1985 Yamaha FG-480S Acoustic Guitar
***Mosaic Top Bindings, Sound Hole Ring and Back Inlay!!!***
***Dove MOP Inlays in Ebony Fret Board!***
***Dove Headstock with Bound Neck and Head!***
***Very Rare Top of the Line 80’s Model!!!***
Before I describe my guitar let me tell you what it IS NOT. It is not from an Estate Sale, nor is it being offered to you by an antique dealer as a thrift store find. This is from my personal collection of vintage guitars. Too many instruments seem to be up for auction these days from people who have no clue how it really sounds or plays thrown up for bids wearing 20 year old strings, with the insistence it’s beautiful to look at and “must be high quality”.
Hopefully if you are a beginner to a pro I will answer all your questions. If you’re a beginner or beginning collector print this auction and take it to someone you trust for verification.
Let’s first examine this guitar and it’s place in the Yamaha time-line.
In the 1980’s Yamaha decided to revise and refine almost all of the FG Series. The hope was to reach beyond the acclaimed Red Label Nippon Gakki Series of guitars built on lines of modern designs with increased attention to detail, increased finish quality and coupled with tangible improvements. One such improvement was relocation of the truss rod access to inside the sound hole. This cleaned up the appearance of the head, eliminated the possible buzzing from a loose truss rod cover, and simplified adjustment.
Now a bit about this specific model:
Outright rare, the FG-480S was the top of the line model in the 1980’s FG line-up. Yamaha really poured on the deluxe features as they essentially emulated a Martin HD-28 style of guitar, but went beyond with additional inlays, gold tuners and other deluxe features. Most important of these is a very nice solid figured spruce top with close grain and a good degree of “silking” visible. The top and back are completely mosaic inlaid.
Stunning bound head with Dove and gold tuners.
Mosaic inlaid back center seam.
There are many other premium features such as Yamaha made precision enclosed tuners, satin finish neck with full binding, and an Ebony board. I encourage you to search the internet to see just how rare this model is.
Year: 1985
Dreadnaught Shape 16 ¼” Body
Solid Spruce Top
Indian Rosewood Back and Sides
3-Piece Mahogany Neck (Satin Finish)
Ebony Fingerboard with Dove Inlays and Side Dot Markers.
Black Stained Indian Rosewood Bridge
25 1/4" (640mm) scale length
1 3/4” width at nut
Multi Bound Mosiac Top
Action at the 12th fret 2.9mm
S/N: 5021254
Gold Plated Enclosed Tuning Machines
“YAMAHA” and Dove on Head
A Word about the Materials:
This guitar is built of much nicer grade materials than the lower line models. The neck is real Mahogany prized for its tight consistent grain and arguably the finest wood to build a guitar neck out of. The back and sides have the familiar striped pattern found in Indian Rosewood. The top is a nice solid spruce example. The Ebony fingerboard is much more durable and has a nicer feel than Rosewood.
Condition:
Please refer to the 22 included photos. If you examine the pictures you will see exactly what it looks like. This guitar is in good condition for being 27 years old though it does have some dings. The neck is perfectly straight there is no fret board wear and the frets have only the smallest wear visible. The action is set per Yamaha specs at 2.9mm@12th for easy play. The neck set is of course like new.
This guitar plays wonderfully. No fret buzz but still with very good action. If you notice in the specifications the guitar features a slightly shorter scale. By using excellent materials Yamaha was able to provide the great feel of a shorter scale without compromising the sound. Unlike many Yamaha's from this era there is no clouding to the finish nor any weather checking from age. There is the common finish crack at the neck where the finish puddles during manufacturing, and some finish wear at the point your arm rides over the top edge of the body. This guitar has been used, but well taken care of and is ready for years of further enjoyment for someone looking for the best.
I have been playing guitar for about 20 years and in my estimation this is a fantastic instrument. It’s very difficult to describe tone, and of course everyone on Ebay says their guitar is wonderful.
Simply put, this guitar excels at everything just as you would expect from a top line model. It's loud, clear, has good bass and sings at the top end. Rather than take my word for it. I think its better you take your own. Below are two links of it being played by me
I hope this clip illustrates that the instrument is very willing and you should consider this a professional level model. If you don’t have a high speed connection you may want to visit someone who does, these will take a while with dial up.
The Audio Only clip is recorded in stereo and if your computer does not have great speakers I encourage you to listen with a pair of headphones as you’ll get a very realistic feel for the instrument.
CLICK HERE for the Video Clip
CLICK HERE for the Audio Clip
The original price of this guitar in 1985 was $525 so you can see it was the top FG model when originally built. Its my thought that these upper level FG models morphed into the later LD series of handmade guitars due to the price point. The Yamaha company website offers information on this model but if you would like to research other past models also here is a gateway to the archive.
Please click below to go to the Yamaha website for additional information on any past model Yamaha.
Yamaha History for additional information on the model
That’s about all I can say about it. It’s a superb looking and playing instrument that will surely bring hours of enjoyment, all while quietly appreciating in value. I hope the information above will show that I am very aware of the instrument, it’s condition, and it’s place in the fine history of Yamaha guitars.
If you want a nice professional instrument with no surprises you may have found your auction. This guitar will be delivered, polished, with brand new strings, ready to be enjoyed when it arrives. Buyer is to pay $45 for fully insured shipping. No case is included with this guitar.
On Mar-24-12 at 20:55:17 PDT, seller added the following information:
Use the FREE Counters 1 million sellers do - Vendio!
On Mar-31-12 at 20:03:10 PDT, seller added the following information:
Use the FREE Counters 1 million sellers do - Vendio!