Yamaha FG700MS?

Dave_Mc · December 2013

Hey everyone,

I’ve been thinking of getting an acoustic for ages but never got round to it (I’ve played electric guitar for years). I’ve come across what I think is a good deal on a Yamaha FG700MS for ~£135 with a free accessory pack with free strings etc. (it normally goes for £170-£180 in the UK I think) and I was wondering what the consensus is about them. I know a lot of people seem to like them but I’ve also heard some people say that they think they’re a bit overrated too (or at least maybe a bit expensive for what they are because of the brand name).

My big concern is, I guess, is it good enough? As I said, I’ve played electric for years and don’t really want a beginner quality instrument that might hold me back or put me off, but at the same time I don’t really want to fork out tons of money for something that I might only play occasionally (not to mention, the more money it costs the more likely I am to just put off making a decision for another while ) ). Plus I’m not sure I can be bothered faffing about with dehumidifiers, which I think (please correct me if I’m wrong) you have to do with all-solid acoustics. The Yamaha I’m looking at has a solid top but laminate back and sides and from what I’ve read they’re pretty much immune to atmospheric conditions (at least compared to all-solids).

If there are any other options which would be worth considering (ideally around this price point, but higher is ok too as I’m flexible, especially if this Yamaha is basically a glorified beginners’ instrument), please feel free to suggest them. I don’t really know anything about acoustics, I think Vintage has a pretty decent reputation too at the cheaper end of the market but I’m just going by what I’ve read.

EDIT: I suppose style of music would help. ) I'm not really sure, as I said, I pretty much currently play electric exclusively, so I suppose just a decent all-rounder in terms of musical style, and I suppose if the neck etc. were comfy for an electric player, that'd be a bonus.

Thanks in advance for your help,

Dave.

Lew · December 2013

Dave, check your inbox either here or over on BKP :-p

Dave_Mc · December 2013

Done

Thanks

Dave_Mc · December 2013

Anyone else have any thoughts before I throw caution to the wind and just go for it?

)

TTony · December 2013

Yams are normally good quality instruments.

If you like the feel and sound of it, then it doesn't matter how much it costs (as long as it costs less than you've got of course) and nor does it matter whether it's considered to be a "beginner's" model or not.

FWIW, I've only ever had 1 acoustic.

Bought in 1981. Still got it.

Never had any trouble with it and as good to play today as it was back then.

It's a Yamaha.

Dave_Mc · December 2013

Thanks

Yeah that's kind of my feeling, that it's hard to go too far wrong with a Yamaha.

tonyrath · January 2014

I would not buy without checking it out first. Yammys are good guitars but at that price the strings may be a bit high and turn it into a cheesegrater I have bought AP and CP range guitars sight unseen but they cost much more and were new. Acoustic guitars are much harder to play than electrics which anyone can play basically

CloudNine · January 2014

@Dave_Mc Might be worth having a look at some Freshman and Blueridge stuff. Something like this below might be better value. Could try one in a store somewhere to see what they are like, then buy 2nd hand. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Freshman-Sunburst-Acoustic-Guitar-/131086986066?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item1e8564ab52

menamestom · January 2014

I've had a few of the cheaper Yamaha's and they have always been good for the money. But me personally I'd go for this out of the classifieds

http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/8109/fs-simon-patrick-woodland-cedar#latest

The S&P's are great, less stiff feeling than the cheaper Yamaha's. Although Ceder would be different to the Yams Spruce so it depends what you want but my Father-in-law has one of the above and I can't put it down when I'm round.

Dave_Mc · January 2014

I already got the Yamaha, it was a limited time offer and I had to go for it

) Thanks for the help, though, I appreciate it and you weren't to know as I didn't think to bump my thread

Seems quite nice. The action probably is a little high but I'm hoping a truss rod tweak might help, or failing that maybe sanding down the saddle (?).

menamestom · January 2014

Dave_Mc said:

I already got the Yamaha, it was a limited time offer and I had to go for it ) Thanks for the help, though, I appreciate it and you weren't to know as I didn't think to bump my thread

Seems quite nice. The action probably is a little high but I'm hoping a truss rod tweak might help, or failing that maybe sanding down the saddle (?).

Great, nice guitar! Yamaha's always seem to come with a slightly higher action, my silent guitar did but they are well made enough to get really nicely set up. But there's only so much you can do with the truss rod, you probably will need to sand the saddle down a bit.

Dave_Mc · January 2014

Thanks

Yeah that's what I was thinking- I haven't looked at it that closely, but it does appear to have a little up-bow, but as you said, that's only going to do so much.

So it should be fixable, at least? If so, that's fine (and it's also good to hear that they're all like that, that I haven't got a lemon).

Any tips for sanding it? I'm going to pick up an acoustic setup book on amazon when I get round to it, just in case, but I don't have any tools or experience for working with acoustics

)

Dave_Mc · January 2014

Argh :-<

)

Trying to restring the acoustic. I can't get the bridge pin on the low E to hold at all. I'm using the free Dunlop 12-54 phosphor bronze acoustic strings I got with the guitar- that's a fairly standard acoustic gauge, right? And I'm assuming that's a decent brand of strings?

Is this a common problem, are there any tricks, or is there something wrong with my bridge/pin? I see there's a little groove in the rosewood bridge where the string goes once it leaves the pin, which might not be helping, but that might be nothing to do with it.

I didn't have any problems with getting the high E bridge pin to hold, but obviously that's a much thinner string and maybe I'm just a wuss. But I can't push any harder (and even if I could I'd be scared of damaging the guitar).

If it is something seriously wrong I'm (just about) still within my cancellation period. It had a few minor marks as well on the back of the neck heel and top which I wasn't too worried about if everything else was fine, but if I can't string it that's a much more serious problem, and it sort of adds to the feeling/suspicion that maybe I've got an iffy one (though the free string and accessories pack I got with it was just put in the box loose with the guitar and that could have been what caused most of the marks).

Any ideas?

) Thanks for your help

EDIT: So I asked on another forum and apparently bending the string first might help. I'll give that a shot. I'm useless at maintenance.

)

menamestom · January 2014

Dave_Mc said:

Argh :-< )

Trying to restring the acoustic. I can't get the bridge pin on the low E to hold at all. I'm using the free Dunlop 12-54 phosphor bronze acoustic strings I got with the guitar- that's a fairly standard acoustic gauge, right? And I'm assuming that's a decent brand of strings?

Is this a common problem, are there any tricks, or is there something wrong with my bridge/pin? I see there's a little groove in the rosewood bridge where the string goes once it leaves the pin, which might not be helping, but that might be nothing to do with it.

I didn't have any problems with getting the high E bridge pin to hold, but obviously that's a much thinner string and maybe I'm just a wuss. But I can't push any harder (and even if I could I'd be scared of damaging the guitar).

If it is something seriously wrong I'm (just about) still within my cancellation period. It had a few minor marks as well on the back of the neck heel and top which I wasn't too worried about if everything else was fine, but if I can't string it that's a much more serious problem, and it sort of adds to the feeling/suspicion that maybe I've got an iffy one (though the free string and accessories pack I got with it was just put in the box loose with the guitar and that could have been what caused most of the marks).

Any ideas? ) Thanks for your help

EDIT: So I asked on another forum and apparently bending the string first might help. I'll give that a shot. I'm useless at maintenance. )

Are you putting your hand inside the guitar to feel how the ball end is seated? It should not be pushing on the end of the pin, pull it in front of the pin groove side then pull the string with your other hand, if you've not already tried that. It's also worth washing the bridge pin incase it has any grease on it. Worst case the hole might just be too big!

Dave_Mc · January 2014

Nope I didn't try that. I'll give that a shot. Thanks

The putting a bend in the string thing which was suggested elsewhere didn't work- it helped a little but it still came out when I was tuning up (and that was well before I got anywhere near concert pitch).

I'm kind of scared of trying anything too drastic in case I damage it, in case it is faulty and has to go back. Just to clarify, the pin should hold with just thumb strength pushing it in? You don't need to use any tools or anything, right? I know the high E string held fine when I had to restring it a few days ago, having never restrung an acoustic before I was actually surprised at how easy it was.

I should probably add that the pin originally seemed to be seated very tightly- I have a little thing on my stringwinder to remove them, and the aforementioned high E pin came out easily, whereas the low E (which I'm having trouble with) took a bit of effort to get out. I might be being oversuspicious, but the cynic in me wonders that the person building/stringing the guitar used brute force and ignorance to get the low E to fit- the kind of brute force and ignorance that I'm unable and unwilling to use.

) That would (possibly) tie in with what you're saying about the hole being not the right size, someone just forced it to get it to hold.

ChrisMusic · January 2014

Hey Dave, I assume that you are re-stringing, in which case the original set must have been fine?

Far distant memory here, but it happened a few times to me, it was just that I had not seated the ball end properly. The pin just holds it in place, it doesn't have the force of the string pull on it.

And yes the pins do get a bit stuck sometimes, that's why there is a tool for easing the reluctant ones out, I wouldn't worry about that. But you don't want to use excessive force on any guitar, let alone an acoustic. You will soon learn what feels right, it just takes a bit of practice, like so much in life.

menamestom · January 2014

@Dave_MC look at the first photo in this thread

http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=259963

The string which is on the end of the bridge pin might just pull the string out, I think that's what's happening here. The bend is to just pull it past the end of the bridge pin. Just loosen the strings until you can get your hand in and make sure they are all against the bridge then try again

Another thread on it here with a good diagram:-

http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=183013

Dave_Mc · January 2014

Thanks guys

I tried to try what @menamestom suggested last night but I couldn't get my hand inside the sound hole as all the other strings were still on (and I didn't want to take them off in case I had to send the thing back anyway, don't want to waste effort for nothing). That link looks good, though, I have a little mirror that might fit inside the guitar (didn't think of that last night) so I might take a look to see.

Yeah I don't want to use too much force just in case I have to send it back. Only thing worse than having a faulty guitar is having a faulty guitar and voiding the warranty by damaging it further

)

Big problem is I kind of killed the low E string with all my faffing last night, and the only acoustic strings I have are the ones I got in the free pack with it, which I don't really want to use any more of if I can help it if it has to go back.

) Also I'm kind of on a tight schedule too since the 7 day period will be up soon.

I might give it a try later, I'll see how I feel

) Thanks for all your help.

Dave_Mc · January 2014

Got it

Those photos and diagrams made the difference, thanks very much @menamestom

And have a wisdom

menamestom · January 2014

Great, glad you got it sorted!

Dave_Mc · January 2014

Cheers!

Howdy, Stranger!

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