69-71' YAMAHA RED LABEL OWNERS CLUB _ Please SIGN IN ;-)

[Don Mare]

FG 45
FG 75
FG 110
FG 180
FG 230 ( 12 String)
FG 160e ( pickups)
FG 300

bought them all from ebay in the last few weeks - some were cherrys! some were sour grapes - but I fixed them all anyways! - and there all good now.

[mudbean]

Yeah, I'm currently in a half-arsed search for one from that era. Still lookin.

mud

[superchicken_VI]

I have a '72 FG75 with a red label. Taiwan origin. Nice piece, stuck truss rod. With a set of Silk and Steels it's a fantastic small-bodied guitar.

[delac027]

I have a friends fg-140 made in japan w/ nippon gakki on the label. I am currently trying to restore it and am having problems with the action. I had sanded the saddle very low but the action is still high. Next would be the truss rod but it seems like it wont budge..then again i dont think i have right tool to adjust it. Other than that, so far it sounds awesome and loud! I will probably take it in to get looked at and set up correctly. Awesome guitar though!

[dqami]

I have a FG-140 and FG-75 red label as well as a football label FG-340II. I think the brown labels and football labels can sound just as good without the higher price of the red labels. What amazes me is how they can do it with a laminate guitar and how they can look similar but sound different.

I'm always searching the swap meets for guitars and I found a FG-150 red label that had the sweetest tone that I had not heard from any of the ones I currently own or ones I had sold (160, 335, 200). I made an offer on it which he didn't accept and when I went to check on it later, someone snatched it up (I guess I'm not the only one looking for them).

[sneakyjapan]

all of mine go back before those dates...can`t join the club.

[Mikey3]

I am, but not sure for how long, got an FG-140, amazing sounding guitar, but its on the selling blocks as we speak. The thing is a canon.

[tuuur]

I'm in!

FG140, bought for about $20 twenty years ago.
It has the most bassy sound I heard from an acoustic (even more than my FG420 12-string).

[tele54]

I have an FG-110, FG-180,and FG-300ars
All are red label made in Japan- Great guit

[delac027]

I dont know if anyone has seen these yet, but here are a couple of old yamaha catalogs..pretty cool! I found them on AGF.

I also just picked up a great condition fg-170 (greenlabel) on my local craigslist. Awesome guitar for dirt cheap!

http://www.t-shiga.com/sub7-5-1-7.htm
http://www.t-shiga.com/sub7-5-1-8.htm
http://www.t-shiga.com/sub7-5-1-9.htm
http://www.t-shiga.com/sub7-5-1-10.htm
http://www.t-shiga.com/sub7-5-1-11.htm
http://www.t-shiga.com/sub7-5-1-61.htm

[rangercaster]

Don, i'm a big Yamaha fan (LS-10 acoustic and more ) ... could you enlighten us on the construction and virtues of these guitars ??? are they from the original Japan factory ???

[casterway]

I wish Yamaha made cameras and cars.

[sneakyjapan]

thought this was about red lables?... I have an early FG-170 too, it`s OK but my Dynamics sound better. Also have an LL33J from about 10 years ago, top of the line at the time...excluding custom shop stuff... and an amazing instrument...but it`s not a red label...it`s a leather label.

[PhatBoy]

OK, what separates a red label f rom the rest?

PB

[mudbean]

ARRGH!!!

I just missed out on a red label Nippon Gakki FG110 in excellent condition on CraigsList!

Dang. Dang. Dang.



mud

[sneakyjapan]

Originally Posted by PhatBoy

OK, what separates a red label f rom the rest?

PB

good question. red labels have become highly collectable outside Japan over the last couple of years, here they just don`t get nearly as much attention...OK, a few models do...like the Brazilian FGs but otherwise not so much. There are pages and pages of used, new or old FGs on line here every day, I see em in shops everytime I go into them but honestly they just don`t sound nearly as good as the Dynamics so I never but any...that would change if I came across an FG-1500, 2000 or 2500...but now those sell for several thousand dollars but I`m in a smaller city and have got lucky before so who knows. For me to get a red label it would have to be better than the Dynamics I have and so far that hasn`t happened...it would be a lateral move instead of a step up. I have an early `70s light green FG-170 that I would have sworn was a solid top in the store and when I got it home and looked through my watchmakers loupe I saw it has a real thin top layer, thicker middle and real thin bottom layer, I knew the back and side were laminate so it turned out to be all laminate...sound OK but nothin` special.
Old Ls and LLs get a lot of bidders on line in Japan but we`re in a totally different league now. I think many believe if it was made in Japan it was good...sellers sure seem to believe that these days...but there was a lot of middle of the road guitars made in Japan too not to mention the low end brands...and evidently there were dozens. Still folks should play what they like en, no business of mine and if I come across a nice FG I`ll buy it but I`m so pleased with my Dynamics, true I`m comparing nylons to steel string FGs however since I got my first Dynamic all my steel strings must be feeling neglected, I`m really digging the nylon sound and fat neck Dynamics.
party on.

[Stratsrgood]

I had a rather abused FG 110, for years, I found it in a junk shop and paid £15 for it.
I played that guitar for years (it could have used a neck reset) and it was truly great, I've never since even seen another one.

[AZMike]

'69 FG-150 here. I had wanted one of these red labels since my roommate used to let me play his '69 FG-110 back in 1970-71. He was a pro, mainly a Hammond B-3 player, but I remember guys in his bands (the bass player for one) had Yamahas of this vintage as their home acoustics.

I got mine from eBay in 2001, and the action was way high. The guy had it set up with Martin mediums. I took it to one repairman who told me to hang it on the wall, then I took it to Precision Guitars in Phoenix. Then-owner Thad shaved down the bridge (he said there was a lot of "meat" there) to lower the action, and it has been great ever since. I guess you would call it a "poor person's neck reset", but it looks fine and plays better.

The neck is narrower at the nut than my Guild dread, but the front-to-back is thicker, with almost a soft V shape. The sound is very balanced and loud for its size.

Great little guitar.

Mike

[sel498]

Okay i fianlly found a thread/ forum about these Yamaha Fg-140's. I have had mine for about 12 years, and before that my good friend had it and before him his brother had it. so it has been passed down. when my friend had it it had fell out of a pickup bed and slid on the back of the body. just scarred it pretty good. (Character). Well this will probably make a few of you nausious, but i decide to re finish it about 5 years ago. so i did, I sanded the finish off to the wood on the back, sides, and some of the neck( it seemed a bit too big for me to play efficiently). and then stained lightly to bring the grain out. Pictures are below. My question is Since I have refinished it, In your opinions, is it a bad idea to install a pick-up, eq, and new tuners?. I almost feel since it fell and got scratched and then i refinished it , the value of the guitar is not going to get any higher, and i dont intend on selling it ever. It has the greatest tone, and volume that I have ever seen in an acoustic. Also note. when the finish was removed from the body the volume and tone got even greater. I did decide to leave the front of the body original due to the autographs that are on it. and the pick guard has fallen off and I may or may not re-install due to cosmetics. So, eq,pickup, tuners or not. I only own 2 guitars, this Yammy, and a 70ish model Fernandez Strat, that i refinished as well. I am actually a drummer, but started with guitar and still play it around the house. The reason for the upgrade to the FG is because i want to give it a facelift and let my lead singer play it live. and see if he actually likes it better than his Guild. Any and all comments, suggestions, are greatly appreciated and welcomed thanks. I will give it a good cleaning and take a few better pics this evening and repost to this thread to view it better.

[dqami]

I put in a bone saddle in my FG140 and lowered the action which helped in the tone. The back and sides looks like a totally different guitar. They really cake on the varnish. I can see how the volume would get louder. I may try that if I ever come across a beat up Taiwan model cheap. Doing it to a red label would hurt the value.