For sale here is a little gem of Japanese acoustic luthierie in the 1970s: a Yamaki YW-15 based on similar designs by Martin. Yamaki played a big part in popularizing Japanese guitars, they have a cool history if you haven’t checked them out before. I believe this is an export model based off of the inside label. It is completely structurally sound and plays great. The action is comfortable and there’s still a bit of room in the saddle if you wanted to lower it more. No cracks or structural issues. Frets are in great shape with plenty of life left.
There’s some small dings throughout on the face of the guitar, and a couple scratches on the back, the worst being one on the upper bout of the back. There’s a small depression along the headstock joint on the bass side, but there’s no actual separation at all. A small ding on the neck behind the nut, though it’s high enough you don’t touch it while playing. The finish is pretty thin, and while it allows the guitar to really ring out it’s also more prone to clouding, as pictured. It shows up as patches of small whiteish/yellow dots under the finish on the bottom bout of the guitar, similar to the clouding common in Yamaha electrics of the late 70s/early 80s.
Now the fun part: the guitar sounds amazing. The quality is obvious as soon as you pick it up and play it. It sounds sweet and full, and just feels right in the hands. The thin finish really lets the guitar ring out and project, and the spruce top has aged well. Yamakis became so popular for a reason, and this model is no exception.
Guitar is detuned, well packaged, and ready to ship in the black vintage chipboard case pictured. Please let me know if you have any questions.
