Review of the Yamaha FG730S Acoustic Guitar

Features of the Yamaha FG730S

Tuners - Sealed unbranded tuners with large kidney knobs. Smooth, efficient and accurate.

Headstock - Standard Yamaha three-a-side paddle with the Yamaha logo inlaid in pearloid. The front of the headstock is faced with sycamore which has a very attractive strong grain (more of which later).

Nut - The white plastic nut, which looks slightly stark against the cream binding of the neck and headstock, abuts the end of the fretboard and is clean and tidy.

Neck - The medium slim neck sits very comfortably in the hand. The wood isn't named in the blurb but appears to be some type of mahogany. The satin finish makes for smooth playability.

Fretboard - Medium dark chocolate rosewood with a good tight grain. Very small pearloid dot markers wait until the 5th fret before making an appearance. The edge of the fretboard is bound in cream which blends very nicely with the colour of the spruce top. The black dot markers on the binding also start at the 5th fret.

Frets - The frets are quite narrow and offer a good positive fretting experience. They are squared off at each end rather than rounded. This is not a huge problem but it does mean you are more likely to notice the ends of the frets against the flesh of your fingers as you move the fretting hand up and down. As I said, no problem once you get used to it.

Action - Good from the box. Low enough to slide jazzy 9th chords around at the 10th fret.

Body - Although the look is largely traditional this guitar contrives to be prettier than most. The solid spruce top is a lovely vanilla blonde that matches almost seamlessly with the cream binding. The binding itself is finished off with three pin-stripes which add nice definition. The rosette is a circle of abalone which really adds a dollop of class and sets off the teardrop tortoiseshell pickguard to perfection. But it is when you get behind this baby that things start to look really peachy. The sycamore back and sides have a strong vertical "tiger-stripe" graining that varies from a mocha-brown to a shade so dark that it is almost black. Very, very nice.

Bridge - Traditional rosewood saddle supports a slanted plastic bridge which is compensated (offset or staggered) at the second string. The strings are retained by black bridge pins with white dots.

Pickguard - Single-ply teardrop in tortoiseshell.

Strap-buttons - There's one black plastic strap button on the bottom of the body. This has a white dot to match the bridge pins. Nice touch.

Finish - Extremely good all round.

Sound of the Yamaha FG730S

This is a light, bright and very tight sounding guitar which is a joy to strum. You are never going to get rumbling bass response from a guitar of this size or build. But what you do get is a lovely balanced tone across all six strings. (In fact I so liked the creamy mids and bass that I spent rather longer playing this guitar than was strictly necessary for this review.)

Overall Impressions of the Yamaha FG730S

I hate Sycamore trees so it's good to see that once you've chopped them all down it's possible to make great musical instruments from them. I actually have an old Yamaha FG something-or-other that I acquired many years ago. I recently dusted it off with the intention of selling it on to fund an upgrade. However once restrung, the tight, yet understated voice of the thing made me reconsider and I kept in on as a "useful" guitar.
For the price that's what this new FG is, a useful addition for the seasoned musician or electric player who needs to go native every once in a while. For a beginner or intermediate player the FG730 is a quality choice that will serve well for a long time and the tight crisp tones would make it an excellent studio standby. This is a great little workhorse. If you need one, buy this one.

Review of the Yamaha FG730S by The Man in the Jar