# NGD kijiji Gem



## Blind Dog (Mar 4, 2016)

I didn't really mean to buy another acoustic, and I was going to post an 'alert', but I ended up with another one.

 
(EDIT: these are the original kijiji photo's -- I removed the screenie of the ad' because there's too much of the seller's info available & the guitar is rare enough these pic's come up on Google image search top row -- and unwanted ☠Windows 10 crapped on my Photoshop CS6 so I can't edit the photo properly.)

'Grumpy' was looking for a starter guitar for a grandson. Something worth learning on, and learning to look after. The kijiji ad' had been up for six minutes when I stumbled on it. My search technique is decent, but I couldn't find anything close, and there's no model number. The pick guard is a little different, and then there's those buttons. I had emailed the seller _before_ I went searching. The seller called, and I said I would be there in fifteen minutes.

The seller turned out to be a wealthy, world acclaimed, painter. We met in his (wow) home studio, and he had a blue Firebird (looking very vintage, but minty), a gold top PRS, and one-off classical hanging handy. He said he hadn't played the (cased) Yamaha in more than four years, and had another classical being made for him. He wanted the guitar to move to somebody who would play it. I told him I thought the guitar was worth significantly more than the price he wanted, I wouldn't even try to talk him down, and said if he was happy with $175 I would really appreciate the guitar. He said he was completely aware the guitar was worth more, and appreciated that I appreciated the sale. I never even touched the guitar. I just handed over the cash.

David wasn't the least bit snobby -- just a really cool, friendly, dude.


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## Blind Dog (Mar 4, 2016)

The grandson is going to get a baby Martin. This guitar ain't going anywhere. It is, without qualification, the very best guitar I own.

Edit: Oh, and it's a 1978 to 1981 LCX-5E handcrafted flatpicker's dream.


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## Moosehead (Jan 6, 2011)

Nice grab, love my old yamaha acoustic.


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## cboutilier (Jan 12, 2016)

That is basically my dream acoustic. I'm ba jelous man.


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## Guest (Jun 19, 2016)

It's a beaut!
Talk about being at the right place at the right time.
I've had that situation happen to me twice in my life.


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## Blind Dog (Mar 4, 2016)

Thanks guys. Shout out to my wife, Cathy, on this one. I woke her up, and did not feel I had to justify the quest. 



laristotle said:


> It's a beaut!
> Talk about being at the right place at the right time.
> I've had that situation happen to me twice in my life.


Thanks, and you have me curious on your situations. 

You asked about a Thorens tt on my intro post, and I said it was a Thorens. There was a 160 TD in the pic. You might have actually been asking about the more central, silver tt -- that was a Michell TecnoDec. I sold it when a buyer got too casual about paying me for a set of speakers. 

I had pretty much given my word, to a Castanet seller, I would purchase his Guild. The Guild's seller was a bass player, and it was Christmas time, and I didn't want to jerk him around. (I assumed he was broke, and had kids.) I had told him I was waiting for funds, but that I would make a trip to pick up the guitar, and suggested he not drop the price of $800. _Then_, I had to tell him I was still waiting for the speaker payment, _but_ that I would aggressively price another piece of gear, and still try to make my original eta. I sent him a link to the TecnoDec ad', and I guess we both watched it sell -- in a matter of minutes. 

On the way to pick up the Guild, a deadly, mountain, snow storm, hit. Not knowing which direction the storm was coming from, Healey, Cathy, and I pressed on. It was nuts. I wondered why I was putting my family thru peril for something I couldn't really justify. I did not need the Guild -- just_ felt called_. I tried to ignore the ad', but for some reason it had lingered for month(?). 

The owner lived behind closed gates, in the type of house I would own, if I were very rich & mor smarter. He was a senior, and not at all the struggling musician I had envisioned. The '78 D-35, and original case were just a tic off of mint. Just played. I handed him the money, and as promised, did not make him listen to me try and play 'Stairway To Heaven'. We talked about how he had offered the guitar to various family members, and they had all told him they didn't have any use for it, and to sell it because they could use the money more. _hmmm._ 

Anyways; we chatted for the better part of an hour about his careers, mine, his motorcycles, mine -- you get the picture. As I was about to leave; he opened the case, put all the cash in the strap box, re-latched the case, and told me again, "It's not about the money, it's about finding the right guy." 

Bestcrimmass_ebber_!!!


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## Guest (Jun 19, 2016)

Blind Dog said:


> Thanks, and you have me curious on your situations.


Not as nice as your story.
I'm almost ashamed to say that mine involved flipping my acquisitions for a 400% profit.


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## Blind Dog (Mar 4, 2016)

laristotle said:


> Not as nice as your story.
> ...


Yours is just easier told.

My guitars all come from buying, and selling/trading vintage audio. I don't buy it to make money, but once I've enjoyed it, somebody always seems to offer me substantially more than I can refuse. I also get handed free gear fairly often. I'm not a hardcore 'flipper' either. That's just stereo gear tho. All guitars will be pried from my cold dead hands.

_And _I will curse those who wrest them from me.


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## Guest (Jun 19, 2016)

Blind Dog said:


> _And _I will curse those who wrest them from me.


But, what if I happen to be 'the right guy'? lol.


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## Blind Dog (Mar 4, 2016)




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## Guest (Jun 20, 2016)

I wasn't familiar with this song until today. Tnx for posting.
If there was no video to watch, I would not believe that was Lemmy singing. lol.


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## Pedro-x (Mar 7, 2015)

Nice score! What model number is it ? I bought an LL 11 new around 1995 and it was on sale for $799 plus tax. The version with pickup was about $150 more. Has the same L inlay headstock. At the time it was the best sounding acoustic I could find for under $1200 (my max budget). Today it sounds even better. Mine still blows people away when they play it. It shatters their illusion of thinking you can only get that kind of sound from gibsons, martins and larrivees. Made in Taiwan too.... go figure.

If its as good as other L series I have tried I think you did pretty darn good !


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## Blind Dog (Mar 4, 2016)

laristotle said:


> I wasn't familiar with this song until today. Tnx for posting.
> If there was no video to watch, I would not believe that was Lemmy singing. lol.


You're welcome, and my pleasure. It's not exactly what comes to mind when you think of Lemmy's wheelhouse. I really enjoy hearing artists like Pink, Kid Rock, Ray Charles, and Steven Tyler stepping outside their known genres. Especially when it's more to the acoustic side. "Whorehouse Blues" isn't what I would expect of Lemmy, and Phil, either. Lemmy's a prime example of a musician who didn't let a limited pallet slow him down.

After enjoying Tyler's, "Once Is Enough", I'm really looking forward to his announced country album. I sure didn't see that one coming.



Pedro-x said:


> Nice score! What model number is it ? I bought an LL 11 new around 1995 and it was on sale for $799 plus tax. The version with pickup was about $150 more. Has the same L inlay headstock. At the time it was the best sounding acoustic I could find for under $1200 (my max budget). Today it sounds even better. Mine still blows people away when they play it. It shatters their illusion of thinking you can only get that kind of sound from gibsons, martins and larrivees. Made in Taiwan too.... go figure.
> 
> 
> If its as good as other L series I have tried I think you did pretty darn good !


Thanks Pedro-x, and it's an LCX-5E. A little before '95, I think it was produced between '78, and '81. Even Yamaha doesn't seem to know much about it. I'm glad I pulled the trigger on my gut feeling, or somebody else would have swooped & scooped a fine guitar. I've played it exclusively/constantly for five days, and even tho I'm 'suffering' some hand pain -- I can't let it sit. Well I dug out the D12-28 for the Wreck of the Eddy Fitz, but if you're not going to use your twelve string for that -- you need to get rid of it.

The guitar's electrics are the first I've spent any real time with. Usually it's a 60 second check, just to see if it works. The three pots grouped together seem to be, bass/treble/volume & the _loner_ seems to be some mystic 'mix' conjuring deal. It's _something_ like analogue modeling, or so it seems. From soft, clean, and articulate to I'll rip your freaking face off! It's an active setup, and I haven't picked up my hollow body since I got the L. The neck is every bit as fast, and comfy, as the jazz box's.

After fairly exhaustive searching, I've only found two references for the LCX-5E -- mine, and another chap looking for info on his. The knobs have lead some credible posters to speculate it's likely Yamaha's first electro-cutaway. I'm sure glad the designer_/_lutheir_ just said no_, to chopping a hole in the side , and inserting an eq/tuner/metronome unit. I can live with the knobs.

*I can't gush enough about how great the guitar is. *I was just a tad disappointed about a little pick wear around the sound hole. Later I had an _'ah ha'_ moment when I realized just how this guitar screams, "Hit Me!" _(She's a bit of tramp.)_ "Harder! Faster! More! More!* More!*"

You can insert the sound of a Zippo, and satisfied exhale here.

I'm now looking at a complementary '78 L series dread' 12 string, non electric. _And_ I'm training (and doing massive amounts of 'rhoids/getting a permit to carry concealed weapon) in an effort to prepare for an epic buyers' battle, should another LCX, or L-50 _ever_ come up on kijiji.

Belated congrat's on your LL-11. I know you're enjoying it.

*Riddle for L series owners:*

Q: How do you prepare your Martin for campfire duty?

A: Let it hear your Yamaha.





Edit: Hey Pedro-x, show us a pic' of your LL. _Testify!_


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## Pedro-x (Mar 7, 2015)

I didnt think they had the L on the headstock in 79 to 81. Interesting find.
Here is my testimoney...well loved


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## Blind Dog (Mar 4, 2016)

I'm not really sure of anything, at this point. The other chap's '81? has an identical LL on the head stock, and everything else appears identical right down to the slight variation in the pick guard.

Posted by "OldStump" on Harmony Central forum/Acoustic Guitars. (02 08 2015)

*"* _Just as an update, for any out there in the future that might be looking for information on this particular model, here's what I've managed to find out about it with the assistance of a very helpful Yamaha rep:

The guitar turns out to be the same as a L-5A (which are listed as having been made from 1978-1984), the only difference being the options of the cutaway and pickup system on the LCX-5E. Solid spruce top, solid mahogany back and sides, African mahogany neck, Indian rosewood fingerboard and bridge, handcrafted.

From what few listings on the internet I've been able to locate on the LCX-5 and LCX-5E, all that I've seen were built in 1981. They have a six digit serial number, the first five numbers pertain to the date of manufacture, the last one is the unit number. The L-5As of this year have a seven digit serial number (two available digits for unit number), and most of the other guitars produced in the Taiwan factory between 1971-2001 have an eight digit serial number. The Yamaha rep who I was dealing with told me that Yamaha doesn't keep records of production run numbers, but it's fairly safe to assume that the run on the LCXs was small given that they only allowed one digit for the unit number. The implication being that they didn't produce more than ten per day as that would have caused duplicate serial numbers. Yamaha Guitarchive lists the L-5A as having an original MSRP of $710, there is no listing for the LCX-5 and LCX-5E, but presumably they would have been more expensive than the L-5A. Another point of possible interest, I suspect this was the first acoustic cutaway offered by Yamaha, as I've not been able to find any older.

If anyone has additional information on this model, I would certainly be interested in it._* "*

I'm waiting for a reply back from Yamaha, Old Stump, and a guru, before I'll (maybe) be sure. I think OldStump is likely correct. He goes a step further than it being the first electric cutaway (for Yamaha) and figures it may be their first cutaway. I would like to know what year mine is. I've been told it's made in Japan -- but as plain as the serial # (which makes it '78 by one source & 'no match' on another) -- the "MADE IN TAIWAN REPUBLIC OF CHINA" is clearly thermo-stamped into the center back brace. There's no label, and no hint of residue that I can see. Our cases' interior colours are the only difference I can spot. 

I really like the way yours looks. The abalone purfling, and rosette, really make it pop. 

Thank you for your testimony.


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

Yes, like Laristotle said, it is a beaut!


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