NAD: New Acoustic Day... Yamaha FSX5 MIJ - 1yr Update!
Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2022 9:19 am
Some of you might have seen my recent acoustic woes in other posts dotted around and my lusting after various brands and models trying to narrow down on a decision. I have finally made that decision.
So, for many years, my one and only acoustic has been a 1973 Yamaha FG-160. It has seen hundreds of hours of playtime in my hands and wears it's age very well. The neck is second nature to me and it has always sounded fantastic. Unfortunately time has taken it's toll and the frets are down to wafers and the action got to a point where a neck reset was the only option - apparently a very tricky and costly job on these guitars as the necks are epoxied in
The guitar, though worth a lot to me, is not worth the potential £600-900 work required. So I decided to retire it.
After going back and forth on what to replace it with, and some good advice here from Larry and others, I decided to forego vintage in favour of a new guitar. I've been and tried Martins and hated the neck profiles. Modern Gibsons had a dryness to the sound I didn't like, others were just more than I'd be willing to pay. Why it hadn't occurred to me to look at another Yamaha sooner is ridiculous considering I was so enamoured with my current one.
Turns out they started doing a reissue/reinvention of the original 60's line back in 2019 with new sizes and up-to-date bracing and electronics. So I ordered one. An FSX5... concert sized, built in Japan, with 3-way electronics (piezo undersaddle, internal mic and soundboard sensor). Also it has some weird 'wood ageing' process applied to the wood to make them sound more broken-in than a new one. I looked it up and the science behind it seemed sound.
Fast forward to today, and after approx 27 calls back and forth with UPS after it entering pre-Xmas courier purgatory, it finally landed:
There's plenty of pictures of these on the internet but that's the one I quickly took. It has a nice arch to the back, ebony fingerboard and ebony binding on the body. Open gear tuners and a 60's Yamaha-inspired headstock shape. Action out the case is spot on middle-ground of 2.5mm at the 12th on low E, 2mm on the high E.
The case is super high-quality and Yamaha nicely include a good quality feedback buster plug in with the manual and truss key. The guitar fits inside so well it feels like it's held in by suction as you pull it out!
Sound-wise it's very similar to my old one, but less boomy as expected going from a Dread to a Concert. It has a Yamaha sound but is not wholly dissimilar to a Martin of the same size. Lot's of top-end sparkle. Compared to my FG-160 the neck is a touch wider at the nut and slimmer in profile but still feels comfortable. At the moment it still feels weird and unfamiliar but I expect that'll pass with more playtime.
The top is solid Sitka spruce, back and sides are solid mahogany, neck is solid African mahogany, ebony fretboard.
So far, I am happy.
So, for many years, my one and only acoustic has been a 1973 Yamaha FG-160. It has seen hundreds of hours of playtime in my hands and wears it's age very well. The neck is second nature to me and it has always sounded fantastic. Unfortunately time has taken it's toll and the frets are down to wafers and the action got to a point where a neck reset was the only option - apparently a very tricky and costly job on these guitars as the necks are epoxied in
The guitar, though worth a lot to me, is not worth the potential £600-900 work required. So I decided to retire it.After going back and forth on what to replace it with, and some good advice here from Larry and others, I decided to forego vintage in favour of a new guitar. I've been and tried Martins and hated the neck profiles. Modern Gibsons had a dryness to the sound I didn't like, others were just more than I'd be willing to pay. Why it hadn't occurred to me to look at another Yamaha sooner is ridiculous considering I was so enamoured with my current one.
Turns out they started doing a reissue/reinvention of the original 60's line back in 2019 with new sizes and up-to-date bracing and electronics. So I ordered one. An FSX5... concert sized, built in Japan, with 3-way electronics (piezo undersaddle, internal mic and soundboard sensor). Also it has some weird 'wood ageing' process applied to the wood to make them sound more broken-in than a new one. I looked it up and the science behind it seemed sound.
Fast forward to today, and after approx 27 calls back and forth with UPS after it entering pre-Xmas courier purgatory, it finally landed:
There's plenty of pictures of these on the internet but that's the one I quickly took. It has a nice arch to the back, ebony fingerboard and ebony binding on the body. Open gear tuners and a 60's Yamaha-inspired headstock shape. Action out the case is spot on middle-ground of 2.5mm at the 12th on low E, 2mm on the high E.
The case is super high-quality and Yamaha nicely include a good quality feedback buster plug in with the manual and truss key. The guitar fits inside so well it feels like it's held in by suction as you pull it out!
Sound-wise it's very similar to my old one, but less boomy as expected going from a Dread to a Concert. It has a Yamaha sound but is not wholly dissimilar to a Martin of the same size. Lot's of top-end sparkle. Compared to my FG-160 the neck is a touch wider at the nut and slimmer in profile but still feels comfortable. At the moment it still feels weird and unfamiliar but I expect that'll pass with more playtime.
The top is solid Sitka spruce, back and sides are solid mahogany, neck is solid African mahogany, ebony fretboard.
So far, I am happy.
