Yamaha F-310

A Christmas gift from my dear mother. Came as a whole nifty "kit" containing extra strings, a tuning whistle, picks, a case, a chord book, a strap, and polish. Nice! A very nice-looking thing I might add, especially when polished w/new strings (I use Gibson polish-the real deal!) 20 frets, made in Indonesia. Chrome tuning heads. Jumbo-type body style, not quite a dreadnought, spruce top. Standard peg bridge.

For an entry-level guitar, it sounds not bad at all! Kind of a rich, projecting type of tone, actually. Some nice thick strings will make a huge difference as well. My personal recommendation here is a set of the poly-web coated Elixirs Acoustic (go for the .012s, baby!) The sound is definitely more rich than bright, but we're not talking dreadnoughts here. With .009s or .010s it's possible to do some good bending and fast soloing but you lose out in the tone and projection dept. Perhaps a hybrid set, such as a set of Hybrid Super Slinkys by Ernie Ball might work well if you want rich rhythm and some nifty acoustic soloing. I like what the guitar does for the price, but as a player of 10 years I know what a serious acoustic is capable of tonewise and the F-310 will just never ever do THAT! But, it's a champ in its own division, that's for sure.

Overall, it does good. Lately, when I change the strings, it takes a long time to get it in tune, I'm constantly retuning it over and over. The tuning head on the G string will slip and the string will keep losing pitch even as I turn it upwards. That is a hassle. Second, the high E string will sometimes not even resonate a note when I pluck one, it used to be above the 7th fret and higher but now it's gotten worse, to where it might not play any note at all. This of course, is a major hassle and I'm determined to get to the bottom of it. Other than that, all is well. The action is surprisingly good but I wonder if I raised it a little if I would get some better tone.

The finish is a bit soft and thus I have quite a few stratches in the finish but not the wood. It's fallen on its arse quite a bit and it's been pretty sturdy wood-wise. I don't know if I'd ever want to gig with it based on the overall tuning reliability and the overall tone, though. I think with proper care it will still look good in 10, even 20 years.

If it were taken from me I would most likely try some other low-end acoustic just to experiment with a different wood or tone. It is perfect the way it is for it's category, and why would you want a bunch of frills on a low-end acoustic anyway? It plays well, sounds decent, and is sturdy enough for everyday use and even on weekend travel. It's nice to relax with on the couch and write songs with and you can sing along with it much nicer than your electric setup if you're alone as the acoustic strumming in itself is enough of a backup band. Well done Yamaha for bringing decent tone and a pretty guitar to the masses for a very reasonable price. I especially love the leaf ensignia on the headstock. Very nice.

Not sure on the year (1997, 1998), and I seem to recall it was manufactured outside the US (perhaps Korea). It came with a case, gig bag, electronic tuner, strap, picks, polishing cloth, polish, a tool for quickly loosening/tightening strings and removing pins (I'm a newbie guitar player, so I'm not too hip on the nomenclature), extra strings, a beginner's video, and a rod adjustment allen wrench. Seems like every basic thing I'll need.

Like I said, I'm a novice, so treat these comments with circumspection. It's got a bit of a buzz to it, especially on the EAD strings, but only if played loudly. I also notice a fair amount of echo--that is, when I play one string, other strings vibrate just enough to give a very slight "echoing" effect. I'm not sure that's a good thing, but it's definitely noticeable.

The action seemed OK, but I ran into a problem right away with the 7th fret on the high E--anything played there or above had an unbearable buzz, and in cases above the 12th fret, it was unplayable. The cause was a poorly notched saddle groove--the saddle sank too low, and this, coupled with minor but noticeable irregularities in the neck, created an annoying, but easily remedied, problem. The result of the fix (a shim and a new saddle, both provided free from the dealer) is that the action is pretty high. The wood is plywood (I'm pretty sure), but it looks nice. Two of the tuning pegs were slightly loose, but after tightening those it seems to hold its tune decently. It does tend to go flat after a couple of days, but it's quite consistent across all strings, so it seems to preserve relative tuning at least.

I'm not using this thing in a live concert setting, and I have no idea about he durability. Everything on it seems tight and solid, though, so I'm not going to be too critical.

I haven't dealt with Yamaha, but I bought it at Musician's Friend, and their luthier was very helpful. He fixed the problem for free, and gave me a better (his word--I guess he might have lied) saddle to replace mine. I think the warranty is 90 days, but I'm not sure.

I've only been playing for just over a month, and I don't own any other gear. I think this is fine as a beginning guitar, and with all the stuff in the "Gig Maker" package, it seems like a decent deal. It's obviously not subject to rigorous quality control (irregularities in the fretboard, poor saddle fit), but on the other hand it's not entirely a pile of junk. Now that the saddle's fixed, the sound is nice. Of course, I'm inexperienced, so I'm not sure of all the potential flaws to look for. So I think for around $200, it's not too bad.

it was made in 1996 and it has 20 frets its made outa wood big deal no controls and no pickups the finish is kinda crappy cause i beat it up and its shows tuners stay in tune and stuff it came with 10's but put 12's on it and it sounds beautiful

it sounds good if you put better strings on it

the action was realy high so i lowered it a bit and now its perfect and the finish has a black blemish that i cannot remove but hey its only looks

i use it live for one song big deal huh? i dont need a back up for one song and the finish coul have been stronger but why do you keep asking me about it?

i know a guy that works for yamaha im set

good acoustic it was my first guitar and i learned to play on it so anyone can! i plan on useing it forever

This is a basic acoustic guitar with either 20 or 21 frets (I'm not sure off hand...). It has a laminated top, not sure which wood. Mine came without any strap buttons fitted, so I shall have to get some fitted.
I found the wood it was made out of to be a bit too soft for my liking. I live in a busy student house, so it gets bashed around alot. This has left lots of chips in the wood and the finish. This annoys me greatly.

It came fitted with a set of 10 guage bronze wound strings, with a wound third. I found these to be a bit naff, so I fitted it with a set of Martin no 11 phospoher bronze. Now it sound lovely. The bass stands out nicely, which I love.
The only bad thing about the sound is you have to be a tad carefull when strumming the top two strings, otherwise they can twang harshly and dominate the sound. When I stopped playing my acoustic as I would an electric, the harsh twang stopped and I got a nice, smooth sound.

The action was set a touch too high for me, so I had it lowered. I still need to get the nut taken down a bit as those F bar chords are a bit of a pain.
The finish was fairly well applied, the only flaw being a slightly badly applied binding on the neck. It only shows up when the guitar is scrutanised closely, though.

This is a realiable guitar. The tuners stay in tune (unless you drop it...) the finish seems like it will last a lifetime (well, a few good years anyway). I would always bring a backup to a gig, though.

I have yet to deal with the Customer support people.

Although I have not been playing for long (a year and I bit) I beleive that this is a good guitar. It is cheap, sounds nice and looks nice.
I wish it had a pickup system fitted. Oh well, perhaps when my student grant comes....

This is a pretty bare-bones acoustic guitar. I got it with a new set of strings and a cheapo case that won't last more than a year at most. It has non-locking tuners and 20 frets I think. The strap buttons are pretty cheap, but this was a display guitar, so many people have played it in the store. The finish is pretty good, I have banged it into some stuff and no scratches. As I said this was a pretty basic begginers guitar, and that's why I got it, so don't expect much from it.

It doesn't suit my style very well, because it is a plain old acoustic and I play mostly heavy rock, like korn and tool. It does work for Days Of The New, but only because they use acoustics.

The action was perfect, only because it was for show and trying it out. Almost everything was perfect, except there was a chunk of wood bouncing around in there, making me highly annoyed. So finally I sat down and started trying to shake that thing out.

I'm not really sure about much of this stuff, because I've only had it about 3 weeks, and it has held up, I wouldn't trust the case at at all. It's just some cheap chipboard case that couln't have cost more than ten bucks, but it protects the finish......

I haven't dealt with them at all, but I have had no problems either

This is my first guitar, but I have been playing in stores for about a year, because I haven't had any money for quite a while. If it were stolen/lost/broke/screwed over beyond repair/anything bad I probably would get an electric guitar, because that's what I really wanted, but I had to get this because my parents made me. Something about building hand strength. The tuners are great, it never goes out of tune, although I retune it about 3 times a day, because I switch between standard tuning and dropped-D tuning for days of the new stuff. It's a great first guitar.