ROUND-UP YAMAHA ACouSTICS 78 october 2016 TGR285.gear_round.
GEAR Round-up Words: Dave Burrluck Photography: Adam Gasson Yamaha F Series round-up It’s 50 years since Yamaha introduced its first steel-string guitar. But the Japanese giant never rests on its laurels, and for 2016, one of the world’s best-selling guitar ranges has gotten even better… october 2016 TGR285.gear_round.
ROUND-UP YAMAHA F SERIES IT WAS a year of sex, drugs and musical revolution – oh, and England won the World Cup, of course – so on reflection it’s perhaps not surprising that the 1966 arrival of Yamaha’s first steel-string guitars, the FG180 and FG150, didn’t cause that much of a stir. Fast forward a few years though and it was a different story.
GEAR Round-up YAMAHA FG830 £360 The classic spruce/rosewood dread on a budget… JUMPING up very nearly 150 notes, the FG830’s increased price tag is certainly reflected in its looks – it’s a much more classy proposition with its thinly gloss-finished body, deep chocolate coloration of the rosewood laminate back and sides, and satin neck (though less ‘open pore’ in feel than the FG800M), all topped off with oldlooking, cream-coloured edge binding.
ROUND-UP YAMAHA F SERIES VERDICT IRRELEVANT OF the 50th anniversary, these new Yamaha’s are near faultlessly good for their prices. If we’re honest, the FG830 could be considerably more and we’d still be saying the same.
