The Acoustic Guitar Forum

Go Back   The Acoustic Guitar Forum > General Acoustic Guitar and Amplification Discussion > General Acoustic Guitar Discussion

Reply
 
Thread Tools
  #16  
Old 06-01-2011, 05:34 PM
TwoMartinMan TwoMartinMan is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Columbia, MD USA
Posts: 1,394
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by BergenCountyNJ View Post
You got a nice one, there TMM. I bought the same model in Ukiah, CA in 1979 or 80. It has taken a beating, and lost some of the great sound it had years ago. I have a couple for questions for you. I adjusted the neck recently by turning the nut all the way clockwise. It seems to have made a positive difference. I think I'm maxed out in that direction, though, and can only return counter-clockwise. It doesn't sound bad at this point. I put on a set of D'Addario bronze wound mediums on the 331, which might seem a bit heavy, but I'm taking the advice of Cheryl Wheeler, who told me she always uses DR 13's on her small body, handcrafted acoustic. Have you experimented with different strings, and do you have any suggestions as far as adjusting the truss rod is concerned.

Thanks. Great photos.
I'm mostly a fingerstyle player so I tend to adjust the necks of all my acoustic guitars to have very little relief to them. I like an almost flat neck with very low action. If it starts to buzz a bit due to humidity changes, I just back off the truss rod nut about an 1/8th of a turn and the buzz goes away. I can't say I've done much real experimenting, but I use either Elixir Light gauge Phospher Bronze Nanowebs, Martin SP 4100 phosphor bronze light gauge strings, or Martin Flex Core light gauge strings on most of my acoustics...even my dreadnoughts. Again, for fingerstyle playing, I've found these to work well for me but still give me plenty of volume for strumming. Mediums are a bit too stiff for me. I also feel that guitars will last longer before needing a neck reset with less string tension on the tops.
__________________
Martin HD-35, Martin D-35, Martin 000-28EC, Martin D-1, Martin DR, Martin DXM, Gibson J-45, Recording King RD-16, Lucida Concerto LG-777, Fender Stratocaster (8), Gibson ES-335, Gibson SG Standard (2), Epiphone ES-335 Pro LTD., Epiphone Lennon Casino, Epiphone Casino (Peerless), Epiphone Casino (China), Firefly FF-338
Reply With Quote
  #17  
Old 06-01-2011, 07:44 PM
BergenCountyNJ BergenCountyNJ is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 9
Default

Thanks TMM. I have a set of Martin lights somewhere that I will try. The D'Addario mediums are boomers though, and the harmonic balance is probably the best I've ever experienced while playing. Not many guitars can produce a sound like that. I am basically a strummer, so I get to hear all 6 strings at once while I sing, and the balance between them almost has a choral effect. Great instrument.
Reply With Quote
  #18  
Old 06-01-2011, 08:02 PM
00Buck's Avatar
00Buck 00Buck is offline
Charter Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2011
Posts: 1,811
Default

I had an fg 331 that I bought in 1979. It made the rounds through half a dozen relatives and came back to me a couple of years ago when I started playing again. It was pretty beat up by the time I got it back. Had a belly almost as big as mine. Put a JLD bridge doctor in it, buffed out scratches, put a bone saddle and new tuners in it. Nice guitar. It was a cannon, even with Martin MSP 4100's on it. Hard to believe that so much sound came out of a guitar so small.

I gave it away last fall so my recollection may not be entirely clear, but I thought it was closer to a 00 than a 000. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
Reply With Quote
  #19  
Old 06-02-2011, 07:15 AM
phxguy phxguy is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Phoenix, Arizona
Posts: 443
Default

I have an FG 331 that I bought from a coworker several years ago when I decided I wanted to take up guitar again. It was and still is in pristine condition. He had gotten it on a whim and decided that he wasn't interested in putting in the time and effort to learn how to play it. I agree that it has a wonderful tone and playability. When I went out last September to buy a higher end acoustic I had a really hard time finding one that really sounded much better than this Yamaha.
Reply With Quote
  #20  
Old 06-02-2011, 07:33 AM
B Chas B Chas is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: May 2009
Location: South Florida
Posts: 1,583
Default

I got a FG-331 I think in the late 70s. It’s been everywhere, never had a case and I never knew about humidification. It’s still a nice player, even after all these years.
Reply With Quote
  #21  
Old 06-02-2011, 08:02 PM
BergenCountyNJ BergenCountyNJ is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 9
Default

As things go, I started looking around on Craigslist and found a FG 331 for sale in a nearby town, checked it out tonight, and bought it on the spot for $150. It's in much better shape than the one I have, and the kid who sold it had put on a set of Elixir lights. I played it for a bit when I got home, and then re-strung it with my usual D'Addario mediums. I'll have to say with this one that the Elixir lights brought out more of the subtle sounds than the D'Addario mediums, but I will probably try out a set of D'Addario lights first, since I like the way D'Addario's ring, before going back to the Elixirs.
Reply With Quote
  #22  
Old 06-04-2011, 12:45 PM
BergenCountyNJ BergenCountyNJ is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 9
Default

Amazing difference with the light gauge D'Addarios that I put on this morning, but I have some questions I'm sure you guys can answer. I'm not familiar with the size references to 00 and 000. I've been playing over 50 years, and never got into the construction of guitars (wouldn't know a laminate from a spruce top, or whatever), and the 7 or so that I now own were bought purely for the sound, regardless of who made them, so you'll have to forgive me for asking, "What is a sound port?"
Reply With Quote
  #23  
Old 06-04-2011, 02:00 PM
TwoMartinMan TwoMartinMan is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Columbia, MD USA
Posts: 1,394
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by BergenCountyNJ View Post
"What is a sound port?"
A sound port is a round hole, usually about 2" in diameter or so, cut into side of the guitar up around the bass side shoulder. Often there is a matching one on the treble side as well. The main purpose is to allow more of the sound to come back at the player rather than having all of the sound come out through the soundhole and go out away from the player. The idea is that you can give your playing more variety if you can hear the subtleties of your own playing better.
__________________
Martin HD-35, Martin D-35, Martin 000-28EC, Martin D-1, Martin DR, Martin DXM, Gibson J-45, Recording King RD-16, Lucida Concerto LG-777, Fender Stratocaster (8), Gibson ES-335, Gibson SG Standard (2), Epiphone ES-335 Pro LTD., Epiphone Lennon Casino, Epiphone Casino (Peerless), Epiphone Casino (China), Firefly FF-338
Reply With Quote
  #24  
Old 06-04-2011, 03:08 PM
BergenCountyNJ BergenCountyNJ is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 9
Default

Thanks, TMM. I saw a guitar in one of the music shops that was manufactured that way, but didn't realize why, or know that "sound port" was the term used for that kind of design. I didn't play it just because it was such a severe variation of what I thought a guitar should look like. It was hard enough for me to buy an Ovation...lol.

I noticed on your list of guitars that you have a Yamaha 730 S. That's another great Yamaha. I played a couple of them at Guitar Center and couldn't decide which one to buy, and I ended up getting the 730 SC cutaway, which didn't sound any different played acoustically. A few days later, I was out playing with different people and was told that it sounded just as good plugged in as the Gibson that someone else was playing. Another great instrument at a very reasonable price.
Reply With Quote
  #25  
Old 02-20-2012, 02:20 PM
blueswedeshoes blueswedeshoes is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Feb 2012
Posts: 1
Default

I have a Yamaha FG 331 that I bought from a friend in 1980 for about 200 bucks.

I googled my guitar this morning just because I had a friend compliment me on its sound, and I really have never learned too much about it and I have never seen another in the last 32 years.

I actually joined the forum just to weigh in on this guitar. I still have it, and it makes me sad to see how pretty it once was back in they day. I never had a case for the thing and it has been sitting in a stand in my classrooms for most of its thirty years. The low end isn't as punchy and projecting as my friend's Martins and Taylors, but it has a very sweet and mellow tone that really comes out when I fingerpick songs. I invested a few years back in a thousand-dollar Takamine that sounds cleaner, more harp-like when I strum, but the Yamaha easily holds its own in un-amplified picking.

There is a radial crack that circumscribes the side of the body, and there is a small spot where the edge of the top face has lifted a few mm up from the banding around the side. (#sadface) There are dents, dings, gnarled marks on the string pins (which are a bit soft and tend to get stuck in the bridge and need torture by pliers) and other battle scars from being owned by one person for thirty-two years. But that one person has been a teen, a college student who liked to play it at beery parties, a daddy with young children, a camper who loves campfire music, a first-grade teacher with a succession of hundreds of moist-fingered students wanting to pet and touch the teacher's guitar, and a performer at the local coffee shops. Now I am an old man, and it took a long time for me able to afford a guitar that sounded clearly better to me than my old axe, the FG 331.

I can't tell you how nice it is to know it is not alone in the world, and that there are other people who know that it is a really remarkable instrument for its affordability back in the day.
Reply With Quote
  #26  
Old 02-20-2012, 03:06 PM
stardot stardot is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Lutz, Florida
Posts: 676
Default Old Yamahas

Quote:
Originally Posted by blueswedeshoes View Post
I have a Yamaha FG 331 that I bought from a friend in 1980 for about 200 bucks.

I googled my guitar this morning just because I had a friend compliment me on its sound, and I really have never learned too much about it and I have never seen another in the last 32 years.

I actually joined the forum just to weigh in on this guitar. I still have it, and it makes me sad to see how pretty it once was back in they day. I never had a case for the thing and it has been sitting in a stand in my classrooms for most of its thirty years. The low end isn't as punchy and projecting as my friend's Martins and Taylors, but it has a very sweet and mellow tone that really comes out when I fingerpick songs. I invested a few years back in a thousand-dollar Takamine that sounds cleaner, more harp-like when I strum, but the Yamaha easily holds its own in un-amplified picking.

There is a radial crack that circumscribes the side of the body, and there is a small spot where the edge of the top face has lifted a few mm up from the banding around the side. (#sadface) There are dents, dings, gnarled marks on the string pins (which are a bit soft and tend to get stuck in the bridge and need torture by pliers) and other battle scars from being owned by one person for thirty-two years. But that one person has been a teen, a college student who liked to play it at beery parties, a daddy with young children, a camper who loves campfire music, a first-grade teacher with a succession of hundreds of moist-fingered students wanting to pet and touch the teacher's guitar, and a performer at the local coffee shops. Now I am an old man, and it took a long time for me able to afford a guitar that sounded clearly better to me than my old axe, the FG 331.

I can't tell you how nice it is to know it is not alone in the world, and that there are other people who know that it is a really remarkable instrument for its affordability back in the day.
First, welcome to the AGF! I sure enjoyed your post, the way It describes Your life and the dents and dings we all accumulate. There's a number of us who have long since learned the value of the old yammies. After spending a few years playing on an FG335II, and loving the sound, I started to wonder about all the different models. Now, after owning dozens of Yamahas, I genuinely enjoy introducing them to newcomers. With guitars Around here spanning 6 decades, it's just fun watching the eyes and ears open up.

Had a guy here today looking at some of my guitars, and when he left we was in love with a Yamaha!
__________________
TOO Stinkin' MANY GITS!
Buncha Les Pauls
Buncha Strats
Martin HD-28, 2012-000CNylon
Taylor 310K
Taylor 214CE
Taylor 110
Larrivee D-05
FG-375S
FG-180 (5)
FG-300 (5)
FG-360
FG-350W
APX-10
FG160E
Woodsong K100,SW400
Paul Beard GRE
Many other Yamahas
(25 others- Garrison, Seagull, PRS, Squier 51, Dynamic)

BigMike sez:
I tried to be good, but there were just too many options.
Reply With Quote
  #27  
Old 02-20-2012, 04:13 PM
naolslager naolslager is offline
Guest
 
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Georgia
Posts: 1,360
Default

Definitely all-alminate but you might never know it. The 331 (1977-1981) is the predecessor to the venerable SJ-180 (1981 -1985?) and in my opinion a little nicer and little harder to come by.
The 331 has the truss rod adjustment at the headstock; the 180 inside the sound hole. The 331 also has the inlaid center stripe on the back; the 180 does not.
I've owned two SJ-180s and I liked them. i would snatch up a 331 if I could find a deal on one. good score!
Reply With Quote
  #28  
Old 02-20-2012, 07:46 PM
naolslager naolslager is offline
Guest
 
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Georgia
Posts: 1,360
Default Black FG-331

Although I would never purchase a black guitar, check this out. A black FG-331! I've never seen or heard of one of these.

http://nashville.craigslist.org/msg/2823563900.html
Reply With Quote
  #29  
Old 02-20-2012, 08:07 PM
mdutr0 mdutr0 is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Mississippi, USA
Posts: 944
Default

You lucky dog!

I have always wanted one of these.

Enjoy it (I am so jealous)!
__________________
000 12-fret by Danny Davis, Constructed!
Build Thread: http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/f...d.php?t=343091

Ibanez AC240
Yamaha AC1R
Epiphone AJ220S

"It's folk music so.... you can kind of do what you want." - David Hamburger, Blues Genealogy.
Reply With Quote
  #30  
Old 02-23-2012, 09:27 AM
naolslager naolslager is offline
Guest
 
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Georgia
Posts: 1,360
Default

My curiosity (and GAS) has got the better of me. On my way to Nashville, TN from Atlanta today. I couldn't help contacting the seller of the black FG-331 just to see what it's all about. I may own a black guitar yet. Right color for eating crow!

This may be THE guitar for my son or daughter.
Reply With Quote
Reply

  The Acoustic Guitar Forum > General Acoustic Guitar and Amplification Discussion > General Acoustic Guitar Discussion

Thread Tools





All times are GMT -6. The time now is 12:22 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Copyright ©2000 - 2022, The Acoustic Guitar Forum
vB Ad Management by =RedTyger=