# NGD - Yamaha FG700MS



## Greg Ellis (Oct 1, 2007)

This past Sunday I decided it was time to quick yacking about the Yamaha FG700MS and buy one already.

I've lost track of the number of times I've played every guitar under $500 in a store and come back to this one.

At $199, it's kind of ridiculous how much guitar you get. Solid Sitka Spruce top with a matte finish. Barebones cosmetics, but that's fine by me. Sure, I had to play a few to find a good one, but that's no biggie.

I'm going through the process of learning how to play it now; it's so completely different from the Norman B20 Folk I've been playing for the past year.

The Norman is cedar, and very well worked-in. It's dynamic and responsive, but I have to play it pretty hard to make it sound right. Bass response is strong, upper mids are sort of muted, top end is sweet but not jangly. Notes ring out, but they fade quickly. The body is compact, the scale is closer to Les Paul than Strat and the neck is very thin front to back.

The Yamaha is almost the complete opposite. It's dread-sized, and far louder than the Norman. Upper mids and the top end are bright and jangly and almost choral sounding. Bass and lower mids response is rather weak, though I suspect that may change as the top starts to loosen up over time. I barely need to touch the strings with my pick, where I was digging in hard on the Norman. Sustain is just remarkable. Scale length is a touch longer than a Strat - 650mm = 25 9/16". And the neck is considerably thicker than I'm used to.

So far I'm very pleased, though a little disoriented. To anyone hunting for an entry-level guitar, I'd highly recommend taking a look at this one.


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## Intrepid (Oct 9, 2008)

No pics? Come on, we need pics.


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## Greg Ellis (Oct 1, 2007)

Chuckle; I'll have to work on that. Maybe this weekend.

I used the guitar last night to play one song in my show - You Can't Always Get What You Want. Open D, capo 3; that's how I do it. It put my other guitar to shame, geez. It's like it plays itself. Really not used to that.


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## ElectricMojo (May 19, 2011)

A big congrats!
Looking forward to some pics.


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## Greg Ellis (Oct 1, 2007)

got a few pics; sorry about the quality


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## Greg Ellis (Oct 1, 2007)

Norman seems to be feeling a lot better now, btw, since I reached up inside his body yesterday and tightened the bolts holding his neck on. Sustain has improved considerably. He's tuned to DADF#AD now, and sounding great.


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