Yamaha FG5 & FS5 Red Label Series

What the FG5 GL and FS5 GL share

Start with the top. Yamaha's A.R.E. (Acoustic Resonance Enhancement) process heats and pressure-treats the solid Sitka spruce before the guitar is built, driving out moisture and changing the wood's cell structure the way decades of playing would. The practical result is a top that responds to a light touch on day one instead of year five: quicker attack, a drier and more fundamental bass, and a midrange that pushes forward without getting harsh. Underneath it, scalloped bracing lets the top move more freely than the straight braces on lower-priced FG and FS models, which is where the extra volume and the wider dynamic range come from.

Solid mahogany back and sides keep the low end controlled. Mahogany reflects less of the overtone spread than rosewood does, so chords stay clear and single notes stay separated even when the guitar is driven hard. The neck is African mahogany with a satin finish for drag-free movement, the fingerboard and bridge are ebony for a tight, articulate attack, and the nut and saddle are bone, with ebony bridge pins, so string energy reaches the top with as little loss as possible. Scale length is 25 inches, the nut is 1-3/4 inches wide, and the fingerboard radius is 15-3/4 inches, a combination that gives fingerstyle players room between strings without making chord shapes a stretch.

The GL in the name means gloss: the body carries a high-gloss finish over the black-and-cream multi-ply binding, the wooden pickguard, and the vintage V-shaped headstock with open-gear chrome tuners. The satin-finish FG5 and FS5 are the same build without the gloss body. Both are built in Japan, and both ship in a hardshell case.

FG5 GL or FS5 GL: choosing the body

The FG5 GL is the dreadnought. It has more air inside it, so it produces more low-end weight and more volume when strummed or flatpicked, and it holds up as a rhythm guitar in a bluegrass or country setting where it has to be heard next to a banjo or a mandolin. If most of your playing is chords with a pick, or you sing over a driving strum, the FG5 is the one.

The FS5 GL is the concert body. It is smaller and shallower, so the bass is tighter and the guitar sits closer to your chest and under your picking hand. It gives up some volume to the dreadnought and gains note separation, which is exactly what fingerstyle playing, close-mic'd recording, and quiet vocal accompaniment want. Players who find a dreadnought bulky, and anyone who plays sitting down most of the time, usually pick the FS5 once they have held both.

Neither is the better guitar. They share every piece of wood, hardware, and construction, and they are priced the same, so the choice comes down to how you play and how the body feels against you. If you are between them, call the store; we keep both on the wall and can play them side by side for you on a video call.

Chris Alvarado's cut-in-half FG5

The Driftwood Guitars breakdown embedded below is the most thorough look at this build you will find: Chris plays the FG5, checks the setup, frets, nut and saddle, runs it through his torture tests, and then cuts it in half to show the bracing, the kerfing, and the joinery. Because the FS5 GL is the identical construction in the concert body, everything he shows inside the FG5 applies to the FS5 as well.

Buying one here

Every FG5 GL and FS5 GL on this page is a serialized listing, so the photos are of the exact guitar you will receive. Each one goes through our 23-Point Professional Inspection before it ships, and because these guitars are over $1,000 they are covered by the Dread-Not Guarantee: a 30-day in-home trial and a full year to trade it toward anything else in the store at 90% of the purchase price, pre-tax, less round-trip shipping. If we are sold out of the body you want, the pre-order deposit listing reserves the next one in.