What the Folk!

what guitar does brett use?
(acoustic)?

When? He has a Casio DG-20 for She's So Hot ... Boom! As for the acoustic, I can't help; I've never looked that closely.

It says Brownsville in this picture.

http://www.whatthefolk.net/02images/fot ... ener02.jpg

Thats his hand.

Bret.

That's not the dreadnaught you usually see him play.
The shape of the headstock, bridge and pickguard on the acoustic looks like a Yamaha. The decal doesn't match the one on ours though. It also looks like the pickup was an add on.

Basically not sure, but a Yamaha would be real close and they're not pricey.

Okay, so I'm a obsessive nerd who really wanted to know what kind of guitar it is that Bret usually plays. I like how bashed-up and well-loved it is, the swooping mahogany pickguard, and that lubricious little red tongue on the headstock. It's just such a great, characterful instrument, isn't it? It's got soul, man.

Anyway, I did some digging around, and figured out that it is indeed a Yamaha, but a vintage one, because that styling seems to have disappeared altogether. Here's Bret with his baby:



Here's a closeup of the headstock a current acoustic Yamaha dreadnought:



Not Bret's, right? The sloping curve of the wood at the top is encouraging, though. But then I found this, a picture of a Yamaha from the 1970's. And AH HA! Definitely warmer! It's got the little star-in-a-circle icon up top, and a vintage instrument would account for the wear and tear on Bret's axe.



It's not the exact same one as Bret's, but hey, it's pretty close. For what it's worth, it's a 1973 Yamaha FG-160. I'm going to have another nose around later today and see if I can't pin that little bugger down definitively.

I will now retreat back to my hidey-hole and blush crimson at my epic nerdification.

Yes! I found it! Two hours wasted! Procrastination RULEZ!

Drumroll please................

Bret's lovely guitar, as seen clutched protectively here:



...is a 1974 Yamaha FG 200, as seen here:



This one's varnish is a bit lighter than Bret's, but! It's......is it? Could it be? Yeah! YEAH! I FOUND IT!

You can see that the two thick white lines circling the round sound hole are the same, the chestnut-coloured pickguard is the same, the vintage headstock is the same - oh, I think we've got it.

It's been interesting finding out about this baby, actually. It's not a terribly expensive or fancy guitar. In fact, it seems to have been the first and most basic guitar that a lot of players owned. But Yamaha really seemed to have produced something extraordinarily special in the 1970s. People get a little misty-eyed when they talk about it. Here's one fellow's description of his FG 200:

"It has absolutely beautiful tones and the harmonics really ring out. You can play a harmonic, put the guitar down, come back about two minutes later and it'll still be sending out those amazing sounds! It's true that they don't make 'em like they used to."

Or another:

"I've been playing for 31 years, and I've been through many guitars. I have owned 6 new Stratocasters. 2 Marshall stacks. Many assorted pedals. 5 new acoustic guitars. But the only original guitar that has stuck it out with me is my Yamaha FG200.

It's like this: I say play what you got and learn to master it. If you have the opportunity, then move on to other guitars. Like myself, you will find that one special guitar and when you do, you will know it."

I really get a kick out of these players talking about their favourite guitars like they're the love of their lives. I don't know. I don't play the guitar. But maybe I just like the idea of having a genuinely moving connection to an instrument like that. I mean, they're inanimate objects, but they're alive. It's kind of spooky and gorgeous all at the same time, isn't it?

And I love that Bret still obviously adores his old, beat-up friend. He may have other guitars (I've seen him frolicking with a souped-up, top-of-the-line Gibson recently), but his Yamaha is the one he always, always comes back to. There may be fancier and much more expensive guitars out there, but this one? This one is Bret's.

ASmallTurnip I award you the WTF prize for guitar finding dedication (and excellence at procrastination)

It's a lovely guitar. Hmmmmm...... I wonder if Bret has a special name for it (my daughter's 1st cello used to be called Princess Lucy; now that she is old and wise at 9 and a half years old, I don't know what her new cello is called, must ask her tonight).

Let's drink to the Yamaha FG 200

I think you should now try and find the brand of Jemaine's glasses, a few laydeez on the Jemaine threads would be grateful......

ASmallTurnip



Most impressive research. Obviously you have a day job that you like to avoid

Might use this on the main news page actually. Be nice to point people to here and your write up

*goes off to post newsy stuff*

I love that turn of phrase!



Excellent research! And well-written, too!

Oh, hey, thanks, you guys! I'm so pleased that someone else on this planet thinks this is interesting, too. I'm just a musically illiterate girl with guitars on the brain, and a very strong urge to waste time.

Hee! Close. A dissertation on cholera epidemics in Victorian London to write, actually. And no. No, it isn't going very well, thank you. I am now going to focus my mad researching skillz on the transcendental nature of Pi, and when I have finished that, I will eat it. A lovely cauliflower and bicycle rubber Pi, made in the shape of a Yamaha FG 200 guitar.

Oh, that's an interesting thought. I like that idea. If Bret does have a name for it, I have little doubt that it is something manifestly silly and whimsical. And that I'd chortle for hours at it.

I played the cello when I was a wee one, too. A tiny cello for a tiny turnip. I didn't have a name for it, except for maybe "That Sodding Instrument". I love the cello now, but holy cow, did I hate practising. Do you have to crack the whip to get your daughter to put her half-hour in?

Aww, thanks. But it IS a very sexy guitar isn't it? I just love watching Bret play it. And every time it flaunts that little red strip at me, it forces me to think lascivious, sweaty, depraved thoughts. That guitar is a total slut, I am telling you.

You should be elevated to Boom King status.

Hello ASmallTurnip,

Thank you for investigating Bret's guitar and for the great write-up. Very interesting stuff...

If you feel like having a break from writing your dissertation and fancy doing the same for Jemaine's bass guitar, I would be very grateful.

Those thoughts from the musicians about their guitars were also very interesting. Playing guitar and bass guitar myself, I know exactly what they mean. I adored this line from your write-up:

"There may be fancier and much more expensive guitars out there, but this one? This one is Bret's."

This just sums it up perfectly!

Now I shall try to resist the urge to investigate the price of a Yamaha FG200!

Thanks again.

Welcome to both of you folks from the UK!

Excellent research and description of Bret's guitar, ASmallTurnip. I can barely play, but I have a guitar that's about as old as Bret's. My Uncle got it as a perk for being top salesman back in the 70's, and I've had people who know instruments say it has one of the warmest, richest sounds any guitar makes. I agree, it does.

*realizes she should go check what kind hers is*

First class investigative work there!

Now I feel the need to go check out what make of guitar I have. Sadly, it hasn't been out of its case since I moved -- other than a quick check to make sure it survived the move.

My ukulele -- Steve -- gets regular use, though, and is beckoning to me now, despite the fact that I really should be cleaning house for when my Dutch teacher arrives this evening.

You know, now would be a good time to check on my guitar ...

Procrastination, it's a wunnerful thing!