I recently purchased an old 1960’s Yamaha guitar off of marketplace and it’s in pretty rough shape especially the neck you can tell it’s had some work done on it at one point. I don’t know much about working on guitars so im basically just wondering if it can be fixed or if it’s better left as a wall decoration. Thanks - Blake
Old Yamaha
Can it be fixed?
Yes.
Is it worth having fixed?
Sooner or later, everything becomes a function of budget. I have no idea of its worth, so I can’t say if it’s worth spending the $$$ to get new frets. For this question , I would shoot an email off to Jake at the General Store.
How does it sound?
If it sounds fine, don’t fix it. Play it!
If it sounds crummy, learn your own luthier skills & fix it yourself. You’ll probably just end up breaking it, but if it sounds crummy, who cares? And you will have learned a bunch of new skills.
I have a crummy banjo, a “Carlos” brand, made in Korea. Genuine piece of junk. But it sounds not awful and it’s lightweight and it’s perfect for a kid to mess around with. So I let kids mess with it. It’s too crummy to think it would look good hanging on a wall! 
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It’s a red label FG-180. Some of those are very decent guitars!
https://yamahavintagefg.com/yamaha-fg-serial-numbers-interior-markings-and-labels-1966-to-1981/
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If the action is close to usable or already decent, then I think you have a great little guitar. Just set it up and use it. I wouldn’t worry about or try to make it a new looking guitar. However, if I am looking at it correctly, that is a brutal looking neck injury and repair. If it isn’t some version of close, fixing that (just the neck) would likely exceed what you could pay to buy one in good shape. I think that would involve putting a new neck on it, and the body has had a hard life as well.
As far as analyzing if it is usable or close to it, as @BanJoe said, if it plays ok and sounds ok, that’s a good indicator. There are ways to measure things if you want a more “scientific” approach.
If a repair guys say he can fix it, where there will be no string buzz or warping issues, I’d do it in a heartbeat. All the dings and scratches and wear indicators give it character. Love it!
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Thank you guys for the advice, to better clarify the issue as far as playability it booms like a cannon strumming open chords however their is a slight buzz. But it is practically unplayable down the neck due to the fret issues and the action being crazy high. Thanks again.
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Based on your description and pics, I am thinking it will take a new neck to make it play well up and down the neck. That said, it may not be a huge deal to get a replacement. There are lots of Yamahas with which kids have done a Pete Townshend. Get one of those necks that matches (in good shape) and that is the biggest hurdle.
Nothing beats an in-hand look at it. You could take it in and ask. If you happen to be in the DFW area, I know a repair guy who does good work for a fair price. There will be many repair folks who wouldn’t be interested, so I would call before driving it to them.
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Thanks for the help everyone I found a store that does guitar repairs not too far from me so I’m going to take it to get looked at. Hopefully I can get it back in action soon!
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