“Meticulously engineered to deliver the ultimate expression of acoustic artisanry”: Yamaha’s top-tier FS9 acoustics combine the detailed craft of Japanese Kumiki woodworking and high-end appointments in a fingerpicker’s dream guitar

Yamaha has unveiled two new high-end acoustic guitars, the FS9 M and FS9 R, which the firms says represents its “top-tier craft”.

The FS9 is a concert-sized acoustic guitar that combines aesthetic influences from Japanese Kumiki woodworking (a method of intricate joinery) and high-end appointments into a fingerstyle-friendly build.

The two models share all solid-wood construction, with Adirondack spruce tops and scalloped X-bracing, bolt-on one-piece mahogany necks and ebony fingerboards. The M and R in the model names denote the use of mahogany and Indian rosewood, on the respective instrument’s back and sides.

It’s all topped off with a bone nut and saddle, an ebony bridge and nitrocellulose lacquer to show off the detail of the woodwork.

“[The] Japanese Kumiki woodworking inspired inlays and rope-pattern purfling give the guitar an understated humility,” notes Yamaha. “Every detail has been meticulously engineered to deliver the ultimate expression of acoustic artisanry.”

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The instruments appear to be slotting alongside their dreadnought predecessors, the FG9s, and Yamaha’s other hand-crafted line, the L-Series.

Price-wise, they are – as you might expect from the spec – very much in the pro/serious player end of the spectrum, coming in at around the $4,000 mark.

As such, they are pitched to rival the likes of Martin’s Modern Deluxe builds, or Gibson’s Modern Collection – both of which bring traditional designs up to date with modern hardware and production techniques.

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It’s the latest move in what seems to be a concerted push from Yamaha to raise awareness of its high-end luthiery and position its Japanese handcrafted and Custom Shop builds as the equal of the legacy US guitar giants.

We saw something similar around the introduction of the Yamaha Pacifica Professional earlier this year, which highlighted the model’s Custom Shop origins and offered an impressively cutting-edge and high-performing take on the beginner favorite.

The FS9 M has a street price of $3,999, while you can expect to pay around $4,099 for the FS9 R. For more information, head to Yamaha.