Yamaha FG730S - Natural Reviews

2007 Yamaha FG 730s very beautiful sounds.aged so gracefully.just as beautiful today as when we first met.

I purchased this guitar used as these are sadly now discontinued,and am only writing a review to help my fellow musicians in deciding to get one..
Does it sound as good as a Martin? Well the "Martin sound is a wide term" and every Martin sounds different, soooo I guess there's no actual "Martin sound" so to speak of
I can Tell you this guitar has an amazing woody balanced tone, like I've never heard out of a under $2k acoustic,it literally blows the doors off any current Fender, Epiphone, Alvarez and even Martin and Blueridge guitars under the $1200-1500 mark,the build is super close to a D28,solid spruce top, rosewood back and sides and nato neck (after research I've found that nato is similar to African mahogany but stronger and more dense)
The back and sides are laminate, but not like you think!
Yamaha uses ACTUAL ROSEWOOD AS THE CORE WOOD they just use less visually striking pieces, say a piece of rosewood that will have some visual issues but not detective, so it's all rosewood (unlike other brands that sandwich basswood, Asian greenwood, ect in the middle of 2 veneers)
Yamaha uses high heat and tons of pressure to produce each laminate (which again, other companies don't)
the solid spruce top is absolutely gorgeous on mine it has beautiful figuring, something you don't see on acoustic guitars under $1000.00
The frets are surprisingly better than I thought they'd be,definitely better than alot of higher end American made guitars...
It features beautiful abalone inlays and rosette..
They have binding on the neck and headstock,to which I can't find a single flaw nowhere..
The frets feel similar to what you'd find on a 90's Gibson lp std,and are actually very nice nickel and seem to be well manufactured..
The tuners are okayish, I'm swapping for 18:1 Gotoh tuners
The bridge and nut appear to be either nu bone or micarta maybe? It's not your usual cheap plastic, I order a bovine bone nut,saddle and bridge pins set so it should help(although it doesn't need it)
It's a gloss finish that's extremely thin, and the neck is satin which is amazing..
The neck shape is similar to a Fender maybe a tad thicker so it's comfortable to play for long periods of time..
The rosewood used on the fretboard and bridge is absolutely stunning and has a wild grain to it which complements the figured spruce top nicely..
It's a well rounded acoustic, that's absolutely surprising, I never would have thought Yamaha would build something like this..
The sound is almost angelic, it just rings and sings so beautifully, it's definitely punching wayyyyyy above its weight,it would take a $1000+ guitar to beat it and that's an honest opinion...
If you can find one used under $500 and can afford it GRAB IT!!
But, people have caught on to these and the quality instrument they are and prices are creeping up..
I've seen these listed for as much as $700 and honestly, I'd pay it if I had to, to get one, these are soooo close to a D28 it's almost unreal, like extremely close.....

I love this guitar more than my Martin which costs twice as much.
Sounds great and the neck is so easy to play
Im happy I got it from Sweetwater because it came perfectly set up.

My FG730s now has EvonGold frets, golg zgrovet tuners, Colombo bone saddle. Gosh it's great. I will never ever trade or sell this one. It's unbelievable. I love it. Great tone (under bridge passive pickup). Very nice neck and easy to play. Rosewood back and side are beautiful. Rosewood fingerboard. Mine for life. Thank you Yamaha.

Unbelievable service! Above and beyond customer attention and assistance. The guitar that I bought my son for Christmas was perfect and he was thrilled. It arrived as expected and was extremely protected with careful packaging. I have already recommended you to others!

i wanted an acoustic having sold my other one a few years ago. In this price range this Yamaha stood out with the great reviews I'd been seeing. Went to a guitar store to play it along with some others.
Once I decided to buy I went with Sweetwater mainly because I could view the exact guitar on line and compare the colors available. They advertise that they setup each guitar and I was pleased to see that there was absolutely no buzz and the string height was perfect. Sweetwater does as advertised.
The FG730S plays great, sounds better than I thought it would and is built beautifully.

I bought the Yamaha FG730S as a back up to my Martin 000-15M to leave in my winter home to avoid frequent travel with the Martin. I also added and lowered a bone bridge and added bone bridge pins. D'Addario extra light strings added to to mellowing of the guitar and for a total cost of $350 have a great guitar with a powerful and now better rounded sound and great low action playability.

Been playing since I was 9 yrs old ( I'm 55) this little guitar plays better than guitars that cost much more. Put some elixir strings on it you'll get that Martin sound. This guitar is worth getting a case for. Yamaha is having a hard time keeping up with the demand on these. I had an ovation celebrity that doesn't stand up to this guitar. Go to you tube you won't hear anything bad about this guitar .It is a best seller.

Let me preface this with a bit of honesty—this guitar doesn't sound as good as an American-made Martin. It does, however, come so much closer than I ever expected.

I'm relatively new to the guitar, but I've played the cello for a long, long time, so I have an ear better than most beginning guitarists have. I started playing on a First Act that's probably worth less than a pack of smokes, and while I hate to bash the instrument that got me playing, going from that to the FG730 was something like trading in an old Pinto for a new M-series BMW. It was like graduating from plastic-bottle-vodka to a good single malt scotch.

It's difficult to describe tone and feel with words, so I'd recommend getting your hands on one, if possible, or at least check some of the better Youtube reviews. I doubt you'll be disappointed. Broken-in, this guitar sounds stellar. I have it strung up with D'Addario phosphor bronze, because I'm too cheap to buy coated strings. She's loud. At $300, I'm confident it can't be beaten. Good on Yamaha for making quality, attainable guitars for the rest of us. It's a great-looking guitar, too. I've gotten more than a few compliments.

One con—the action was a bit high from the factory, but that's the nature of the beast when buying imported guitars. I elected to sand down the saddle and adjust the truss rod myself after a little Google research, and I have to say, it came pretty nicely. I'd considered replacing the saddle with one made of bone, but honestly, after playing the instrument for a few months, I don't feel the need.

So, in short, if you're looking for an inexpensive dreadnought, I can't imagine you'd go wrong with a Yamaha FG730S.

PS: you'll need a case for this one. I have one of those Gator hard-soft bag-cases, and it's a solid fit. I'd recommend it, but that's a topic for another review.

The guitar exceeded my expectations and the service I received from Sweetwater was exceptional.

An extremely nice guitar! It has a solid sitka spruce top, and rosewood back/sides; it sounds very good. The finish is well done and shiny. The decoration around the sound hole is also very nice. The only downside to this guitar is a plastic saddle (which is kind of loose fitting into the bridge) and a plastic nut, but at this price point, those are minor problems. Overall, this is a great buy and I'd recommend it to anyone looking for their first acoustic or even their second guitar; you'll be surprised how well it plays compared to other guitars at this price point.

At this price, it's hard to find another acoustic of this quality. Comfortable player, with a great sound. I would definitely recommend this!

I bought this guitar for my granddaughter,for Xmas.When it arrived I just had to 'check it out'.WOW,what a great sounding and great playing guitar.I played it for about an hour before my wife made me put it away and wrap it,lol.Just an amazing guitar for the money,and in my experience,better in all ways to much more expensive machines by the 'big' names.

And once again,Ryan and the Sweetwater experience was outstanding.Setup was just right,and like my last guitar I bought from Sweetwater,ready to play with great action and in tune.That still blows me away.This guitar is a total keeper.

Been playing for well over 50 years, mainly acoustic. Had read many good reviews on this guitar and had tried one in a guitar store and liked it a lot. Very hard to beat this guitar for the price. Excellent fit and finish to this guitar. Plays and sounds as good as it looks.

Beautiful guitar, plays well and sounds really nice. Dealing with Sweetwater just adds to the good part of this whole deal. They give the type of customer service that is sadly uncommon these days.

I love this new Fg730s. It looks and sounds great. Other than a few minor adjustments I'm very happy with it. It does have a slight imperfection on the neck (a finish issue). I also have a Fg that's 30 years old. These guitars hold up and this new one should only get better with age....

Fit and finish on this guitar are very good - a couple tiny spots that look like finish blemishes, but nothing but the pickiest would even notice or care about. Interior finish is good - a bit of extra glue around the bracings, but not bad. Spruce top is very nice with good grain. Laminate B/S looks very nice. Gloss finish on the body is nice, not gaudy or too thick like alot of asian import guitars. The guitar projects really well for a $300 laminate instrument! I'd put the tone between Taylor and Martin - but haven't started changing strings yet to find the sweet spot. I know it fits with my voice very well - I really like the tone. It arrived in perfect shape with a pretty darn good action - I might lower it a bit yet by sanding the saddle (or putting in a bone saddle)- neck had just a bit of relief - about perfect, haven't touched the truss rod yet. I love the feel of the satin neck and the dread body fits me well even though I'm a smaller guy (5'9). String spacing is good for strumming and flatpicking but probably wouldn't make a good fingerpicker. But - if you are buying a dread, you probably aren't fingerpicking!! I love how people say 'such a good guitar for a beginner' or 'great beater/campfire guitar'. Whatever. This is a good instrument that is well built and easily sounds good enough and projects well enough to be a gigging instrument. No question. I did alot of research into this price point and the general consensus is that the FG730S is the best $300 guitar on the market. I'm inclined to believe that now that I own one.

This guitar is beautiful, plays great and the cost is a fraction of what you would pay for an instrument made by someone else. The tone is treble-rich and somewhat "thin" compared to a larger dreadnought or jumbo guitar. It still sounds excellent and will only be outmatched by guitars in the $2000+ range. I know because I live right next to the Martin Guitar factory and have played them. Great for beginners and seasoned players alike!

Bottom line, this guitar is the best deal in acoustics. Craftmamship is perfect, Set up perfectly out the box, sound is bright and rich and loud! I put daddario phosphor bronze 12-53 strings on it and made it even better. You will not be dissapointed!

Tonewoods on this guitar are stellar. Like one would find on a Gibson or Taylor. MOP inlay gorgeous.
Tuners stay in tune for the most part, they are similar to grovers i think.
Sound is fantastic although i am going to upgrade nut and bridge and string pins. Sounds real good strummed and fingerpicking.
This guitar only costs $299? Wow. Better get one while you can.