The Yamaha FG730S is a great budget guitar, and we recommend it highly for someone seeking a nice beginner instrument or practice guitar.
Yamaha is a company that makes everything from motorcycles to digital pianos, but they also know a thing or two about acoustic guitars. After all, they've been making them for over 60 years, believe it or not. During this time, they've learned how to balance performance and price that has lead to legions of devoted followers. Yamaha devotees include everyone from John Scofield to Frank Gamabale, not bad company.
Their acoustic guitars have gained a particular following from those who want a beginner-level instrument that's both inexpensive and good quality. One of the most favored models of late is the FG730S. Let's take a look at what makes this Yamaha acoustic guitar so popular.
Features
The FG730S features a solid Sitka spruce top, rosewood back, sides, fingerboard, and bridge. It has a simple white/black body and neck binding in addition to a faux-tortoise pickguard. Numerous finishes are available, including Natural, Tobacco Brown Sunburst, and Vintage Cherry Burst.
Performance
No tortoises were harmed in making the pickguard, though it looks like nice tortoise-shell regardless. We chose the Natural finish, but you have your choices of Natural, Vintage Cherry Burst, and Tobacco Brown Sunburst.
The Yamaha is a Chinese-made guitar, but don't let your preconceived notions about Chinese-made instruments curb your enthusiasm for the instrument. Heck, they're all made using CNC machines today anyway. So, pay attention to the quality of materials and the set-up of the instruments when looking for a budget-guitar. Fortunately, the FG730S doesn't disappoint.
You might just find yourself stunned by the wide variety of sounds you can coax from this 0 acoustic. Naturally, it can't run with a ,000 Breedlove or Martin, but then again, it only costs 0 (and that's the price for a new one).
For only 0, you shouldn't expect any electronics, but we did test the guitar with a variety of different microphones, and the results were very good using microphones from Blue, MXL, and Shure.
Overall, we were just really pleased with the rich, full sound we got just by strumming simple chords. This might be the ultimate campfire guitar! The action was good, too, if not even a bit too low. We had to adjust the neck and saddle just a bit, but once we had our repair tech go over the guitar, it was like a completely new instrument.
Not that this guitar doesn't have its shortcomings. The strap pin, nut, and saddle all have a "cheap" feel to them, but heck, it's a 0 guitar, so there's not much room for complaints. It wouldn't cost in parts to replace these, so keep that in mind.
The Bottom Line
These peccadillos aside, the Yamaha FG730S is a great budget guitar, and we recommend it highly for someone seeking a nice beginner instrument or practice guitar.
Name of Gear: Yamaha FG730S
List Price: 9.99
Manufacturer Info: Yamaha Corporation; yamaha.com
Pros: Solid value; rich, full sound
Cons: Cheap saddle and nut
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