Yamaha GIGMAKER STD Acoustic Guitar: Full Review

The Yamaha Gigmaker Standard is an affordable entry-level acoustic guitar that is well-suited for beginners and students. This guitar features a conventional dreadnought body shape made from laminated spruce and meranti back and sides. While it may lack some bells and whistles, the Gigmaker Standard offers great playability and sound quality for the price. With its comfortable neck profile, low action, and lightweight build, this is an easy guitar for new players to get started on. Though the laminate woods don't resonate as well as solid wood, they help keep costs down while providing adequate volume and articulation. Overall, the Gigmaker Standard delivers on the key needs for a starter acoustic at a wallet-friendly price point.

Construction

The Yamaha Gigmaker Standard acoustic guitar features a solid spruce top, meranti back and sides, and a nato neck.

The solid spruce top is a popular choice for acoustic guitars, providing brightness and responsiveness. Spruce is lightweight and resonant, allowing the top to vibrate freely to produce full, complex tones. Its tight, straight grain pattern is also aesthetically pleasing.

Meranti is used for the back and sides of the Gigmaker. Meranti is a southeast Asian tropical hardwood that shares many similarities with mahogany. It offers a balanced tone, with good low-end presence and articulate highs. The meranti back and sides complement the spruce top well, providing depth and richness to the tone.

The nato neck provides stability and durability. Nato is a dense, strong hardwood that can withstand the tension of the steel strings. Its stiffness prevents the neck from warping or twisting over time. Nato's smooth grain makes for a very playable neck. Overall, the use of spruce, meranti, and nato woods makes for a well-constructed acoustic guitar.

The Gigmaker Standard has a 25.6" scale length and comes equipped with die-cast chrome tuners. It has a classically-influenced body shape with smooth curves and balances comfortably on a player's leg. The rosette and binding provide attractive visual details. Altogether, the Gigmaker Standard delivers an impressive mix of tone, playability, and aesthetics at a very affordable price point.

For players looking to step up to a more advanced instrument, Yamaha makes the CSF1M TBL acoustic guitar. This Yamaha CSF1M features all solid wood construction with a solid Engelmann spruce top, mahogany back and sides, and a five-ply mahogany/rosewood neck. The all solid woods allow for better resonance, projection, and dynamic range. Upgrades like the tortoise pickguard and chrome die-cast tuners give the CSF1M an elegant, refined look.

Sound Quality

The Yamaha Gigmaker Standard acoustic guitar produces a well balanced tone that is bright and lively. The combination of spruce top wood and Nato back and sides provides a nice blend of crisp highs, warm lows, and clear mids.

When strumming, the Gigmaker has decent resonance across the tonal spectrum. It has enough snap and articulation on the treble strings to sound articulate and defined. The bass notes have adequate fullness without being muddy or overpowering. The midrange cuts through the mix nicely as well.

This guitar is able to convey both rich rhythmic strumming and melodic single note lines with pleasing tonality. The sound projects well too, giving players enough volume for small gigs or jam sessions. While not as deep and complex as a high-end acoustic, the Gigmaker's balanced and vibrant sound belies its affordable price point.

The Yamaha Gigmaker offers great bang for your buck if you're looking for a well-made beginner acoustic guitar. It delivers balanced tone and good playability. However, more advanced players may want to consider upgrading to a guitar like the Ortega Guitars RCE141NT-L. This model features higher end tonewoods like solid cedar and mahogany, resulting in warmer, richer tones. The electronics allow for plugging into an amp or PA system while retaining the guitar's natural acoustic sound. Ortega's craftsmanship and attention to detail also give this guitar better intonation up the neck. While it costs more than the Gigmaker, the Ortega RCE141NT-L would be a great next step for a developing guitarist looking to upgrade their instrument.

Playability

The Yamaha Gigmaker offers excellent playability for beginners and intermediate players alike. Its comfortable neck shape and low action make it easy to hold and play for long periods without fatigue.

The neck has a standard width and slim profile that fits nicely in the hand. It's not overly large or too thin, striking a good balance for most hand sizes. The smooth satin finish on the back of the neck promotes fast, comfortable movement up and down the fretboard.

The action on the Gigmaker is set low right out of the box, meaning the strings sit close to the fretboard and require minimal pressure to fret notes and chords. This allows beginner players to press down the strings without pain or discomfort, while making barre chords achievable for intermediate players. The low action also lends itself to faster lead playing.

Overall, the Gigmaker's ergonomic neck design and easy playing action allow guitarists to play comfortably for extended periods. This is an important feature for a beginner acoustic guitar to promote proper technique and avoid hand fatigue.

Hardware

The Yamaha Gigmaker Acoustic Guitar features high quality hardware to provide durability and reliable tuning stability. The guitar utilizes die-cast chrome enclosed tuning machines that accurately hold the strings in tune through changes in humidity and temperature.

The tuning machines have a smooth operation and comfortable vintage-style buttons. The chrome material gives the tuners an attractive and classic look.

The Gigmaker also uses a rosewood bridge and saddle. Rosewood is known for its rich, warm tones that nicely complement the guitar's spruce top. The material is very hard and dense, providing excellent transfer of the strings' vibrations through the bridge to the top of the guitar. This results in enhanced volume, projection and sustain.

The sturdy rosewood bridge gives the Gigmaker clear articulation and presence across the tonal range. It's a quality choice of bridge material that matches well with the spruce top and mahogany back and sides. Overall, the hardware components on the Gigmaker are thoughtfully selected for optimal functionality, sound and aesthetics.

Electronics

The Yamaha GIGMAKER Standard is a purely acoustic guitar with no electronics. This makes it ideal for learning and playing in acoustic settings, but limits its versatility for plugging into amplifiers or using effects.

The lack of any pickups or preamps helps keep costs down and construction simple on this beginner model. However, players wanting to amplify their sound or utilize effects while performing live will need to look at other options that include electronics.

For some, the acoustic-only nature is a benefit, as it focuses the player on mastering the natural acoustic sound. But those wanting more flexibility with sound reinforcement or recording should consider upgrading to an electro-acoustic model down the road.

Overall, the absence of electronics is in line with the GIGMAKER's budget-friendly student guitar status. While electronics add versatility, they also add cost and complexity that beginners may not fully utilize early on.

Tonewoods

The Yamaha Gigmaker Standard features high quality tonewoods that contribute to its full, balanced sound. The top is made of solid spruce, which is a popular choice among acoustic guitars thanks to its balanced tone, good projection, and crisp highs. Spruce is lightweight and responsive, allowing the top to vibrate freely and produce louder volume.

The back and sides are made of meranti, which is often compared to mahogany. Meranti has a slightly brighter sound than mahogany, with strong midrange focus and excellent low end. It provides a balanced tonal spectrum that highlights the spruce top. The meranti's warm tones and mild overtones blend nicely with the crispness of the spruce top.

Together, the spruce and meranti tonewoods produce a versatile, well-rounded tone suited for various musical styles and playing techniques. The combination offers clarity, warmth, resonance and impressive sustain.

Pros

The Yamaha Gigmaker is an excellent value for the money, providing a well-constructed beginner acoustic guitar at an affordable price point. The all-laminate construction utilizes quality materials to ensure good playability and reliable performance.

While not as tonally complex as solid wood models, the Gigmaker's layered mahogany back and sides and spruce top produce balanced acoustic tone across the strings and playable up the neck. The matte finish contributes to the overall resonant tone.

The hardware is high quality for the price, including sealed chrome tuners that hold tune reliably. The compensated saddle provides accurate intonation.

Overall, the Gigmaker delivers admirable playability, tone, and durability considering its very reasonable cost. It's an ideal choice for a first guitar or for beginners looking for good bang for their buck without compromising on a well-built instrument.

Cons

The Yamaha Gigmaker Standard acoustic guitar does have some drawbacks to consider.

Electronics can feedback - The onboard electronics like the piezo pickup and preamp can be prone to audio feedback, especially when playing live on stage. This can make it difficult to get clean amplified tones.

Low-end lacks projection - Despite its large body size, some users find the low-end and bass frequencies to lack projection and volume. The guitar may sound a bit thin or tinny, especially when not plugged in. This can limit its versatility for certain musical genres.

Overall, the Gigmaker Standard provides good value at its low price point but does lack refinement in certain areas like its electronics and low-end tone. Users looking for professional-grade acoustic tones may need to spend more for a higher-tier instrument. However, for beginners or those on a tight budget, the guitar can still deliver enjoyable playing experience.

Conclusion

The Yamaha Gigmaker Standard Acoustic Guitar is an excellent entry-level acoustic guitar that is an ideal choice for beginners. It offers great value with its affordable price point and quality components that are perfectly suited for someone just starting out on the guitar.

The Gigmaker has a standard dreadnought body shape that produces balanced and rich tones. The spruce top and mahogany back and sides provide a warm, full sound. While it doesn't have theprojection or complexity of a high-end acoustic, the Gigmaker holds its own with a very respectable tone.

The hardware and electronics are designed for reliability and ease of play. The tuners stay in tune well and the adjustable truss rod allows you to fine-tune the neck relief. The included strings are light enough for comfortable fretting yet durable enough for aggressive strumming.

For a budget-friendly model aimed at students and novice players, the Yamaha Gigmaker Standard really delivers. It looks, feels, and sounds like a proper acoustic guitar. The quality control and construction allow it to be an instrument that could be enjoyed for years, even as one's skills progress. It's an excellent first guitar that won't hold you back.