Yamaha F310 > Reviews (9)

I have had my F 310 now for over two years and would be delighted to recommend it as a first, or even second acoustic guitar.

The start up package that I got all those years ago (2 years seems like an age ago now somehow) included the Yamaha F 310 acoustic guitar, beginner songbook and an accompanying CD.

The guitar itself is of a high quality for the price, and I'm pretty sure that it's the UK's premier selling acoustic guitar at the moment. It is not difficult to see why, with a warm and potentially powerful tone, this is a quality bit for kit for the price paid.

Admittedly this guitar cannot compare to the top ranged guitars both aesthetically and in terms of tone, but if you want to save a cool £5k, you can't complain really! The guitar is beautiful enough, as a matter of fact, with quality steel gear heads to ensure ease of tuning and to give it a touch of class. Having had this guitar for over two years now one of the gear heads has come a bit loose, but I suspect this was just due to me dropping it or something. It's strange really, I remember taking such good care of it when I first got it, being careful not to even breath on the thing, but now I can barely count the number of times I've dropped it/ dropped something on it/ kicked it over by mistake/ throw up on it (long story, don't ask!).

This all just goes to show how tough the thing is! It may be a bit scratched and chipped in places, but it still sounds excellent! I've also never had a problem with the strings detuning themselves too quickly either, though I would highly recommend that new players buy a tunerin addition to the start up package (which is without one).

The songbook was ok, though not enough to teach you how to play the guitar by any stretch of the imagination. It contained a few songs that were fun to play, and broke up the tedium of learning the basics elsewhere. However, one gripe is that the vast majority of songs were designed for electric guitars, a small problem, but one that may confuse beginners, as the accompanying CD only included electric guitars.

Nevertheless, the bulk of the package is the guitar itself, and is a snatch, even at the RRP. As such, in addition to the tuner, I would recommend buying 'Play Guitar', published by Silverdale Books, if you are going to teach yourself as I did.

As a final point, the package did not include a plectrum, so make sure you ask the shop assistant for one, although I'm sure they will check and give you one without prompting, as they did for me. If you do purchase a guitar and teach yourself to play, just stick with it through the difficult first few weeks, and in next to no time at all you will be thanking yourself for making the best decision of your life!