Yamaki Various

This guitar was made in the early seventies in Japan. Standard dreadnought, Solid spruce top, rosewood back and sides. Neck is a 3 piece construction I'm guessing mahogany rather thin with rosewood fretboard. Plastic bindings, yamaki tuners. No bells or whistles

I finger pick, so this has a slightly too thin a neck for my taste, but a great rythm guitar. Then of course it is a "Folk guitar", so why expect anything else. But the sound.... Man this is axe is load and has exceptional tones, it's open like only a 30 year old can be and I love it for that. It's made from really nice wood and that's why I bought the thing.

I bought this secondhand so I can't comment on factory setup. I can however comment on construction. Obviously with this model they didn't really care too much about playability or even basic guitar design. The bridge was far too high so it needed some serious work. Could have replaced the bridge, but decided to shave it down. She's fine now. Frets needed work....hell it was a piece of #*^% when I bought it and I've renovated it so it's very playable. Strangly enough both the bridge saddle and nut were made of bone, needed to be replaced because of bad craftmenship, but they had good intentions.

It's lasted 30 years, it's a strong construction. I've entirely renovated this axe including finish. Now don't get on your high horse and scream, how can he do that to a vintage guitar, it wasn't vintage, just old and has no worth, but now, it compares to some very seriously expensive guitars. Was it worth it? Absolutely.

Company no longer exsists

I've played for 34 years, and boy my fingers are tired. Own an embaressing amount of guitars. I would never have bought a guitar like this if I wasn't handy with wood working tools. I would not buy one again, but search for a more expensive Yamaki, because the woods they had access to in those days was scary.

I bot my 6 string accousticYamaki in the mid 70's or late 70's. Can't remember. It has 20 frets and came with a hard case. It is a model F 150

I play for fun but relatives that have played in bands play it. music style is everything. Rich full sound

The action is the easiest any of of us have played.

It has lasted about 35 years and nothing has ever gone wrong on it

Has never been an occasion to do so

about 35 years. Own a mandolin, a banjo, an electric Old Kraftsman guitar. I took my music teacher out to every store and tried hand made guitars, all brand guitars in all price ranges even Guild, Martin and Gibson and nothing compared to the Yamaki for sound and touch in his opinion and mine We love everything about it and if anything should happen to it I would cry for years until I found the same model etc to replace it. I know I should be critical of something but that would be lying I find nothing to criticize about it
I truly love everything about it even how pretty it is.

Hi.
I only want to give you a link to my Yamaki Hummingbird and tell you all, that I've used a couple of weeks adjusting the guitar, and WOW - it sounds GREAT. I own a Martin HD28 too, and I love it very much, but this Yamaki keeps on surprising me with its warm an beautyful sound. All I can tell is, that it have this serial number: 130510 (I would love to hear from anybody who can fill in the blanks, what year it was made, the pricing etc. etc.).

Here my Yamaki: http://www.fender.dk/images/Yamaki%20130510.jpg

Bye from

Frank, Copenhagen - Denmark

Martin D21-12S copy 12 string with slotted headstock.

Stamp inside says only "225" serial #40090 - date unknown.
Mahogany sides, solid spruce top

Warm & balanced tone.

A couple loose braces, action excellent. Good fit & finish.

Very durable - mine has a top crack on the bass bout that has never moved.

Bought the guitar 20 years ago used from a mall-style music store. Certainly the most guitar I have ever purchased for the money. This guitar has aged beautifully.

It is a 1972 Yamaki F-140 my dad bought new in 72', Solid Top, Top is Mahogany I think. dreadnought, Gotoh tunners I don't think are original, medium size neck thin frets on a Rosewood neck. neck-head stock is solid not laminated.

It is exellant pure acoustic sound, great for picking or folk. very Rich Full sound, not super bright but not twangy.
Likes: produces a sound that no modern day $300 dollar guitar can even though that was close to the price tag in 72', also quite easy to play
Dislikes: Finish on top clouded after 30 years, plastic trim on top and along fret board sides does not look as nice as wood

I don't know everything straight from manufactoring dates but everythings is in great shape exept hte Tunners were replaced, and the finish clouded on top. other wise it has exellent wood, with no defects and perfectly bookmatched bottom and great construction

Heck yea, Its played for 30 years and still works great the strap buttons are solid the hardware is good but the finish is not perfectm. I would use it on a gig with no back-up the only thing that can go wrong is breaking a string.

Never used it

my dads owned it for 30 years he never bought any other guitars. I don't think you can by them anymore. but it would take a much more expensive gutiar to repalce it.

I have three Yamakis - One like a D-18, one like a Hummingbird and one parlour guitar.

These instruments were made in the 1970s in Japan following designs and bracing patterns from Martin guitars. It was not Martin, however, which put them out of business but Yamaha. In 1975 Yamaha sued Yamaki for name similarity infringement and won. The result was that Yamaki sold their designs, parts and factory to Daion who went on to build a similar acoustic guitar.

The Yamaki will always be one of the most underrated guitars in history as the claims many people make about the sound and playing quality of these instruments are true.

On the bad side: Most Yamakis have a three piece neck which is prone to Yamaki disease (the last piece which is half of the headstock breaks off and is basically not possible to repair) and the braces under the top are not perfectly positioned to take the stress so the tops tend to roll and crack.

Nonetheless, I have never found a guitar which comes anywhere near the quality of these instruments in the same price range and I am offended by the fact that collector books value the instruments as low as $40.

The models made of Indian rosewood (look like a D-41) are the best Yamakis. Next to this are the series of D-18 style guitars with cedar tops (some have a sticker inside that says, "my face is made of Canadian cedar")which are a joy to play. This latter model also has a fixed saddle rather than the vibration absorbing adjustable saddle which came on several models.

Some have said this brand of guitar does not record well, though I have had great success with mine as long as it was recorded with mics. Recording these instruments with pick ups is a waste of time and installing electronics is a sure fire way to promote Yamaki disease with the body braces -- so don't.

One other reviewer noted the value of upgrading to better pegs - i.e. Grovers and I agree with taking this step, despite the fact that I had to enlarge the holes on my Yamaki Deluxe as the existing heads were folk types. Have a luthier enlarge the holes. I did mine over several hours with sandpaper as the three-piece headstock will not forgive the vibration from a drill.

The Hummingbird lookalike Yamaki I own is very unusual. It has pearloid inlay on the headstock to spell out Yamaki (only model they ever made with inlay on headstock that I am aware of) and the guitar also has block inlays on the fingerboard as one would expect of a Gibson. A local dealer who carried a lot of Yamakis in the 70s told me mine is the only Hummingbird Yamaki he has ever heard of let alone seen. The parlour guitar is apparently rather common and does not have the sound quality of the larger body models I have played.


I welcome all feedback and information about these guitars. If you have your serial number but not a year I can help you date your Yamaki.

The necks play like butter and the sound is smooth with the cedar tops. Some have a brittle treble but this can be cured with good strings like John Pearse or Guild 300s. Always use light strings on any Yamaki - none are made to handle mediums.

My 1974 polishes up as well as a new guitar. Fit had to be good to hold those three piece necks together. Original pegs usually are not good.

26 years with my meat hooks and the previous owners? It is the Sherman tank of all road warrior guitars. Mine even endure a two year busking tour exposed to all kinds of weather.

I wish the Yamaki came with frets that would last forever. I had the nut replaced on mine and that affected the intonation - took months to figure out what the luthier had done wrong. So, now that it needs refretting I am afraid to have anyone touch it.