1970s Yamaha G-60A Classical Guitar
I've worked on a ton of Yamaha G-60A model classicals and they've all had a good, full sound. They're not as articulate as your average fully-solid instrument, but they're a lot more practical for a student or intermediate player and even now they're kicking the tails off comparably-priced "student" instruments.
This one was just in for a restring and setup for its owner, and after that it plays spot-on with 3/32" action and a good, straight neck. It's lived in its original case its entire life which is why the condition is so good. Usually these have a lot of scratches, bumps, and dings from years of being moved-around houses and stored in kids' rooms. Fortunately, someone cared for this one.
It may be sacrilege, but I don't notice that much difference between Japan-made and Taiwan-made instruments from this period. I think they're pretty-much equally good. Both carry the same excellent design trends of good-quality ply for durability and stability mixed with light bracing for good tone. In the steel string world, the Japanese-made Yamaha products are just slightly warmer and fuller, but guitar-to-guitar age-related differences seem to make more of a change in sound than where they were produced -- at least to my ears.
This one was just in for a restring and setup for its owner, and after that it plays spot-on with 3/32" action and a good, straight neck. It's lived in its original case its entire life which is why the condition is so good. Usually these have a lot of scratches, bumps, and dings from years of being moved-around houses and stored in kids' rooms. Fortunately, someone cared for this one.
It may be sacrilege, but I don't notice that much difference between Japan-made and Taiwan-made instruments from this period. I think they're pretty-much equally good. Both carry the same excellent design trends of good-quality ply for durability and stability mixed with light bracing for good tone. In the steel string world, the Japanese-made Yamaha products are just slightly warmer and fuller, but guitar-to-guitar age-related differences seem to make more of a change in sound than where they were produced -- at least to my ears.
Comments
Having a Cordoba Fusion12 now and once owning a luthier built real classical (Rodriguez in Virginia), I understand and can hear and feel what a real guitar is like. For VERY cheap used, the Taiwan G-225 is excellent and I will soon see if the G-60A matches or beats it.
I have trouble playing barre chords on the G-60A and the nylon strings seem high off the fretboard. I guess my question is (before I buy something else) what do I have? To what does the G-60A compare to in current beginner-intermediate guitars?