FD01S

Comments about Yamaha fd01s:

I purchased this guitar as part of the "Gigmaker Deluxe" kit - actually, I got it for free through a credit card rewards program. It arrived well packaged and was perfect right out of the box -- straight neck, even frets, excellent (though maybe a bit thick and plasticky) finish, and (so I thought) good action height. I was able to start to play immediately.

About a week into owning it, the corner of the nut broke off from the low E string over to the edge. It didn't affect playing at all but I used it as an excuse to take it in to the local guitar shop where I was told a simple "setup" could make the playability of the guitar much better. So I went ahead and had them do the setup which included replacing the nut with a bone nut and lowering the action.

I like the sound of this guitar which I would describe as rich. The low end is good and it's not twangy or overly bright. Much of the rest of the "kit" is basically worthless: plastic gig bag, DVD of a couple of chords, picks and a set of strings. However, the Yamaha branded tuner it came with actually is pretty nice. It's small, clips-on, and is very responsive and accurate. I of course had to find a case for the guitar but that was easy online.

All in all, this is a really good starter guitar and probably the best deal on a low-end solid top guitar out there. It's a guitar that one likely would keep as a campfire guitar after improving and even subsequently upgrading to a higher-end instrument.

Comments about Yamaha fd01s:

I bought this guitar for a campfire guitar. I wanted a solid wood guitar that I could bang around. This guitar fit the bill perfectly: neck looks cheap but plays fast. Set-up was perfect out of the box. Beautiful guitar but the finish is a tad thick for my liking. Pickguard is cheap black plastic, bridge pins are very, very cheap. Tuners are die cast chrome.

Everything about this guitar SCREAMS Yamaha FG except the price and the headstock: if not for the missing "Y" logo, plain jane black pickguard, and the extremely cheap bridge pins, this guitar equals the FG700S. Solid top guitar, no frills, plays nice. Better for strumming than fingerstyle. Fantastic treble. Adequate bass.

And it's a solid top-looks like reasonable low grade solid spruce as well: color is good, grain is straight, grain is tight, even. On the yellow spectrum for hue so not a real cheap pink grade spruce. Laminate nato body has nice exterior finish, internally it looks like cardboard. Kerfs are clean, bracing is fairly clean cut (not too many splinters at the ends but not like a higher end guitar). Frets were even, fingerboard plays very nice up and down the neck. Exterior finish on back and sides is gorgeous. Black and white binding, plain rosette. No excess glue-build is quality.

At this price point, it's a solid guitar with a solid top, sounds decent, fun to play, that will last years.