Solid or laminated?

Many Yamaha’s acoustic guitars have a laminated top. Just looking at the rim of the soundhole doesn’t always make things completely sure. And what about the back and sides, no rim there to look at.

On the web there is a lot of discussion on FG500’s having a solid Yacaranda back or not. Let’s look at one of my FG500’s and find some answers.

This is the inside of one of my FG500’s.

Showing is a flaw in the wood (red circle) and a straight line in the wood (yellow arrow).

Such a straight line almost always indicates a laminated top or back. The flaw could be the ultimate proof.

Let’s look at the outside in the next pic.

No flaw in the wood where it should be in a solid back (red area), and for sure no change of wood where the inside strait line is (yellow area). So definately a laminated back in this FG500!

Of course this works with all acoustic guitars when checking solid or laminated. Especially for vintage Yamaha guitars it can be very usefull. Sometimes the original specs given by Yamaha are not correct as far as laminated or solid is concerned. Further some guitars, like the FG550 and FG580, started with solid backs for a short time after changing to laminated.