Yamaha FG820 12-String Acoustic Guitar - Natural Reviews

I bought this as a gift for my grandson. He had been playing and 'coveting' my pristine, 50-year old Martin D12-28. I didn't want to let that go any further, so I looked around find some other options for him. We included the FG820 12-string as he already has a Yamaha FS800 6-string that he likes and plays a lot. After playing a number of other options under $ from Guild, Martin, and Taylor, we went with this guitar, the least expensive of the bunch.

First of all, it sounds great - my D12-28 may have a slightly better sound, but not nearly 10 times as much. He's had it now for a few weeks and is very happy with it. I was pleasantly surprised to find the action was right on and the intonation was excellent. The frets are level and fret ends are smooth, but they could probably use some crowning ad polishing. The neck is smooth and comfortable. The urea nut and saddle seem to work okay, though I'm sure others might want to replace them. The tuning keys seem to work just fine.

I've got a few high-end acoustics, but I'm constantly surprised at the quality of the guitars you can get at such a low price these days. I certainly include the Yamaha FS800 6-string and FG820 12-string in that. These are excellent guitars for a 12-string beginner or intermediate player, and I wouldn't hesitate to use one for a gig.

I play a lot of solo acoustic gigs and wanted to add a 12 string for a few songs. In my personal experience, most acoustic electrics under $ include a pretty subpar pickup system. They all seem to have that piezo "quack" that has to be dialed out via a mixer with sweepable midrange parametric EQ. I decided to go with this non pickup Yamaha based on the positive reviews. I then took it directly to my local luthier for setup and installation of a LR Baggs Element VTC pickup. Yes, the pickup with installation labor cost almost as much as the guitar, but the result was well worth it. For a total investment of around $, I got a quality, solid top instrument that plays great, sounds good acoustically - but most importantly sounds balanced and "quackless" plugged in!

I tried a lot of different 12-string guitars, including Martins, Guilds and Taylors. This Yamaha has by far the best sound for the money, deeply resonant and pure. It's a lot of music, it stays in tune well (the strings are new so are still stretching out), the fingerboard is perfect, and the shallow neck shape makes it easy to play. It does not do as well with a capo as my 6-string Martin, so I avoid using the capo. I have mine in a drop-D now and it's amazing.

I'm truly impressed with this guitar. It has a very sweet voice, especially when tuned down a whole step. It sounds huge! Chords sound great and picking out single sets of strings have this distinct sound that is just addictive. I highly suggest this guitar. You won't be disappointed!

Wow this is an unbelievably well made instrument. It screams quality and attention to detail. If it was $2000 I should still feel I got true value. The sound sublime, rich and full balanced yet fun too. Shout out to Issac Melton. Buy your Yamaha from him. PS I am a beginner and still feel this is not much harder to play than a 6 string.

This Guitar is Flawless
In Tune right out of the case. The intonations are Spot on. The action hight was Perfect.I inspected the inside of the body using A mirror. The shaved bracing was properly set. No No Glue bleedout. Someone really took there time & payed attention to detail when building this Guitar I purchased this Yamaha 12string Acoustic Guitar for my 70 year Old Father Birthday. The Smile on his Face was Priceless. I would recommend this Guitar for anyone who enjoys A Bright sounding 12string I recommend adding standard Elixir Nanoweb 10gage 12String set this will bring out More of the Natural Beautiful Sounds that this Guitar Makes. Enjoy.

To our surprise the guitar was in Perfect Tune right out of the Case. After futher inspection there where no blemishes. Who ever Built the Guitar took very good Care with the highest craftmanship. We worm camera inspected the Inside no glue mess everything is Very well Built A+++ SOUNDS Beautiful very well rounded Voicing Tones love the fine tuned Scalloped Bracing.

This is not my first experience with Sweetwater and is not the last. My new Yamaha 12 string is everything it is advertised to be. Very playable right out of the box. It is beautiful and sounds fantastic. It was shipped in the certified case I bought with it as requested. It was a little loose so I put my polishing rag in the extra space and it fits perfectly. Thank you Bryan and thank you Sweetwater. Your the best.

I will admit I was a bit nervous buying this guitar even though I have dealt with Sweetwater in the past. I've always order strings or mic stands or stuff like that. My nervousness was completely unwarranted. The guitar arrived in the case as I requested. I did have to make a slight adjustment to the action to bring the strings back down to factory height, but that is not a big deal. I love this guitar. It is smooth as butter and the tone is amazing. Now if I could just find the .012-.053 strings by D'Addario that are on it to have as a replacement set I would be golden (or Elixirs of the same guage). I am not at all disappointed in this guitar and my girlfriend is starting to think she has been replaced. ;)

Definitely worth the price and the case fits like a glove. Thanks, Sweetwater, for making this a great purchase experience.

This guitar really sounds incredible for it's price range. The build quality is superb. At this price, it is hard to compete with this. Action is a bit high for my taste, but easily fixed. The frets are smooth and even. Sounds great, very chimey. Tuners are smooth and tight. Yamaha provides a lot of value in their products and this guitar is no exception. This one is all about the sound and playability.

You'll need to break the $1000 Mark to do better than this. Typical Yamaha build quality fantastic sound and price. Action too high...again, typical of Yamaha acoustics until you hit the high dollar ones that get lots of factory attention. Paid $45 for Sweetwater to set this up. Big disappointment. New strings and a simple truss rod adjustment is what I got. Buzzing.... and action at 12th fret sky high. It needs a little neck relief and I'll need to shave the saddle down about 1 to 1.5 mm and I think I'll be thrilled with this 12 cylinder machine. If all their set ups are this poor.,.have it done elsewhere. Otherwise nothing but 5 stars for Brian Levall and the Sweetwater crew !

Got this 12 string after a long wait ( backorder) BUT, upon delivery, message on box instructed NOT TO OPEN, w/ instructions why!! Due to the changing climate ( cold to warm ) so I waited to the next day. Opened and the smell of the wood was evident! I have never played a 12 string, but I strummed some notes and the sound is amazing! Its a very beautiful instrument and looking forward to playing this. Thanks Sweetwater, packaged off the chart! No nicks, scratches much appreciative! You can't go wrong with Sweetwater either!!

My 45 year old Martin/Sigma twelve string was getting tired and had many repairs so it was time to replace it. I looked at Taylor, Martin, Guild and others and decided on this Yamaha (demo)... Why? Very easy on these old hands and the sound is very woody and organic. Although it does not have onboard electronics, that was easily solved using a Seymour Duncan sound hole pickup. Has a very natural sound without the piezo quack. It stays in tune really well with and the intonation is right on. Sweet water always does a great job with their set up. I would recommend giving this guitar a try if you are looking fo a nice twelve string Thant won’t empty your pockets. Once again, such a pleasure working with Kevin Spunde.

A beautiful guitar. Action is smooth as warm butter. Sound has the depth that a 12 string sound produce.
I love it.

I've owned close to a dozen different 12-string guitars over the past 40 years and played a few dozen more, from vintage Martins and Guilds, a first generation Ovation Balladeer, to more modest offerings from Conn, Alvarez, Ibanez, Ovation Applause and Celebrity lines, Taylor, Fender, Dean, Epiphone, and Yamaha.
I have found in 45 years of experience that Yamaha offers consistent quality of construction at a reasonable price and the best sound.
This guitar is no exception. I matched it against my pastor's Yamaha 12-string [the predecessor model, the FG720-12] and this clearly has more depth to it. So they aren't lying about the scalloped bracing improving the bass response.
Clearly I would not put this in the same class with more high priced offerings from folks like Gibson, Guild, Martin, or Taylor, but I would put this up against any guitar in the under $1k price range in terms of sound and playability.
For my money, I can't see myself ever playing any guitar but a Yamaha from now on.

I've been wantin a 12 string for a long time and I finally decided to get this. I was afraid of the hassle of extra strings and tuning issues. I'm so glad I got this guitar it feels good on the fingers and I'm just now getting used to playing with the extra strings! I wanted to get a cheap 12 string to just jam on around the house or with friends. I recommend this to anyone wanting to pick up a 12 string on a budget.

After 8 months it hangs on the wall, looks nice, I don't play it. I purchased it from nostalgia of playing a 12 string in college, but that a loooong time ago. Arthritis is not complimentary for playing this guitar.