Late 60's Yamaha FG 230 12 String. Can you help Value this model?

Alnico · April 2014

For a start, no I don't have pictures and at the moment it's on it's way very soon to a Luthier / Tech to have work done on the neck, frets and general maintenance however I have only just really found out about this guitar and it's a bit of a shock.

I lost my Dad 13 years ago at the age of 53 (I was only 29) and this is his old guitar which my Mum has just pulled out of a closet and asked if I would like to get it fixed up and see what I think of it.

I am stunned. I remember him playing this when I was a child but he got Multiple Sclerosis when I was 14 and although he always supported me playing and taught me from the age of 8, he never really played again after I was around the age of 14.

Now his original late 60's 12 string emerges from the shadows and i'm choked, stunned and completely unsure of what it is.

To clarify, I would rather die than sell this guitar, it's value is largely irrelevant but i'm curious to know whether my Dad's old guitar is a decent one and could one day be considered a proper vintage guitar (He would be so proud if it was).

It has no scratches or dents to speak of and is 100% original.

The sticker inside is orange and states "Yamaha FG-230 NIPPON GAKKI"

Mum lives up north so it will be a while before I see it again and I don't as yet have it's serial number but I will work on that and try to post it here if it will help age and value the instrument - I say again it will NEVER be for sale but I want to be able to say my Dad's old guitar is a proper vintage guitar and not just old. It will always be priceless to me but finding out what it is will be nice for me.

Sorry if this sounds disjointed but I'm halfway through a bottle of Merlot and i'm halfway between crying because I miss my Dad so much and being completely stunned at unearthing such a massive piece of his personal history which is being given to me !

Any help here would be massively appreciated. Thank you.

richardhomer · April 2014

I'm no expert on values but early Yahamas were really great guitars. John Martyn is pictured on the inner sleeve of his classic 'Solid Air' album, playing a six-string model, prior to getting his first Martin. Reputedly he stripped the finish off the top to make it more resonant.

Every one I've played from that era has been superb.

The market for twelve strings is not great but my guess would be £500ish to the right buyer, assuming no structural issues.

Sounds like its a proper heirloom, so as you say, the price doesn't really matter.

Alnico · April 2014

Thanks Richard

To me it is and always will be, priceless.

Thanks for your input.

Gagaryn · April 2014

Those Nippon Gakki guitars are normally referred to as 'red label' I think, though it could easily have faded to an orange colour after 40 odd years. Guitars that old are referred to as vintage, so you can tick that box, but I reckon that your dad would be even more proud about how much it means to you, that's the most important thing.

The sentimental value of this one makes it priceless, that's the best way to think about it. The Nippon Gakki guitars have quite a following online so you'd be able to gauge what they sell for online easy enough if you want to, maybe by searching completed listings on eBay. But as you say, with something so special, what other people pay for guitars with the same label is irrelevant.

Alnico · April 2014

Thanks Gagaryn

The Luthier / Tech i'm giving it to is a friend and I know and trust him however he is being given an open cheque with this one - his brief will be simple........

Do whatever is possible, no matter how long it takes to it to make it as good as it can be without detracting from it's originality.

I simply cannot wait to have this done and (If I can do it any justice whatsoever) maybe post a video of me playing it.

Damn it ! need another drink now.

Thanks man. Really appreciate your opinion and help.

Wazmeister · April 2014

A lovely, beautiful post and it simply reminds us how short life is...

It seems that the Red Label ones are sort after, and valued for their sound. I've rarely played a bad Yamaha and the earlier acoustics have always been fun and easy to play.

A couple of hopefully helpful posts;

http://www.marksearcy.com/yamaha-guide

http://www.ebay.com/gds/Buying-a-Yamaha-Acoustic-Guitar-on-eBay-/10000000000965950/g.html

ICBM · May 2014

Don't even think about the monetary value. It's really not worth a lot on the open market - but that reflects what other people will pay for something they have no personal connection to. That's not what's important to you.

Some people will say that it's just an old plywood guitar - this is true, but it's certainly not true that ply guitars do not improve with age, as you may sometimes hear. There's no modern guitar that will sound like it.

It's possible that it may have some issues - many guitars of around this age have quite high actions that can't easily be lowered to what would be considered a 'good' action without a neck re-set, which is a huge job and I would avoid doing it if there's any way it can be made to play acceptably otherwise. A slightly higher action will improve the sound too.

If it does seem too hard to play, tune it down a tone (D-D standard). That will probably actually reduce the action slightly, but even if it doesn't it will be easier to play with the slacker strings. Old 12-strings were always meant to be tuned like this before light strings were available, and to me they still sound better like that even with modern string gauges. Just capo at the 2nd if you need to play in normal keys.

Enjoy it for what it is - a lovely old guitar from the golden age of folk-rock. It wasn't ever meant to be an expensive guitar, thousands of them were sold to young players and quite a few of them would have got taken to festivals we've all heard of

.

ThePrettyDamned · May 2014

No idea, but that's a fantastic story.

Hope it gives you many more hours of enjoyment, even if it's just on the wall

Alnico · May 2014

Thank you all very much and thank you wazmiester for the links - if they ever let me out of this lorry today I will spend some time looking through them.

Mum is going to take what pictures she can this weekend and get me the serial number, then I have to organise another trip up there to collect it and start it's journey back to life.

ICBM - I totally understood what you meant about action etc and the man i'm giving this to who is doing the work will understand how far to go with it too. We would both stop before going for anything as drastic as a neck re-set but at the moment it's impossible to tell with 30 odd year old strings on it.

I will update this thread as and when there's anything worth posting but thank you all again. I'm so glad I could share this with people who "Get it".

Gagaryn · May 2014

Tuning D-D is a sensible precaution like ICBM says - tuning old 12 strings always gives me the fear!

LaurentB · May 2014

I just bought one of these! You'll find it is not a particular valuable guitar if you look for a price on the internet, but having said that it definitely is a decent quality guitar.

It has a good sound, and from the tuning machines I can tell this wasn't just some starter's package budget thing or so.

It's original price was 150 dollars in 1970, and according to several conversion tools that would amount to 900 dollars today.

So It definitely is a very decent midprice range guitar, worth saving as such, but definitely if it has such personal meaning to you. Your father definitely had good taste in guitars.

LaurentB · May 2014

I mostly see them for sale between 100 -- and 200 dollars by the way. But I don't know the condition of those, and with 12-strings that's often an issue after such a long time

Alnico · May 2014

Wow thanks for that.

Its interesting to hear a perspective from abroad too.

I am picking it up to start work on it sometime next month and there will definitely be before and after photo's.

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Late 60's Yamaha FG 230 12 String. Can you help Value this model?

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