Willie Greer
- September 14, 2021
Yamaha is one of the most popular brands when it comes to musical instruments. With so many acoustic guitars in its catalog, choosing one can be quite confusing. Many people make the mistake of just selecting anything, only to find that they purchased an incompatible model.
Below, our sound engineers have picked out the top-performing Yamaha acoustic guitars in the market today.
- Solid top
- Glossy body
- Scalloped bracing
- Extended dreadnought
- Satin-finish neck
- Built-in tuner
- 25-inch scale length
- Stage-focused pickup system
- Competitive price
- 25-inch scale
- Nato wood neck and back
- Solid top
Reviews of the Top Yamaha Acoustic Guitars
Yamaha APX600
Kicking off our list of the best Yamaha acoustic guitar models is the Yamaha APX600 – a sturdy option that delivers just about everything you need while also being relatively affordable.
With this acoustic guitar, you get a nice combination of balanced aesthetics and great sound quality. It features a glossy body with a satin-finish neck and you can choose from 5 color options. The guitar’s body also makes it easy to play, with a proper scale length and a cutaway.
Its slim body ensures optimal sound, and it also has enough pickups to easily be connected to an amp or a speaker. This is where you get to really appreciate its sound quality.
Pros
- Quality sound, even with a thin body
- Reliable strings
- Comes with a built-in tuner
- The guitar is easy to play
- Affordable
Cons
- Does not come with a case/gig bag
- No extra strings
Yamaha FG800
Next on our list is the Yamaha FG800. This guitar is especially great for beginners as it offers a strong body with seamless and reliable controls.
On this guitar, you get a solid laminate top, which guarantees longevity. But, it also affects the sound a bit. To enjoy really clear sound, you might need to plug the guitar into an amp. Regardless, you will also get plenty of volume thanks to the guitar’s large dreadnought size and scalloped bracing.
This guitar also guarantees optimal playability. The neck is smooth, with a proper finish and a thin profile that is great for both beginners and professionals.
Pros
- Great build quality
- Solid top
- Perfect for beginners
- An impressive finish on the guitar
Cons
- No pick guard
- Not easy to tune
Yamaha FD01S
Like the option above, the Yamaha FD01S combines a high-quality build with easy playability for beginners.
The FD01S comes with a solid spruce top, as well as a Nato neck, sides, and back. Its lightweight design makes it especially great for beginner players, although professionals will get a kick out of it too.
The guitar’s strings are very strong and reliable, and its 25-inch scale makes it very adaptable. Even better, the guitar’s price is very accommodating. There’s no need to break the bank here.
Pros
- Nato neck, back, and sides
- Lightweight design
- Great for beginners
- Impressive build quality
- Solid spruce top for durability
- Lifetime warranty
Cons
- Does not come with a case or gig bag
- Needs a professional setup out of the box
Yamaha F335
Next on our list is the Yamaha F335. Another option in the F series, this acoustic guitar is also ideal for beginners.
A traditional dreadnought guitar, this option comes with a solid mahogany neck that improves strength and durability. It has a narrow neck as well, so you will be able to play it much better. Its volume is also very high, so you can rest assured that you will be able to hear what you play pretty easily.
But, note that this guitar has high action. Therefore, you will need to press a little harder for your sound to play effectively.
Pros
- Full, resonant tone
- Ideal for beginners
- Solid mahogany neck
- Affordable guitar
Cons
- Doesn’t come with a case/gig bag
- No cutaway
Yamaha FG-TA TransAcoustic Guitar
The Yamaha FG-TA TransAcoustic Guitar is one guitar you want to get your hands on if you’re trying to advance your skills. It comes with a preamp and a built-in reverb, as well as chorus effects. Also known as an acoustic-electric guitar, a TransAcoustic guitar is a good choice for advanced players.
This product is well-built, with a lovely look and high-quality materials. Even better, it is a pleasure to play too. With a slim neck and relatively narrow nut, this guitar is as playable as any other. It sounds good even without the effects engaged. You will also love the fact that the guitar’s modulation effects are usable without amplification.
Pros
- Natural-sounding reverb
- High-quality build
- Easy to play and enjoy
- Under saddle Piezo pickup system
Cons
- Much heavier than most guitars
- High price
Yamaha FG850
With the Yamaha FG850, you get a folk guitar with a dreadnought size. It is an attractive guitar that has got several impressive guitar features.
With a loud and strong voice, this guitar is great for intermediate and expert players. Its strings are strong, so you won’t have to deal with discomfort when playing it. The guitar’s sound is also excellent, owing to its mahogany sides and back. With this guitar, you have the best sound and projection available.
Even in the low and mid range, you can expect impressive sound overall. Guitar sounds will seem like a breeze when played with this model.
Pros
- Easy to retune
- Sturdy build
- Very strong strings
- Easy, seamless playability
Cons
- Quieter than many other guitars
- Does not come with a case or gig bag
Yamaha CG-TA
Last, but definitely not the least on our best Yamaha acoustic guitars list, is the Yamaha CG-TA. A TransAcoustic guitar, this product comes with a crown-shaped headstock and a 12th-fret neck junction. Its body is well built as well, so you can rest assured of optimal playability and sound quality.
This isn’t quite the product that beginners will want to start with, but professional players will absolutely love it. With all the electronic gadgets you could think of, this guitar offers great amplification and connectivity settings.
This guitar comes with Yamaha’s actuator – a device that vibrates the air in response to the strings, thus giving way for a more natural reverb and chorus effect.
Pros
- Comes with an actuator
- Great amplification
- Impressive design
- Easy to handle
Cons
- No cutaway
- The guitar is quite heavy
Yamaha Acoustic Guitar Buyer’s Guide
Below, our sound engineers outline some of the top factors to consider when getting Yamaha guitars:
Design and Size
It goes without saying that you want to keep the size and design in mind when you’re selecting the perfect product for you. Yamaha guitars come in different sizes and designs, so be careful with your choice.
Primarily, this will depend on your skill level. If you’re a beginner, you want something a bit smaller so your hands will be able to run through the strings and move freely through the guitar. Of course, it also helps if you have larger hands on your own. But, the bottom line is that you don’t want something too big that your hands won’t be able to handle.
If you’re a professional, you don’t have much of a problem with the size. You can do as you please.
Moving on to the design, this is another important point of note for an acoustic guitar. The design will determine how easy it is for you to play the guitar. This is more subjective, so you can choose which guitar design works. When considering the design, there are two areas you want to focus the most on – the neck and the body.
The acoustic guitar’s neck is joined to its body, and it determines the headstock. The neck’s top houses the fretboard, and the back is also designed to accommodate your fretting hand. Most acoustic guitars use a set neck, meaning that the neck is glued to the body. But, you can also find some with a bolt-on neck.
A heel offers additional support to the neck’s back, and the neck itself contains a metal truss rod that prevents twisting and bending due to string tension and several other issues.
The acoustic guitar’s body comprises the top – also called the soundboard. Most soundboards come with internal bracing, sides, and the back – all of which form a hollow structure. You will find that the body’s shape and size will determine the guitar’s sound and playability [1].
It is important to get the right body shape that matches your needs. A smaller body is usually better for people with smaller hands and beginners. If you’re getting your first acoustic guitar, then you might want a small one. But, as you get better, you can choose a full sized guitar. The full sized guitar comes with more features, and perhaps even features like an adjustable truss rod and a chromatic tuner. Then, there is the longer scale length on these guitars, which you will need to learn.
All of these will help the sound that the guitar produces, offering a crisp tone and a more natural sound.
Wood and Finish
There are several options for wood and finish when it comes to Yamaha acoustic guitars. You want one that matches your playing styles.
For wood, you have the following options:
- Solid spruce: This is the most common type for guitar tops. It is strong and durable, and its light weight ensures proper sound balance. This wood material gives an improved tone over time too.
- Solid sitka spruce: The solid sitka spruce top is another popular material for guitar tops. A guitar’s solid sitka spruce It is light and strong, and it offers a complex tone with much harmonic content.
- Solid engelmann spruce: This is a bit different from the solid rosewood options. But, it is still a solid top acoustic guitar nonetheless.
- Rosewood: Most manufacturers use the classic rosewood fingerboard. Its tones are rich and warm, and it improves sound projection too. Most of these guitars come with scalloped bracing for added strength, and they are very durable.
- Mahogany: Away from the solid top acoustic guitar, we have materials like mahogany. Used mostly in place of a light rosewood bridge, mahogany is a dese hardwood material with a proper balance in tone. You also get much volume and quick response, just like it is in the rosewood bridge. Many top acoustic guitars can also have a mahogany body.
- Walnut: If you can’t find a solid top acoustic guitar, you could also choose one with walnut. This is a dense wood with a properly defined midrange and bright top end. As the wood ages, you get a richer sound. Combined with scalloped bracing, this can also improve the guitar’s strength.
You can easily find a solid spruce wood guitar. With a solid top acoustic guitar, you get to enjoy optimal durability. The solid sitka spruce is also a great option, especially since it is very identical to the solid spruce option.
Moving on to the finishes, you get the following options and more:
- Lacquer: A classic finish that lasts very long. It offers a shiny gloss look that is easy to maintain.
- Shellac: A durable fish that prevents wood damage and is scratch-resistant.
- Varnish: Offers a look that improves your wood grain, albeit with a less glossy finish.
A guitar’s balanced tone is significantly affected by the amount of the finish and its condition. Too much finish will clog up the wood fibers, and the balanced tone will be affected if you use the wrong type of finish. You will see it in the sound produced.
When you combine a solid wood top – especially with material like solid spruce or solid sitka spruce top – with a good finish, you’ve got a great guitar build. It will be much easier to play guitar sounds with a solid to acoustic guitar.
Electronics
It is also very important that you look into the electronic features of an acoustic guitar – especially if you plan to combine it with things like amps, subs, and more. These are known as acoustic-electric guitar configurations.
The traditional acoustic guitars come without any need for amplification. So, they don’t have any electrical fixtures whatsoever. These guitars have no amplification settings, and all the volume you get is what the guitar can give you. With these guitars, the only way to record your performance is to use a microphone. But, you can get a pickup separately and install it on the guitar.
Then, there are acoustic-electric guitars, which come with built-in preamp and pickup electronics. These fixtures are installed from the factory, and they make it much easier to get amplification and several other enhancements.
With an acoustic-electric guitar, you will be able to plug directly into an amp, a preamp, or some other type of recording device. Most of these guitars come with equalization and volume controls, making it much easier for you to adjust the sound output and settings. Some could even have built-in tuners.
Some of the best Yamaha acoustic guitars come with these additional fixtures. If you think you will be better served by what they offer, then you can give them a try. The presence of electronics in the best Yamaha guitars doesn’t affect their natural tone. In fact, if you’ve got a live performance or need to play in a large room, you will find this better than other guitars without electronic features. Electronics can offer a balanced sound.
ARE
ARE is an acronym for Acoustic Resonance Enhancement. It is a technology that helps to improve sound in yamaha guitars, and it has become incredibly popular. With Acoustic Resonance Enhancement, the guitar’s wood undergoes significant changes and becomes more sensitive to plucks in strings and sound.
ARE works for all types of wood. It could be a solid spruce top or some other type of solid rosewood material. The point is to make the sounding guitar more responsive and improve its output. Solid spruce top guitars usually come with this feature the most.
Not every guitar comes with ARE. Most of the small body acoustic guitar options don’t actually have it. But, of course, a small body acoustic guitar is best for beginners who might not know what ARE is.
Tonewood
In many instances, you will find that the tonewood option also plays an important role in determining the sound quality that you get from an acoustic guitar. The wood used in the top is especially important.
Most acoustic guitars come with at least two different types of wood. One type is used on the top, while another is used for the body and sides. In some cases, you can find another wood type on the fretboard and neck.
Depending on the type of acoustic guitar, the sides, top, and back might be made from either laminate or solid wood. A solid top is made with real, solid wood. Most tops are made from a piece of wood that is split into two matched halves. Solid woods are usually more detailed than laminate wood, and they can even have better sound quality. It also tends to mature with age, giving the guitar’s tone a certain richness.
As for the laminate top, you get several layers of wood pressed together. It is more affordable, and you still get a very good tone overall. Laminate tops can also be finished to look more expensive, so you don’t really miss anything here.
Frets, Scales, and Bridge
You should also keep the acoustic guitar frets, scales, and bridges in mind.
The guitar frets are metal strips that are usually embedded along its fretboard. By pressing a string against the fretboard and under a fret, you can change the vibrating length of the string – and, by extension, its note.
Depending on the type of guitar, you can have different numbers of frets. Standard classical guitars come with 19 frets. However, steel-stringed acoustic guitars can have 20 frets. As stated earlier, the importance of frets is that they play a role in changing the notes of the strings you pluck.
As for guitar scales, they are sequences of musical notes ordered by pitch or frequency. You will need to learn more about guitar scale length on your own as they play a role in your understanding of the instruments themselves. But, a guitar should be easy enough for you to play directly. Its scale length should also be ideal for your needs.
The guitar bridge is the part of the guitar that supports its strings and moves the vibrations to the soundboard. Strings produce a low sound since they only displace a small volume of air as they vibrate. This vibration will need to be moved to a larger, more resonant surface, and a bridge is usually the best way of achieving this. Bridges can be made of a single material – such as wood, especially in acoustic guitars – or several materials in one.
Controls
As stated earlier, the best Yamaha acoustic guitars are always easy to control. This is especially important if you are a beginner and would like to get a better hang of the acoustic guitar you’re playing. You don’t want to end up being unable to play because the guitar is too difficult to control.
Control options are especially important if you’re dealing with a Yamaha acoustic electric guitar. Several of these come with additional control configurations because of the electric components. So, you will need to keep these in mind as well.
The most important thing is that you understand how to control your guitar and you know what every component does. If it is an acoustic-electric guitar, then you can spend time studying it.
Price and Warranty
Lastly, you want to keep the price in mind as well when getting an acoustic guitar. The best acoustic guitars are priced competitively, so you don’t have to break the bank to get them. But, if you’re looking to get some advanced features in your acoustic guitar, you might need to pay more money.
Generally, our sound engineers recommend that you try to save as much money as possible on your purchase. However, you also don’t want to cheap out.
Keep in mind that quality costs money, and you need to be ready to pay to get the type of acoustic guitar you want. A higher quality guitar pays for itself in the long run. So, when getting a Yamaha guitar, be ready to spend money.
FAQ
Are Yamaha acoustic guitars any good?
Yes, Yamaha acoustic guitars are very good. Yamaha is one of the best manufacturers of sound and music equipment, and this extends to their instruments as well. You will find that a Yamaha acoustic guitar definitely is very good. But, keep in mind that you also need to get a quality guitar.
Which is the most ideal Yamaha acoustic guitar for beginners?
If you’re a beginner, our team would recommend the Yamaha FG800 acoustic guitar. This is the most ideal Yamaha acoustic guitar for beginners, offering a strong body with optimal controls. Considering that controls are especially important for beginners, this is a great acoustic guitar to have. It also offers enough volume for you to hear what you’re playing clearly and without any additional assistance.
Our Top Pick For a Yamaha Acoustic Guitar:
Yamaha APX600
The Yamaha APX600 is our top pick when it comes to the best Yama acoustic guitars. It offers just about everything you need, including a sturdy body, impressive sound quality, and an affordable price.
With this acoustic guitar, you will be able to connect to a speaker or an amp. The guitar is also slim enough to easily be handled.
The post What is the Best Yamaha Acoustic Guitar? (2021) — Top Choices From the Guitar Authority appeared first on The Product Analyst.
from The Product Analyst https://theproductanalyst.com/best-yamaha-acoustic-guitar/
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