1970s Yamaha FG-170 Flattop Guitar
A friend of mine owns this 00-size, x-braced, all-ply little wonder and is giving it to a friend of his as an Xmas present. I like this model (and its related FG-110 and FG-150 siblings) of Yamaha a lot as it has the sizing charm of an FG-75 but x-bracing and a body shape and size that's somewhere between a Martin 00-18 and a Guild F-20. For what it is, it also sounds great!
Obviously, the Japan-made versions of this model are just a little bit better, but this Taiwan-made one gets the job done just fine. It has a good, midsy, creamy tone (for a ply-top instrument) that flatpicks just as well as it fingerpicks. The highs have a bit of a zippy/glassy quality to them, though, which is also typical of thin ply tops.
Like a lot of these Yamahas, the repair job to get it functional was not ideal but very practical for not trying to spend the guitar into the ground -- the bridge got shaved a lot, a new bone saddle was made, it got a fret level/dress, and a setup with 50w-11 strings. It's playing on-the-dot, now, though -- so I'm hoping the new owner gets a lot of play on it.
The body is ply spruce over ply mahogany. The neck is mahogany and the bridge and board are rosewood.
The truss rod, fortunately, works.
String ramps were a necessity as the bridge is very thin, now.
The covers were half-missing on these tuners and so we discarded the remainder. They're a smart design, by the way, with a little "spring sheet" below the gears that helps to keep them tight and accurate.
Comments
magic wood ? very nice guitars , I had several
I wish I still had especially the FG300 Humingbird copy
with the metal adjustable saddle that actually didn't suck
the tone out of them....nice git
I later went on to roadie for a local blues band, but had gotten lazy about practicing. I just never had the finger spread to get really good. One night at an after gig party, I ran into some kid who picked up an old broken down acoustic the guys left laying around to just work out tunes while partying. This kid made the old box sound like something special, and I complimented him. He said he loved to play whenever he could get his hands on a guitar, which amazed me. He said he was too poor to ever afford one of his own, so he just played when he got the chance.
I told him to stay put, went over my parents house at 3:30am and rummaged through the back of the attic closets till I found the thing. Woke the whole house up and caught hell for it, but I knew what I had to do! I went back to the band house, and handed the kid the guitar and case. He took it out and tuned it up, then started playing. It made a more joyful sound than anything I had ever done with it. When he was done, he took the rag from the case and wiped the strings down without being told. This told me that the thing was going to a good home, so I told him to keep it and enjoy it, so long ass he promised to do the same if he ever stopped playing it, and find it a new home with a deserving new owner. I never saw the kid again, but I'd like t think he went on to do great things with his new tool. He was in tears when he realized that I was serious, so I know he loved the thing more than I ever had.