1970s Yamaha FG-335 Jumbo Flattop Guitar




Well, there aren't a lot of lefty-to-righty guitar conversions out there -- but this is one of them! This is a customer's beloved old Taiwan-made Yamaha (that was converted that way some time ago) and he loved it well-enough to have me suss-out what appeared to be a broken truss-rod.

The neck was warped, anyhow, and the truss inaccessible (it looked like it was shorn-off at the nut), so I yanked the fretboard after heating it up for half an hour (it still protested). What I found is that the rod has actually just gotten loose after someone took the truss-nut off at the headstock. Its base had slid right into the open section of the dovetail joint. Oops! One new shim to keep the rod in place and a new nut later and it was functioning as-intended.

The other work was to give it a neck reset, plane the neck back to straight, give it a fret level/dress, new bone saddle, minor alterations to the bridge, and a good setup. After all these ministrations it plays like a champ and has that big, full, round, warm sound I've come to expect from these old Yamaha jumbos. The top-end is pretty scooped, but it makes a good, rich, chord-strummer.




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