Yamaha FG830

first play
25
DECEMBER 2016 GuitaRist
YAMAHA FG830 & FSX830C
dry looking, they have cleanly bound edges.
Fretting is from a small gauge; it’s very cleanly
installed with the ends sitting over the binding,
but the fret tops could do with a better final
polish as they’re a little scratchy on bent notes.
While the electro FSX has a screwed-in
metal strap button/output jack at its base (the
acoustic FG has a plastic endpin) with no nuts
to come loose, it doesn’t have a second strap
button on the heel, which seems an oversight
for strapped-on stage use. The electronics
have changed, too: the ART one-way pickup
changes to the under-saddle from the SRT
(Studio Response Technology) system. The
efficient-looking preamp offers rotary controls
for volume, bass, mid and treble – each EQ is
centre-notched and can be cut or boosted as
you’d expect – while a slider operates the AMF
(Adjustable Midrange Frequency) control,
which offers a very wide range between 80 and
10kHz. The onboard tuner doesn’t mute the
output when engaged (we’ve moaned about
this before!), and while there’s a battery status
LED, there’s no phase switch or notch filter.
Feel & Sounds
The FS is unique within the Yamaha range
with its shorter scale length of 635mm (25
inches) compared with the longer, Yamaha-
standard 650mm (25.6 inches) of the FG.
“Its short scale makes it an excellent choice
for guitarists with small hands,” reckons
Yamaha. Nut widths are the same, but the
bridge spacing on the FS closes from the FG’s
55mm to 50mm. In addition, the reduced body
depth of the FS is “for improved playability,
especially for beginners”, says Yamaha. So, we
have a £536 guitar intended for small-handed
beginners? Really? Yamaha seems to have
overlooked Martin’s industry-standard ‘short’
632.5mm (24.9-inch) scale used on thousands
of 00 and 000s, for example, that is hardly
aimed at small-handed beginners. And the
cramped string spacing is at odds with the
small-body, fingerstyle genre. Odd.
The bigger FG feels it when seated, and
there’s more tension to the playability, with a
slightly stiffer feel. Like any good dreadnought,
there’s plenty of projection when you hit it,
though its voice has a little less “oomph” in the
low end than Yamaha might have intended. It
gives the guitar a ‘cleaner’ tonality that sounds
modern and articulate, quite piano-like. Still,
compared with a couple of spruce/rosewood
and spruce/mahogany Martin dreads we have
on hand, it sounds a little thin.
The FS is a more comfortable seated player
with a slightly down-sized sound, too. It has
the FG’s clarity and modernism, but is a little
more controlled with a good balance across
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GIT414.rev_yamaha.indd 25 27/10/2016 12:06