Yamaha L-5 early 1980s Natural

YamahaL5 acoustic made in Japan in the early 1980s.

Some of the L-series guitars of Yamaha are amongst the most sought vintageYamaha guitars. The whole series is considered of very high quality. Starting in 1975 for the Japanese market the L-5 was introduced. L-5 has a spruce top, rosewood laminated back and sides, ebony fingerboard and bridge changing to rosewood in 1979. Around1985 production of most L-series stops. The whole series above, from1975 to the mid 80’s were Japanese handmade guitars for their domestic market.

The headstock is rosewood veneer with a mahogany back and a rosewood truss cover. The binding is in very good condition with some slight outgassing causing some discoloration. The tuners are gold, stamped with Yamaha Japan and work well. The nut is plastic with a width of 1.79 inches. There is some chipping. A blacklight revealed no damage or repairs.

The mahogany neck has a soft V profile and a very good neck angle. All 22 frets were leveled, crowned and polished with 0.053 inch fret height remaining. The fretboard is rosewood with pearl inlays and 25.5 inch scale. The single action truss rod works well. The binding is very good but due to outgassing is discolored. The finish of the back of the neck is discolored in places and has a few small dents. A blacklight revealed no damage or repairs

The body has a spruce top with rosewood laminated back and sides. The bridge is painted rosewood with a plastic saddle. The bridge and bridge plate are in very good condition. He top has some dents and dings with a chip on the upper bout (see pic). The binding is very good but due to outgassing is discolored. The pickguard is very good and well adhered. The string height is 2/32 inches treble side and 3/32 inches bass side. A blacklight revealed no damage or repairs.