Best Jumbo Acoustic Guitar Under $1000 (Jan 2023 Update)

This 79 buck guitar was the biggest surprise ever! I really didn't expect much, and was having second thoughts after I placed the order. I bought the sunburst version on a SDOTD as a total impulse buy. I have several expensive acoustics, and I don't need a cheap guitar. But I have to say, this is a really nice instrument. The fit and finish is above average, with relatively smooth fret ends and a huge sound. The tuners, however inexpensive, work as intended and stay in tune. The sunburst finish is lovely, with only one small thumbnail scratch. The neck joint is well done, and the neck has a comfortable full feeling. Epiphone has improved the "E" symbol on the pickguard, it is made into the plastic, and not glued on and wanting to fall off like on the older Epiphones. The rosette appears to be painted on, but it looks good regardless. The bridge (rosewood) is solidly attached to the top, with no lifting or gaps. The body has a white plastic binding front and back that is well executed. The rosewood fretboard is attractive with nice grain. And the sound! This guitar has a huge, loud sound for a laminate guitar. Tomorrow I plan to replace the original strings with some quality mediums, which can only make it sound even better. One odd feature is a false truss rod cover, held in place with three wood screws. There is nothing under it! The access to the truss rod is inside the sound hole. I did have to remove some glue from around the truss rod adjusting nut inside the guitar. Quite frankly, the quality and sound of the Epiphone just blows me away! If I had to sell all of my other acoustics and only keep this one, I would be content. It's that good!JimmyJ

I bought this guitar to check out a budget friendly offering from Yamaha. I have to say I was not disappointed! Excellent tone and volume, the top really resonates. The guitar was really well setup right out of the box. It needed about 3/4 of a clockwise truss rod adjustment, no prob. Other than that it didn't need any fret dressing whatsoever. That's really impressive for a Chinese guitar. Heck even one of my Mexican Martins needed fret dressing out of the box! Also intonation was spot on and this also is important in your guitar. Very impressed with this guitar, intermediate/advanced feel but priced at a beginner budget. You won't regret picking one up, I assure you!Big Bone Murphy

There is a point of quality when an instrument reaches when it stops being seen as "better or worse" but rather just a different flavor. This Yamaha has reached that point. You can play it alongside a guitar costing 5x more and it stands up well. Yamaha is also one of those rare companies with a long history of top quality across all kinds of products, and guitars are an area Yamaha knows well. This is just a beautiful guitar through and throughout. You can get beautiful uncompromisingly great studio recordings with this guitar. Hitting the low strings hard with strumming gives a nice deep and rich tone. Also, the hardware / tuners are nice.Scott

I've owned many acoustics over the years, MANY, and this Yamaha is one of the best sounding I've ever owned. Went to GC just to check out a few lower end acoustics to pick up for jamming on, and tried almost every one in the room. Picked this one up last just before I was ready to leave, and immediately was blown away by the sound and playability, brought a couple friends to listen and tell me which one they thought sounded the best, and hands down this won over all of them. It has the tone and warmth of a Martin D34, which I have owned a few, and it plays like a dream. The neck is so sliky smooth, easy to fly up and down with no effort. It has amazing sustain and beautiful tone, I fell in love with it and just couldn't put it down. I didn't expect a guitar of this price range to sound as good as it does, got it home and I couldn't put it down. Played for 4 hours straight, and even after trying to put it down to go to bed at 1am I found myself playing a for a few more minutes before I could actually go to sleep. Love this Yamaha more than any guitar I've bought in the last decade. The best thing about it is, It gave me the desire to pick up playing guitar again, after hardly touching any of my other guitars for almost a year it's the one I want to play more than all of them. Great guitar, wouldn't hesitate to buy another in a different color, if you want something that you won't be able to put down this baby has the sound and feel your looking for.Johnny D

Bought this LH Fender because I wanted an acoustic. Overall the sound is good with the right strings. Within 3 weeks of purchase I had to have the neck adjusted and frets filed because they were inset too high. The sound overall is bright and vibrant. Had a couple times playing where the sound was not the best. Overall, it's a solid entry level guitar. Could be better but could be far worse.Phil

Overall: While this has a decent tone, it's not going to improve with age as the top is a laminated top–not solid spruce.Moreover, since this is a guitar targeting the beginning student, I mark it down because the setup is NOT conducive to the beginner. The action needs to be lowered and the Fender branded DuraTone strings it came from the factory with feel more like a medium gauge than a light gauge. I have a 12-string Yamaha that is easier to play than this.But to give it some props–the price includes a hardshell case–something no other guitar in this price range offers. And the abalone rosette is a nice cosmetic touch.The tuning machines turn smoothly and it does hold a tune very well.And for those who object to Chinese-made guitars, this was made in Indonesia.David

Generally, it is a great guitar. Many of you would expect a low volume for a mahogany top, back and side guitar. However, it's dreadnought style compensates for this and thus you will have a warm mellow toned guitar whilst still having plenty of volume. The guitar looks a lot better in real life than on the photos you may see on the internet. Contrary to the CD60S spruce top (built in Indonesia), this guitar is manufactured in China. The tone difference between CD60S spruce top and this one is small as the spruce top also has mahogany back and sides. This guitar however is one with great overtones. Being a novice, it is a great starting guitar. My only complaint is that the nut and saddle are plastic. The nut, in particular, causes the guitar to be in need of tuning every 2 or 3 days. However, this disadvantage is very manageable and if you prefer, you can spend a tiny bit of money to replace the nut with a bone nut at a guitar shop. If you webchat with a guitar center rep they might be able to give you a discount to cut the cost of this guitar to the price level of the cheapest possible for a major manufacturer's acoustic guitar.Dan the Beginner

I bought this guitar to check out a budget friendly offering from Yamaha. I have to say I was not disappointed! Excellent tone and volume, the top really resonates. The guitar was really well setup right out of the box. It needed about 3/4 of a clockwise truss rod adjustment, no prob. Other than that it didn't need any fret dressing whatsoever. That's really impressive for a Chinese guitar. Heck even one of my Mexican Martins needed fret dressing out of the box! Also intonation was spot on and this also is important in your guitar. Very impressed with this guitar, intermediate/advanced feel but priced at a beginner budget. You won't regret picking one up, I assure you!Big Bone Murphy

There is a point of quality when an instrument reaches when it stops being seen as "better or worse" but rather just a different flavor. This Yamaha has reached that point. You can play it alongside a guitar costing 5x more and it stands up well. Yamaha is also one of those rare companies with a long history of top quality across all kinds of products, and guitars are an area Yamaha knows well. This is just a beautiful guitar through and throughout. You can get beautiful uncompromisingly great studio recordings with this guitar. Hitting the low strings hard with strumming gives a nice deep and rich tone. Also, the hardware / tuners are nice.Scott

I've owned many acoustics over the years, MANY, and this Yamaha is one of the best sounding I've ever owned. Went to GC just to check out a few lower end acoustics to pick up for jamming on, and tried almost every one in the room. Picked this one up last just before I was ready to leave, and immediately was blown away by the sound and playability, brought a couple friends to listen and tell me which one they thought sounded the best, and hands down this won over all of them. It has the tone and warmth of a Martin D34, which I have owned a few, and it plays like a dream. The neck is so sliky smooth, easy to fly up and down with no effort. It has amazing sustain and beautiful tone, I fell in love with it and just couldn't put it down. I didn't expect a guitar of this price range to sound as good as it does, got it home and I couldn't put it down. Played for 4 hours straight, and even after trying to put it down to go to bed at 1am I found myself playing a for a few more minutes before I could actually go to sleep. Love this Yamaha more than any guitar I've bought in the last decade. The best thing about it is, It gave me the desire to pick up playing guitar again, after hardly touching any of my other guitars for almost a year it's the one I want to play more than all of them. Great guitar, wouldn't hesitate to buy another in a different color, if you want something that you won't be able to put down this baby has the sound and feel your looking for.Johnny D

I bought this guitar to check out a budget friendly offering from Yamaha. I have to say I was not disappointed! Excellent tone and volume, the top really resonates. The guitar was really well setup right out of the box. It needed about 3/4 of a clockwise truss rod adjustment, no prob. Other than that it didn't need any fret dressing whatsoever. That's really impressive for a Chinese guitar. Heck even one of my Mexican Martins needed fret dressing out of the box! Also intonation was spot on and this also is important in your guitar. Very impressed with this guitar, intermediate/advanced feel but priced at a beginner budget. You won't regret picking one up, I assure you!Big Bone Murphy

There is a point of quality when an instrument reaches when it stops being seen as "better or worse" but rather just a different flavor. This Yamaha has reached that point. You can play it alongside a guitar costing 5x more and it stands up well. Yamaha is also one of those rare companies with a long history of top quality across all kinds of products, and guitars are an area Yamaha knows well. This is just a beautiful guitar through and throughout. You can get beautiful uncompromisingly great studio recordings with this guitar. Hitting the low strings hard with strumming gives a nice deep and rich tone. Also, the hardware / tuners are nice.Scott

I've owned many acoustics over the years, MANY, and this Yamaha is one of the best sounding I've ever owned. Went to GC just to check out a few lower end acoustics to pick up for jamming on, and tried almost every one in the room. Picked this one up last just before I was ready to leave, and immediately was blown away by the sound and playability, brought a couple friends to listen and tell me which one they thought sounded the best, and hands down this won over all of them. It has the tone and warmth of a Martin D34, which I have owned a few, and it plays like a dream. The neck is so sliky smooth, easy to fly up and down with no effort. It has amazing sustain and beautiful tone, I fell in love with it and just couldn't put it down. I didn't expect a guitar of this price range to sound as good as it does, got it home and I couldn't put it down. Played for 4 hours straight, and even after trying to put it down to go to bed at 1am I found myself playing a for a few more minutes before I could actually go to sleep. Love this Yamaha more than any guitar I've bought in the last decade. The best thing about it is, It gave me the desire to pick up playing guitar again, after hardly touching any of my other guitars for almost a year it's the one I want to play more than all of them. Great guitar, wouldn't hesitate to buy another in a different color, if you want something that you won't be able to put down this baby has the sound and feel your looking for.Johnny D

I bought this guitar to check out a budget friendly offering from Yamaha. I have to say I was not disappointed! Excellent tone and volume, the top really resonates. The guitar was really well setup right out of the box. It needed about 3/4 of a clockwise truss rod adjustment, no prob. Other than that it didn't need any fret dressing whatsoever. That's really impressive for a Chinese guitar. Heck even one of my Mexican Martins needed fret dressing out of the box! Also intonation was spot on and this also is important in your guitar. Very impressed with this guitar, intermediate/advanced feel but priced at a beginner budget. You won't regret picking one up, I assure you!Big Bone Murphy

There is a point of quality when an instrument reaches when it stops being seen as "better or worse" but rather just a different flavor. This Yamaha has reached that point. You can play it alongside a guitar costing 5x more and it stands up well. Yamaha is also one of those rare companies with a long history of top quality across all kinds of products, and guitars are an area Yamaha knows well. This is just a beautiful guitar through and throughout. You can get beautiful uncompromisingly great studio recordings with this guitar. Hitting the low strings hard with strumming gives a nice deep and rich tone. Also, the hardware / tuners are nice.Scott

I've owned many acoustics over the years, MANY, and this Yamaha is one of the best sounding I've ever owned. Went to GC just to check out a few lower end acoustics to pick up for jamming on, and tried almost every one in the room. Picked this one up last just before I was ready to leave, and immediately was blown away by the sound and playability, brought a couple friends to listen and tell me which one they thought sounded the best, and hands down this won over all of them. It has the tone and warmth of a Martin D34, which I have owned a few, and it plays like a dream. The neck is so sliky smooth, easy to fly up and down with no effort. It has amazing sustain and beautiful tone, I fell in love with it and just couldn't put it down. I didn't expect a guitar of this price range to sound as good as it does, got it home and I couldn't put it down. Played for 4 hours straight, and even after trying to put it down to go to bed at 1am I found myself playing a for a few more minutes before I could actually go to sleep. Love this Yamaha more than any guitar I've bought in the last decade. The best thing about it is, It gave me the desire to pick up playing guitar again, after hardly touching any of my other guitars for almost a year it's the one I want to play more than all of them. Great guitar, wouldn't hesitate to buy another in a different color, if you want something that you won't be able to put down this baby has the sound and feel your looking for.Johnny D

At first I was going to say it's a great guitar for the price, but that really doesn't do this thing justice. It's just a great guitar. It has a great sound, it feels good in your hands, it's easy to hold and to play. I can't fault this guitar at all. The action was a bit high out of the box, but the tech at Guitar Center gave it a great set-up and now it's very easy to play. I'm planning to give this one to my daughter, but I would happily keep this myself. I have only been playing guitar for a few weeks, but even I can make this thing sound good!Todd

There is a place in my project studio for FS800: 48 years ago I sold Yamaha Guitars and found them excellent. When the group "America" presented a acoustic sound (Horse with No Name; Ventura Highway; Tin Man . . . et al) the solid rhythms of Yamaha solid top guitars proved Ideal. Through the years I have experimented with various genres as a singer songwriter; now a days I have returned to folk and "heavy on" acoustic guitar sounds. To complement my more expensive guitars I needed something that could deliver the solid rhythms I fondly recall. Now the Yamaha FS800 excels for finger styles as well: I layer tracks this guitar is a breeze to play and its character naturally stands out in the mix. I cannot see a beginner or a more advanced guitarist going wrong with The Yamaha FS800. JHajarhill

Perfect couch and campfire guitar. Sustains and project very well with a surprisingly round warm sound. Gorgeous burst finish much nicer in person. String spacing is slightly narrower than standard, make note. Bridge saddle needed to be shaved down for lower action. Neck and frets were perfect otherwise. Tuning very stable. A set of 11-52 will be next string change. Love playing this thing, and exploring alternate tunings! It seems Yamaha's reputation is true.Greg

At first I was going to say it's a great guitar for the price, but that really doesn't do this thing justice. It's just a great guitar. It has a great sound, it feels good in your hands, it's easy to hold and to play. I can't fault this guitar at all. The action was a bit high out of the box, but the tech at Guitar Center gave it a great set-up and now it's very easy to play. I'm planning to give this one to my daughter, but I would happily keep this myself. I have only been playing guitar for a few weeks, but even I can make this thing sound good!Todd

There is a place in my project studio for FS800: 48 years ago I sold Yamaha Guitars and found them excellent. When the group "America" presented a acoustic sound (Horse with No Name; Ventura Highway; Tin Man . . . et al) the solid rhythms of Yamaha solid top guitars proved Ideal. Through the years I have experimented with various genres as a singer songwriter; now a days I have returned to folk and "heavy on" acoustic guitar sounds. To complement my more expensive guitars I needed something that could deliver the solid rhythms I fondly recall. Now the Yamaha FS800 excels for finger styles as well: I layer tracks this guitar is a breeze to play and its character naturally stands out in the mix. I cannot see a beginner or a more advanced guitarist going wrong with The Yamaha FS800. JHajarhill

Perfect couch and campfire guitar. Sustains and project very well with a surprisingly round warm sound. Gorgeous burst finish much nicer in person. String spacing is slightly narrower than standard, make note. Bridge saddle needed to be shaved down for lower action. Neck and frets were perfect otherwise. Tuning very stable. A set of 11-52 will be next string change. Love playing this thing, and exploring alternate tunings! It seems Yamaha's reputation is true.Greg

I purchase this guitar last week Monday and it arrived on Friday. This was an upgrade from my Yamaha FG800 and I must say that as much as I have loved my FG800 the FG830 just blows it away.

I have owned a Martin, Fender, Taylor and Teton. Of all my guitars I have fallen hard for the Yamaha Brand. The FG830 is very easy to play and sounds great right out of the box. The action is lower than the FG800 and the sound is amazing.

My recommendation to a new player or seasoned player is Buy this amazing guitar!Todd Ladwig

I was familiar with the Yamaha FG730 and its' favorable reviews as an excellent value solid top guitar. I also tried out an FG730 at a local retailer and found it to be comfortable to play, with a decent and full acoustic tone. I would have purchased the FG730 had I not read about the newly released FG830 … similar in design to the FG730 with the added enhancement of scalloped bracing. I decided to order an FG830, based on what I believed would be an improved tone versus the FG 730 (enhanced bass). My instincts were good. The tone and playability of this guitar exceeded my expectations, and I find myself picking this guitar quite often to play and practice, in spite of having several Martin and Taylor guitars on hand in their cases. The Yamaha doesn't sound or play as well as those other higher end acoustics, but I am pleasantly satisfied overall. This is an excellent beginner's guitar, and not so bad as a backup guitar in a crunch.karby55

I bought this guitar to check out a budget friendly offering from Yamaha. I have to say I was not disappointed! Excellent tone and volume, the top really resonates. The guitar was really well setup right out of the box. It needed about 3/4 of a clockwise truss rod adjustment, no prob. Other than that it didn't need any fret dressing whatsoever. That's really impressive for a Chinese guitar. Heck even one of my Mexican Martins needed fret dressing out of the box! Also intonation was spot on and this also is important in your guitar. Very impressed with this guitar, intermediate/advanced feel but priced at a beginner budget. You won't regret picking one up, I assure you!Big Bone Murphy

There is a point of quality when an instrument reaches when it stops being seen as "better or worse" but rather just a different flavor. This Yamaha has reached that point. You can play it alongside a guitar costing 5x more and it stands up well. Yamaha is also one of those rare companies with a long history of top quality across all kinds of products, and guitars are an area Yamaha knows well. This is just a beautiful guitar through and throughout. You can get beautiful uncompromisingly great studio recordings with this guitar. Hitting the low strings hard with strumming gives a nice deep and rich tone. Also, the hardware / tuners are nice.Scott

I've owned many acoustics over the years, MANY, and this Yamaha is one of the best sounding I've ever owned. Went to GC just to check out a few lower end acoustics to pick up for jamming on, and tried almost every one in the room. Picked this one up last just before I was ready to leave, and immediately was blown away by the sound and playability, brought a couple friends to listen and tell me which one they thought sounded the best, and hands down this won over all of them. It has the tone and warmth of a Martin D34, which I have owned a few, and it plays like a dream. The neck is so sliky smooth, easy to fly up and down with no effort. It has amazing sustain and beautiful tone, I fell in love with it and just couldn't put it down. I didn't expect a guitar of this price range to sound as good as it does, got it home and I couldn't put it down. Played for 4 hours straight, and even after trying to put it down to go to bed at 1am I found myself playing a for a few more minutes before I could actually go to sleep. Love this Yamaha more than any guitar I've bought in the last decade. The best thing about it is, It gave me the desire to pick up playing guitar again, after hardly touching any of my other guitars for almost a year it's the one I want to play more than all of them. Great guitar, wouldn't hesitate to buy another in a different color, if you want something that you won't be able to put down this baby has the sound and feel your looking for.Johnny D

I am a professional musician/songwriter (also a Berklee grad-1981). While guitar is not the principal instrument I was trained on (piano/keyboard are my primary), I have been playing guitar on and off since I was a teen back in the 1970s. However, over the last couple of years I've been putting a lot more dedicated practice time on improving my guitar skills for both for songwriting and solo guitar playing. I've been particularly focused mastering the layout of the guitar fretboard so I can put all my harmonic knowledge to work on the instrument, something I wish I did many years ago, but better late than never! I purchased this guitar because I wanted an instrument that was reasonable, easy to play, and enjoyable to listen to. I tried guitars in a variety of price ranges and was surprised at how much more I liked the F335 than guitars 2-3xs more costly. Although this guitar has a laminate rather than solid spruce top, it has a clear yet warm sound that I find really pleasing sonically. The fretboard is also very comfortable and easy to play which adds to the enjoyment of making music with it. I was so impressed with this instrument that I recently also purchased a Yamaha FS800 to use more for fingerstyle playing while using the F335 for flat picking. Those are a nice combination of instruments that cover all my guitar playing needs at this time. Regardless of what level you are playing I highly recommend this (and the FS800) for anyone looking for a very reasonable option that you can use for playing and songwriting.Scott F.

First of all, I own 2 Yamaha Guitars, the F335 being the first one I have owned. For an entry-level dred, you could not ask for a better quality, easy to play right out of the box, althought I would recommend a set-up with any instrument right out of the box with the addition of a bone saddle. Did this with this one and it brought its already rich tone to another level. I only give it 4 stars because I have owned a number of high-end instruments. If you are a brand new player, or one who is in the market just to have a dred to beat around with, look no further. This is the one for you.Chris

I purchased this guitar while it was on sale so can't really complain. There are several QC issues I would expect better from Yamaha even in a cheap imported product. Fit and overall build seems solid but there are odd finish issues that make no sense. At the neck joint there seems to be the remains of a tape line from the body to the neck all around the joint. This neck feels quite thin and comfortable but again, the finish is inconsistent. Just before the headstock, the finish goes from semi-gloss to mat in a very visible way that can also be felt in the hand. As I said in the beginning, cheap guitar, cheap price, hard to complain.Robert

I bought this guitar to check out a budget friendly offering from Yamaha. I have to say I was not disappointed! Excellent tone and volume, the top really resonates. The guitar was really well setup right out of the box. It needed about 3/4 of a clockwise truss rod adjustment, no prob. Other than that it didn't need any fret dressing whatsoever. That's really impressive for a Chinese guitar. Heck even one of my Mexican Martins needed fret dressing out of the box! Also intonation was spot on and this also is important in your guitar. Very impressed with this guitar, intermediate/advanced feel but priced at a beginner budget. You won't regret picking one up, I assure you!Big Bone Murphy

There is a point of quality when an instrument reaches when it stops being seen as "better or worse" but rather just a different flavor. This Yamaha has reached that point. You can play it alongside a guitar costing 5x more and it stands up well. Yamaha is also one of those rare companies with a long history of top quality across all kinds of products, and guitars are an area Yamaha knows well. This is just a beautiful guitar through and throughout. You can get beautiful uncompromisingly great studio recordings with this guitar. Hitting the low strings hard with strumming gives a nice deep and rich tone. Also, the hardware / tuners are nice.Scott

I've owned many acoustics over the years, MANY, and this Yamaha is one of the best sounding I've ever owned. Went to GC just to check out a few lower end acoustics to pick up for jamming on, and tried almost every one in the room. Picked this one up last just before I was ready to leave, and immediately was blown away by the sound and playability, brought a couple friends to listen and tell me which one they thought sounded the best, and hands down this won over all of them. It has the tone and warmth of a Martin D34, which I have owned a few, and it plays like a dream. The neck is so sliky smooth, easy to fly up and down with no effort. It has amazing sustain and beautiful tone, I fell in love with it and just couldn't put it down. I didn't expect a guitar of this price range to sound as good as it does, got it home and I couldn't put it down. Played for 4 hours straight, and even after trying to put it down to go to bed at 1am I found myself playing a for a few more minutes before I could actually go to sleep. Love this Yamaha more than any guitar I've bought in the last decade. The best thing about it is, It gave me the desire to pick up playing guitar again, after hardly touching any of my other guitars for almost a year it's the one I want to play more than all of them. Great guitar, wouldn't hesitate to buy another in a different color, if you want something that you won't be able to put down this baby has the sound and feel your looking for.Johnny D

I bought this guitar from a local shop strictly as a worship instrument for Sunday mornings. It absolutely destroyed every other guitar at the music shop +/- 500 in either direction. I still hold that it is likely the best guitar in its price range for the quality of its construction and sound quality. There is virtually not a single flaw this instrument possesses… But can we talk about the electronics? The guitar is super odd… I mean, if you are odd too, it is probably your dream guitar. It has a poor-man's tone wood amp build in. When you turn it on, it runs 90's sounding special effects out the soundhole, which is pretty cool. Here is the problem, the controls are super minimal. So minimal that you can't tell whether this bad boy is on or off. We found out the hard way that when this guitar is plugged in, the battery is always draining, even when the sound system is off. This is not atypical, but it gets weirder. The guitar won't turn off when plugged in, but sometimes needs to be turned on (?) when the batteries are dying. There is no indicator to tell you when it is running low on power, so you might find out on stage halfway through Glorious Day. There is actually no indicator for anything electric on this guitar, except for a sliding piece of plastic that sits under the dials that might be useful if it didn't look like you were supposed to cut it out and throw it away. The whole control setup is just annoying and unnecessarily vague. Long story short, with an electronics upgrade, this guitar would be unbeatable. It has more power than it deserves, almost like the guys a Yamaha are professionally sound-profiling the tops, which is something you would expect only on guitars above the 2000 range.Benjo

Where to start with this… Out of the box, once tuned the guitar feels like a quality product. The fitted Elixir strings (I'm guessing a 0.12 brass or bronze set) give the guitar a very bright, clear tone, exactly what I wanted. It is a bright sounding instrument, so others may want to experiment with other string sets. The action is good and low, although compared to the guitar I was playing the fretboard is very flat, not much of a camber at all, a minor complaint which may not apply to everyone and I got used to it quickly. The neck itself is comfortable with a slightly matte finish which I find aids playability, somehow. The design is conservative with small inlays and a transparent scratchplate; I may replace the scratchplate with something more interesting one day but not while it's so new. All in all, a great, solid instrument for its price bracket. Oh yeah, it's also got this on board soucery which applies reverb and chorus through the body of the guitar. These effects are awesome but their real benefit is to make you want to play for longer, simply because you sound better. These effects also apply to the line out; this is also a fully-fledged electro-acoustic. The only drawback here is that the preamp lacks any kind of equaliser, but who cares about that when any amp or sound desk has these functions? That all makes this guitar an all-rounder. A solid acoustic instrument with on board tricks for busking or practicing (your buddies will be jealous if you're having an unplugged jam on the beach, too) as well as being the electro-acoustic you want if you're gigging. I swear, I am not being paid by Yamaha. Check it out on YouTube – some great demos of this guitar on there.Adam W.

Cost is cheap hence your not going to get a quality built instrument in return. The company cheapens out on everything: Wood, pickups, tuners, wires, knobs etc. Save your money and just buy a made in USA Gibson which will 10 lifetimes longer than this throw away junk. Not worth it!ENGlishJELLo

Awesome it contains everything that I needed for my guitar Only 1 issue How do you tune it? Some advice or buying a book to help in that area would be good I looked it up on google.Reviewed by Absolute Music custo

I am really enjoying the guitar. I have only had it for one day and it's found its place in our home. Great guitar for begginer to intermediate players.Pattyb

No problems everything as described guitar came strung no adjustments necessary. Tone not the greatest but I cant believe its even playable for the price paid. Away from home for 3 months couldnt bring guitar thought Id buy this and leave it behind. Now Im trying figure out hows to get it home with me.splat4752

Great guitar for the price! Decent sound and play is smooth. I upgraded the strings to Elixir Nanoweb made a big difference in sound. All in all, you just cant beat the price for what you get.gparshall

I was expecting a beat up guitar. The pnly issue was a small finishing spot. Hardly noticeable. Sounds great feels great stays in tune. Great tone. Not a cheap toy guitar. Wonderful!grill_l

Bought this online over the holidays (Dec 25) for my son. It arrived yesterday (Dec 30), which was very quick. We unpacked it and began to tune the strings which were loose. The very first string (high E, the thinnest) snapped at the bridge. Tried to repair it, but there wasn't enough slack. Went to Best Buy today to explain the situation, and they said we could return it for a full refund or exchange. (They could not repair onsite, or provide spare parts.) The guitar otherwise was in excellent condition so we decided to keep it given the defect was so small. Went to Long & McQuade to get the replacement string and so far so good. The guitar is fine now, and all the other "original" strings are holding. (Given how inexpensive they are, the manufacturer should have included spares.) We will see how it goes over the next few weeks. We are hoping it will last. Time will tell. Not being a guitar expert, the price point (purchased on sale) seems reasonable, especially for a beginner. My son is a young teen and is having a lot of fun with this new instrument. The recommendation for this make and model came from his music teacher, and the sound quality is pretty good.M&M

Put this money into a better guitar, this ones neck was super off. Entire neck bent within one week of playing moderately, and was in fixable without taking the bolt out of the neck and replacing it. Putting this money into a better quality model is better for your mental health and wallet.GuitarGirl007

Guitar sounds good. Took me some time to tune it. But when tune up was done it sounds great. After a year lower bridge is slowly detaching and will probably replace the whole guitar since I bought the warranty and the bridge is glued. Again for $100 and something this is a great purchase.Dushane

After allowing the guitar few weeks to adjust and giving it a good set up including new strings and a neck adjustment (tightening the rod), Conditioning the fret board and a good polish, The guitar is easy to play and has great sound for an inexpensive guitar. I like the So Cal green color others may not as it is a vintage vibe. Tuners are price point but even price point tuners these days are decent. A little sticking from the nut, I think I can lightly file that out and add some nut sauce. The fret ends were not too sharp but I conditioned them to a nice smooth finish useing 500 grit sponge. Very little cost to make improvements and the guitar is fun to play. The sustain is probably the biggest suprise and I am satified to practice with this guitar every day. Very pleased for the cost. Good value.Bruce P.

Guitar is ok for the price; however, I was expecting the strings to last longer than 2 days before breaking. Even the extra ones that came with the bundle broke as I was putting them on. I had to buy better ones and had a professional put them on to make sure they were adjusted correctly. Additionally, the small tuner's battery was dead out of the box so I had to get a new one. Again, I guess you get what you get for the price. On a positive note, the guitar looks nice, the small amps is super convenient, and everything arrived fast and together in one box.Luis L.

The guitar did not have the black scratch panel that is shown in the Sunburst guitar. Also, when my son opened the gift guitar, the black bag was covered in a white mold/mildew. It was delivered one week before his birthday and kept in a dry room, and opened for the first time on his birthday. The guitar seems ok, I will know more when someone with some guitar knowledge checks it out for me. It may be going back to the store. The pictures show exactly what the bag looked like minutes after the gift was opened. Looks rough, 2 stars are for the fact that the guitar was not moldy.Kacee

Great sounding and playing guitar, I replaced the synthetic saddle for bone, original was to tapered on the high E new saddle took care of that. Buy the epiphone or roadrunner jumbo case, nothing else fits, make sure if the guitar comes straight from the factory you use a humidifier in your case for at least 6 months. Especially in colorado. Then if you leave it out without a humidifier that you dont have forcrd Heat or air conditioning vents close to the guitar. This guitar has great projection.Kenny

After purchasing this guitar from American Musical Supply, I was really nervous awaiting its arrival because this was actually my first time purchasing an instrument online. I’m used to going inside music shops and trying out different gear and playing guitars before I buy them so I know that what I’m taking home with me already feels comfortable and right in my hands. This guitar in particular, however, is not a style that is normally kept stocked in the stores for customers to test drive before they purchase. Similar models are available in stores near me but I think anyone who has ever wanted this particular model from Epiphone knows that they have heard and felt the beautiful sound that projects from this big guitar and I am here to tell you that my “leap of faith” online purchase was nothing more than a huge win in my book! This guitar looks, sounds and plays just as I expected it would with much more to offer once it’s actually in your hands! I’m personally a country/blues guy so this guitar definitely fits right up that alley in my opinion. It feels so solid in your hands and the tone is just plain awesome! The Jumbo body allows the sounds inside the guitar to reverberate through your body as it’s pressed against you before making its way through the sound hole where it flourishes into that awesome deep, thick sound. From the factory the guitar is set up beautifully and very playable right out of the box. Quality parts, quality wood and quality electronics as expected from Epiphone and very well executed in this model. Definitely worth every penny for the undecided guitarist but hey, don’t take just my word for it! Pick up this awesome guitar from Epiphone through these good folks here at American Musical and set yourself up with one of their payment plans if that interests you! It’s an awesome way to be able to get the gear you need and the gear you’ve been wanting without breaking the bank right on the spot! Excellent Job by Epiphone once again and an excellent job by American Musical for supplying it at an awesome price and providing sweet payment options for your customers and future consumers!Billy

I once owned a Gibson J15, that I bought from Guitar Center, and I loved it, but I always wanted a J200, I just could never afford one. Well, I ended up having to sell my J15 to pay rent one month, and I ended up having some extra money from it, and thought why not give the Epi a try? It's closer to the Guitar I always wanted anyways. I was blown away. It has all the high end stylings of a Gibson J200, maybe even more if you consider the built in tuner and cutaway features for about 3000$ less. Well, unfortunately I only owned it for about a week before my car broke down and I had to return my Epi to pay for the repairs. I've regretted it ever since. I would have rather donated blood 50 times than have returned that guitar. (Fortunately I just got my tax return and repurchased it, and it seems like it sounds even better than before). As I was saying, it stacks up against s Gibson guitar nicely, the shadow preamp isn't as nice as any LR Baggs system but it will certainly give you lots of usable sounds. I think this is the best guitar in the 500$ price range and I'm disappointed in Guitar Center for not carrying it in store. I'm a firm believer in the fact that having a guitar you like, you like the looks of, you like the feel of, will make you a better guitarist, and that's what this beautiful, fat boy jumbo acoustic has done for me. I actually like mine so much I decided to put some money into it for upgrades, and I haven't been disappointed. I stuck some Grover Keystone tuners on it in gold of course ( had them on my Epi Les Paul before and thought would look cool so I just swapped them), some Martin ebony bridge pins, and some D'Addario EXPs and this thing sounds unreal now. So, if you're reading this because you're unsure as to whether you should buy this guitar or not, yes, you should absolutely buy this guitar and never look back.Anonymous

I was looking for a good beginner's guitar, and I wanted something with nylon strings. I did a pretty extensive search in order to find an instrument that was relatively inexpensive yet had some degree of quality. I read reviews on this particular model, and most seemed to be pleased. I was able to purchase one that, I'm guessing, had been returned, and I was very pleased with both the reduced price and the condition/quality of the guitar. The guitar itself has a very beautiful and mellow tone. It stays in tune, only requiring minor adjustments from time-to-time. I would not recommend this for young people or those adults with smaller hands, as the neck is somewhat wider than one might expect. All-in-all a very fine instrument for the price.Swewpa

This is the best beginner/student classical guitar there is bar none. It's full size and the intonation is spot on, the tuners (whilst basic) are fully functional and consistent. The bridge saddle has 3rd string compensation and is set to a low-ish action. Putting a new set of EJ45's opens up the sound considerably (don't play with the crappy strings that are on it). Great second or studio guitar for the experienced player. Stick it in a half decent case and you'll have a fantastic holiday guitar for around £150. The spruce soundboard already sounds good and will improve with age. Buy, play it – chuck it about. – it's very well made and robust. Finish is shiny and cleans with a wipe. Buy it today.Warwick M.

We purchased two of these for my pre-teens, who have been studying guitar in school. Both loved the instruments, which match the model they use in school. Nice, clean, warm sound, and clearly well-made instruments.Amy Beee

Overall: The older you get and the longer you play you come to realize that it's your skills and not that of gear that really matters,i.e Hendrix would have been Hendrix on a Wal-Mart Starcaster, is it nice to have a higher quality instrument? Of course is it necessary? No.This guitar will "get the job done", especially in a recording situation. This guitar is a "bare bones" no frills instrument for working players,once you "make it" go out and buy a 4k Martin or Gibson until then keep it real and work on your technique. I'm not really sure what players get in terms of value when they spend thousands on an instrument a 3k guitar does not sound 15x better than a $250.00 guitar. Some adjustment would be advised on this Yamaha, file down the nut or replace all together, the tuners could be better and the strings meh but this is a fine, professional quality instrument and I highly recommend it.Mike