Yamaha FG720S 12-String Acoustic Guitar 

Comments about Yamaha FG720S 12-String Acoustic Guitar:

I was looking at Martins and Taylors and came across this. Picked it up and bought it on the spot. It rings like a bell. Just keeps vibrating. I sware, If you are talking when you take it out of the case, you can hear it start to reverberate just from your voice. I thought a 12 would be hard on your fingers. Not so, the two strings together makes for a flat platform for your fingers that note well. For the price, just get one. You won't be dissapointed.

Comments about Yamaha FG720S 12-String Acoustic Guitar:

This instrument looks great with no apparent finish flaws,etc. It tuned right up and has required minimal tuning tweaks. The tone is rich with good balance between treble and bass. Overall, this is one sweet 12 string.

Comments about Yamaha FG720S 12-String Acoustic Guitar:

Nail down this purchase while you can. Get a Bill Me Later account with Pay-Pal if you have to. Or hanker to relatives to buy it and pay them off. Don't be like me and suffer with a R. W. Jameson 12-string for years because you thought $99.95 was all you could risk.

This guitar will take you into the realm of the "Plays Like Butter" that you've heard about but doubted exists. IT exists baby with this guitar.
It's a no frills 12-string. No cutout.
No electronics so you know you're actually paying for all guitar here.
If it's a "solid top" then it's certainly a two piece one (bookend).
No neck heel strap button, so I'll be venturing into the realm of getting my first headstock tie on strap; as I don't dare to take a chance of cracking the heel on this sweet baby.

The nut with is 1' 13/16" at the top and its spacing is supurb and just right for my funky bony fingers, but be warned you Roy Clark guys with Joe Construction paws.

The tail block strap button is securely screwed on from the inside of the guitar.

The bridge appears to have been varnished, or perhaps it's of a composite material. But anyway it glistens and doesn't seem to be the sort of material that would need to be wiped down with boiled linseed oil for conditioning.

The lower bout is 16 1/2" wide and the upper bout 11 1/2". The thickness being 4 1/2" on the lower and 4" on the upper which is thinner than I'd have liked but how can you complain, I mean you're not gonna get a huge beefy acoustic unless you got out $2600+ these days.

And the scale is 25".

The 25" scale and the rather thin thickness I'm sure goes in hand with the beefy bracing and purfing inside this guitar to make it a rather battleship sturdy sucker. But fear not the bracing has been generiously scalloped and has been milled to a pointy peak rather than just like blunt rails.

If you're like me and had only experience with laughable faulty China 12-string guitars that have to have a severely back-bowed neck in order to bring it straight under tension, then this one will make you happy. They for sure have a quality neck on this baby with the right tollerances built into the neck-set and truss rod and neck materials. It's the first 12-string I've had that doesn't get a funky HUGE "relief" curve in the neck from the 5th fret to the nut no matter hoe I mess with the truss rod.
I find nothing wrong with this guitar.

I bought it for $250 + $38.95 postage on e-Bay from a guy that had bought it from a failing and mothballed music store bankrupt sale. He and I agree that it was surely "setup" by a tech at that store, but for all we know it really comes out of the China box this good.

When the dude bought it it was in DGCFAD ( one whole note flat tuning) and I've left it that way until I can find the exact right truss rod wrench for giving it a bump if it needs it when I go to EADGBE tuning. By the way the truss rod nut is at the base of the neck inside the sound hole.

As I said this guitar had been in a music store as a courtsey demo and then in the hands of the guy I bought it from and was always tuned 1 note flat. But even at that it had only a 3/32" "belly" which might actually just be the built in natural belly of the guitar.
That "belly" remained after I removed the strings, and I'm certain that there is no forward canting of the bridge. and both those measurements shall remained locked in, because I've installed the JLD bridge system.
My only minor complaint would be that the China factory had failed to remove the inner bridge backer splinters after they drilled the string pin holes.
A can't go wrong venture.

Comments about Yamaha FG720S 12-String Acoustic Guitar:

If I was to be really picky, perhaps they could have had some stain on the Nato back and sides, which are natural in color. At least you can see exactly what the wood looks like. To me, it looks just like the mahogany used by Taylor and others.
I really recommend the Yamaha FG320 12 string guitar to anyone looking for a 12 string.
For features, this guitar has a beautiful finish, and the neck is very comfortable to put your hand around. A word of caution is that Yamaha is "famous" for using narrow necks on its guitars. This neck would be hard to play if it was any narrower. If you are a man with big hands, you might have to go to something else. If you are a woman with small hands, you'll think you are in heaven.
The sound quality is what I look for first and foremost. I ordered this without being able to play it. The other instrument in the store were too much money, or too cheap. I took the risk of ordering it online without ever hearing one. Wow. I was immediately impressed. Then I thought that maybe I should have ordered the rosewood Yamaha 12 instead, thinking it would be even more fantastic. That probably is the case, but I went to another music store, where I could try this instrument out against a Martin 12-28, a Taylor with sapele back and sides, and a Guild GAD-30-12 with solid maple back and sides ( a full jumbo instrument). What blows me away is that this humble Yamaha sounded better than all these high-dollar instruments! True, I have new strings on mine, and the others have older strings on them... but it really made an impression on me.
I looked into the use of Nato wood for the back and sides. At first I was put off with it, but learned from the internet that Nato is actually stronger than regular mahogany. Hence, the neck made of Nato is a wonderful thing.
String height: good at the nut, where lower cost instruments are usually too high; just a tad high at the 12th fret, but I can adjust with the tension rod and it should come right to perfection.
This instrument is so good that I am seriously thinking of buying the same thing, in a six string configuration. I have some expensive six string rosewood guitars, but the Yamaha FX300 I played in the store actually sounded more like what I always wanted! Now I put up for sale my collector's item Tacoma JR55, because Yamaha does it better for a lot less!
This instrument is such a good deal, I should be getting prison time for stealing, for buying it as such a low price. I'm joking, but the quality of the instrument versus the low cost is staggering.

Comments about Yamaha FG720S 12-String Acoustic Guitar:

I've owned a lot of guitars over the years. I've been playing for over 35 years, and this guitar matches some of the more expensive guitars I have had in my hands. The action and tone are amazing, and it plays so easy! A beautiful guitar, and I like it so much, I plan to purchase the 6-string version of the same guitar. If you want a bright sounding guitar, and one that has a full sound as well, this is for you!!! I've had several musician friends play this guitar already, and they are amazed. I've played a friend of mine's Martin, and another friend's Taylor...I would put the sound of this guitar up against theirs any day of the week!!!
Right out of the box, the action on this guitar was amazing. The neck is excellent for a 12-string, and it's comparable to my Epiphone 6-string.
For the price, this guitar is every bit as good as some 3x it's price!
Can't beat the price!!! I would put this guitar up against guitars of greater value...I am surprised to get a nice sounding guitar for this price. Truly amazing!

Comments about Yamaha FG720S 12-String Acoustic Guitar:

I am very happy with this purchase. It sounds great, it seems well made, it is tough and it is affordable. I love my new 12 string and I find myself playing it more than my other acoustics. Buy this one!
Simple, no frills 12 string that is fun to play and easy on the eyes.
Upon inspection it is a sturdy and well made guitar. The frets are even and without any obvious flaws and the fretboard is perfectly smooth and free of chips or excess glue. The action was fine right out of the box and required no adjustment. The nut slots were a little tight and pinched the strings a bit making the tuning process a bit cumbersome but that was easily fixed and is no longer an issue.
This is a wonderful value and as an alternative to one of the more expensive models its perfect.

Comments about Yamaha FG720S 12-String Acoustic Guitar:

As I've indicated, in terms of appearance, this guitar is very ordinary-looking. However, in terms of sound, this is where it excels. I've been playing guitar for over 40 years and 12-string guitar for over 35. In that interval, I've owned six [including this one], and played dozens of others--from top of the line Taylors and Guilds, to intermediate-priced offerings from Ovation and Guild, to low-priced instruments from Applause, Mitchell, Dean, Epiphone, Samick, Walden, Conn, Alvarez, Seagull, and Ibanez to compare this with.
First off, I noted under features that the body configuration of this guitar is larger than that of a dreadnought, but not as large as a Guild jumbo. The Conn "dreadnoughts" from the early to mid 1970s also had a larger lower bout and deeper body than standard dreadnoughts.
This larger body I believe gives the Yamaha a deeper, richer sound, without sacrificing the chimey-ness for which 12-strings are noted.
The neck width and string spacing are narrow enough to not feel clubby, and yet the neck feels substantial enough that I won't feel like I have to have the neck adjusted every time the weather changes. At the same time, the spacing is wide enough to accommodate some Kottke-esque attempts at finger-picking.
All in all, this is a great guitar which will be at home in a variety of settings, from open-mic nights at your local coffeehouse, to campfire singalongs, to working in a praise band.
Solid spruce top, nato neck, laminated nato back and sides, rosewood bridge, fretboard, and cap on headstock. I rated this in the high average range because the one thing that sets it apart from others in this price range is it's size. The body dimensions, while not a jumbo, are larger than the usual dreadnought body configuration. This has a 16.25" inch lower bout width where most dreadnoughts have a 15.5" inch width at the lower bout. The body is also about 1/2" deeper than standard [Martin-sized] dreadnoughts.
In terms of quality, this is where the Yamaha gains an edge over others in this price range. The construction is outstanding. There are no loose braces and no sloppy glue joins. The kerfing inside is well-shaped and you can tell the workers who assembled this paid careful attention to their work.
The frets are even and well-placed. There were no loose wires or uneven cuts.
Although it's appearance is plain, this is an outstanding value for the money because it has what matters: sound.

Comments about Yamaha FG720S 12-String Acoustic Guitar:

Again, you'd have to pay at least in the $500 or possibly up in the $700 range to get a better built instrument, although your ears are going to have a tough time making the cost justification. I know with a set of Phos Bronze, uncoated, EJ41's or the new Ernie Ball Acoustic Slinky's this guitar will produce some wonderful warm harmonics and wolf tones. Even though this guitar is a full sized dreadnaught," it doesn't have quite as much ""boom"" and projection as a Breedlove Atlas or dare I say a Martin D-12-28. Then again"," we're talking and comparing this Yamaha to guitars costing 4-8X! I should say this is one of the most comfortable neck profiles for a 12 I have EVER had the pleasure to play. It's right about 1.75""W at the nut", and is a shallow U-shape, somewhat like an early '60's Gibson LP or many of the ESP's. The neck itself is also nato/mahogany and the back of it is satin lacquer finished which is very smooth in the hand as you play! Subtle details like the neck profile and finish are player driven and/or inspired and appreciated by the same.
Very smooth chrome, mini-Schaller style tuning machines, nut and saddle appear to be Corian, or some similar material and NOT hollow plastic; rosewood fingerboard with 3mm position markers on the horizontal surface and black dot side markers in the creme binding. 5-ply creme and black binding on top; two ply on the bottom. Rosewood overlay on near Martin style peghead with MOP Yamaha logo inset. Black strap button with white dot on bottom edge which matches the bridge pins. One piece nato back and two pieces of same form the sides. High gloss poly finish. B-W-B-W-B kerfling on the rosette. 20 vintage nickel silver frets. Last but definitely not least....a solid Sitka spruce top and solid rosewood bridge.
No fret burrs whatsoever; moderately low action right out of the box after it settled into concert tuning. Nice 80/20 D'Addario EXP 10's factory installed under generic name. Inside and outside assembly and finish was absolutely perfect. Far and away better attention to detail and build quality than any Epiphone's I have seen and played, and is easily on par with Takamine's in the $700+ price range. While the multi-mahogany(nato)back and side construction is not able to produce the rich overtones of rosewood, it compliments the 12-string configuration better, IMHO, than some of the maple bodied dreads and jumbo's I have played from the likes of Washburn or Alvarez. While the overall material quality is mid-to-upper-mid-grade, everything is assembled with such care and precision that you get a sense of elegant simplicity. The absolutely key areas such as the solid spruce top and rosewood bridge, in addition to the perfect internal bracing without any excess glue help deliver a tone and sustain that is unmatched in it's price range.
While I generally appreciate Korean and Japanese made guitars for their build and overall cosmetic quality, Yamaha has something special with the relationship in this Chinese factory building the FG Series guitars. There is no strap button for the upper bout of the guitar, and they do not recommend drilling the neck heel area as it will void the warranty. I however, installed one anyway and can't deal with the issues of a tie-off the headstock style strap. No electronics/preamp/tuner, so you know every penny of your purchase price is going toward decent component materials and outstanding detail of assembly. I purchased a single coil Fishman Neo-D($50) that is sound hole mounted, and on this guitar it is out of this world, whether I run it straight to my Pevey mixer or into a VOX 15W Pathfinder.

Comments about Yamaha FG720S 12-String Acoustic Guitar:

Having a body size slightly larger than a dreadnought, this produces a full, rich sound which has presence in the low end without being muddy, while retaining the chimey-ness associated with 12-strings without being tinny.The sound of this guitar evoked memories of the first 12-string I purchased over 35 years ago, a Conn F-2712.The factory setup is superb, smooth and easy to play all the way down the neck, with no buzzing frets.The construction quality is also excellent. There are no loose or sloppy glue joins on the bracing or kerfing.

Comments about Yamaha FG720S 12-String Acoustic Guitar:

I'm primarily a keyboard player in a Pink Floyd tribute act. I play the 12string on "Wish You Were Here" and "Fearless". My old 12 string is passed it's 'use by' date and I chose the Yamaha purely on sound quality. When I got it home and played it for the first time I didn't put it down for 2 hours, a great 12 string for the price.