Best Refurb Find

[Dash_Starkiller]

My favourite reno isn't a terribly expensive guitar but it has sentimental value. My first "real" acoustic guitar was a 1970 Yamaha FG-140 Red Label (actually made in Japan "Nippon Gakki"). I got it, brand new, for my 14th birthday from my parents. I sold it to pay for a brand new 1977 Gibson Hummingbird which turned out to be a horrible mistake. I always regretted selling that Yamaha and years later started looking for one on eBay and quickly discovered the "Red Labels" are highly sought-after. I found a totally beat up 1968 Yamaha FG-150 in Vancouver and picked it up for a song while I was there on business.

 

The guitar looked like it had been dragged around the planet on someone's back and had been played so much, some of the layers of the plywood top are showing through on the soundhole. My wife dubbed it "The Hippie Guitar". It was in serious need of a neck reset. I reset the neck, refretted it, reshaped and refinished the neck, replaced the tuners with Grover Sta-tites and made a new nut and new saddle from bone blanks, replaced all the fret markers with abalone and replaced the plastic pins with rosewood with abalone inlays. It is a total campfire, knockabout guitar but plays and sounds great. I keep it in Nashville tuning at the moment with a Tahoe mag pickup.

 

Battle Scars:

 

Neck off, ready for reset:

 

Neck reshaped ready for pour filler, stain and nitro:

 

Refinished neck:

 

Neck reinstalled and fretboard levelling:

 

Refret:

 

Fret Levelling:

 

Clipping Ends:

 

New bone nut:

 

New Grover Sta-tite Tuners:

 

That is GREAT work. It is said that FG neck resets are nearly impossible to reset because of the apparent epoxy used. But you obviously proved that wrong. Im a huge fan of those guitars and think your work on that looks phenomenal.

[uncle fester]

My favourite reno isn't a terribly expensive guitar but it has sentimental value.

 

Clipping Ends:

 

 

Hi Doug - On this pic, what's up with the finish on the fretboard, it looks like someone had a little trouble putting a coat of poly on it or something? Is this something, or just the way the picture looks, and did you do anything about that?

 

ps - thanks for posting the pics, what a great process!

[uncle fester]

Let's pick,

-Tom

 

tpbiii - i aspire, it's your stories that have me wondering if i can open my eyes a bit and maybe walk into a rehab opportunity!

[j45nick]

tpbiii - i aspire, it's your stories that have me wondering if i can open my eyes a bit and maybe walk into a rehab opportunity!

 

 

Once you start walking into guitar rehab opportunities, the next step is your local rehab facility.

 

Rescuing guitar diamonds in the rough can easily become an addiction. Just ask the zombywoof.

[drathbun]

Hi Doug - On this pic, what's up with the finish on the fretboard, it looks like someone had a little trouble putting a coat of poly on it or something? Is this something, or just the way the picture looks, and did you do anything about that?

 

ps - thanks for posting the pics, what a great process!

 

That's wax to keep the superglue from seeping into the fretboard. :) Looks like a funky finish doesn't it?

[drathbun]

That is GREAT work. It is said that FG neck resets are nearly impossible to reset because of the apparent epoxy used. But you obviously proved that wrong. I’m a huge fan of those guitars and think your work on that looks phenomenal.

 

Thanks, Dash.

 

Getting that neck out was quite a challenge. I had to apply so much pressure on the neck clamp that it crushed the heel cap. I carved a new one out of rosewood. Also, some of the dovetail was destroyed in the process as well. I had to reshape the dovetail wood and then do some serious shimming.

 

Squished heel cap and removed damaged parts of dove tail:

 

Dove tail repair:

 

Shims:

 

New heel cap: