Full Yamaha FG830 Review (2024) – This Could Easily Cost More…

If you’re looking for a guitar that sounds awesome and doesn’t cost a ton of money, the Yamaha FG830 is pretty much like finding a treasure chest in your backyard. It’s not for everyone (treasures are not either, why Pirates would have hidden them after all), but oh man I like mine…

Author: Teemu Suomala

I first grabbed the guitar in 2009. I started this website in January 2020 because I couldn’t do window installation anymore due to my health problems. I love guitars and have played dozens and dozens of different guitars through different amps and pedals over the years, and also, building a website interested me, so I decided to just go for it! I got lucky and managed to get awesome people to help me with my website.

I also got lucky because I have you visiting my website right now. Thank you. I do all this for you guys. If you have any recommendations, tips, or feedback, just leave a comment, I would love to chat with you. I have also been fortunate to produce content for several large guitar websites, such as Songsterr, Musicnotes, GuitarGuitar, and Ultimate Guitar.

I spend my spare time exercising and hanging out with my wife and crazy dog (I guess that went the right way…).

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Check the full review video :

Would I recommend it?

Yes, I would. This guitar is great if you want something that sounds really good for not a lot of money. It’s a great budget acoustic that everyone thinks is way more expensive than it really is.

More about Yamahas:

5 Best Yamaha Acoustic Guitars

5 Best Yamaha Acoustic Guitars for Beginners

Who is this for?

• Beginners: If you’re just starting to play guitar, this one’s like a best friend that helps you learn.
• Anyone on a budget: If you want a great guitar but don’t want to get a mortgage, this is the one.
• Need a spare guitar?: If you already play guitar and want another one just in case, this Yamaha is a great pick.
• Love singing and playing?: If you like to sing songs and play guitar at the same time, this guitar will be your singing buddy.

Who Might Want to Look Elsewhere?

• If you want the cheapest guitar ever, there are others that cost less, but they are a small downgrade compared to this baby.
• Want to plug it into a speaker? This guitar doesn’t do that. No electronics.
• Dreaming of a guitar made entirely of solid wood? This isn’t that guitar.
• Hoping for a guitar with a bone nut and saddle from the start? You won’t find those here.

Build & Hardware

First off, the top of the guitar, where the music magic starts, is solid spruce. Spruce offers full, warm, and balanced tone, and this is 1 of the key things why this axe is so versatile as well.

Then, the back and sides of the guitar are made of laminated rosewood. All solid wood build is too much to ask for this price. But the sides and back do look stunning, I’ll give FG830 that.

Now, the nut and saddle (affect the sustain and potentially the sound) are made of urea. It’s not the fanciest material out there, and I would take real bone nut and saddle any day over urea ones. But for this price, I can’t really complain.

But does it stay in tune? (One of the most common questions I see on my Youtube videos by the way.)

The Yamaha FG830 has good tuning stability. It’s not perfect, but it’s really good for a guitar that doesn’t cost a ton of money. I’m personally really happy with the tuning stability of this thing. Sure, if you leave it sitting on a stand for 2 weeks, it will be out of tune. But when I grab this daily to hit some tunes, it’s usually in tune or just requires 10-30 seconds of tuning.

Overall, this Yamaha is really well built, had no finish issues, and the hardware is rock-solid for the price.

Playability

Alright, let’s talk about how easy and fun it is to play music with the Yamaha FG830 guitar.

Imagine you’ve got a new video game controller that feels just right in your hands, slaying monsters, drifting with lambo, and scoring goals is as smooth as it can be (I’m not talking about 1 game here). That’s kind of what it’s like to play music with this guitar.

First up, if you’re trying to play barre chords (one of the hardest when starting out), this guitar makes it as easy as it gets with a budget guitar. That’s a huge plus.

I already mentioned that my copy was set up perfectly for my taste. right from the start. No need to even adjust the truss rod. Low action and smooth playing all the way.

Playing the FG830 feels really smooth, kind of like petting a fluffy cat. The strings are easy to press down, and moving your fingers around to make different notes feel comfortable. Plus, there are no sharp edges on the frets, so you don’t have to worry about it feeling ouchy on your fingers.

Is it versatile in terms of playability?

Yes, for the most part. This guitar is awesome for strumming & playing chords and fingerpicking.

But it is a basic dreadnought, which means it’s great for lots of music styles, but it might not be the best choice if you only want to shred super fast solos. But for everything else, it’s a great pick.

Overall, I was stunned by how well FG830 played. I’m not ready to shred Through The Fire and Flames with it, but all the normal acoustic guitar stuff…CHECK.

Sound

Check the full no-talk sound demo I recorded:

The sound of FG830 is well balanced, which means the high notes and the low notes all play together like a team, none of them trying to outshine the others.

This guitar has good volume and projection (projection is just a fancy word for how far the sound travels btw). So, if you’re playing in your room, it’s like your music can fill up the whole space, making it feel like you’re giving a concert right there in your house (ofc you have to know how to play, otherwise the concert crowd might escape)!

The low end is really solid. It’s like having a strong base to rely on. It makes everything you play sound full and rich, like the deep voice of a wise old character in a story who always knows what to say.

Now, here’s a cool tip: if you ever want to make this guitar sound even better, you can change the nut and saddle to ones made of bone and upgrade the strings (I would start with a string update).

But this is a budget guitar and the sound is not as rich and full as with more example Dreadnoughts. That being said, for the price, this is probably the best-sounding acoustic out there.

Value for Money

Let’s stack the value:

• Solid top
• Affordable
• Great built quality
• No finish issues
• Full and versatile sound
• Easy to play
• Great setup
• Versatile in terms of playability
• Solid tuning stability

So, is the Yamaha FG830 worth spending your hard-earned savings on?

You can decide for yourself, but in my opinion, yes.

Verdict

The Yamaha FG830 is a great choice if you’re just starting to play guitar or if you need a stellar budget acoustic. It’s versatile, sounds good, built well, and as easy to play as a budget dreadnought can be. It’s a bit basic for super fast acoustic solos and doesn’t plug into an amp, but overall, it’s like finding a hidden gem.

The Cool Stuff and Not-So-Cool Stuff

Let’s recap.

Cool Stuff:

• Doesn’t cost too much.
• Sounds good.
• Is versatile.
• Made with solid wood on the top.
• Looks and sounds more expensive than it is.
• Really fun and easy to play.
• Looks super cool with its rosewood body.

Not-So-Cool Stuff:

• Urea nut and saddle are meehh…
• The strings it comes with could be better.
• Not the best for playing fast acoustic solos.
• No electronics.
• The shape might be a bit bulky for some.

In the end, the Yamaha FG830 is like a super hero of guitars for anyone starting out, wanting a budget acoustic, or needing a reliable backup. It’s hard to beat this one in value. Yamaha did it again.