Yamaha Gigmaker Standard Acoustic Guitar Pack, Natural

by Yamaha

Product Features

• Spruce Top
• Meranti Back/Sides
• Nato Neck
• Rosewood Fingerboard/Bridge
• Gig Bag, Chromatic Tuner, Instructional DVD, Strap , Extra Strings, Extra Picks
• Yamaha Gigmaker Standard Acoustic Guitar Pack, Natural
• Spruce Top, Nato Neck

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 42.5 x 21 x 6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• Shipping Advisory: This item must be shipped separately from other items in your order. Additional shipping charges will not apply.
• ASIN: B000W72MDE
• Item model number: GIGMAKER STD
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,740 in Musical Instruments (See Top 100 in Musical Instruments)
  • #16 in Musical Instruments > Guitars > Acoustic Guitars > Beginner Kits

Product Description

Yamaha is proud to present the new Gigmaker Standard. This is a great package that includes an F325 acoustic guitar, gig bag, digital tuner, DVD guitar lessons, strap, strings, and picks.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

55 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great sound - Slightly poor worksmanship, Bad Case, April 10, 2009

By 

Pash (NJ) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Yamaha Gigmaker Standard Acoustic Guitar Pack, Natural (Electronics)

I got this guitar to replace my Mitchell guitar based on reviews.
The price was good.
Also, it is the Yamaha brand name.
The sound, I was told by my teacher, was very good and he said it was a good buy.
The tuner is OK....better to buy a Korg tuner from Amazon.
Haven't tried the DVD yet.

I have only two complaints:
1) The bag, as pointed out by another review, is very flimsy. It has no straps, no padding. It just has a carry handle. You would want to buy another gig bag

2) The worksmanship is lacking at certain points....e.g. where the neck extends on to the body of the guitar, you see glue that was squeezed out from under. I am a stickler for aesthetics. Some people are not bothered with such stuff.

OVERALL A VERY GOOD GUITAR

PS - You might want to check out the GigMaker Deluxe...similar guitar but has a solid spruce top and is only $10-$20 extra. I did not know about it otherwise would have bought that.
However, as I came to know later, solid wood tops sound good but need to be kept in controlled humidity whereas the laminate tops don't care about humidity. If you want to control humidity, you can buy a little humidifier (no electricity needed) that drops into the sound hole of the guitar.

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not sure if you'll keep playing? Buy this kit. Otherwise, consider buying individual components., December 1, 2009

By 

B. Bennett (Pittsburgh, PA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Yamaha Gigmaker Standard Acoustic Guitar Pack, Natural (Electronics)

I'd never played guitar until I bought this one last month, so I can't compare this to others, but it's a great deal for the price. Yamaha quality and consistency are worth the few extra dollars you'll spend over cheap starter guitars.

If you're buying this as a gift for a beginner who has nothing, this is probably an awesome deal. If you're buying this for yourself, the extras may not be worth the extra money, unless you're a complete beginner who isn't sure if you'll stay with it, in which case the DVD alone is probably worth it.

Concerning the glue issue raised by another reviewer, mine did not have any unsightly extra glue squeezed out from where the neck extends onto the body. Sure, it's evident that glue was used, but only upon extremely up-close inspection.

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PRICE
The guitar alone (F325 Acoustic Guitar) is currently $17 less on Amazon, so you're essentially paying that much for the extras. From what I've seen looking about at DVDs for learning, the DVD is worth that if not more. Unless you decide that playing guitar isn't for you though, you'll most likely be replacing other extras, so, except for the extra set of strings, I wouldn't factor those much into the price.

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EXTRAS
Some thoughts on the extras:

DVD: Excellent -- professionally done and doesn't seem to be available without the kit. Teaches the basics like how to hold it, tuning, strumming, etc. The Chord Dictionary is pretty nice -- shows various chords and finger positions for them. The Chord Studio is pretty cool -- you play chords you've learned with a backup band, which makes practicing fun. The only negative thing I'll say is that the initial intro had me worried about the quality of the rest of the DVD, but it turned out to be great (the instructor seems much more comfortable showing you things than he does just standing there and speaking at the beginning).

Digital Tuner: The one included in the kit is the Qwik Tune Electronic Guitar and Bass Tuner ' QWIQT11. Based on reviews, you're probably going to want a Korg, as another reviewer said. You can the higher-rated Korg GA-30 Ultra Compact Guitar and Bass Tuner currently for less than $11, or pay a few dollars more for a large-display model like the Korg GA-40 Large Display Guitar and Bass Tuner or Korg TM-40 Large Display Digital Tuner and Metronome (which both had "add to cart" pricing as of this review).

Extra Strings: You'll need them, eventually. Worth a few bucks, anyway.

Picks: You can buy these for next to nothing, but it's nice to have a few to start with.

Guitar Strap: It's not pictured in the non-kit F325, so not sure if it's a true extra. At any rate, I'm not convinced this would last more than a few months before starting to look ratty. It's a strap though and functions as one.

Gig Bag: Like someone said, it's not worth much, but for this price, I wouldn't expect much either. It might keep your guitar from getting scratched -- or might not (since it's not padded or lined, I wouldn't be surprised if putting it in and out of the bag won't do more harm than good over time.). It's not going to protect the guitar if you intend to travel about with it and it's not useful for carrying anything but the guitar. Check out the World Tour WG20D Deluxe 20mm Acoustic Guitar Gig Bag or Musicians Gear Deluxe Dreadnought Case, Black for a couple of high-rated, economic options.

Overall, I'm thrilled with my purchase, even though I've added a hard case, strap and tuner to my wish list for Christmas.

22 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Starter Guitar, January 24, 2008

By 

D. Bell "crownedbull" (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Yamaha Gigmaker Standard Acoustic Guitar Pack, Natural (Electronics)

I shopped around at music stores to price a good starter guitar. I was told about this product. After I went home I looked it up on line and the price was much less here through Amazon. I am very happy with the guitar so far.