1970s Ventura V-14 (Yamaki) Dreadnought Guitar

Venturas are, apparently, getting some "vintage love" these days. This one's a little later (late '70s or very early '80s) than the ones I see most-often around here, though, and I'm sure that it was made by Yamaki in Japan -- the same builder behind the upscale Daion line. It has the same Daion/Yamaki style tuners with the plastic enclosures, same neck shape and design, same bracing-style, and same wood types I see on plenty of Yamaki/Daion builds.

This one is all-original and in pretty dang-good order. I gave it a glorified setup and adjustments and it's ready to go and playing on-the-dot.

This is all-ply in the body like many same-period Alvarez and Yamaha guitars, but the build quality is higher and it's braced lightly-enough that it sounds quite full and present. Behind a mic, it doesn't sound like a ply guitar for the most part, though it does have the "survivability" of one -- no cracks, no frustration.

The handling neck-wise is a lot like a '60s Martin -- with a Martin-style, medium C/V profile just like on Daions.

Repairs included: fret level/dress, cleaning, saddle compensation, setup.

Top wood: ply spruce

Back & sides wood: ply rosewood-like (can't recall which type)

Bracing type: x

Bridge: rosewood

Fretboard: rosewood

Neck wood: nato(?)

Action height at 12th fret: 3/32” bass 1/16” treble (fast, spot-on)
String gauges: 54w, 40w, 30w, 22w, 16, 12 custom lights

Neck shape: medium C/V

Board radius: ~12"

Truss rod: adjustable

Neck relief: straight

Fret style: medium

Scale length: 25 5/8"

Nut width: 1 11/16"

Body width: 15 13/16"

Body depth: 4 7/8"

Weight: 4 lbs 10 oz

Condition notes: it's all-original and fairly clean, though it does show average usewear and handling wear by way of light scratching and scuffs here and there throughout. There's some good pickwear around the soundhole that's giving it a "respectable" look, too. The saddle is adjustable but cranked quite low. The action is good and I don't expect the top to move (it's ply...),  but it is a consideration. I added string ramps to keep the string back-angle on the saddle nice and even all the time, though, for better tone.

It comes with: an older Alvarez hard case.