Yamaha FS830 Concert Acoustic Guitar - Natural Reviews

I got the Concert size FS to learn fingerstyle blues at home.

This is a fun guitar. It looks decent and plays great. The size and shape and neck are perfect for me to play around the house. The price means I grab it and play it and don't worry about it.

Yes, there are some details (plastic bridge pins, plastic binding, synthetic nut) that would be nicer on a more expensive guitar, but at this price point, it's really a great instrument.

The shape and satin-finish on the neck are very comfortable for me. It stays in tune very well year-round.

The frets are perfect. The fretboard is very comfortable.

I hung it on the wall to remind me to play every day, and this guitar does beg to be played. It is so easy to grab and try a song or two. This is the quality of a good instrument, whatever the price point. I have two other guitars, but this Yamaha gets 95% of the playing time.

STRING SUGGESTION: The original strings were good, but after they wore out, I rotated through a lot of strings to find ones that I liked. The popular coated strings by D'addario and Elixir sounded kind of heavy and muffled on this small guitar. I also tried Stringjoys and Woodtones and didn't like their feel. Finally, I went to the Martin MM11 Retro Acoustics. For early blues fingerpicking, these have really clear definition and are extremely stable.

I am a beginner, and this is my second guitar. The first is a dreadnaught which is a little too big. This Yamaha is perfect in size and is a much better guitar. The service I received from Chris and Sweetwater was excellent from beginning to end. Shipping was fast and without damage.

I have yet to review 4 previous guitar purchases from Sweetwater...this guitar just surprised me so much I had to do one immediately.
They say you get what you pay for. A lot of times that's true and paying less for something often results in poor quality. In this case you are honestly going to be stunned to see how much guitar you get for the low price of this FS830. For one the abalone inlay on the rosette is very nice. The fretboard is well done very smooth (mine is Rosewood), Frets are cleaned up nicely with no noticeable sharpness. The Frets could use a light polish as I found some rough spots during string bends. Intonation has been pretty spot on honestly with only a few spots slightly off further towards the 12 fret (which honestly isn't a big deal). Action is a little high and could probably use a bit taken off the saddle to get it right but its not unplayableby any means. Fit n finish is pretty decent too...just a couple slightly rough spots on the binding that most people wouldn't even notice and some little finish swirl spot on the neck by the body. Other than those little things the whole thing all in all is just beautiful, the Rosewood on the back looks pretty stunning and I honestly wish my Larrivee D-40R had a woodgrain pattern like it lol. I only wish I could have had one of these to start off on. This is a great bang for your buck instrument. Oh and before I forget...the sound really opened up after the strings stretched out. It's a great sounding guitar. Nice and punchy all around with a good low end. I got this mainly for taking to family functions or camping, it will serve those purposes very well. Now stop reading long winded reviews like this one and just get it already.

Me..63 year old beginner, so I'm not qualified to give a technical review of this guitar. But I'm more than qualified to give a review of my first guitar purchase and overall impression of the FS830. First impression..the craftsmanship and finish from what I can see are flawless,the rosewood back and sides and spruce top (I got the natural) are absolutely gorgeous, I mean fine furniture gorgeous! There was a strong smell of wood glue for a couple of days. But when I checked the date code in the serial number I found my guitar had a build date of Nov 15 2022 just four months before I received her.. yes her..and her name is "Rose" lol.
I also purchased the Yamaha AG3 hard case for my girl. This case fits about 3 or 4 other models. But if I didn't know better I would swear it was made custom just for my guitar. The fit is super snug and totally secure. The case itself seems tough and rugged and looks classy inside and out. There's a small padded and lidded storage compartment for your accessories..pick tin, tuner, strap.. etc, with lots of room to spare.
My guitar shipped from Sweetwater in the hardcase which was then packed securely in a rugged cardboard shipping box. Rose arrived in pristine condition! I waited the recommended 24 hrs before I totally unboxed her.
The first thing I did besides embarrassing her with my horrible playing was to get some humidity paks in the case near the headstock and sound hole. I had noticed some semi sharp fret ends that are no longer there after spending time in the case with the humidipaks. Its extremely dry and cold here in N.Idaho right now, so humidity or lack of needs to be monitored and adjusted accordingly. Now this might only be a guitar but I treat it like a 3000 guitar and I think it appreciates it. It sounds great and rarely needs tuning.
Now there isn't much I can say about Sweetwater that already hasn't been said. Absolutely top notch customer service! And the 55 point inspection is amazing, and was what drew me to Sweetwater. It just made the purchase easier knowing that trained guitar techs were going to make sure my guitar was in perfect shape before it left the warehouse..just as I would have done before walking out the door with a new purchase.
In closing I'll just say if your considering this guitar I say go for it..they're on backorder a lot..but the wait was only a couple weeks for mine.. but that just tells you what a hot item this guitar is!

I was looking for a good guitar for my son that wouldn't break the bank. This guitar sounds wonderful. He loves it!


But the thing that stands out is the customer service I have received. They have sent emails and called several times just to see if everything is ok. Completely unsolicited—just checking in.

In a world of help yourself automation, their customer service is above and beyond anything I have experienced elsewhere. AND YOU GET A LITTLE BAG OF CANDY WITH YOUR ORDER!


I don't actually play a musical instrument myself, but their customer service makes me wish that I did!!

I'm so glad my friend recommended your company to me. Thank you, Sweetwater. You are a wonderful company.

Beautiful concert size acoustic that plays and sounds simply amazing. I'd easily pay twice as much for it...luckily, I didn't have to :) Great service from Sweetwater as usual. Thanks!

Its impressive good quality guitar. Terrific for the beginners like myself. After maybe too much researching for my first guitar chose this and was good decision. Took awhile to press buy button. Think this is maybe because I wanted to buy more expensive guitar but this is much better. Has very good sound and very comfortable and good fit finishes. Terrific value for this price point. Going to enjoy learning on this guitar and maybe someday this will become a couch/camping guitar. Only started learning and already thinking of next guitar.

Sweetwater made much easier. Guitar arrived very quickly and was packed very well. Had not purchased from them before so was hoping it arrive no problems and it did. Would definitely consider ordering next guitar from them. Maybe something with 12 strings.

When researching brands Yamaha often comes up as great value for money, as punching well above its weight class. Concerning the FS 830, I'd suggest this is far more than marketing blather—that in fact, it's true.

I ordered one about three weeks ago and couldn't be happier with it. The other models I considered was a Fender CD60, a locally stocked Taylor Academy, or a locally stocked used Epiphone. Though the Fender was nice, the Taylor was beautiful and highly playable—and a couple hundred dollars more expensive—, and the used Ephiphone was lovely with an unique tone of its own, I feel my FS 830 was the best among these options.

I can't say enough about its tone. It's amazing and surprises me each time I play it. There is however a big difference between the low end tones between the FG and FS. For me the FS is perfect; for others, maybe not. (I mostly do finger style.)

In the end, the FS830 is great for anyone wanting excellent quality without spending a lot of money.

I have to say this is a must buy! I play electric 95% of the time and wanted a good acoustic to add to my collection. I picked the yamaha for the price because I didn't want to drop a lot of money on an acoustic. you get a really good guitar and I have played some really nice acoustics before. Get one, its worth it! I added some vintage style tuners on it for my personal taste. It stays in tune and sounds nice. It's not as bulky as a dreadnought which is a good thing for me, I never cared for big bulky dreadnoughts. I would recommend upgrading the saddle and nut, it would make the guitar even better!

Beautiful guitar and sound. Exceeded my expectations. Love the small body. Packaging was exceptional. Sweetwater is number one in products and customer service.

great guitar for the money , love to play it

I think this thing is amazing. I waited for SW to get them back in stock, picked mine and it arrived smelling like wood and glue from the factory. Fit and finish are impeccable. Setup is good but high (over 3mm on 6th string at 12th) but it still plays very well. I have a bone saddle on order and will lower the action to suit me, not a big deal. I played a lot of guitars in this price range at local stores, but the selection was skinny and I wasn't excited about anything, although the Epi was close. I called SW and Gabe mentioned that Yamaha had just been in doing a demo and their guitars sounded amazing, so I went back to local stores and found a GS830 to compare to the Epi AJ 220. For me, the Yammy won easily, just better tone to my ear.

Why I bought it/about me: I'm not very good but have played on and off for over 40 years. I have an old (1930's) Gibson and my son has a Taylor 314ce. The thick V-neck on my Gibson was starting to hurt my hand and forearm - I started playing my son's guitar and noticed a big difference so realized I needed a different guitar. Since I'm planning on building a guitar I didn't want to spend a lot of money on a higher end guitar, was hoping to keep it in the $200-$300 range to hold me over but of course when you start playing them, its very difficult to stay in a price range when a few bucks more gets you something better - and when you're comparing $250 guitars to a Taylor 314. But if you read the reviews of this guitar online you'll get the same feedback that I'm giving - its a high quality instrument at an incredible price - and apparently Yamaha is really good at doing that, so its not a fluke. Great guitar.

I love this guitar. It"s well made, sounds so bright and is easy to play. It stays in tune. I received it a week or two ago and can"t put it down. I ordered new strings, but haven"t changed them yet. The Yammy FS 830 sounds so clear. I"m playing it out of the box and the action and intonation are perfect. No set up was necessary . It sounds so sweet! A real pleasure to play. I like the smaller concert size too. Fits like a glove. The sound is so sweet. And it"s beautiful and blemish free as well. Best 300 bucks I"ve ever spent . The sound is awesome . Although this is an honest review , Sweetwater, feel free to send me more candy.

I have a Yamaha FG830 which is a full sized dreadnought and the workmanship, sound and feel are all great for the price. Yamaha puts alot of love into even their cheaper guitars. My daughter has been learning to play on the FG830 but finally admitted to me that it is too large, so I got her the FS830. It has the exact same specs, wood etc as the FG830, except the fretboard is about half inch shorter. It has great sound and is very punchy. There isn't a single flaw anywhere on this guitar and even the action is pretty decent. Almost immediately with the smaller body her strumming with the flat pick greatly improved. She really likes the Tobacco Sunburst color of my FG830, so I special ordered this one from Yamaha in a color called Dusk Sun Red and it is gorgeous and she loves it so she practices more. The red is actually even more striking and brighter than in the photo I included. The back and sides are laminated Rosewood and usually Rosewood runs darker and sort of purplish sometimes but this particular guitar it is lighter and the wood grain is very striking. Can't believe this guitar is only $! it is just a beauty to behold and listen to. For a smaller sized orchestra sized guitar it has plenty of sound and resonates nicely. I had it shipped in a hard shell case, and when my daughter opened that thing and saw that pretty guitar she was overwhelmed and gasped and stared at it for at least a minute. Also there is a strap button on the neck-my FG830 didn't have that-which is a nice add-on so I didn't have to risk drilling a hole to install one. Chris Shura, my awesome rep, special ordered it for me since Sweetwater only carries the Natural color.

I was in the market for an inexpensive "camp guitar". I have a couple of vintage Yamaha dreads, so I know Yamaha builds quality guitars at a price point that no one seems to be able to match. Jack Welty was my sales engineer he was extremely helpful getting me a great deal on the FS830 and Yamaha hardshell fitted case. The Guitar showed up at my door the very next day! I waited a day to unbox, then I proceeded to set up the guitar to my liking. I installed a bone saddle and cleaned up the nut slots and changed to my preferred strings. This turned out to be more than a camp guitar, I have been playing it every day along with my Martin SC13 and they are both small comfortable great sounding guitars. I will be using the Yamaha for travel and taking it to my camp in the mountains here in PA. Not because the Yamaha is an inferior instrument but because it cost at least $ less to buy than any of my other guitar, although you wouldn't know it because it sounds and plays so sweet. Jack is a great guy to work with especially since this is the first time I have bought an instrument online without testing it out and seeing it firsthand. I probably will continue to purchase this way from now on.