I never thought much about guitar weights. Hearing about vintage (1930’s & 1940’s) Martins being very light (with no actual numbers) was intriguing, but I never thought about weighing any guitars. UNTIL I got my 1970 FG-110. It felt MUCH lighter than any of my other guitars.
So I bought a digital luggage scale and started weighing guitars. The cheap strip tuners could be part of the reason it’s lighter, but that can’t be all of it.
Here is a list of guitars I have, have had, or was able to weigh:
1967 Yamaha FG-110 – 4.02 lbs
1967 Yamaha FG-150 – 3.93 lbs
1967 Yamaha FG-150 – 3.84 lbs
1969 Yamaha FG-230 – 4.83 lbs
1970 Yamaha FG-110 – 3.50 lbs
1970 Yamaha FG-180 – 4.04 lbs
1971 Yamaha FG-75 – 3.37 lbs
1971 Yamaha FG-110 – 3.37 lbs !!!!
1971 Yamaha FG-110 – 3.84 lbs
1971 Yamaha FG-180 – 3.91 lbs
1971 Yamaha FG-300 – 4.67 lbs
1972 Yamaha FG-75 – 3.36 lbs
1972 Yamaha FG-110E – 4.11 lbs
1972 Yamaha FG-140 – 4.17 lbs
1972 Yamaha FG-160 – 4.33 lbs
1973 Yamaha FG-110E – 3.81 lbs – 3.46 lbs without the electronics
1973 Yamaha FG-160 – 4.42 lbs
1973 Yamaha FG-170 – 3.82 lbs
1973 Yamaha FG-200 – 4.34 lbs
1973 Yamaha FG-200 – 4.24 lbs
1973 Yamaha FG-360 – 4.73 lbs
1974 Yamaha FG-45 – 2.83 lbs!!!!!!
1974 Yamaha FG-110 – 3.63 lbs
1974 Yamaha FG-170 – 3.88 lbs
1975 Yamaha FG-75-1 – 3.45 lbs
1975 Yamaha FG-75-1 – 3.43 lbs
1975 Yamaha FG-160 – 4.18 lbs
1976 Yamaha FG-75-1BK – 3.61 lbs
1976 Yamaha FG-110-1 – 3.67 lbs
1976 Yamaha FG-251 – 4.92 lbs
1977 Yamaha FG-350W – 4.94 lbs
1980 Yamaha FG-300D – 4.89 lbs
1980 Yamaha FG-345 – 4.70 lbs
1998 Yamaha FG-412L – 4.75 lbs
1986 Seagull Menestrel – 4.18 lbs
1992 Seagull S6 Folk – 4.06 lbs
1994 Seagull S6 lx Spruce – 4.35 lbs
1996 Seagull S6 CW Mahogany – 4.41 lbs
2000 Seagull S12+ – 5.02 lbs
2002 Seagull Artist Mahogany Folk – 3.88 lbs!!!!
2004 Seagull MJM6 CW – 5.01 lbs
2004 Seagull S6+ Folk – 4.46 lbs
2006 Seagull Artist Portrait CW i-Beam – 4.99 lbs
2009 Seagull Maritime SWS Folk HG – 4.16 lbs
2010 Seagull Maritime SWS SG – 4.53 lbs
2010 Seagull S6 Original Cedar – 4.84 lbs
1969 Harmony Sovereign H1260 – 3.97 lbs
Late 1960’s Harmony Sovereign H1260 – 4.31 lbs
2005 Martin DX1 – 4.65 lbs
2016 Martin OM-21 – 4.16 lbs
2002 Martin Backpacker – 2.08 lbs
You’ll notice the Yamaha FG-1xx models are all under 4lbs, except 1 of the FG-110E’s. I think the light construction allows them to vibrate more freely than the slightly newer, slightly heavier, models. The 1980’s Yamaha’s are a bit stiffer and heavier.
One big surprise is my FG-350W weighs a very heavy 4.94 lbs. It’s definitely not dead sounding. For comparison, my FG-180 (a dread also) with over 1 lb less at 3.88 lbs.
If anyone would like to weigh their guitars (with a digital luggage scale), feel free to email me at YamahaVintageFG@gmail.com.