In 1972 and 73 Yamaha Nippon Gakki
did build some solid top and body FG200 guitars
to be sold in Japan. A few of them left Japan with
members of the US military
Every now and again one will turn up on Reverb of
other retailers that sell vintage guitar. They sell
for between $1,350 to $2,000.

My father have a fg-200 he brought in 1968 at Yamaha jappan

Bought my FG200 secondhand in 1978 for £80 sterling. Great guitar for the money. At its best when played fingerstyle, not so good flatpicked in my opinion. I use mine in open D tuning to play with a slide and it sounds awesome. Never going to sell it.

My FG200 has been in my family since the 70s. It has the lighter label & it’s made in Taiwain (doesn’t specify as being a republic of China as others do). I learned how to play it as a teenager in the 90s, brought it to college and it’s been my primary guitar since. When I was in my 20s I was going to give it back to my parents and buy my own guitar…but the only thing I could find that had a comparable tone were the lower-end ~$1100 martins. I’m glad my parents let me keep it. I’ll never willingly part with it. I actually bought a second acoustic just for travelling and playing out…I didn’t want to risk having my FG damaged or stolen.

per Michael B’s comment, I thought it was a solid spruce top, but if you look very, very closely at the sound hole you can see there are three different layers.

Mine has a few battle scars, but it still plays beautifully. I’ve adjusted the truss rod a few times to lower the action. Unfortunately, the nut is adjusted all the way in. MY local guitar shop suggested adding a washer to the truss rod so it can still be adjusted, but it hasn’t really been necessary.

After reading through this thread I think I’ll actually start looking to buy a second FG200 to give to my parents.

I bought my FG200 in 1973 or 1974 at the Base PX in Iwakuni, Japan I was in the Marine Corps. Brand new I paid $35.00 for it. Great sounding guitar. I’m going to leave it to one of my Daughters some day.

I recently purchased a ‘vintage’ Yamaha FG-200D, blonde oval shaped ‘Made in Japan’ sticker.
Can anyone please tell me what year (or decade) this guitar was made? It has a spruce too, mahogany back
and sides with a rosewood fingerboard.
Thanks

The Nippon Gakki early FG-200 built guitars, for non export from Japan, did have solid Mahogany back and sides as well as solid spruce tops. With the US Navy and Air Force having bases in japan, some of these models did make it back to the USA. I have played one of them. It was almost a perfect mahogany sounding guitar. Very close to the Martin D-18 from the same period.

I was given a Yamaha FG 200. It had been abandoned with no strings, no tuners, and a hideous black paint job applied with a brush. I spent $50 on strings and tuners and discovered that astounding tone that you folks write about. I get a kick out of the expressions on the face of someone hearing such beautiful sounds coming from such an ugly guitar. Maybe someone can restore it after I am gone. I’m not parting with it.

Fg 200, all laminate guitar. Top, back and sides.
Laminate on the top is made from solid spruce. Very thin top laminate, grain oriented parallel to the neck as normal, middle layer is solid spruce run perpendicular to the top laminate. This layer makes up the main thickness of the top. There is another very thin layer on the bottom side of the top which is oriented the same as the top piece. You can see this if you look carefully at the sound hole, 3 layers as described above.

While the guitar is a laminate guitar it sounds very good. Most of the early fg models sound good. They are very lightly braced which contributes to their sound. It is also why most of these guitars need a neck reset.

Sorry to burst any bubbles about the fg 200 being a single piece of spruce. It is all real spruce, just 3 layers oriented 90 degrees to each other.

My husband bought me a Yamaha FG 200 in 1974 just after we were marrried. He had gone out to buy a hoover vaccuum cleaner and came back with that to my utter delight. I am now 68 and it still plays beautifully, but not quite as good as my Gibson Hummingbird. Rock On.

yamaha fg200D with S/N 10827 . Does anyone here know about its specs and when it was manufactured?

I found my Yamaha FG 200 in a junk shop in the mid-eighties. I took it to my friend, the late Norman Read, a great luthier who set it up for me. It is just as good now as it was then and copes with light gague strings (I have arthritis in my hands). It’s a 73 Taiwan model and for Christmas this year it’s getting a new set of machine heads. I have had many guitars in my life but this is the one that still keeps me playing.

I bought my FG200 back in 1973. It has a tan label, made in Taiwan: 0350236. I have no idea what the numbers stand for, other than perhaps the production number. If I remember correctly, I paid $200, which was a lot of money 46 years ago. It was purchased in Honolulu, where I lived in Haleiwa for 30 years. The humidity was so high (75-90% most of the time), I had to buy a dehumidifier to bring the humidity down to around 60%. Its construction is a solid spruce top with mahogany sides and back, neck, rosewood fret-board. When I set it up, I lowered the bridge to bring the strings down above the 12th fret because I play a lot of slack key at the high end. The frets were pretty high at the low end and I used a jewelers file to bring down the #1,2 and 3 frets. I also smoothed down all the other frets to allow for cleaner sliding, hammer-ons and lift-offs. That did the trick. I brought the guitar to the mainland in 1997 after the wood had cured in a high humidity tropical environment. Now (2018) in a low humidity area the wood has cured very well, no cracks or warping. The sound is amazing, great lower base, clear high end, good mid range, great resonance, lengthy sustain and just a beautiful full sound. It sounds like a symphony with new Elixor strings. The guys at Guitar Center asked me to bring it in, so I did and they couldn’t believe the sound, just as good as, or better than a Martin D28. I have a new Taylor accoustic v class 414ce and my Yamaha sounds even better than it does. I play it every day and just love its beautiful sound. If you can score one of these grab it, you won’t regret it. Just make sure you take it to a good luthier and have it properly set up for your playing style.

I have one. S/N 5090 A 160. Bought in early 1970’s…I was probably high at the time…so don’t know exact year or how much I paid. She still sounds great with new strings. The body wood has been seasoned over the years with beer and liquor with a hint of weed smoke.

Hey guys, i buy FG200J Nippon Gakki here in Santos, Brazil.I Payed R$ 300,00 – Nearly $ 100,00 Dollars, very cheap if we compare with others crap guitars that cost way mych than that, but unfortunly, that is what we have around here. Awesome guitar. Also i have a Martin and one Fender Acoustic Guitar, but this is the only one that i don’t sellit for any price. The guitar was build in 74, i’m 24 Years old. Imagine that, that guitar is nearly 25 years older than me and its in a better shape too. I love to hear allways more about this beatifull guitar, Tks.

I purchased my FG200 new back in high school (early ’70’s). Nippon Gakki, made in Japan. Great guitar! Solid spruce top, mahogany back and sides. Have used Martin Marquis light strings for 45 years and marvel that it still stays in tune – just take it out of the case and play! Have received compliments on the guitar’s tone, only wish it had the resonance of a higher end guitar. Finally purchased a hard shell case about 10 years ago and added a strap post to the guitar heel recently. Hated to alter it, but so much easier to play.

0523232 – 40509218 are the two number sequences on the inside of the guitar. I have no paperwork for the instrument because I found this piece in the garbage. Its a beautifully structured guitar. I don’t know how to play and have a hard time wrapping my hand around the neck. I has a caepo as well as a finger slide. It has a green label and says made in Taiwan.

I got my yamaha fg200 in 1971 when i was 15 i’m turning 60 now . Still plays great .got my first publishing deal with the songs written on it .My old friend and i are still creating togFether here in Nashville. Such a powerfull sound high action i like it that way. Many accoustics have come and gone
For me but always fall back on my old Yamaha.

Using an Education discount (my Dad was a teacher), I purchased a Yamaha FG-200 in January of 1973. It cost me $100 – I don’t know if my father kicked in some money, but I do know the case was a ratty cardboard one. Got a good hard case in 1976. The guitar was too big for me, but I was sure I’d grow into it (I was barely 14). I didn’t, but I wouldn’t trade this guitar for any one out there. Yes, the action is a tad high and I should get it properly set up by a luthier, but I’m loathe to let him out of my sight.
Over the years I’ve had a number of guitars, including several other Yamahas. All of the Yamahas are excellent instruments. I also have two martins. No other guitar compares to the FG-200. The sound is just amazingly deep, mellow, strong, clear, etc. it only gets better with time.
I have occasionally seen one for sale at around $200. For an instrument this wonderful, that is CHEAP. I wouldn’t sell mine for 20 times that amount. If well cared-for, the older the wooden instrument, the better the sound.

I was given a Yamaha FG-200 because it was unplayable, bent neck, a common problem of this model. Original Nippon Gakki Japan issue. These are the ones with the “good wood”. “Made In Japan” on back of the headstock, SN on the lower bout crossbrace but too faded to read clearly, label is blonde. I fixed the neck problem in a very unique manner now it’s perfect, relief is perfect, Lowered the action by sanding the bottom of the nut. I now have nut files and the Yamaha will be the second in line for re-nutting with antler. Also antler for the saddle. It’s going to sound even better! They typically had excess nut height. This is an astounding sounding guitar with now amazing action and intonation. My best sounding, best playing guitar.
There’s no such thing as a high action bridge, rather suspect the neck is bent. Bridges are the last consideration in action/playability, they are actioned by adjusting the neck ANGLE. Using the truss rod to adjust relief also has a slight effect on the saddle math. Truss is NEVER used for any other purpose than relief, it will not straighten a bent neck, don’t try!
Standard methods for neck straightening are to cut off the neck and re-attatch at the right angle or remove the fretboard and shim or plane the neck flat and with the correct angle for the bridge. Fretboard can be removed with an old timey iron and a metal spatula usually without needing to reset the frets. I didn’t use a standard method.
The good sound of the early Yamaha is likely due to a fortunate accident of wood selection as also in the case of Stradivarius.

Just bought a ’74 FG200 from an older gentleman who bought it brand new in ’74. The guitar shop i go to pulled some info and it has a spruce top, mahogany sides & back and rosewood fingerboard. I was excited to find it not only because it was a one owner in excellent shape but the volume on this thing is unbelievable. Anyways, a quick tweak of the neck and some medium gauge Martin’s and unbelievable for the price paid. The music shop wanted to buy it. Don’ think i’ll let go of this one…

What was the price of this guitar new
Yamaha fg 200 made in taiwan
0370629?GZFDQ

Sorry to contradict but all FG-200s were made with laminate tops and retailed for under $200 US. They still sound great though. I have had one since the early 70s and it has a great sound. People have offered to trade more expensive guitars for it but I will never part with it.

I have an early 72-73 Yamaha FG200. I know it’s early because it has the lighter coloured label that was used 72-74. The labels went black 74-76, or so I have been told. Mine was converted to left handed in mid 90s when i received it as a gift from a friend who sadly passed away not that long after. It has a glorious tone which has not been equalled by anything I have played before or since. I bought a Martin to replace the Yamaha as a touring acoustic but still use the Yamaha for recording. I’m going to be buried with this guitar. So many memories for me are in this instrument and fantastic tone to boot.

This guitar is a great sounding acoustic guitar that just keeps better as the wood ages. I bought mine in 73 .It has a high action bridge. Great for Chords but hard on trying to play leads. Put martain acoustic Mediums on this baby and you will be impressed with it’s full sound and great long ending base note. I had the bridge lowered and playing it down the shore ( sea air & humidity) for summer’s has put a slight warp in the neck but this does not diminish the sound or playing of this guitar. I took it into “Guitar Center” after talking to a pro about the slight bend ( which he said he could take care of for 70.00 $50.00) “Guitar Center” said they would not give me anything for it !!!!!! I just got 3 offers between $150-$180.

If I remember my model numbers, the FG 200 is just a laminated top folk guitar. I think they retailed new for about $250.00