I own a Yamaha acoustic guitar.
I've owned it for over 25 years and it sounds even more beautiful now than when I first bought it.
The construction of the guitar is very high quality, the neck has remained quite stable over the years, and the body and top woods have aged very well.
I have had to replace some of the frets but that is only because I've played the guitar so much.
Of course, I've replaced the strings many times but that is par for the course with guitars because you're always putting your fingers on them.
If you've never played a 12-string guitar, you've got to try it.
I recommend using a very light gauge pick for strumming.
Finger-picking style playing is quite a bit more difficult due to the string spacing being so close together.
How do I describe the sound of a Yamaha Acoustic Guitar I don't know if that's even possible, but it might help if I first describe the way the strings are tuned.
First off, the high E and B strings are duplicated, then the next four pairs are an octave apart.
So the typical D string on a guitar is a wound string that is tuned to a mid-level pitch of G and right next to it is an unwound steel string that is tuned to G one octave higher.
So, those six pairs of strings combine together to create a guitar sound that is much richer, smoother, and fuller than a standard acoustic guitar sound.
Think of how a song sounds when only a single person is singing it.
And then think of how that same song sounds when several people are singing different notes and pitches (all on key of course!).
I guess another term I could use to describe the sound is that it is "chorused".
A "chorused" sound is like I described above, many, many, many people singing the same song or melody, just at different pitches.
Playing the Yamaha acoustic guitar is very similar to playing any standard six string guitar.
The chords and the fingerings are the same, the pitches are the same...
The tuning is essentially the same with the caveat that the lower-pitched strings have a higher pitched string next to it that matches the note one octave higher.
The classic rock band "The Eagles" often used a 12-string guitar on there recordings.
Listen to the opening riff of "Hotel California" - that was played on a 12-string acoustic.
I have recorded many of my own songs using my Yamaha acoustic guitar as the base rhythm guitar.
Properly miked up, the sound is rich and full and makes for a beautiful sounding recording.
Overall, I would have to say that Yamaha builds excellent quality musical instruments.
I know that they are better known for their motorcycles (at least that is how I first came to know about the company), but motorcycles are not their original line.
Just take a look at the company logo: it is three tuning forks laid out to perfectly divide a circle into thirds.
If you know anything about music, you'll recognize the circle is representative of the "circle of fifths" and dividing it up into thirds is acknowledging the fact that the third interval from the root note is one of the most influential of the intervals in making a chord sound happy or sad.
In summation, a Yamaha acoustic guitar is a worthy investment for any guitarist whether they be professional level, intermediate, or beginner because they always sound great!