Epiphone DR-100 VS Yamaha F335 Acoustic Guitar Review

For the price, I think the Epiphone DR-100 is the winner here over the Yamaha F335. The DR-100 costs half as much but has very similar features to the F335.

Click here for my full review of the Epiphone DR-100 Acoustic Guitar.

Epiphone DR-100 vs Yamaha F335: Sound Quality

The Epiphone DR-100 and the Yamaha F335 both use a laminated spruce top, so both of them have very similar warm tones. They both have rosewood fretboards and bridges too. You really can't tell a huge difference between the two, and since the Epiphone DR-100 is cheaper, I have to say that the DR-100 is the clear winner.

Epiphone DR-100 vs Yamaha F335: Looks

Personally, I like the Epiphone DR-100's sunburst finish much more than the natural finish of the F335. It's all personal preference really. One thing of note is that both acoustic guitars have a nice high quality finish, so the wood is very shiny and appealing.

Epiphone DR-100 vs Yamaha F335: Tuning Stability

Both the Epiphone DR-100 and the Yamaha F335 stay in tune well because they use high quality die cast tuners and have steel truss rods in the necks. These are some of the two best guitars in their price range as far as how stable the guitar stays in tune. You can't go wrong either way.

Epiphone DR-100 vs Yamaha F335: My Conclusion

As I've said before earlier, the Epiphone DR-100 is a much better deal because the Yamaha F335 just can't decisively beat it in sound, looks, or build quality. For costing $100 less, I think the Epiphone DR-100 is a must buy for beginners.

If you don't like the Epiphone DR-100 for some reason, Click here to check out a more indepth review of the Yamaha F335 Acoustic Guitar.


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Epiphone DR-100 vs Fender FA-100 Acoustic Guitar Review

The Epiphone DR-100 and Fender FA-100 are both great acoustic guitars for beginners, but the Epiphone DR-100 offers a much better deal over the FA-100.

The DR-100 wins in the sound, looks, and price categories. Keep reading below now to find out why the Epiphone DR-100 is one of the most popular acoustic guitars around in the beginner price range and is the way to go over the Fender Starcaster.

Click here for my full in-depth Epiphone DR-100 Acoustic Guitar Review.

Epiphone DR-100 vs Fender FA-100: Sound Quality

The Epiphone DR-100 wins in the sound categories because of its rich and warm tone. The DR-100 is built with a mahogany body and neck, which has a much warmer tone than the agathis that the FA-100 uses. Also, the DR-100 uses a solid spruce top, while the FA-100 uses a laminate spruce top. The solid spruce top provides much more resonance and sustain than the laminate spruce does since it is much thicker and denser of a material.

Epiphone DR-100 vs Fender FA-100: Tuning Reliability

The Epiphone DR-100 wins again in this category because of two main reasons. For one, Epiphone uses a special 14 degree angled headstock in all of their guitars which is meant to keep more of the pressure onto the nut of the guitar instead of on the tuner machines. This results in much less slippage in the tuning than the FA-100 does.

Also, the Epiphone DR-100 uses slightly more high quality tuner machines than the Fender FA-100. Many of the other reviewers online all agree because Epiphone uses the same tuner machine in all of their acoustic guitars, so it is more of a perfected and reliable design than all of the other beginner acoustic guitars that use cheaper quality metals in the tuners.

Epiphone DR-100 vs Fender FA-100: Action Height

The action of the Epiphone DR-100 is much lower than the FA-100 out of the factory. The DR-100 has a dual action truss rod in the neck that Epiphone always pre-adjusts and sets before leaving the factory. The result is that the DR-100 is so much easier and faster to play than the Fender FA-100 is. You just can't go wrong with getting yourself an Epiphone DR-100 because it will last you for years to come and still be a breeze to play.

Epiphone DR-100 vs Fender FA-100: My Final Thoughts

The three categories which I have judged these two beginner acoustic guitars on are the most important in my opinion, and the Epiphone DR-100 is the clear winner in all three. Don't waste your time and make learning to play more difficult with the wrong acoustic guitar. Get yourself the Epiphone DR-100. The DR-100 is now on sale for 46% off through this link here only for a limited time.


For my full Epiphone DR-100 Review, click here.

If for some reason you like the Fender FA-100 more...

You can click here for my Fender FA-100 Acoustic Guitar Review if you happen to like the FA-100 more than the Epiphone DR-100. To each his or her own.

Epiphone DR-100 vs Fender Starcaster Acoustic Guitar Comparison

If you're the type of acoustic guitarist that wants the most bang for your buck as you can get, then the Epiphone DR-100 definitely is a better deal than the Fender Starcaster for the beginner price range of acoustic guitars.

The Fender Starcaster costs 25% more than the Epiphone DR-100 and truly fails to deliver the quality that Epiphone provides with the DR-100, which is not surprising since Epiphone has been in the acoustic guitar business for many decades longer than Fender has.


Click here now and check out the full review of the Epiphone DR-100 acoustic guitar. Don't waste your money on anything else in this price range or you'll regret it for the rest of your music career.

Epiphone DR-100: Best Build Quality and Design

Wood Quality

Epiphone DR-100

The Epiphone DR-100 uses mahogany for the neck, back and sides, A solid spruce top, and a rosewood fretboard. These woods are all well known and desired for their warm tonal qualities. The mahogany in particular makes this acoustic guitar stand out because it is a very dense wood so the string vibrations travel down the neck much easier which creates a lot volume.

Fender Starcaster

The Fender Starcaster is built with a laminated spruce top, agathis back, sides, neck, and a rosewood fretboard. Agathis is a popular wood for inexpensive acoustic guitars because it is lightweight and still pretty durable.

Neck Action

Epiphone DR-100

The Epiphone DR-100 is a particular standout among inexpensive guitars like the Fender Starcaster because these guitars are known for having higher actions than what is typically desired. Epiphone pre-adjusts the dual action truss rod before the DR-100 leaves the factory to ensure a comfortable string action height.

Fender Starcaster

The Fender Starcaster's string action is known to be a little high, which can be uncomfortable if you haven't yet developed a lot of finger strength. A cheap and easy fix for this would be to buy yourself a pack of lighter gauge strings or to learn how to adjust the truss rod in the neck of the guitar yourself.

Tuning Reliability

Epiphone DR-100

The Epiphone DR-100 scores another win here which isn't too surprising to me since I happen to know a little bit about Epiphone acoustics in general. Epiphone uses a special design that has the headstock bent from the neck at a 14 degree angle. This is done to increase pressure to the nut of the guitar instead of on the tuning machines. This really helps to keep your guitar in tune and keep you from wasting your time tuning it instead of practicing.

Fender Starcaster

I do have to give the Starcaster some credit here because this is the category that it performs the best in compared to the Epiphone DR-100. The Starcaster does stay in tune fairly well, but the Epiphone DR-100 definitely has it beat here, even it not by a lot.

My Final Verdit: Epiphone DR-100 vs Fender Starcaster

The Epiphone DR-100 is the clear victor here, since it costs less, its made of higher quality materials, has a much smoother action, and stays in tune better than the Fender Starcaster. The Starcaster is a good example of where you're paying more for the Fender brand name than the quality of the guitar itself. Not saying the Starcaster is a completely horrible acoustic guitar, I just find the Epiphone DR-100 to be a much more solid deal.


If happen to prefer the Fender Starcaster acoustic guitar, click here for a more in-depth review of it.