Yamaha FD01S is boring but good

This guitar isn't flashy, but it's not supposed to be.

The Yamaha FD01S is a cheap-but-good acoustic guitar. And the only thing bad about it is that it has a very boring look. Standard dreadnought shape, plain dot inlays, plain pick guard, plain bridge, plain headstock with Yamaha logo, plain everything...

...but one heck of a solid build.

Yamaha has been building acoustic guitars for a long time. They have a very specific formula to their builds that hasn't changed much in 25 years (if not longer.) And the reason a Yamaha acoustic is still the same build today as it was years ago is that it just works.

The only time I've ever seen a cheap Yamaha acoustic fall into disrepair is from user error. A lot of these get into the hands of beginner guitar players who don't maintain the guitar properly, and it's only that which can break one of these things.

Even if you only put a half-assed effort into maintaining one of these, it can easily last 5 to 10 years. All you basically need to do is keep the truss rod adjusted properly, keep the fretboard and frets clean, use a dirt cheap guitar humidifier to keep the body from warping unnecessarily, and that's basically it. The only thing that needs replacing over time are the bridge pins (also dirt cheap.)

One thing Yamaha acoustics do very nicely, even on cheap models, is that they project well. Why? Easy answer. Solid spruce top with mahogany back and sides. The top resonates very well and the back and sides "rounds out" the sound for a very proper sounding acoustic guitar.

Also, this is one of the very few low-priced acoustics that does not need a tuner upgrade. The tuners Yamaha uses are actually better than they need to be, as they're a heavier metal that hold the guitar in tune very well.

Yes, this guitar is boring, but I wouldn't want Yamaha to change how they make these things. Great guitar for what it is that performs reliably for very little money. You really can't ask for any more than that.

Published 2018 Feb 14