A few days ago, a friend of mine was looking for a cheap acoustic guitar.
He’ll be gone with some of his relatives for a couple of weeks in an out of town road trip.
Having no internet connection or access to signal, he wants to have some recreation during their campfire sessions. Aside from bringing essentials like camping coffee makers, tent, camping cookwares, and other gears, an acoustic guitar is what he wants to bring in.
The first thing that came to my mind is Yamaha – a brand known to produce reliable acoustic guitars at a cheap price.
After a couple of research, I was able to find one- the Yamaha F335. I was able to ask some people about their thoughts on this guitar and I can double confirm that this is definitely reliable.
In this Yamaha F335 review, I will discuss why this guitar is worthy for its price.
Contents
Well-Built Guitar for Its Price
Anyone would say that you need to spend a couple of bucks to get a decent quality acoustic guitar. Though it may be true, there are some top-of-the-line acoustic guitars out there that could easily get broken after a few weeks of using them.
On the contrary, there are also cheap acoustic guitars that already lasted years with their owners.
A guitar could last for a lifetime- Or not, depending on who owns them.
Now you might want to spare this Yamaha F335 acoustic guitar. It is built by no other less than Yamaha of course.
The company is known to have produced inexpensive highly durable acoustic guitars since the 60’s and has stood up to their quality standards ever since. They would not be one of the best acoustic guitar producers for no reason.
Sounds Like an Expensive Guitar
You may have heard this a couple of times that is almost sounds like a cliche, “it’s cheap yet sounds like an expensive guitar.” Almost other acoustic guitar products would claim this title, but I think the Yamaha F335 is one that really is really hands down legit when it comes to having an “expensive” sound and cheap price.
The Yamaha F335 acoustic guitar has a very rich deep sound, and bright spruce tone that you would not expect coming from a guitar in this price range.
It also has a good resonance into it paired with some mellow tones when playing the strings.
For a beginner, the sound is great and almost outstanding already. But for those intermediate and experienced players who already have played more expensive guitars, this may not impress you in terms of sound.
Whether you’re a beginner or experienced player who want to step up this guitar’s potential, I recommend replacing the strings with a much more tone depth in them such as this acoustic guitar strings.
Yamaha FG335 Specs
- Body Style: Dreadnought acoustic
- Top: Laminated Spruce
- Back and Sides: Meranti
- Fingerboard: Rosewood
Has a Narrow Neck
For those have smaller hands or have been used to play an electric guitar, you will love this Yamaha F335. Compared to other acoustic guitars which regularly has a standard wide neck, this guitar is applauded for having a narrow neck. It’s Meranti neck is so narrow that you will feel at home moving around the fretboards. If you want to make it more like having an electric guitar “feel” into it, consider buying this Ernie Ball Hybrid Slinky strings.
Others prefer having a wide neck guitar as it is perfect for players who have big hands and those who love playing fingerstyle. It’s just a matter of personal preference. I also prefer using guitars that have wider necks in them, but I sometimes also love the comfort in playing acoustic guitars with a narrow neck, especially this Yamaha F335.
Needs a Little Bit of Setup
This is one of the most useful tips I give to acoustic guitar buyers: Don’t expect to get a “right-out-of-the-box” acoustic guitar if you’re paying cheap. Yes, some may say that they’re outstandingly amazed by how their guitar perfectly arrived “right-out-of-the-box” but in my opinion, every guitar in the cheap price range needs a little bit of setup.
You wouldn’t like a cheap guitar to sound cheap, right?
So spending a couple of bucks to upgrade your guitar will really not matter if it means making it sound almost like other expensive acoustic guitars under $1000.
Some of the things needed to be setup:
Making the action low. This is a common problem among cheap acoustic guitars. I recommend adjusting the truss rod to lower the action or have it setup with an experienced luthier.
Tuning the strings. Some sellers may have tuned the strings before they ship the item to you. But during shipping there might be little tweaks on the tuning peg that will cause the guitar getting out of tune.
Upgrade the strings. If you want to step up the guitar’s sound, try using one of these high-quality strings.
Perfect Campfire Guitar
What makes a good “campfire guitar?”
It’s Cheap– first and foremost, it should be damn cheap. It should be cheap in a sense that you would not worry that it may get damaged or broken during your campfire session.
Lightweight – it should be easy to carry with. Bringing a concert size acoustic guitar during a road trip is almost the same as bringing a fragile cremated ashes of someone you know.
Great sound – of course you want to sing some good songs with your friends or love ones during these times. Having a guitar that sounds almost like a cheap can of soda won’t impress them.
The above 3 qualities is what makes the Yamaha F335 a good guitar for campfires or road travels. Bring this one along with your journey and you will love singing along with some tunes like “hey Jude, don’t make it bad…… na, na, na, na na na na!”
Verdict
Did this intrigue you? Personally, I would not recommend the Yamaha F335 as an acoustic guitar for beginners as there are some things that needed to be setup first(which I stated above) to make it a beginner-friendly guitar.
The high action may discouraged you to continue playing. But if you’re really passionate enough, this would really not matter at all actually. Consider the callous you gain as battle scars and once you become an expert player you’ll soon appreciate that you once played in a high-action guitar.
If you really insist to have this a beginner acoustic guitar, who am I to argue? I would really just like to emphasize having it setup first to make it comfortable to play. Otherwise, I would recommend these acoustic guitar for beginners.