "Chinese," do you mean the Taiwanese makes, like the one Elliott Smith played? I heard that the Taiwanese ones were actually better than the Japanese ones, and the only thing making the red-label ones more desirable were just that: the labels.

Seems like I see more 180's than I care to. They always sell with the "Red Label/Nippon Gakki" thing, too, which makes me wonder just how good or truthful they are. I also wonder if they found a 340 and stopped loving their 180...

It was the Black with Gold Label (not the Japan one). I think it said China. I saw it one time 2 years + ago

[Fatstrat]

I own a FG 340. LOVE IT!

[JLS]

Originally Posted by guitarmanrlk

I just finished playing my FG-75 Yammie. It is an all laminate guitar, but if you heard it you wouldn't know that it wasn't a solid top guitar. I don't know how the Japanese did it, but my guitar sounds awesome. You can get one for about $120 or less on Evilbay.

Yep, they did miracles with plywood...

[sneaky]

that Kiso sounds as good as it looks. Has a fairly hard V neck but it`s chunky so more comfy than a hard V on an electric.

[centerpunch]

The FG180's are going for higher prices these days because that guitar is really good, and it's the only vintage Yamaha most people have even heard of.

Remember, the sellers can't make the selling prices go up, only the buyers can. I do agree that you can probably find better deals on an FG180 elsewhere if you are patient.

There are apparently more than a few folks who would rather have a pretty neat vintage guitar than buy a new off-the-shelf guitar like everyone else's.

All that said, I am probably going to sell off a few duplicates shortly, probably selling one or two FG550 (12-string version of FG500), an FG630 (12 string version of FG580), and maybe one FG500. (Plus a 60's Fender Jaguar.)

I'll post details and photos in a few weeks.

[mcduffnw]

So what IS your price range you want to stay within? Any particular body shape/size you prefer?

That would help us vintage Yamaha folks give you an idea of what to look for.

Understand too, that the "good" vintage Yamaha's can be hard to find, as they were never marketed here in the US, just mostly Japan, and a little bit in Europe, and just a tiny few made it here to the US.


duff
Be A Player...Not A Polisher

[merlin666]

My first guitar and my first "good" guitar were both Nagoya Suzuki 3S and I still own them but don't really play them any more. As I am mainly a 12-string player I would be very intrigued by a Yamaha FG-2500.