1960s Yamaha FG-140 Red Label Jumbo Guitar

Overview: Yamaha jumbos are a perennial favorite at the shop. They sound good, are tough as nails, and have a simple, attractive look to them. This one is like an FG-180 but with ply-maple rather than ply-mahogany back and sides. It's a "Red Label" model, made in Japan, and likely late '60s. The owner says he tracked it down as a '72, however, which would place it in the last batch of Japanese-made guitars of this style. I haven't looked-up the serialization yet myself.

There's truth in that the top ply on these Japanese ones is slightly different from the slightly-later Taiwanese models (I got confirmation of that when I had seen a punched top on a Taiwanese one and when I installed an arm bevel on a Red Label), though all sound great, to be honest. It's the good design of the bracing and economy of build that makes these guitars excellent. They're also pretty lightweight.

The necks can be a bit more to handle (they're like playing a '50s Martin with a heftier profile) for most folks used to modern, quick necks, though.

Repairs included: Jake Too gave it a level/dress of the frets, a light shave of the bridge, cleaning, saddle adjustments, and setup work. I added back-angle ramps behind the saddle and then pulled and thinned-up the fretboard extension to get rid of a ski-jump problem at the joint. It's playing bang-on and is ready to serve, though the saddle is rather low on the body.

• Weight: 4 lbs 4 oz
• Scale length: 25"
• Nut width: 1 3/4"
• Neck shape: medium-bigger soft V
• Board radius: 14"
• Depth at first fret: 0.87"
• Depth at seventh fret: 0.99"
  
• Body width: 16 3/8"
• Body depth: 4 1/2"
• Top wood: ply spruce
• Back & sides wood: ply maple (stained)
• Bracing type: x
• Bridge: rosewood
• Fretboard: rosewood
• Neck wood: mahogany
• Action height at 12th fret: 3/32” bass 1/16” treble (fast, spot-on)
• String gauges: 54w-12 lights
• Truss rod: adjustable
• Neck relief: straight
• Fret style: medium-lower

Condition notes: There are light scratches and scuffs throughout with the worst of it being pickwear near the pickguard and soundhole on the top. There's an added strap button at the heel and there's a filled endpin-jack-sized-hole at the endpin area (and a strap button installed in its place). The tuners have been upgraded to sealed units (thankee gods, the originals are usually pretty marginal in feel even if they work fine).

It comes with: It has a good, hard case.

Consignor tag: MHKN