Build and features

Introduced in 2006, the FGX720SCA is one of a rapidly diminishing number of Yammy electros still loaded with an under-saddle pickup as opposed to an under-bridge ART sensor system.

Construction-wise, the guitar follows the company’s familiar FG-dread formula of a solid Sitka top - a close-grained, richly cross-silked example here - with laminated back and sides, in this instance of mahogany-like nato. Like the Crafter, the body is gloss, the neck satin.

With its fingerboard edged in body-matching cream binding, the medium-width neck has an obliging, shallow ‘C’ profile, a little broader at the octave than the others. String spacing at the bridge, however, is Yamaha’s usual slightly tight arrangement - the same as the Takamine’s. Again, though, this doesn’t feel unduly cramped for picking, and you quickly adapt.

Next: Yamaha FGX720SCA sounds, pros and cons