Yamaha G235

1980 circa Yamaha Classical Guitar made in Taiwan.

19 (18 and 1 partial) frets, spruce two piece top, ovangkol back and sides, nato neck and rosewood fretboard. Original gold tuners and high gloss finish.

Ok, good intonation and reasonable clarity but not up to the standard of my battered 1970 Japanese built G-85A.

I believe this may be due to the fact that this feels a much more solid and heavier guitar although theoretically they are built from the same materials.

The G-85A has tremendous bass, volume and clarity, the G-235 feels that it need to loosen up to sound better, overbuilt in my humble opinion.

Perfect, mint condition and excellent action and intonation. Better looking than most new guitars.

Finish is as new after nearly 30 years, what more can one ask!

Never dealt with them.

Not bad and probably better that the contemporary offerings in it's category.

Frankly having an older Japanese built Yamaha classical I just can't learn to love this one however much I try.

Wouldn't replace it and am going to try and sell it.

The G-235 was made in Taiwan. 650 scale length, 19 frets and I think a solid spruce top. No idea what the back and sides are, but look like mahogany. Finish is the usual over-thick lacquer, but robust. The tuners are a bit cheap and nasty, but just about useable. Nut and saddle are plastic, but at least the saddle has increased compensation for the G string.

An amazing sound for a factory made guitar - warm tone and good balance, with ringing trebles. Basses not as strong as I would like, but I'm pretty fussy in that area.

Bought second hand, and don't know if any work had been done, but action was fine. Saddle not a great fit, but no worse than any other factory guitar. Only significant problem has been a persistent buzz around the 8th fret on the 4th (D) string, that even a fret levelling job by a professional luthier (me!) didn't fix. It's almost certainly due to a resonance in the body of the guitar, and would very from instrument to instrument.

Guitar and finish seem very robust - it's in excellent shape for a 20+ year old guitar.

Not tested.

I've been playing for nearly 20 years, and this was my third guitar. I used it for 15 years, and was always happy with it. I only really realised what a bargain it was when I changed career and started making classical guitars myself - it was a while before I was convinced I was making guitars significantly better than my old Yamaha!

This G-235 was made in Taiwan. It has the standard classical measurements, with the neck joining the body at the 12th fret. The top is solid spruce while the back and sides are ovangkol, which looks like a highly figured mahogany. The neck is nato (no, not the stuff they eat in Japan), another mahogany family member.The tuners were the low budget standard Yamaha tuners. Upon receiving this instrument I found that the fretboard needed some attention and the tuners needed replacing. A careful resurfacing of the frets sufficed for that problem, though it will never be perfect without a major fix. But it plays the whole scale on each string without a buzz, so that will have to do. The tuners are now Gotoh. Much better.

Extraordinary. I got this guitar to record some flamenco passages on a project I'm working on. This thing rings like a bell. It can't be left on its stand in the studio when something else is going on because it resonates quite loudly with whatever music is being recorded. Excellent tonality with just the right amount of bass, mids, and highs.

I think that the previous owner had abused this ax to some extent. It must have had steel strings put on it, which caused the neck damage, and it was obviously played with a flat pick. Something close to murder. However, now the action is good enough for the job that I bought it for.
The factory woodwork is also excellent, which is why it sounds so good. The matched back (which indeed, nobody ever sees) is the best part.

As with any properly built classical or flamenco guitar, this one would not fair too well in a bar fight. If you need a weapon, bring something else. That said, it has held up through much abuse and still sounds great and plays well.

I called Yamaha for more info and they actually called me back and were very helpful, so far as their records allowed. Unfortunately Yamaha kept very poor records in those days. I did find out that this one was built in 1981 and is a later version of the G-235.

I am a 60 year old recording artist who has been playing music since I was 9 years old, guitar since I was 13. I bought this guitar, taking a risk because of the reputation it has as a Ramirez sound-alike. I am very happy with my purchase, even with the adjustments required to make it fret correctly. If it were lost in some way I would definately try to find another before I spent a couple of thousand on something that sounded as good.

Unsure of the mfg date. Made in Taiwan. Laminated(?)spruce top and rosewood back and sides. The back has a nice quilt pattern to the wood. Standard classical features. The tuners are cheap but do the job.

Great sound, nice projection. Balanced bass and treble. Can get pretty loud when played hard. Good sustain. No fret buzz.

Fairly good action. No neck bow, no fret buzz. Nut and bridge are plastic and I imagine that if they were replaced with bone the sound would be that much better. Cheap tuners but they do the job.

It's lasted this long and with reasonable care, it'll last a long time. I don't gig, but if I did I'd always have a backup - Murphy's Law. :+)

No interaction w/ Yamaha, but the guitar is supposed to have a lifetime warranty.

This was a pawn shop jem. For the price, it's a FANTASTIC buy. I had to do a bit of degunking, but it shore is purty now! Great tone, projects very well with balanced bass and treble. I'd buy another in a heartbeat.

1983 Yamaha G235-II which I bouight new for $225 and (as I recall) some REO Speedwagon tickets. Only thing I might wish for is an upgrade of the tuners, but the stock ones work well enough. Might be worth upgrading to a bone saddle, but the Yamaha saddles have a special notch to adjust the intonation of the G string, so I'm hesitant to change that. It's a great looking, great sounding instrument which I will never sell.

A beautiful, rich sound. Well balanced, really benefits from some decent strings like D'Addario J45's which I am currently using.

Action was way too high when new, but those things are easily adjusted. The workmanship on this guitar is excellent. As nicely finished and assembled as any instrument I've seen.

Excellent, rock-solit instrument. Like I said, I'm not crazy about the tuners, but they are servicable.

No experience. Lifetime warranty to original owner.

A great sounding guitar and a very beautiful piece of art. Unfortunately, the prettiest part is the back, which most people don't get to see.

Great guitar. Very finished. It looks like the Ramirezes at Guitar Center. The label says made in Taiwan, republic of China.

Very romantic sound. No big boom, settle basses and nice trebles.

It came with the action very low. I bought it used. I think the previous owner played flamenco with it. It sounds like spruce. I had to made a bone for the bridge. In fact, I changed from the one I had in another guitar and works perfect.

The guitar looks great for the 20 years it has been around. It looks like the Ramirez.

Never tried. But they have a website with all th einformation.

I will give a 9.9, just because of the bone I had to change.

Typical guitar. Great finish though, comparable to the Spanish guitars. Solid top. I am not sure of the sides and bacl, but it seems solid. Original tuners, and the classical good tone and sound of Yamaha. It supportes bad treatment and still it there for me.

It sounds like my Ramirez 2A, a little more warmer and less volume, but excellent clarity. The bass and treble are well balanced. I can set the accion lower and play an excellent flamenco guitar, it vibrates well. As a classical, it has rich volume. I gave my first 5 concerts with that baby., I am happy. I did not buy it brand new.

Perfect! It appears that the Japanese who built it in the 1970's hired Spanish luthiers to build their original classical guitars, later, the taught to the Japanese. Now, Japanese are well known for copying things and making it better. I think that is the case with classical guitars.

It will outlive me, for sure. My son already want it for him. He is 20 and probaby will keep it for his son too.

Non-applicable. I never needed support for it. All I do is play it and make sure the room humidity is between 33 and 66%. I use high tension savarez strings. It has dings and dongs, very minors that do not interfere with the sound. The previous owner put a pick up on it. It made a hole. I removed it and sealed the hole. You can see it, but the sound did not change. I think when those guitars came out, the fever for clssical guitar did no exist. So, only rock players bought the Yamaha and used them as the other acustic guitars, some of them even put metal strings on it. That is the reason you may find old players not so happy with it. It is a classical, not a rock instrument. The previous owner (only owner according to him) play classical and flamenco with it for parties too, taht is the reason he put the pick up.

I will never sell this baby. It is good and will pass to my children and the children of my children. It is one of the masterpieces of Yamaha. I bought it in 1985 and have used for 15 years. I believe the owner bought it 1976 for about $300. I paid $480 eleven years later. I would not sell it for $1500.