1974 Yamaha FG-110E - Neck Reset & Bridge Repair
Oct 8, 2020 11:14:27 GMT -5
Derick and ancient1 like this
Post by CTGull on Oct 8, 2020 11:14:27 GMT -5
I picked up this basket case 2 days ago fairly cheap at a semi-local consignment shop thru Offerup. Of course, you can’t see much detail in 1 picture, and I didn’t want to ask any questions and raise suspicions it could be worth more. So I drove 45 minutes after work (They are closed Sunday and Monday) to see it. She said she had over 20 inquiries but I was the first. I appreciate she held it for me, I’ve lost out on guitars that were sold to the first person who got there or it turned into a bidding war.
Since it isn’t a common model, and is 1 of the 2 first electric acoustics Yamaha made, I pretty much figured I’d take it no matter what, unless there were some major structural problems. Well, this pushed that. MANY dings all over, but nothing huge, a couple of small deep ones on the top. The volume & tone knobs are not original but they are new vintage gold knobs and look pretty cool.
And it goes downhill from there. There is a crack in the heel at the glue joint, that’ll certainly come apart during the neck removal.
There is a crack in the bridge between the bridge pins, and the bridge pins stick up high. And it gets worse!! The saddle slot has been cut to approx. .21” wide and filled with a chunk of brass and a cheap compensated saddle. I’ll probably have to use the router to clean it up and fill it with a piece of wood, IF I can find something that closely matches.
And the technical stuff. The neck projects .20” below the top of the bridge! And the action is 5/32”. And the saddle only sticks out .08” at the front of the slot, less at the back, with a larger than usual 3/16” belly behind the bridge and the bridge is noticeably tipped forward. It definitely needs a neck reset! And possibly a Bridge Doctor. The Bridge Doctor isn’t going to help the high action, but it will level the bridge and help the break angle.
All I need to do is fine time to work on it. I have many projects ahead of it.
The Good.
Nice knobs!!
The whole top pretty much looks like this. Lightly dinged, not beat to hell.
The Bad. Who did this??!!
The bridge is tipped forward a bit.
This guitar must have been handy in a canoe!
Shim under the nut. The slots are still slightly low.
Some fret divots, not too bad.
The back of the neck isn't too bad.
Except for that.
Some lacquer chipping on the side of the fretboard.
The Ugly. How does it get beat up this bad without breaking anything??!!
Yea, the action is a little high!
Since it isn’t a common model, and is 1 of the 2 first electric acoustics Yamaha made, I pretty much figured I’d take it no matter what, unless there were some major structural problems. Well, this pushed that. MANY dings all over, but nothing huge, a couple of small deep ones on the top. The volume & tone knobs are not original but they are new vintage gold knobs and look pretty cool.
And it goes downhill from there. There is a crack in the heel at the glue joint, that’ll certainly come apart during the neck removal.
There is a crack in the bridge between the bridge pins, and the bridge pins stick up high. And it gets worse!! The saddle slot has been cut to approx. .21” wide and filled with a chunk of brass and a cheap compensated saddle. I’ll probably have to use the router to clean it up and fill it with a piece of wood, IF I can find something that closely matches.
And the technical stuff. The neck projects .20” below the top of the bridge! And the action is 5/32”. And the saddle only sticks out .08” at the front of the slot, less at the back, with a larger than usual 3/16” belly behind the bridge and the bridge is noticeably tipped forward. It definitely needs a neck reset! And possibly a Bridge Doctor. The Bridge Doctor isn’t going to help the high action, but it will level the bridge and help the break angle.
All I need to do is fine time to work on it. I have many projects ahead of it.
The Good.
Nice knobs!!
The whole top pretty much looks like this. Lightly dinged, not beat to hell.
The Bad. Who did this??!!
The bridge is tipped forward a bit.
This guitar must have been handy in a canoe!
Shim under the nut. The slots are still slightly low.
Some fret divots, not too bad.
The back of the neck isn't too bad.
Except for that.
Some lacquer chipping on the side of the fretboard.
The Ugly. How does it get beat up this bad without breaking anything??!!
Yea, the action is a little high!
