Yamaha Review: EF-31 Eterna

History: Begining musician. Learning acoustic guitar.

Purchase: Bought at Costco online for $149.

What I Like About This Yamaha EF-31 Eterna: Good value. Costco warranty, (if you don't like it take it back to the story for full refund). Sounds pretty good, (now that I fixed a couple problems, see below).

What I Do NOT Like About The Yamaha EF-31 Eterna: After playing this guitar for about a month I became more and more aware of "ghost notes", or as some disc. boards called them "sympathetic vibrations" and the G string rang much softer than the others. One poster recommended checking the saddle/bridge. When I did I found that 1) the slot in the bridge had a noticeable unevenness to the bottom of it where the saddle rests and 2) the saddle was not flat, either side to side or front to back. After sanding down the saddle and working on the bridge I was very pleased with the results. No more "ghost notes" and overall better tone. I also adjusted the truss rod about 1/4 turn to lower the action, which was also helped a bit by sanding the saddle. So, with these things in mind a purchase of this guitar might or might not be for you.

Yamaha EF-31 Eterna Quality Rating: Other than the trouble with the bridge/saddle noted it's pretty good for such an inexpensive guitar. There is a small scuff under the finish near the pickguard and the neck was in serious need of some moisture. It stays in tune well, with the only changes being due to fairly wide temperature shifts in my house, (no AC and too cheap to run the furnace unless the dogs are hiding under their blanket).

Review Summary: It might take a little work but this guitar sounds great. The action seems good and the notes ring true if I get my fingers to do their job.

Rating of this Yamaha product: 4

This Yamaha EF-31 Eterna Acoustic Guitars Review Submitted By: Mark Schneider

Review Date: 2008-05-25