Anyone who just takes these things for granted just bc they're so plentiful and affordable needs to know the extraordinary amount of handwork, labor, skill and effort that goes into them. These people are amazing, working so hard every day to make good instruments affordable!
As you can see, it really doesn't matter whether the guitar is made in China or made in USA. What it all comes down to is QUALITY CONTROL. Congratulations Yamaha! :-)
@@edfulginiti8798while Japan is known for high quality craftsmanship and instruments and China more for mass production cheaper instruments. Yamaha goes against the grain. China can make high quality stuff if there is a market for it, or when they are globally designed products. Apple products, Dji drones are a couple examples of many. Yamaha is another example, they have high quality instruments coming from Yamaha China at a fraction of the costs of competition. I have many brand guitars Martin, Taylor Yamaha Fender and Gibson. And in my acoustic guitars some of my Yamahas are my favorites. And the fact that they have been trained from master craftsmen.
I'm looking to buy my first guitar, I had looked at a Washburn, but tomorrow I'm going to buy me a Yamaha. First class sales pitch, thanks for posting. Excellent work.
I was at Guitar Center with a $350 budget for an entry-level acoustic guitar. At the $350 price-points, a Yamaha was a no-brainer because they come with solid wood tops. Other brands in this price range, the tops were made of laminated wood and the finish wasn't as nice.
Now that is impressive! I'm surprised at the amount of hand craftsmanship and care on a mass produced product. No wonder the FG range is rated so highly. I've just bought an FG720s for my son for Christmas and I would like to say it's flawless perfection. So thanks to the workforce and Yamaha for an excellent product, and thank you for posting. A very happy customer.
You know, although I'm all for supporting local business, a lot of people assume that items (namely instruments in this case) made overseas are automatically of inferior quality. But that's not necessarily the case, and hear me out. Chinese factory workers, if fired, cannot just get a job at the corner store the next day. First there is their family and themselves they have to support, and the shame that comes with job loss in their country. Every instrument has a unique code, and can be traced back to the time period it was made, and if gone further down the ladder, the factory and even the workers who were on shift when it was made. These workers have everything to lose if they do a less-than-perfect job, and they know it. They're dedicated to their work and they're happy to be employed. As far as Chinese factories go, this is quite a nice one and had good working conditions compared to many others. All that said, these workers are working hard to keep their jobs and they know it, so these instruments are typically built well. Whereas in the USA, sure workers are skilled, but they also have attitude and they're arrogant, and they assume that if fired, "I'll go work somewhere else that will appreciate me!"
A $300-$350USD budget can now get you one of the most musical guitars in the world: the Yamaha FG830. Incredible guitar. - (Seagull, Fender, Ibanez & Alvarez also doing great affordable acoutics).
I own 26 guitars that were built in North America and I own 2 Yamaha guitars. You won't find a better $200 (USD) starter guitar than the Yamaha FG700S. I think that Yamaha owns the market priced under 400 USD. I work in packaging engineering and I spend 70% of my day in assorted manufacturing facilities. It's nice to see that Yamaha has a clean and organized environment (not a sweat shop). I enjoyed the video. Thanks for posting it YCM. Check out my F325 Gigmaker review video. Thanks!
I just bought he Concert size FS 700S and I paid about $159.00 on sale. What a fantastic bargain. Yes, Yamaha OWNS the under $400.00 Acoustic Guitar market. Fantastic quality Mass Produced Guitars for Short Cash.
i totally second that. i owned a F-210 which died prematurely after someone dropped it on the stairs. then i bought a F-310 which was fucking awesome for only 80 dollars. i sold that one after a few years to get a DW-7 which is definitely better sounding. i tried the F-700S and i liked it, too, but eventually went for the DW-7. yamaha offers the best bang for the buck there's no doubt about it on my mind.
I have to say I have never seen or heard a bad Yamaha instrument.I own a RGX 420s and love it!!!I know it wasn't made in China but Yamaha seems to have high manufacturing standards no matter where the factories are located.Quality is what keeps people coming back
Chinese guitars are built to reflect a cost point targeted at a certain entry level market, they are factory instruments making guitar like objects available to many who cannot afford a higher end hand made instrument. I build ukes and guitars and use a mix of many power tools to save drudgery and hand tools for the finer work. IMHo a quality hand made instrument is like comparing a ferrari to a yugo .They will both get you there but 1 will do it in style.
Hello! could you tell me a little about the guitar Yamaha SG-200. especially about the timing of its release, and the factory in which it was made? It may even be possible to find people who were at the assembly line?
@studio1087 I agree, I have a friend who has an older Acoustic Yamaha 12 string, it's really a nice guitar, sounds beautiful. Also you are right about clean environments, there is a video on youtube that shows the chinese factories that make some of the most popular brands of guitars, the conditions are horrible. (people spraying guitars 10 feet from sanders and planers)
I don't know how I feel about a dovetail joint for the neck these days. Think they are too focused on the joint and not concerned enough about the straightness of the neck and final action layout.
I am sold on the product.Compared to Taylor who virtually treat it like manufacturing furniture they are all about how quick they can manufacture a product.remove any labour That slows the process even if this provides a character to the product by having human intervention,
@connemaraisland Way to generalize. You're aware that American labor is insanely expensive due to government intervention, unionization, and collectivism, right? Outsourcing of jobs to places like China and Indonesia isn't due to "corporate greed," it's done out of necessity to remain profitable without downsizing and becoming a specialty company. It's called adaptation, America has become a country of ideas, not manufacturing.
It's a very interesting process. I'd like to know if you can add a STRING BENDING TEST in acoustics. I've always had trouble with 1 1/2 tone bendings or even 1 tone. In electric I can raise the action, but in acoustics is a litlle difficult. Thanks!
+vince cudiamat You have to have one.....unless its the wrong Saddle. They are Model Specific..Not one fits all...Hope this helps. And be very careful with the truss rod, it can crack the neck..Do good research before hand..
Sorry but I am just mesmerised by the presenter....I have watched this video a hundred times just hoping that he decides to take his shirt off in one of them...just dreamy....I think I am going to marry him one day...xx
this guy below is disturbed because this video shows how easy a guitar is to build and how his and the big us company's overpriced products are not justified i live in the us i own two yamaha electrics way better than most fender products at way lower prices and for anybody who doe not get it the chinese have been building stringed instruments for thousands of years i own one fender strat i love but both my pacifica's are just as good and way cheaper in price but not quality buy the way i'm also white i hate racism i am proud to be american we created everything great in the last 150 years but the big company's here and the guys like below have gotten ridicoulous on prices and fender gibson prs and all the other big us makers make there guitars the same way and then charge a huge price and fender and gibsons quality control isn't great
i don't wanna rain on yr parade.. but... I imported (into China - can you believe) a Yamaha CG172SF (flamenco guitar) ...from Amazon... wtf?? after only 2 weeks the cedar top bracing must have become unglued... cos the whole top squeaks real loud on any type of golpe (tapping) or any pressure on the guitar top... obviously the top and bracing has a glue failure... holy shit... waddya reckon??? really disappointing... I see the factory is in Hangzhouj - back to the factory... aw crap....wtf?
I am a guitar maker, high end classical guitars. I was trained by a famous guitar maker. I find this video disturbing because the workers are just speeding through each phase of making a guitar. There is no love of craft involved as I see things here. These Chinese workers are like human robots. Very disturbing to watch this from my point of view.
This factory is for the budget production guitars. They have a custom shops in china and japan. Youll even see them hand carve the necks. Which not a lot of manufacturers still do. Theres a video tour of that factory here on youtube.
+robertbdesmond I just watched a factory tour vid of Gibson in Nashville and the amount of mass production machinery doing everything was even more than in this video ... and that was churning out Les Pauls at over $1000 to several 1000 and more per mainly machine mass produced solid-body guitar. I guess that bothers me mainly because the prices are huge for the process imho (ie mainly automatic machine made). So the workers in the US plant were doing pretty much similar tasks (single tasks in a production lines). The Yamaha acoustics are likely mostly more affordable whereas I was a bit annoyed to see Les Pauls churned out with $1000 to $5000 dollar price tags! It really makes me question the who idea (at least common within the electric guitar crowd) of American made guitars being so much better quality for the price tags when much of the production is quite similarly done.
They're just used to their job. This is not one person doing a guitar from start to finish. Every person working on the guitar has a specific job and they're very good at it. Imagine if all you had to do every single day was cut out that dovetail joint. And you'd be doing it on tens of guitars every day, maybe hundreds. I imagine you'd get very good at it in no time at all. And even pouring all the love you're able to pour into making that joint, you'd be so used to doing it that you'll fly through it. Just because they're fast, it doesn't mean they don't care.
Robert fyi not everyone can afford a high end CL gtr. One of my first gtr sback in the 60/s was a yamaha fg 140. Your gtrs are wonderful these are built at price pts to suit every budget. Yea your right , these folks are just doin their job , but the factory gives them $$$, so they do what needs to be done.
