Yamaha FG-150

Very basic martin copy. inherited from my mom and it was impossible to play. Plastic nut too narrow, action like an inch, tuners were impossible to deal with. After struggling with it for years, and thinking of it as my junk guitar, had tuners upgraded and bone nut built for it. Now it is the sweetest guitar I could ever hope to own. I once played a $5,000 Martin from 1928 that was a nice as this 1970's Yamaha, but no other guitar has touched it.

It suits me like a glove. I play acoustic country blues professionally and I like a warm sound. This guitar sounds like there are no strings involved, just notes rolling around endlessly.
Everyone in my band wants to steal it from me.

My mom had this bought used from when I was a baby. I learned to play on it and cut my fingers to ribbons while I cramped up my forearm trying to fret it. It sounded good but was impossible to play for more than ten minutes. I upgraded it as above and it is smooth like butter. The finish is tough and that's good, because I have banged the snot out of this guitar. Even so you can tell that the wood is beautiful, tight grain on the soundboard and lustrous red-brown back and sides.

I depend on this guitar every day for my personal well being.
It is like a rock, never out of tune, I gig with it all the time.

I have never had to deal with Yamaha. I hope to someday when I am designing my signature custom version of this guitar.

As I say, I am surrounded by guitar players who covet this guitar. Even if it (god Forbid) were run over a car I would treasure its shattered remains. I wouldn't give up this guitar for anything in the world.

I bought my FG150 in 1970 in Kawashima,Japan, while serving in the USMC. 20 frets and wonderful tone and action. It is always in tune upon removal from the case. I would rather have this little beauty than a much more expensive guitar.

Pure sound and mellow tones abound. I play blues and comfort music to
while away rainy days,

The action on this guitar is unbelievable. I have been offered $500 for this guitar, but it is not for sale. The finish is still holding up,but I have put an unwanted ding in the single piece top. It still looks great.

I have used this guitar with a Pro-Mag(DM), and with the slightly larger sound hole, it accomodates this quite well. It is best to mic this to capture all of the subtle tone available for amplification

There has never been a need to to anything beyond guitar love to this fine instrument.

I have said it already. These guitars have a wonderful legacy from an almost forgotten time of craftsmanship and quality woods. The maker of this guitar belongs in the hall of fame for caring so much for "Wood& Steel".

Nippon-Gakki Label... Mine's not red though.. Don't know why..
Looks like Solid Mahogany with fine grain on back and sides. Spruce top. Pretty much what you'd expect in an acoustic aesthically. Small body.. I guess like Martin's salon-type guitars.
Finish is time tested... small frets. Rosewood fingerboard. Antique tuner.

Fantastic tone! Balanced basses and trebles. Aged wood has very warm resonance to it. Great for strumming and fingerpicking, James Taylor-ish playing.

Feels like an electric guitar, low action, but no buzzes.. Action is low even at higher frets.. Really amazing for a 30+ years old guitar. Narrow neck.. Finish, has taken some damage over the years... But it's perfectly natural for guitars to get "beaten up" through the years.

30++ years of rendered service, and the guitar still rocks!! What more is there to ask?

No problems so far... Website is informative, especially on recent models.

40+ years playing experience.. I'm 53 now, and still play for fun. I'll hand this guitar to my son someday.. Hard to find this guitar nowadays...

If you find this guitar somewhere, buy it now, then sell it to me!

Definitely early 70's model... Made in Japan, Nippon Gakki Model.. Solid Mahogany back and sides. Not sure if it's solid spruce, or solid ply top... Either/or. Sounds great nevertheless...

Small, Vintage frets, action feels like a Gibson Les Paul Standard.. Narrow finderboard...Very easy for chordal work..

Finish looked old and tarnished when I got it, so no idea what it used to be.

Tuning heads are all orig, made of solid metal, has survived the passage of time ! (30+years!)

Sound is awesome!! First time I touched this guitar, I felt some sort of magic right away and knew this was the "sound" i wanted.. I used it unamplified and the sound was surprisingly loud, warm and balanced!!

Action is low, almost like an electric. Fingerboard, is a little narrow for me though, compared to an average classical guitar that I always play... I'll give it a high rating becuase it's been around for so long, yet the action remains EXCELLENT! Only a few rotations were needed on the truss to fic this baby up!

My wish list though: Wider finger board.

Durable/Reliabilility? Heck, and ASTOUNDING YES! This guitar is much older than I am, (I'm 25 now). I got it from a retired musician (into his 60's or 70's already). Said he got in Japan, in his "pro" and younger years. It has endured, years and years of clud playing, that's why the wood of the guitar is already well "broken-in". The end result is a warm tone that you won't find in any new acoustic, at this is price...

I've been playing 15 years.. I've owned several acoustics already, like Taylors and Martins. Value wise, this guitar can be compared to guitars worth 1000+ dollars. I've tried a few Fender, Takamnine, and Ibanez, Washburn acoustics, but all don't have the "warm" tone, "strum-as-hard-as-you-can but retain smoothness" tone.

I love it because, it's very durable... If it's stolen, I'd probably save up for nothing less than a Taylor or Martin. I seriously doubt you can find any more of these models.. Try looking at vintage shops. I saw one they advertised that sells for aound $350, somewhere from the Internet. Another one I saw being sold by a collector for the same price in JAPAN.

Or if you happen to see a 50 dollars FG-150, in garage sales. GO FOR IT! and be surprised by this little "monster"

This one is well used. It was found at a garage sale for a mear $17.00. It's got it's share of battle damage (Sticker on face is from the USS Ingersoll) I was told it had been around the world several times. this old guitar has character and I wish it could talk. I was very lucky to find it. It's got the red label "NIPPON GAKKI" The tuners have been replaced with functional Ping tuners but they look like hell and turn the wrong way on the last three strings.

After I got it home I tuned it up and what came out amazed me in the depth and clarity. I'm a blues player and the sound was a cross between my LG-2 Gibson and my John Jorgenson signature Takamine.

Action is a bit high but its still quite playable.

It's like a good boat paddle that rowed across the ocean a few times, it will do it again when asked.

Dang! this must be at least 25 to 30 years old.

A rare find but I'm sure they made a bunch. Keep your eyes open and you might luck out like I did. I'd part with any guitar but this would be tough unless a trade like an old small body parlor guitar came along.

Purchased in 1970 by my mother. Japanese made - if only they made cars last as long as this baby. A high gloss finish tarnished by many years of Tool & Metallica covers. Nothing out of the usual in the way of timber construction.

The range of rich bass and clean high notes well suits my bedroom rockstar style. I refretted the board as an experiment & now there is a rattle at the 3rd fret. My fault entirely. This guitar is great for palm muting and is small enough to weild with vigor. I seem to be able to emulate many styles on this guitar, although blues does sound a little tinny.

A high action due to a crack in the stock. Had it 'professionally' fixed for US$75. Lasted a week. Two screw through the fretboard sorted that one out quickly, and although it doesn't look asthetically pleasing the added advantage is the action is definetly lower than ever. The amount of abuse that this guitar has taken is immesurable having been in my possession for over 13 year. It is a testament to Yamaha and their craftsmanship that this beauty is still in one peice

What more can I say other than it is still alive and if it dies I will hunt down another and treat it a lot better so I can hand it down to my kids as well. This guitar is great live using the simplest of transducer pickups. The tuning pegs have become a little loose with age and may need servicing soon.

None ever

After 13 years of loyal service and servitude I have never felt a desire to replace or restore the Yamaha FG-150. It's even better than a cat, cause a cat only has 9 lives. The FG-150, as it's name suggests, has 150. Only 12 to go. If anyone else has a good one and wants to sell it - I promise to be a more caring guitar owner in the future - contact me urgently. Stay cool

This is a made in Japan, "Nippon Gakki red label". It appears to have a solid spruce top and solid mahogany(?) back and possibly sides. Rosewood fretboard and bridge. Neck looks like mahagany. Medium frets. From some research it may date to 1968-1970. High gloss finish with lots of scars. open tuners, small body, but with larger lower bout shape. Just the makings of a good everyday player.I rate it an 8 just for the solid woods and durable finish. Looks like original plastic nut and saddle. I haven't made any measurements, but it is a little hard to go from fingerpicking my dreadnaught to this one,strings seem to be spaced a little closer.

I bought it at a pawnshop with 4 rusty strings, so I've only heard it with the light gauge silk-n-steel strings that I put on it, but it is louder than I expected and very well balanced (fingerpicked). I found no positions where it is weak, up to the 12th fret, a very pleasant tone and will even get a good blues tone when thumped hard!

High action with just a little belly under the bridge. The light gauge strings and a little off the bottom of the saddle fixed that. Like I said the finish is still very glossy even with a lot of scars from abuse. It would probably buff out nicely if desired.Tortoise-oid pickguard is warped and loose. The finish and fit of joints and edges along body and neck is perfect. Frets still tight with no visible wear nor rough spots.I rate it high because of how well it has endured the years!

If it's good enough for Country Joe to play at Woodstock I would trust it in a club!

n/a

Played for 35 years. with a few years on electric and a few not playing much of anything. I love this guitar as much as any I've played, I guess it's the combination of feel and getting a great warm tone at a steal of a price. I wouldn't trade it for any guitar at any price that didn't provide these qualities, profit from sale aside. I'm over the snob appeal thing. I would like to have some good tuners on it .

i think it is a 1972. my first guitar was a yamaha fg-140 which i thought was cheap. over the years i came to think of it as a great value. not many guitars sound better, though the narrow neck is not well suited to my big mitts. the fg-150 i am submitting a review for was found in a friends garage with the sound board 1/3 pulled of, but it was still pretty much in tune. so i took it home, cleaned it, glued it back up, re strung it and damn, it is a fine little guitar. last week i went into a guitar shop and played acoustics all the way up to a $5,000 ecic clapton signature martin. i will not pretend this sounds as good as that, or the really fine $1,300 taylors, but it was as good as new $300-$500 guitars and blew doors on the -$300 stuff. a great little guitar.

supriingly deep bass, nice mids with the highs lacking a bit. a nice tone, and suprizingy loud.

the factory stup was eons ago, so i dunno about that. but the neck is narrow, and the action a bit high. good intonation and obviously the construction is very solid.

um, it is very reliable, and wants to be a guitar, unlike so many guitars that want to become pieces of wood asap.

i dunno.

i have been playing 20 odd years and these little yamahas are gems. if you see a fg-140, 150, or 160 for sale at a flea market for 20 bucks, pick it up and be suprized.

Definitely an early 70s model. It has a low action and is incredibly lightweight.

Fits well, dispite my wide variety of music - rockabilly, grunge, southern rock. The sounds is full and as others have said, loud for such a small guitar.

Again, the action is excellent. I have found no factory flaws.

I received my FG-150 in 1972 when I was eight. It was a hand-me-down from my sister, who started to play guitar, then quit. I have played that guitar to death, and it still sounds great and plays great. The action is set low, and plays more like my Les Paul. I play it many times over my Martin.

I have taken this little gem to college, and through several moves and it still rests comfortably in the original case. Aside from some user-instilled scratches, it is a fine instrument.

Never had to do so.

See above.

My FG 150 is a Japanese Red Label from about 1969. It was the first acoustic guitar that I bought myself. It has a solid spruce top which has darkened beautifully over the years, and mahogony sides and back. I believe the neck is rosewood, with 20 frets. The back of the neck is more rounded than flat and it is a little on the narrow side, slightly better for smaller fingers. I have owned this guitar since it was new and other than my brother who scratched the top more than he played it, I have been the exclusive player of this guitar. The tuners are yhe original open back and other than occasional oiling, no maintainace has been done to them. This guitar stays in tune remarkably well.

I play alot of Beatles, Eagles, Simon, Lightfoot, etc. The tone is amazing for a guitar of this size. Full rich bass, and nice bright highs. It is just a little bit difficult to fingerpick, because of the narrow neck. I had the bridge shaved about 4 months ago as the top was beginning to lift a little, and added a Fischman saddle pickup while the bridge was off. I find I don't use it amplified that much as it is plenty loud on it's own.

Once I had the bridge redone and neck adjusted, it played almost as good as it did 30+ years ago. I put on a set of Elixir Nanoweb 12 gauge strings and in addition to making it easier to play, it brought out the highs without sacrificing the bottom end. The fit and finish of this guitar was Excellent then, and other than the bridge, everything is still original.

This guitar has certainly taken it's fair share of abuse over the years, and it is still the fist guitar that I grab when I sit down to play. It weighs next to nothing, and people look around to see where the "big" sound is coming from when they hear it. It sure has mellowed wonderfully over the years. I have no reservations taking it anywhere at any time to play. It has never failed me, and I can't imagine it doing that. Other than severe scratches on the spruce top, (thanks bro) you would swear this guitar is less than 10 years old. I never used any wax on it, only wood conditioners, and the finish is still excellent.

Never had to deal with Yamaha for service. That is a testament to this guitar.

I have been playing on and off for over 35 years. I also own a Yamaha FG 230 12 string (laminated), a Schecter SW2000 A/E, and an Epiphone Dot. All of thes are recent purchases and all have their strengths and weaknesses. The Dot has the best neck of the bunch, the Schecter is the best for fingerpicking, but my little FG 150 is always the one that I pick up first. Even after 30 years. Buy another one? No question! Sell this one? Only for a Hummingbird!