Post by CTGull on Jul 22, 2018 16:05:02 GMT -5
I've thought about taking apart a vintage Yamaha FG to see what the top bracing looks like (better than my mirror shots) but the thought of wrecking a vintage guitar has always stopped me. I'd also like to document the bracing dimensions, since the bracing seems to be much lighter than you see on modern guitars.
Until I found a FG-160 with a smashed lower bout. Unfortunately it's a rare Taiwan "No Taiwan" model, a label they only used for 2 months. But wrecked is wrecked, so I decided to take it apart. Not only to get a better view of the top bracing, but to prove the top, back & sides are indeed plywood (inner ply oriented perpendicular to the outer plies).
So I removed the neck. And struggled to get the back off. It was much harder than I thought, even though it was already started in one area. I figured with some prying it would just pop off! NO! I ended up having to use a chisel to get it started to separate between the back & kerfing. It tended to want to separate between the plies and make a mess.
The separation. Not pretty. Pardon the messy workspace.
Close up. Notice the midsize dust bunny. Upon closer examination I found the original owner must have had long red hair!!
I wanted to save the label, since it is rare. So I cut out a section of the back.
My first thought was to take the guitar completely apart, saving the braces, etc. But after struggling to get the back off I decided to just cut the sides off just above the top kerfing, making an open demo guitar top. But that seemed it would be difficult and I realized I should just clean up what I have and leave all the original markings intact.
Until I found a FG-160 with a smashed lower bout. Unfortunately it's a rare Taiwan "No Taiwan" model, a label they only used for 2 months. But wrecked is wrecked, so I decided to take it apart. Not only to get a better view of the top bracing, but to prove the top, back & sides are indeed plywood (inner ply oriented perpendicular to the outer plies).
So I removed the neck. And struggled to get the back off. It was much harder than I thought, even though it was already started in one area. I figured with some prying it would just pop off! NO! I ended up having to use a chisel to get it started to separate between the back & kerfing. It tended to want to separate between the plies and make a mess.
The separation. Not pretty. Pardon the messy workspace.
Close up. Notice the midsize dust bunny. Upon closer examination I found the original owner must have had long red hair!!
I wanted to save the label, since it is rare. So I cut out a section of the back.
My first thought was to take the guitar completely apart, saving the braces, etc. But after struggling to get the back off I decided to just cut the sides off just above the top kerfing, making an open demo guitar top. But that seemed it would be difficult and I realized I should just clean up what I have and leave all the original markings intact.
