Jeanne Rose's Yamaha FG-360

I received an e-mail from Jeanne Rose of Washington (DC, I presume) on April 5, 2011.  Here is her story:

I have a FG 360 also, which I love. I purchased it at a funky antique store for what I remember as 175.00. I was missing my guitar I had left at home while vacationing so thought to find a beater at a junk store just to hold me over…needless to say, I found this guitar!

I was thrilled to find my FG360. I couldn’t tell if it sounded good or not,( as it had some horrible strings on it when I found it. It looked straight and in fairly good condition ( I will send photos if you like) finally after some sweet talkin’ a bit with the salesman, I purchased it for the above amount.

Off I went to get strings and clean it up. I later took it home to see what my brother thought about  my purchase. My brother told me it was a great buy. I guess he has heard that Martin sued Yamaha for making a guitar like one of their fine guitars, and it was during this time period of the early 70’s that this happened, thus making them much like the Martins, I guess?  Anyway, he was impressed with the sound, and so forth.

I took it in to a shop here in Washington, where they checked it out for me, it had a slight buzz in the neck, later to find it was a loose truss rod/very loose for whatever reason? They tightened the truss rod and voila, no buzz! Imagine! Ha!

I then had a GUITAR DOCTOR put inside to pull the top down flat, it had a   very slight bulge, this has not affected the sound in anyway, and I feel better that I can rest assured that it won’t warp or bow up later on. (this was a scary decision, but one I am glad I did)

So far, everyone who plays it, loves it. It has a nice sound as well and is so easy to ply. I love it!

My numbers inside the sound hole are barely readable and there is a stamped C on the cross piece just under the sticker? Not sure what that means. I was told the serial number read that it was made in 73.

Anyway, I am learning more as I keep it out and  others appreciate the sound and ease of play as well. The action is great!  I am glad I found it and don’t believe I will ever sell it. I also have a Guild  D25/74? and an Ovation Elite.

Well, just thought I would tell you about mine, looks just like yours!

Jeanne Rose, www.jeannerosemusic.com 

Our thanks to Jeanne for sharing her story with us.