About James Koontz Expertise Acoustic guitar, electric guitar, Amplifiers, Most anything Music related... Also most anything related to security, Fire and access control, as well as CCTV system.
Experience 20 years as a sound engineer, part time luthier, and general all around technical dude for many local bands. One of which was fairly large in the 80's and 90's with multiple recordings, and was the opening act for David Allen Coe, as well as got a nashville recording opportunity. The band disbanded before making it mainstream.
Organizations Loyal Order of the Moose, Boy Scouts,BMI
Publications Highlights for Children, Mystery Magazine,several online Publications, multiple cd's from various artists.
Education/Credentials I have 20 years experience, some electrical college experience. Studied Law, philosophy, and theology.
Awards and Honors well, too many to listm and none worth much more than a paperweight to hold down the ones that are on paper.
Expert: James Koontz Date: 11/7/2007 Subject: yamaha fg 300
Question James, i have recently read the questions given to you concerning the fg 300 yamaha and hoped maybe you would share with your readers my knowledge which could clear up most of the confusion concerning the red label verses the white etc. a close look at the white label 300 which has 3 tuning forks on the stock also has straight bridge pins ( i have seen several )this is an exact copy of the gibson hummingbird which is why the red label 300 has curved bridge pins, changes had to be made to avoid a law suit from gibson. The white label 300,straight bridge pins, made in japan, is the older and the better of the two.
i hope this can be of some help to someone
Answer
Hey, thanks, I knew it was a replica of the Hummingbird, But my friend at Yamaha never mentioned the lawsuit issue. I called him and asked him about it, and he said they aren't allowed to talk about that... So, I guess that is that. I would venture to say that it is pretty accurate, although he still contends the bridge on the guitar in the first question is a replacement. Very Interesting, but the thing is, the guitar we were discussing, the label wasn't white, it was yellow. And it didn't have an original bridge, it was similar, but not original. And according to some people who used to build for Yamaha, this particular guitar would have had a handlebar moustache bridge, with adjustable saddles, but they were adjustable up and down and forward/aft. Later they went to a different adjustable saddle, and changed the bridge to the straight bridge, more like the one this guy had. He had a bridge that would be right for a later production model. But not for the year his seemed to be. That was what was confusing. Thanks for the tidbit about the lawsuit though, Interesting. I have never been a big fan of Yamaha guitars, not that they aren't nice, but just, not my particular favorite...
