Believe it or not, Yamaha can make a good acoustic instrument too!
That was a joke! Yamaha makes excellent stuff once you cross the Rs 22 – Rs 25K price threshold. I am the unfortunate one that I have encountered only their Rs 9 – 10K models, of which I have opened my heart out on more than one occasion (Search ‘Yamaha’ on the blogsite).
So, when the youngster was pulling out the guitar from the gig bag, unconsciously my eyes rolled up, as I spotted the ‘Yamaha’ logo on the headstock.
But this was a different guitar. Imagine my surprise, when I discovered on inspection that it had a solid spruce top!
It was basically in for a “buzz on the 3rd fret”. I surmised that like all other instruments, this too was suffering from low-humidity weather. A little turn of the truss rod and the instrument was well, thrilling the young owner.
But actually, the first thing that I noticed in the guitar was the plastic nut and saddle in it and the eye-poker that the extra length of the ‘e’ string was. The owner was chided for it.
It also needed a string change (the youngster had not changed them in a year!).
But, the thing that actually jumped at me was the “noose around its neck”. I explained to the young man the dangers of the move, and he agreed to get a strap button installed.
It’s a simple enough procedure but not if you do it for the first time.
I also noticed that the fretboard hadn’t been cleaned in a long while
With the strings off, the divots beginning to form in the first few fretwires also sprang into direct sight.
The fretboard was cleaned and the fretwires were burnished, removing almost all of the pitting. A very small dimple remained but I purposefully let it be.
After the fretboard was squeaky clean, it was given a rub of the love potion, as was the bridge, and then it was ready for new strings. The owner had chosen these
I had tried to explain the wonders of bone elements to the owner, but I had also told him that it could be done at a later stage too. I think he chose to do it at a later stage.
I leave you with the customary last views of the instrument
