JR1 FG Junior 3/4 Size Acoustic Guitar, Natural

I am basically an advanced beginner, having started out about a year and a half ago on the Yamaha 3/4 Size Classcal Guitar (with nylon strings.) Also taking lessons. I recently purchased this Yamaha FG 3/4 Size Accoustic Guitar. In my opinion, it has good intonation, has a more than decent rich sound to it. It is definitely not a "toy" guitar. After about five tunings at the beginning, it has held its tune well--only very few tweaks. The action is low without buzzing, which is good for tender finger tips, and just plain, overall fretting. I have to agree with some of the reviewers who believe this to be smaller than a 3/4 size guitar. This one is pretty small. I don't think it's 3/4 size--more of a half-size. I am only 5 feet tall, female, with small frame and fingers, and I find the distance between the strings to be a bit of a tight squeeze. Distance in frets is okay for my stature. I was worried that going to a steel string accoustic guitar would be painful on the tips of my fretting fingers since I have nerve damage in my fingers--one of the reasons I started off on the Yamaha 3/4 size classical with nylon strings (which is a great nylon string guitar for beginners), but I don't realize any difficulty or pain with this steel string guitar. I have calluses by now, but even so, for one just starting out on a steel string, I don't think it's any more painful than starting out on nylon strings. A setup by a luthier, I don't think it is at all necessary unless you are at least an intermediate, at which point you probably own a $500+ guitar that has a louder sound (I think this one has more than average projection, and aginn, intonation). Besides a bit of a problem with the string-to-string closeness, the only other thing I can think of is the fretboard, compared to the overall size of the guitar, and the body, is more than average heavy--not a real biggie, but I thought I'd mention it. Because of its small size, if you are taller than five feet, or have average or large hands, I can't give it five stars. If you know enough about guitars and think you can handle a guitar this size, I would give it five stars, especially for a small child. All in all, if you are looking for a beginner steel string accoustic guitar, especially for a child just starting out, I don't think you could go wrong with this guitar. You get a real guitar at a very good price, that's pretty vibrant, while keeping in mind that it is on a small scale. Here, I would give it five stars. If I had a child who wanted to start playing a steel string accoustic guitar, I would not hesitate to purchase this guitar. If you are taller than five feet, or have large fingers, I do feel this good guitar would be a bit of a tight squeeze, and also possibly not as comfortable to hold. If, on the other hand, you want to purchase a very nice quality guitar without shelling out big bucks, especially for a beginner, I would highly recommend this guitar.

I have a full size solid top dreadnaught, but didn't want to take it with me to deer camp, where it would be exposed to humidity and temperature changes. Fully laminated will be more durable. Also I am not concerned with scratching, dinging or even completely destroying it, since it's a "beater". But it sounds plenty decent for those purposes. I chose Yamaha because I also own a nicer 12-string solid top Yamaha FG and have owned Yamaha electric guitars and basses before. They tend to pay good attention to fretwork and overall quality, even on budget instruments. Fit and finish is nice for the money, burst looks nice and having both strap buttons installed is unusual and a nice surprise. A guitar this size you'll probably want to play it standing up more than a full size one. I've had it for about a year. Stock strings are trash, installed a budget set of Martins and it's much better. "Vintage style" tuners seem to work so far. They look flimsier than typical full size tuners, but hopefully will hold up. Overall it holds tune. Happy with it for the money.

There are a number of options out there for travel guitars. There is the Taylor Baby and Martin LX. Those are the same size as this Yamaha and sound and play better than this Yamaha. But, they are double the price. I also have a Taylor GS Mini which is a higher price point and is a larger travel guitar (7/8 Size instead of 3/4). The Taylor GS Mini is bit bigger in size. But, the play and sound is out of this world. I just did not want to take my GS Mini out everywhere. So, I got this Yamaha. It is good quality, nice size and nice and cheap so I dont have to worry about leaving it in the car to have it ready for playing when we go somewhere or are on the road. I have researched and tested many many different travel guitars out there. If you are looking for a decent quality and sound and reasonably priced travel guitar to not worry about getting banged up as you take it to places, this is one of your best options. Fully recommend.

Great first guitar. Perfect for my 6 year old.

We bought this for my then 13 year old daughter to start learning to play guitar. This guitar has served its purpose well. She uses it daily and it sounds fine. It is smaller, which is good for her to learn on.

You could get something used at a lower price that also potentially sounds better (whether due to materials or being broken-in) however this was totally playable right away. Zero issues. Yes is sounds new-ish but our elementary school beginner does not know or care. Little kids really value "new" and so the fact that this also still sounds adequately musical and was in totally playable condition (didn't need to pay for a set-up) makes it worth the money.

Perfect. Exactly as expected. My son got it for Christmas and loves it!

Allow me to preface this with the fact that I know guitars. having played over 50 years and have a guitar collection many would covet. I did my due diligence before buying this JR2. and what arrived was nothing like I saw locally. My young grandson wants a guitar like his big brother who has an FG800 in natural which is an absolutely amazing guitar for the price. The only thing available locally was a JR2 in sunburst. It had a nice gloss finish, perfect neck and sounded great but a JR2 in natural was only Amazon had one in natural, in stock and ready to ship. The top had an acceptable gloss finish while the back and sides were satin and the back or the neck and head stock were stained but hadn't been sanded smooth. The sides of the frets were sharp and the fret board appeared to have never been treated and was dried out. Getting the thing in tune was time consuming and after playing a couple cords it was already out of tune. The the tone was tinny unlike the local store model in burst and it had a bad fret buzz on the E and A strings. The neck was okay and I probably could have adjusted it some but this thing needs a complete set up to get it even close to being playable it it's at all possible.