Heritage
The Return of the Red Label
At our founding in 1887, our founder Torakusu Yamaha gave the company the name Nippon Gakki Co., Ltd ('Musical Instruments of Japan') - only later did we legally bear his name. Hence 'Nippon Gakki' was the name shown on the red labels most famously associated with our original Folk Guitar series.
The Nippon Gakki Red Label FG acoustic guitar is one of our most iconic instruments. The reintroduction of the Red Label today invokes our history of over fifty years of guitar making. The result is a modern Folk Guitar with a clear heritage of our Japanese craftsmanship and innovation.
Classic Headstock
The guitar retains the original FG headstock shape, adorned with our iconic Tuning Fork logo. The traditional truss rod cover is emblazoned with "Since 1966" to mark the launch of the first FG models.
Design
Solid Sitka Spruce Top
Commonly sourced from Canada and Alaska, solid Sitka spruce offers a rich midrange and low-frequency response. The sound is tight and focused, working particularly well for chordal strumming or rhythmic finger-style performance.
Solid Mahogany Back &; Sides
Mahogany has a slower transient response than many other tonewoods, contributing to a warm and woody tone with strong midrange.
ARE: Acoustic Resonance Enhancement
Our proprietary and exclusive Acoustic Resonance Enhancement ('ARE') treatment uses a carefully-controlled environment where heat, humidity and atmospheric pressure are altered to accelerate the natural ageing of the tonewood, removing imperfections and unwanted moisture in a process which would literally take years otherwise. ARE gives an instrument a rich, vintage-quality tone, producing a sound as if you've been playing it for years.
Classic FG Body
We were the first Japanese guitar maker to develop an original body shape instead of simply copying previous designs. The differences are subtle (measured with millimetre precision) but the slightly wider body contributes to the warm FG sound that players have loved for generations. A semi-gloss finish application further evokes a vintage look and feel.
New Bracing Patterns
In defining the sound of FG Red Label, our intention was to offer a warm tone which would be perfect for modern folk music and singer-songwriters. We started with the scalloped bracing design from the FG-180 50th anniversary reissue. With careful measurement and experimentation, we made several refinements that would enhance low-frequency response without compromising durability.
These changes are optimised for the natural characteristics of the tonewoods, and for each body silhouette. The resulting tone is full and powerful, both acoustically and through the Atmosfeel pickup & preamp system.
Atmosfeel Pickup System
The Atmosfeel 3-way pickup & preamp system uses a piezo sensor in the bridge to capture low frequencies, a microphone for low and mid range and our proprietary contact sensor pickup for high frequencies. The result is a full, natural sound with simple controls which make it easy to get a great plugged-in tone.
With the Microphone Blend control fully clockwise, the signal is approximately 50% mic and 50% the combination of the piezo and contact sensor. When fully counterclockwise, the mic is removed from the signal.
The microphone sound particularly compliments solo performers and chordal players, while a lower blend may be preferred by finger-style players and guitarists who need to cut through the sound of a full band.
The Bass knob controls a peaking EQ. The centre frequency raises when boosting and lowers when attenuating, so that low frequencies which could be problematic on stage can be removed but never added.
- Body Shape: Traditional Western
- Scale Length: 634mm (25”)
- Body Length: 505mm (19 7/8")
- Total Length: 1029mm (40 1/2")
- Body Width: 412mm (16 1/4")
- Body Depth: 100-118mm (3 15/16”- 4 5/8”)
- Nut Width: 44mm (1 3/4”)
- String Spacing*: 11.0mm
- Top Material: Solid Sitka Spruce
- Back Material: Solid Mahogany
- Side Material: Solid Mahogany
- Neck Material: African Mahogany
- Fingerboard Material: Ebony
- Fingerboard Radius: R400mm (15 3/4")
- Bridge Material: Ebony
- Nut Material: Urea
- Saddle Material: Urea
- Bridge Pins: Black ABS with White Dot
- Tuners: Open Gear Chrome(Y1D)
- Body Binding: Black + White
- Soundhole Inlay: Black + White
- Pickguard: Black
- Body Finish: Semi-Gloss
- Neck Finish: Matt
- Electronics: Atmosfeel(Undersaddle Pickup + Contact Sensor + Mic)
- Controls: Master Volume, Mic Blend, Bass EQ
- Connections: LINE OUT
- Strings: Elixir NANOWEB 80/20 Bronze Light
- Accessories: Soundhole Cover, Hex Wrench
- Case: Hard Bag
