Description
Review of the Yamaha GigMaker Standard Acoustic Guitar Package
The Yamaha GigMaker Standard is a beginner acoustic package built around the F310 dreadnought in a Tobacco Sunburst finish, supplied with a gig bag, a digital tuner, a strap and picks. The guitar has a spruce top over a meranti body with a nato neck and a rosewood fingerboard. It is aimed at a first time player who wants a full size steel string acoustic from an established maker along with the accessories needed to start.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Spruce top, the standard soundboard timber for steel string acoustics, chosen because it is stiff for its weight and projects well.
- Dreadnought body, the large square shouldered shape that produces the strong bass and volume most people associate with an acoustic guitar.
- Rosewood fingerboard, an open pored hardwood with a warm feel that many players prefer to sealed maple.
- Package covers the essentials: gig bag, digital tuner, strap and picks are all listed, and the tuner battery is included.
Cons
- The listing does not state whether the spruce top is solid or laminated. At this level a laminate is the more common construction, and the difference matters for how the guitar sounds and how it matures.
- Meranti back and sides is a budget timber rather than the mahogany or rosewood used further up the range.
- The specification table lists a pickup configuration of combination, but the description does not mention any electronics at all. Anyone who needs to plug in should confirm this before ordering.
- No scale length or nut width is published, so the feel of the neck cannot be judged from the data.
- A dreadnought is a large body. A smaller adult or a younger teenager may find it a lot to reach around.
Detailed Product Description
The top is spruce. On any acoustic guitar the top does most of the work, converting string vibration into moving air. Spruce is the traditional choice because its stiffness to weight ratio lets a thin panel move freely, which gives volume and a clear, direct attack.
The back and sides are meranti, a Southeast Asian hardwood widely used in affordable instrument production. It is a reasonable substitute for mahogany in appearance and density, and its practical effect on a laminated body is limited, since laminated back and sides contribute far less to the sound than the top does.
The neck is nato, sometimes called eastern mahogany. It is a stable, moderately dense hardwood that machines well and takes a finish cleanly, and it is the standard neck material across Yamaha’s affordable acoustics. The fingerboard is rosewood, which is open pored and slightly oily, giving a smooth feel that does not drag on dry fingers.
The body is a dreadnought. This is the large, square shouldered shape that dominates steel string acoustic guitars. The volume of air inside a dreadnought body is what produces its strong low end and its carrying power, and it is why the shape became standard for strumming and for accompaniment. The trade off is size: it is the least comfortable common body shape for a small player, and it can overwhelm delicate fingerstyle playing. The alternatives are covered in the guide to guitar body shapes.
What Comes with the Product
- The F310 dreadnought acoustic guitar in Tobacco Sunburst
- A gig bag
- A digital tuner, with battery included
- A strap
- Picks
No spare strings, capo, stand or instructional material is listed as part of the package.
Who It Suits
This suits an adult or older teenager starting on acoustic guitar who wants a full size instrument from a maker with a long track record, and who would rather not research a tuner, bag and strap separately. What such a package typically contains, and what it usually leaves out, is set out in the guide to what is in a guitar starter bundle.
It suits less well a child or a small adult, since a dreadnought is a large body and a smaller shape would be more comfortable. It also suits less well a player who wants to plug in, because the electronics situation in this listing is unclear and an acoustic electric would be the safer choice. Anyone whose fingertips struggle with steel strings should consider a nylon string classical instead. Similar packages worth comparing include the closely related Yamaha GigMaker Standard package, the Fender dreadnought acoustic bundle and the Jasmine S35 bundle. The wider range sits in the acoustic guitars section and in the full guitar review index.
How to Maintain
Wipe the strings down after every session. Alloy steel strings corrode from sweat and skin oils, and a quick wipe roughly doubles how long they stay bright.
Keep the guitar in the gig bag when it is not in use, and keep it away from radiators, sunny windows and cold garages. Acoustic guitars are far more sensitive to humidity than solid body electrics, because the top is a thin panel under constant string tension. Warning signs are a top that starts to belly upward behind the bridge, an action that climbs noticeably, or hairline cracks along the grain.
Tips and Recommendations
Use the included tuner every session. New strings stretch for a week or two and will drift within a single sitting, and practising out of tune trains the ear onto the wrong pitches.
Have the action checked if the strings feel hard to press down above the fifth fret. A setup makes more difference to how a beginner progresses than almost any other spending, because high action is the main reason new players stop practising.
Add a hard case if the guitar will be travelling regularly. The difference between a gig bag and a case is covered in the guide to guitar cases versus gig bags.
Product FAQ
Which guitar is in this package?
The Yamaha F310 dreadnought acoustic in a Tobacco Sunburst finish.
What is the top made of?
Spruce. The listing does not state whether it is solid or laminated.
Can it be plugged into an amplifier?
The description does not mention electronics, although the specification table lists a pickup configuration. This should be confirmed with the seller before ordering.
