Yamaha G65-A

Classical guitar: laminate top, possibly pine, standard scale, bubinga fretboard, gloss finish, no electronics, cheap tuners, and what looks like a plastic bridge. This is a stripped down student model built in Taiwan between 1967 and 1971, according to Yamaha's archives. Original MSR was under $80.00.

Moderate volume and sustain, but this guitar sounds sweet. Very nice bass, and clean treble. The sound gets shaky when you play above the 5th fret. For the money this is a nice sounding guitar, and I've tried a lot of new guitars around the $300.00 price range that can barely compete.

The action was very high, which is usual according to review of old Yamaha classicals that I checked at Harmony Central. I lowered the action with no problems, or buzzes. The finish has held up very well.

This guitar is built to last. After thirty plus years, it looks good for another thirty. I've bought a solid top (cedar)Walden classical, but I'll keep this as a travel guitar.

After thirty years, who cares?

If you're interested in fooling around with classical guitar, and you don't want to spend big bucks, this is a great deal. I found this a few months ago in a local pawn shop for $75.00 which included a case (good for comic relief only - otherwise absolutely worthless). It's tough, sounds good, and you can find Yamahas like this in pawn shops or on ebay for well under a $100.00. I have a Seagull S6 steel string acoustic, a Walden N570 classical, and a Yamaha AES 800 electric. I've been playing for a couple of years, and I've looked at a lot of starter-intermediate level classicals over the past year. This is a keeper, and if I lost it, I'd find another.