Takamine

[bvmartin]

Is Takamine the best for an acoustic-electric in the $400 range?

[riknofx]

Hey-

I can tell you I"ve been in that price range recently.. and Tak's are a great way to go.

I tried out a couple(i believe the 330? and another I can't recall at the moment) and they were really cool. The electronic's tend to be a little bright for my taste at least in the affordable end model's. I ended up going with an Alvarez AD60CK, cause the electronic's and wood gave me a warmer and wider set of plugged in option's. I have played a few low and high end Alvarez's and like them for my personal taste. My good friend own's a 70's Takimine "lawsuit" FG400 that kill's. The older Tak's seem amazing. Anyway-Good Luck.

Rick

[pipedwho]

I love all my Taks. Even the lower end models I've seen are very nice and seem like good value for money.

 

BTW, in regards to them sounding too bright, I find they sit well in a multi-instrument mix and sound very good there. For solo work, I find very few guitars less than $2000 sound like I want them too. I have a Tak with a Cooltube and Tri-ax that sounds awesome. But, I've also been able to get my other Tak sounding fantastic solo through my Zoom A2. In fact I'd say just about any low / middle end guitar would benefit from a Zoom A2 or similar for solo work.

[bvmartin]

Thanks...I've seen very nice reviews for Taks in the price range especially versus Ibanez acoustics. I think that is what I will decide one then.

[roadscholar]

Just don't make the mistake of thinking that a G-Series is your only option in that price range. It is entirely possible to pick up a real nice Japan-built Tak on Ebay for $400. In the past few years I've bought three EF261's and an EF360SC on Ebay for that, or less. And one of the best-sounding (plugged-in) acoustics I've ever heard was an EF349 (all-mahogany, all-laminate) from the mid-80's that I picked up in a pawnshop for $160.

[Armchair Bronco]

I just bought a used, 2-year-old Takamine EG-334SC on eBay for $350 + $40 shipping. This price also included a hard-shell case. Here are some pictures for a new EG-334SC from an internet vendor ($629, which is not a bad price, either).

 

http://www.elderly.com/new_instruments/items/EG334SC.htm

 

The EG-334SC is kinda the "black sheep" of the G-Series...but in a good way. It's made in Taiwan, not China, and it has ovangkol wood on the sides and back in addition to a solid spruce top. I like the way the 334 sounds. It's very crisp, clean and bright.

 

It also has some beautiful abalone inlay work around the perimeter of the guitar and the sound hole, and there's a decorative strip down the split on the back. Mine also came with a front strap button (is that the right word?) where the underside of the neck joins the body. For a $350 guitar, the fit-and-finish is awesome.

 

I was comparing this guitar to a Washburn D10SCEDL.

 

http://www.washburn.com/products/acoustics/dreadnoughts/d10sdl.aspx

 

The retail list price on both the Washburn and the Takamine were about the same: around $800. But the street price for the the Washburn is actually under $500. In the end, I bought the Tak. I thought both guitars sounded great, but IMO the Takamine EG-334SC with its combination of ovangkol and abalone had the edge in the "Damn, that's a nice looking guitar!" department.

[Terry Allan Hall]

Used Taks can be an fairly good value, but for what a new Tak goes for (even their lower-end models), there are many better options.

 

OTOH, I buy broken Taks for the electronics to put in quality guitars...now there's a "marriage made in Heaven", as the phrase goes!