F195

[colin]

I picked up this F195 about six months ago for $90. It's in great shape (although the hard case that came with it is not). I'm not all that well versed in acoustic guitar sizes (I'm really more of an electric man), but it seems to be roughly OM size. No markings on the country of origin, but I'm 99% sure it's Japanese. Logo looks pretty much identical to my Japanese GL31, and this one has a little sticky rectangle on the back of the headstock just the right size and shape to be from a made in Japan sticker.

It sounds and plays great, and looks like it was well made with quality wood. The top looks like spruce to me, and I think the sides and back are rosewood. The fretboard has me slightly puzzled, I initially thought it was rosewood due to the colour, but the feel of it and the the tightness of the grain makes me think that it may be ebony, albeit not the most aesthetically pleasing ebony board I've seen. Neck appears to be mahogany with a rosewood veneer on the headstock. It's missing the truss rod cover, but I don't really care too much about that. Anyway, enough talk here's some photos:






Oh and just because it's fun to show off, here's a group shot of all my guitars (although I no longer have the lucite Dan Armstrong copy, flipped it for a healthy profit shortly after taking that photo, but I do have another guitar on the way in a couple of weeks hopefully).

[Barry]

Very nice Colin.
Looks like rosewood back and sides alright, and likely a spruce top. Can't really tell from the pictures but the fretboard could be ebony or "ebonized" (stained black) rosewood. Lower grade ebony can exhibit the sort of marbling effect I think I see here. The staining is used primarily to even out the colour to a consistent black. The same thing was also done to rosewood to give it an ebony appearance. either way you have a nice instrument there.

[charles]

That's a pretty guitar right there. Congrats.

[colin]

Very nice Colin.
Looks like rosewood back and sides alright, and likely a spruce top. Can't really tell from the pictures but the fretboard could be ebony or "ebonized" (stained black) rosewood. Lower grade ebony can exhibit the sort of marbling effect I think I see here. The staining is used primarily to even out the colour to a consistent black. The same thing was also done to rosewood to give it an ebony appearance. either way you have a nice instrument there.

Thanks Barry. I'm pretty sure that it is low grade ebony and not stained rosewood. Stained rosewood was my first thought as well, but I've owned lots of rosewood board guitars over the years (only one maple and no ebony before), and the grain really seems different from any rosewood board I've encountered. It has much smaller pores and the grain is quite a bit tighter than rosewood. It also feels quite different, smoother and harder maybe.

That's a pretty guitar right there. Congrats.

Thanks Charles, I'm really enjoying it. I briefly thought about flipping it a month or so ago, but I decided that I'd rather keep the guitar than any profit I would have made over my initial purchase price. There's no way I could buy a new guitar of this quality for even a tenth of what I paid, I think.

[Barry]

...There's no way I could buy a new guitar of this quality...

The Rosewood in particular used during this era is generally of high quality, and we've seen many dreadnought models with outstandingly gorgeous rosewood which is likely Brazilian, which you cannot get at all now. Heck, even Indian rosewood is scarce today, and I understand that Gibson has recently started using rosewood grown in Florida!
Times is tough I tell ya.

[charles]

It's crazy how even high end guitars today have trouble matching the quality of wood used in the low end guitars of 40 years ago... brave new world, indeed

[jolein]

Honestly (and probably *not* what you want to hear), only you know for sure. The only way to figure it out is to get out there and try some. See what feels best to you. There's more to it than just the nut width also. There is the general profile (thickness and shape) of the neck also. The electric you are playing (and the profile of it's neck) will influence what you'll find comfortable on an acoustic, too.
As a general rule, I would bet on a Taylor profile with a 1 11/16" neck as the easiest crossover neck. That is most (all?) Taylor Dreadnaughts. That is a super generalization, though.

[Barry]

Geez jolein, way to resurrect a 7 year old Zombie thread!