yamaha mandolins

[mislykketmusikant]

didnt know they made mandolins as well. some guy I spoke to the other day said he had a yamaha mandolin.

how are they, quality-wise? I mean, since yamaha make both very good music instruments, and very cheap instruments.

[Ray(T)]

Never seen/heard of them but, for that matter, not everybody knows that Martin once built banjos!

[jimmy powells]

I've been looking extensively at mandolins for 50 years but never seen a Yamaha. I always thought they should have brought them out but they know more than me. I have a friend who tells me he has seen a Takemine prototpe which was made years ago. F5 and given to a Fender Rep as a gift by the Japanese Factory after he had admired it hanging on the wall. I've never seen it and won't be convinced until I ever do but the person concerned (a guitar shop owner) says he saw it and it was a beauty.

Wouldn't mind betting it was another make unless anyone has any info on Takemine ever planning mandolins.

[MikeEdgerton]

didnt know they made mandolins as well. some guy I spoke to the other day said he had a yamaha mandolin.

how are they, quality-wise? I mean, since yamaha make both very good music instruments, and very cheap instruments.

Do you know if it's a bowlback mandolin? Any chance you could get pictures? The last mention of a Yamaha mandolin we had turned out to be a Suzuki and the member just had the wrong name on their mind.

[FLATROCK HILL]

That explains the exorbitant shipping costs on the Sumi-Era Kawasaki K-1000 I ordered..

[Timbofood]

Back in the day, I (we) sold dozens of Yamaha guitars never saw a mandolin. The guitars (FG-160’s) were so amazingly consistent, stable, needed minimal set up. Playable right out of the box!i would have loved to have seen what they did with mandolins.

[mislykketmusikant]

Do you know if it's a bowlback mandolin? Any chance you could get pictures? The last mention of a Yamaha mandolin we had turned out to be a Suzuki and the member just had the wrong name on their mind.

sadly, no. I want to say a-style, but I am not sure. just met the guy at a local music store. they have a couch and a couple of chairs there, and a coffee machine, so lots of times, musicians who dont know eachother, start talking. great idea, but I have never seen the guy before. all I know, is that his main instrument is the hardanger fiddle (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardanger_fiddle), but that he also play mandolin extensively.
the guy is a professional musician, and he seemed to be very knowledgeable about instruments. and he distinctly said yamaha. he was in his early 60`s, I would guess.

I can ask the guys at the music store, if I remember. they seemed to know him well. but my abillity to remember, isnt known to be of a legendary caliber.

[MikeEdgerton]

Well, get pictures and you'll have the only known example of a Yamaha mandolin. We haven't seen one.

[DaveGinNJ]

Never seen/heard of them but, for that matter, not everybody knows that Martin once built banjos!

I think the Martin people wanted to keep that a secret:grin:

[allenhopkins]

Fact that OP's from Norway may be relevant; mandolins could have been sold in Europe under the "Yamaha" label, not in the US.

Google search reveals a "Black Classic" mandolin labeled "Yamaha" on the IndiaMart website. (https://www.indiamart.com/proddetail/black-classic-wooden-mandolin-20212687448.html) Gibson-esque oval-hole body, with a "scrolled" headstock. So there may be such instruments around, in different countries.

[Ray(T)]

From memory (you might like to check Mike Longworth’s book) Martin made 96 banjos. Unfortunately my memory doesn’t extend to ever remembering a Yamaha mandolin even though I do live in Europe. For info, I bought my firsy Yamaha guitar (a red labled FG180) in about 1970.

[MikeEdgerton]

Just for giggles I just went and looked at my first decent guitar. It was a Yamaha Red Label FG-110. I still own it. I can't explain how or why I still own it. I bought it in 1968. I guess it's possible Yamaha marketed a product to Europe that they never sent to the US. I'd still like to see the pictures.

[Nevin]

I also saw a reference to ones for sale in India. It is possible but I think unlikely they would have made them only for the Indian market. More likely someone putting a Yamaha decal on a cheap Pac Rim instrument.

[Ted Eschliman]

I was a Yamaha Guitar dealer for 40 years. Never once heard of them making a mandolin, at least for the US market. Unlike a lot of fretted instrument companies, they pretty much make theirs from the factories they own.

[rcc56]

Google search reveals a "Black Classic" mandolin labeled "Yamaha" on the IndiaMart website. (https://www.indiamart.com/proddetail/black-classic-wooden-mandolin-20212687448.html) Gibson-esque oval-hole body, with a "scrolled" headstock. So there may be such instruments around, in different countries.

If you look at the mandolin pictured in the above link, you will see that it has a "Washburn" logo on the head. Despite the advertiser's description, it is not a Yamaha at all.

[Timbofood]

I was a Yamaha Guitar dealer for 40 years. Never once heard of them making a mandolin, at least for the US market. Unlike a lot of fretted instrument companies, they pretty much make theirs from the factories they own.

I was not a dealer that long but, I think you may have the right idea Ted, other markets got other products, the FG-110’s and 160’s were great entry level instruments easy to sell, well made and cheap!

[mislykketmusikant]

I havent been able to talk to the people yet, but I will try. by the way the guy talked about the mandolin, it was clear that it was not a new mandolin. it seemed to be an old one.

just a little sidenote: some of you have said you have been yamaha dealers for many years. does that mean you have tried the high-end nylon string guitars from yamaha? and if so; how do they stack up against the best spanish ones, like ramirez?

[MikeZito]

Obviously, I can't comment on a Yamaha mandolin, but I think Yamaha instruments don't get the proper respect that they deserve among many musicians. My personal experience has been that a pretty fair number of Yamaha instruments that I have played over the years have been a very good value for the money and are very serviceable instruments for both stage and recording. As a kid growing up in the 70's, I was told that any instrument made outside of the U.S. was garbage - but I had to question that a bit when I saw Paul McCartney playing a Yamaha bass. Some years later, the best bass player I ever saw played a Fender P'Bass, then switched over to a Musicman Stingray - and finally settled on Yamaha. Once I saw that, I REALLY had to re-think the whole situation. Today - I play a Yamaha bass, too.

[DavidKOS]

Today - I play a Yamaha bass, too.

I still play my 80's Yamaha bass:

https://www.strat-talk.com/data/xengallery/130/130847-144e195f236899f49d65e89889ffdc8a.jpg?1449314377

Easy to play, sounds great, and stays in tune for months at a time.

[tree]

Just for giggles I just went and looked at my first decent guitar. It was a Yamaha Red Label FG-110. I still own it. I can't explain how or why I still own it. I bought it in 1968. I guess it's possible Yamaha marketed a product to Europe that they never sent to the US. I'd still like to see the pictures.

Hah - mine was a Yamaha FG-180, ca 1971. Solid guitar, excellent value, I learned to play on it but after 3 or 4 years was seduced by a red Guild with a crappy neck and perpetually high action. Regretted selling the Yamaha almost immediately . . . but I did learn from that mistake. I still have the SG Special that I bought brand spanking new in 1973, and I learned not to impulse buy based on looks alone. I also learned to shop with extreme prejudice in pawn shops.

[MikeZito]

David: Is it just the picture, or is there an unusual shape to that bass?

[Doug Brock]

I grew up in the Philippines and Yamaha was THE luxury instrument that was relatively available (they had a store in Manila and when we went to Manila, I tried to stop by and look in the window. We NEVER were there when the store was open, but there was a heavily gold blinged blonde acoustic cutaway that was something like 5000 pesos (about $800) sitting in the window, and 5000 pesos seemed impossibly expensive to a high school kid in the Philippines at that time). Nobody carried real Gibson, Fender, etc. Lots of COPIES of (Gibson, Fender, etc., along with copied logo, lol). Anyway, I dreamed of owning a Yamaha. When I got back to the States, through college, and got a job (1985), one of my first musical purchases was a used Yamaha acoustic steel string guitar. It was the worst guitar I had ever owned, lol. Looked nice and shiny, but played and sounded bad (all laminate). In hindsight, it probably needed some neck work, but wouldn’t have been worth spending the money on it.

[DavidKOS]

David: Is it just the picture, or is there an unusual shape to that bass?

No, that's the BX-1 bass that was Yamaha's short-lived answer to the Steinberger headless bass. Frankly it's a killer bass, but it never caught on.

https://reverb.com/item/2589638-yamaha-bx-1-80-s-black-4-string-bass-incredible-condition

https://www.talkbass.com/threads/yamaha-bx-1-info.1040405/

https://images.reverb.com/image/upload/s--Qqd_NIIn--/a_exif,c_limit,e_unsharp_mask:80,f_auto,fl_progres sive,g_south,h_620,q_90,w_620/v1469153958/nq8x0iey9eudxietcncp.jpg

[Ray(T)]

Most Yamaha stuff is OK but I remember turning up early at a guitar show 10 or 15 years ago, just as the man on the Yamaha stand was setting up, so we helped him tune his stock. Amongst this were two hand built guitars, one with a single figure serial number and the other with the serial number “1”. They sounded awful!

[Timbofood]

Hah - mine was a Yamaha FG-180, ca 1971. Solid guitar, excellent value, I learned to play on it but after 3 or 4 years was seduced by a red Guild with a crappy neck and perpetually high action. Regretted selling the Yamaha almost immediately . . . but I did learn from that mistake. I still have the SG Special that I bought brand spanking new in 1973, and I learned not to impulse buy based on looks alone. I also learned to shop with extreme prejudice in pawn shops.

Is it a D-25? Thee shop I worked in sold Guild (and Martin eventually) and we found that almost without exception the tops would “rotate” at the bridge making for miserable action! The solution we employed was the plane the bridge and reset the action that way, it worked quite well. We did that to my D-25 and it settled in pretty well. You just jogged my memory on that.
Be safe.

[allenhopkins]

When I worked for Eldon Stutzman selling instruments back in the '70's, the Yamaha FG-75 was the standard basic "first steel-string guitar" we sold -- along with some Gianninis that would take silk & steel strings. As I recall, it listed at $75 -- same as the model number; in any case it was less than $100.

Wonder how many of them are still around 45 years later? I had a nearly complete Yamaha PA in the '80's; still have two PA cabinets with 10-inch speakers plus tweeters, that I use as auxiliaries when I put out a "big" PA set-up. Good music gear all-around.

[tree]

Is it a D-25? Thee shop I worked in sold Guild (and Martin eventually) and we found that almost without exception the tops would “rotate” at the bridge making for miserable action! The solution we employed was the plane the bridge and reset the action that way, it worked quite well. We did that to my D-25 and it settled in pretty well. You just jogged my memory on that.
Be safe.

I have no memory of the model number, only that it was red and seems in my memory to have had a box that was slightly smaller than a regular dreadnought. I was sorely smitten after just having seen Bonny Raitt play a similar Guild . . .

The repair shop I eventually took it to offered to "heat press" the neck, which was beyond my means (and I wasn't really confident that heat would correct the problem), so I unloaded it.

[allenhopkins]

I have no memory of the model number, only that it was red and seems in my memory to have had a box that was slightly smaller than a regular dreadnought. I was sorely smitten after just having seen Bonny Raitt play a similar Guild . . .


Maybe a Guild F-30? (https://reverb.com/item/10808006-guild-f-30-1968-sunburst-huge-tone)

The D-25's came in a variety of finishes; most I saw were either brown, "NT" (natural top) of unstained spruce, or with, as you say, a definite red finish. (https://www.ebay.com/c/132853526) I think their dimensions were pretty much "standard dreadnaught." First they came with a conventional braced back, then later with a laminated, heat-pressed arched back.

Great all-solid, US-made inexpensive guitar; in the early '70's we sold 'em for $179.

[Timbofood]

I don’t recall any D-25’s in natural top finish but, the “M” (mahogany) finish was what we sold the most, the “C” (Cherry) was just too bright!
A buddy of mine played an F-20 for years, it was a dandy little guitar. Once played by Leon RedBone!

[tree]

Allen's link to red finish looks exactly like my old red guitar, I guess it must've been a D25! I played it with high action as long as I could stand it, developed a hell of a grip with my left hand, but eventually unloaded it and played mostly electric for 4 or 5 years during which time I also picked up an inexpensive little Harmony mandolin.

[tntb]

The elusive Yamaha Mandolin was called The Californian and the label coincides with labels of the 1960's. I have one and have yet to find another. I have been searching online for several years. I will post pictures of the front, back and label.

[Ray(T)]

The elusive Yamaha Mandolin was called The Californian and the label coincides with labels of the 1960's. I have one and have yet to find another. I have been searching online for several years. I will post pictures of the front, back and label.

Welcome to the forum; photos will make a lot of people very happy!

[fatt-dad]

Something to look forward to! A Yamaha mandolin photo!

My FG-180 resides with our son in Brooklyn. I bought it with newspaper money in the early '70s.

Needs a neck reset.

f-d

[DavidKOS]

When I worked for Eldon Stutzman selling instruments back in the '70's, the Yamaha FG-75 was the standard basic "first steel-string guitar" we sold -

And that FG-75 model was the first acoustic guitar I bought. Nice little instrument.

[MikeEdgerton]

...I bought it with newspaper money in the early '70s...

I bought my first Yamaha guitar in the very late 60's with busboy/dishwasher money :)

[Jeff Mando]

There's a couple old FG-160's at a local pawn shop for around $149 each, but both of them need necksets........(otherwise, I would buy one!)

[Ray(T)]

The elusive Yamaha Mandolin was called The Californian and the label coincides with labels of the 1960's. I have one and have yet to find another. I have been searching online for several years. I will post pictures of the front, back and label.

Still waiting. We’d love to see it and you won’t find better advice elsewhere.

[MikeEdgerton]

Apparently it's still elusive. I really want to see the pics.

[Mark Gunter]

If you look at the mandolin pictured in the above link, you will see that it has a "Washburn" logo on the head. Despite the advertiser's description, it is not a Yamaha at all.

I noticed the same. Obviously, can't rust the dealer's descriptive powers,


Riding on vast volumes of expertise in this arena, we are occupied in offering Black Classic Wooden Mandolin.

okey dokey

[fernmando]

C'mon, man. Make with the Yamaha mandolin pics.

[Ray(T)]

Julius Caesar syndrome - “They came, they posted, they never came back.”

[MikeEdgerton]

Julius Caesar syndrome - “They came, they posted, they never came back.”

Et tu Ray(T)?

[tntb]

My apologies for the delay, I don’t see a option to attach pictures or copy and paste. The model number of The Yamaha Mandolin is 601

[jim simpson]

Interesting, there's a Suzuki model 601 for sale on Reverb:

https://reverb.com/item/626042-suzuki-model-601-mandolin-1969

[tntb]

They look similar, different tuners and headstock, the label inside does say Yamaha Nippon Gakki No 601 and the label looks to be from the 1960’s. If someone wants to give me a email address I will send pictures. The picture upload process looks complicated. I am assuming the format is from many years ago.

[Charles E.]

Instead of clicking on "post quick reply" click on "go advanced". On the top line, on the right hand side, you will see a paperclip symbol, click on that and you can upload images from your files.

[jim simpson]

Here are photos of Tim's Yamaha:

[MikeEdgerton]

I don't see where "The Californian" is on the label. I suspect that both the Suzuki and the Yamaha were made in the same factory. That makes me wonder who the real manufacturer is as Suzuki mandolins have been around for years. Has Yamaha been building for Suzuki or is Suzuki building for Yamaha? I also suspect that the label might be more 70's than 60's as Yamaha dropped the red in the 70's but who knows. At least we've seen one that actually is labeled Yamaha. The Suzuki model isn't a real barn burner. Apparently Suzuki did label a year on some of these similar models. There's a similar 1975 model Suzuki out on Google images.

[Charles E.]

Californian is written in script on the head stock.

[tntb]

What I find strange is Yamaha only used that particular label and logo with a Piano from 1934 to 1936.

[Ray(T)]

What I find strange is Yamaha only used that particular label and logo with a Piano from 1934 to 1936.

That begs the question of what they used the label on back in the 30s? Presumably it wasn’t on their pianos. Finding an earlier label on something later doesn’t bother me as much as finding a later lable on something which is clearly earlier. What does bother me though is the fact that the label isn’t straight and every other Yamaha I’ve ever come across has either had Yamaha or the crossed tuning forks on the headstock. I don’t remember another of their instruments with a model name there.

Thanks for getting back; we can be an impatient lot when something interesting crops up!

[fernmando]

I think I have seen that script on early Yamaha classical guitars from the 50s and early 60s.

[MikeEdgerton]

Is the country of origin (Made in Japan) listed on the bottom of the label? I can't quite make out what is there.

[MikeEdgerton]

Although Yamaha was originally founded in 1887 to produce pianos and organs, the company did not start building guitars until the early Forties, eventually opening a factory dedicated exclusively to guitar construction in Hamamatsu in the late Forties. Yamaha’s first guitars were nylon-string classical models, and these guitars were sold only by retailers within Japan through the Fifties and early Sixties.

https://www.guitarworld.com/gear/looking-back-50-years-yamaha-guitars

The fact that they are writing the company name in the Latin alphabet suggests it was built for export, I'm surprised they would call it the Californian but at least they didn't brand it Kentucky.

[rcc56]

I have only seen labels of that type on instruments that were built before the early '70's instruments with orange labels.
I do not recall seeing a crooked label in a Yamaha instrument, at least not an old one. It makes me wonder if the label was added later.

[Jeff Mando]

FWIW, and working at a vintage guitar shop we rarely saw Yamaha acoustic guitars that predated the FG red label Nippon Gakki series of the late 60's. Most will date to early 70's unless they were purchased by servicemen and brought back prior to that date. One guitar I distinctly remember was an early D size Yamaha from mid-60's or earlier. The peghead said Yamaha and had an Native American face in profile also on the peghead, similar to what is on a Nickel. Very cool looking, but the quality of the guitar, both in hardware, overall build and finish was several notches below the well-regarded FG red label guitars. I wanted to like it, but it just wasn't a very good guitar and even with a bunch of money spent toward a setup, it still wouldn't be a very good guitar, IMHO. But, a cool wall-hanger, for sure! Wish I had a picture, but I don't. Sorry.

[tntb]

I do not recall seeing a crooked label in a Yamaha instrument, at least not an old one. It makes me wonder if the label was added later.

So if that were the case what is the label from? Size wise it is correct for the instrument and there is no indication of any other label that was there prior.

[MikeEdgerton]

This is a 50's to 60's Yamaha Dynamic Guitar (classical guitar) label and they are using the piano. Interestingly enough they were already finishing the insides of the guitar to keep it stable during the ocean voyage. That continued through the red labels, I have no idea if it went beyond. I would guess the mandolin label was pre the red label guitars.

[MikeEdgerton]

From circa 1900 on the American music scene had a whole lot of people building "for the trade" to be labeled or not labeled with someone else's brand. Other industries did this as well. It wasn't limited to the US, it was common in some European countries as well. I suspect that Yamaha didn't one off a mandolin but may have shipped one to their early distributors to see if they could sell them. This is really similar to the Suzuki products and I suspect that it was built by Suzuki for Yamaha and labeled by Yamaha and the person installing the label didn't bother removing the strings. Thus the label is crooked.

You could actually contact Yamaha with pictures from their website and ask if they can give you any history. Don't expect them to offer up that they bought it from someone else but they might be able to tell you how it got here.

I'm sure it was labeled by Yamaha. There would be no money in faking this instrument. It may have been a salesman's sample.

[wbelve]

Looking for information: Yamaha mandolin. My granddaughter inherited this and we are trying to get information and possibly a idea of its value so she can sell it. I'm incuding 2 photos. It seems from the previous posts that this is a mandolin unicorn. Thanks for the help.207941207942

[wbelve]

Looking for information: Yamaha mandolin. My granddaughter inherited this and we are trying to get information and possibly a idea of its value so she can sell it. I'm incuding 2 photos. It seems from the previous posts that this is a mandolin unicorn. Thanks for the help.I posted this in another thread that is old. I apologize for any confusion. 207945207945

[MikeEdgerton]

If it was me I'd put it on eBay with a high reserve and a low starting price. If it doesn't hit the reserve you don't have to sell it. When the bidding is done you can relist it at the highest price it got to. This is not going to grab you any great amount of money. Unfortunately just because you can't find them doesn't equate to market value. It generally means they didn't sell well in the first place.

[MikeEdgerton]

No confusion, I'm going to merge this thread with the other one.

[wbelve]

Thanks, Mike. That might be the solution for us. I'm a little concerned about how to pack it to be sure there is not damage during shipping. The mandolin is in its orginal (very worn) case.

[MikeEdgerton]

There are a few threads here (https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=how+to+pack+site%3Amandolincafe.com) that might shed some light on the subject.

[keith.rogers]

If you haven't already, and aren't in a rush, you might try contacting Yamaha directly, though I suspect that the USA branch won't know anything about this, it can't hurt. (I did a search on their site for info about serial numbers [for guitars] and manufacturing date, and found a couple articles in the FAQ, but the links they had were no longer valid, so I think "history" is not high on their priority list.)

p.s. if you are intending to sell it, more information, even if determined by a visual inspection by someone that is familiar with mandolins, would help you fill out some info, like is it a solid/laminated top, back and sides [appear to be] solid/laminated, condition of frets, does it hold tune and is playable "as is" (with a set of new strings), etc.

[wbelve]

Thanks, keith. I did contact Yamaha and was surprised by how quickly someone responded. After providing photos, their rep seemed surprised by the mandolin. HIs response was WOW. He stated that he had never seen anything like it. He did say the label inside lists the Japanese factory that was making Yamaha instruments in the 60's. Thanks for the suggestions for selling. A local guitar instructor suggested that I not have it tuned since it will put tension on the strings.

[Ray(T)]

I’m with Mike in terms of value. This particular instrument is more of a curiosity than a valuable rarity. It’s probably worth more than a more common instrument of comparable quality but not that much more. You really need to persuade geeks like us that we want to buy; which most of us wouldn’t! Interesting non the less - thanks for posting.

[mandocello8]

we have two of these Suzuki mandolins in Vancouver BC. 1968 and 1969 vintage. one still plays well, with very light strings and a "sound post" to stop folding across the sound hole. the second one has a failed neck joint, now a wall decoration at Cafe Calabria on Commercial drive (there is quite a collection of mandolins and musical instruments on the wall there).

[MikeEdgerton]

we have two of these Suzuki mandolins in Vancouver BC. 1968 and 1969 vintage. one still plays well, with very light strings and a "sound post" to stop folding across the sound hole. the second one has a failed neck joint, now a wall decoration at Cafe Calabria on Commercial drive (there is quite a collection of mandolins and musical instruments on the wall there).

Yamaha and Suzuki are not the same company.

[mandocello8]

the suzuki mandolins we have here look the same as the "yamaha" mandolins photos posted above. distinctive feature is the black dots next to the bridge. I should try to get some photos tomorrow. ... found my notes, label says "nagoya suzuki mandolin no 601, 1969". "601" seems to be the model designation, same "601" is visible on the label of the "yamaha" mandolin.

[MikeEdgerton]

Get the pictures, if they are actually Suzuki built instruments at least there is some history.

[mandocello8]

here is the suzuki mandolin from vancouver, bc. 2nd mandolin with failed neck joint is identical, no pictures.
label reads: "registered trademark / suzuki violin co.,ltd. / nagoya japan / [no 601] [19?9]". based on other photos of such mandolins, i believe "601" is the model number, "1969" is the build year.

note1: a length of yellow pencil is holding top against collapsing/folding across the sound hole where it is thinned by the decorative pickguard. no loss of tone or volume. (correct repair is to install a brace).

note2: bridge position looks wrong, but is correct by stroboscopic tuner, intonation of E,A,D strings is okey, G string is off, as expected from a non-compensated handmade bridge (piece of graph tech guitar bridge saddle). not sure what happened to the original bridge.

208017208018208019208020208021208022208023

[MikeEdgerton]

The dots for the bridge placement, the unique pickguard shape, The rosette, the shape of the instrument and headstock. They were made in the same factory. The question would be which one?

[mandocello8]

right, probably by the same master luthier, too. https://mandolinluthier.com/japanese_mandolin_makers_suzuki.html

[MikeEdgerton]

right, probably by the same master luthier, too. https://mandolinluthier.com/japanese_mandolin_makers_suzuki.html

I have always assumed that Suzuki was building the mandolins they sold as well as the violins they sold. Off the top I'd say Suzuki built them but there's always the possibility they were built by Yamaha for Suzuki. The Japanese builders acted a little like the Chicago builders here. Looking through the mandolins in that link I'm not sure they were all built in the same place.