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rains_en
Published on 02/05/09 at 16:06
I have a red label Nippon Gakki, Japanese yamaha fg-180. It is a large body,dreadnought, with a standard 21 fret set up. It has a standard wood bridge, and what appears to be a fiberglass saddle. I wish it were bone, and that it had the 2nd string intonation notch that is standard on high-end guitars.
UTILIZATION
The neck is much thinner than most large dreadnought guitars, like gibson jumbos and seagulls. It has a nice feel and is very accommodating to my smaller hands. Of course, not being a cutaway, it does reach its limits on the high end of the neck. The large body is something for most to get use to, but it isn't as deep as most acoustics I've seen, so that helps out. It sounds wonderful. I use to use medium martin strings, but after stumbling upon elixir polywebs and nanowebs, I havent looked back. The guitar sounds so much brighter with those strings.
SOUNDS
This guitar is ready for anything you've got to throw at it as far as musical style goes. It has been sufficient for every style Ive carried. It was my first acoustic, and so, it has seen quite a few style changes over the years. I've read other reviews on it that say it doesnt have much of a low end, but, for me, it seems to be much lower than most acoustics. Maybe Im just not experienced with low acoustics. After 37 years, this guitar is still performing wonderfully. I see a refret happening sometime within the next 5-10 years, and that scares me... but, it deserves the effort.
OVERALL OPINION
As I am the second owner of this guitar, I got it from a family member who bought it new in the early 70s. Ive had it for 7 years and I dont plan on getting rid of it ever. What I like most about it is the fact that it stands up against Taylors and Martins or anything else you can throw at it. Yamaha, in general, is a workhorse brand, and this guitar sure does perform. I actually have an 80s model fg-335 and a 70s classical g-60a and of all three the fg-180 is my favorite. It is simply the best. I understand it wasnt very expensive back in the day, I think about 200, and it's worth every bit of that to this day.
UTILIZATION
The neck is much thinner than most large dreadnought guitars, like gibson jumbos and seagulls. It has a nice feel and is very accommodating to my smaller hands. Of course, not being a cutaway, it does reach its limits on the high end of the neck. The large body is something for most to get use to, but it isn't as deep as most acoustics I've seen, so that helps out. It sounds wonderful. I use to use medium martin strings, but after stumbling upon elixir polywebs and nanowebs, I havent looked back. The guitar sounds so much brighter with those strings.
SOUNDS
This guitar is ready for anything you've got to throw at it as far as musical style goes. It has been sufficient for every style Ive carried. It was my first acoustic, and so, it has seen quite a few style changes over the years. I've read other reviews on it that say it doesnt have much of a low end, but, for me, it seems to be much lower than most acoustics. Maybe Im just not experienced with low acoustics. After 37 years, this guitar is still performing wonderfully. I see a refret happening sometime within the next 5-10 years, and that scares me... but, it deserves the effort.
OVERALL OPINION
As I am the second owner of this guitar, I got it from a family member who bought it new in the early 70s. Ive had it for 7 years and I dont plan on getting rid of it ever. What I like most about it is the fact that it stands up against Taylors and Martins or anything else you can throw at it. Yamaha, in general, is a workhorse brand, and this guitar sure does perform. I actually have an 80s model fg-335 and a 70s classical g-60a and of all three the fg-180 is my favorite. It is simply the best. I understand it wasnt very expensive back in the day, I think about 200, and it's worth every bit of that to this day.