Yamaha Red Label FG5 - Natural

The sound; Rich deep bold. The ease of playing. The beauty of it. Quality made. It compares with Martins but the price is so much better as is the maintenance. The setup was perfect.

Great tone, balance and playability. Sounds better the most guitars that cost twice as much.

I purchased this FG5 new in the box. After owning my AC5R I decided to get one of these given the absolute astounding quality of the AC5R. I understand these are a satin finish but the amount of scratches on this one is just not acceptable. It plays and sounds fantastic but even after contacting Yamaha they agreed this is not what should have left the factory. However, after asking for warranty repair or replacement on this they just asked me to return it to the retailer. The retailer had no more in stock. Please be aware if you get one of these and they don't have enough in stock you'll be stuck with one similar to this. No hope of repair, just a refund. Not really sure why guitar manufacturers market warranties saying they'll cover defects with no intention of honoring those replacement warranties. Yamaha will now be added to this list in my book.

Let me start by saying I love this guitar. Even though it's a mahogany body it seems to have very dense wood (high pitch when you tap it) and it seems to bridge a gap between rosewood and hog in sound. It has a lot of overtones. The build and finish are pretty nice. Not perfect - there are some tiny glue smudges here and there and a couple tiny marks if you search for them. But overall, in-hand it feels worth every penny if not more. The setup is where it let me down. First, the nut slots were far too high. Notes close to the nut went noticeably sharp. I know the standard is to leave some room to bring down the slots but this was too much. Oh well - easy fix with nut files and I'm used to doing this on guitars. The much bigger issue - and loss of a star - is due to the terribly mis-sized saddle. It is so narrow that it leans in the saddle slot. The saddle should fit in fairly snug, and this is necessary for effective sound transfer. It should not wobble in there. So I ended up taking caliper measurements of the slot and getting a Colosi bone saddle made for it. A competent local luthier could do the same. With the new saddle the sound and intonation improved so much I had to put the stock saddle back in just to double check. Yep - guitar is now louder overall but more dynamic. Much more articulate in the midrange. Bass notes are no longer dull. It's a little annoying that the vaunted Japanese Yamaha workshop couldn't get the final setup right. Maybe someone was having a bad day. After the setup it plays so well and sounds superb. I'll have this guitar for the rest of my life no doubt. Oh and ditch the Elixir strings asap. Martin Retro Monel MM12 light gauge is superior. They take a couple hours playing to get rid of the zing but once they do they sound incredible. Edit - tried the Monel MTR13 (Bluegrass/Tony Rice mediums) and the tone is even better.

It's a no frills looking guitar with a great sound and gorgeous case. The booming sound of the low E is unbelievable. The neck is a little wider than most acoustics as is the string spacing. The body width, front to back is deeper than most. The overall set-up works for me with no changes planned. It is everything the online and you-tube reviews say. Nothing bad to say about this guitar.

Compared to other guitars I own and that cost over $2500, I'd definitely place the FG5 in the same price range, boomy sound of the low E and the treble is clear and rings like a bell. I am glad I was able to put my hands on this guitar

Guitar is amazing, so happy with the 3rd party seller, fast shipping and no damage, and came with a case....