Yamaha F310 TBS

I owned this guitar many years ago, but eventually sold it. That's why I decided to buy the same guitar again. I checked some reviews and recommendations on Reddit around great beginner acoustic guitars and this one still remains on the top.

The guitar sounds great, looks great, and feels like it will last for years. It's fun getting back into playing the guitar, and having something that feels sturdy (with kids around) and looks nice on the wall was important for me. I have had it for over a year now, and it is still in perfect condition and working order. I can certainly recommend it — great value for money.

My friend has a Yamaha FX310. I quite liked it. I figured, maybe it's worth giving F310 a shot as well... But it didn't exactly hit.

The sound is quite nice. Yamaha acoustics have really nice intonation. But I think the F310 is not quite the same as the FX310. You can feel the difference in price for sure.

Tuning is a breeze. Very responsive, good quality metallic tuning pegs.

The finish is beautifully glossy. I thought the color would pull me in more but it's meh. The neck is very slim, the headstock quite small, the fretboard is pretty and nicely finished, although not uniformly conditioned - it feels dryer the closer to the acoustic box.

Being a budget model, craftsmanship and quality control are not amazing. There are little cavities in the finish, the frets are actually sharper to any Harley Benton I've ever had (and so many people complain about HB having sharp frets) and the fingerboard is actually uneven, slanted on the high E side (past the playing region though), and the frets are more to the side of the low E string. Bracing has some minor wood splitting. The pickguard is chafed.

For the price, I actually like the HB D-120CE more. It's cheaper, has a piezo pickup, and, in my opinion, the sound is not worse, if even somewhat better. Yamaha only has a nicer fretboard, still.