Yamaha FG230

Errant Tiger

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My sister is giving me her dead husband's 12 string (as mentioned in my subject line). I don't really know anything about it, other than that it's fairly old (pre-90s) and that it is NOT one of the red label ones. Does anyone know much about these instruments?

Thanks!
Aaron
 

Westerly Wood

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Yes, I owned one for a time.
first off, sorry to hear of you loss.
They are decent 12 strings, cheap, usually around 150-200 bucks depending on condition. they usually need a neck reset. not nearly as nice sounding as Guild 12 strings, however, none are, regardless of brand name. I did really like its overall tone and mojo. mine was a red label but was riddled with neck and fret issues that were too expensive to repair vs actual value of the guitar itself. if it is not a red label, the value is like cut in half. red labels are more in 300 range. ebay sellers will treat them like collector items, which is absurd as they were a dime a dozen back in the day.
 

Errant Tiger

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Yes, I owned one for a time.
first off, sorry to hear of you loss.
They are decent 12 strings, cheap, usually around 150-200 bucks depending on condition. they usually need a neck reset. not nearly as nice sounding as Guild 12 strings, however, none are, regardless of brand name. I did really like its overall tone and mojo. mine was a red label but was riddled with neck and fret issues that were too expensive to repair vs actual value of the guitar itself. if it is not a red label, the value is like cut in half. red labels are more in 300 range. ebay sellers will treat them like collector items, which is absurd as they were a dime a dozen back in the day.

Thanks! That's kind of what I was imagining. (Though I was able to ascertain that it's at least a Japan-made one). I have no idea of the condition of this thing and won't know until I get my hands on it come mid-October. My current 12 is an old Epiphone which, while generally pretty serviceable, is, according to my luthier beyond any reasonable help in the neck department, and I had been hoping this free guitar might move up the quality ladder. I won't get my hopes up!

One cool thing is that my sister has a soundhole pickup for it, which will be a lot of fun, regardless of quality.
 

Westerly Wood

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Thanks! That's kind of what I was imagining. (Though I was able to ascertain that it's at least a Japan-made one). I have no idea of the condition of this thing and won't know until I get my hands on it come mid-October. My current 12 is an old Epiphone which, while generally pretty serviceable, is, according to my luthier beyond any reasonable help in the neck department, and I had been hoping this free guitar might move up the quality ladder. I won't get my hopes up!

One cool thing is that my sister has a soundhole pickup for it, which will be a lot of fun, regardless of quality.

if it is in good shape, it will have better mojo than the Epi, and just cooler sounding, though that is a terrible description i know. their necks are rather big but mine was still playable.
they are jumbo sized guitars, so all that laminate hog is pretty warm sounding. the top will be laminate too which is not ideal but i bet you really like it. nice that it has a pick up.
 

Errant Tiger

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That's something to look forward to. I had literally just been stressing about whether it was worth it to put a pickup in the Epi, so if the Yamaha's in decent shape, this will indeed be fortuitous. I'll be sure to update when it's in my grubby mitts!
 

Westerly Wood

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That's something to look forward to. I had literally just been stressing about whether it was worth it to put a pickup in the Epi, so if the Yamaha's in decent shape, this will indeed be fortuitous. I'll be sure to update when it's in my grubby mitts!

totally! looking forward to the NGD post. I often seed out red label Yammies on craigslist. no doubt one tier down from a D25 Guild but for the $, often a killer guitar vs other makes twice or even 3 times the price.
 
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