Tacoma AJF22CE5 Archtop

'03 US made satin finished all solid wood archtop Jazz guitar. Set neck.
21 frets on bound ebony fingerboard.

Hardshell case; neckwrench.

Dry acoustic sound.
Prominant midrange.
Moderately loud.
Bright electric sound can be mitigated with the tone control.
Very even response throughout range.
Good sustain.
I use it for Jazz primarily, but it has a versatile generic guitar sound that's bright enough to cover "acoustic" plugged-in sounds, and will go fairly loud before feedback.
The brightness allows finger vibrato to be used and heard, adding to expressive qualities very difficult to find on many electric guitars of any style, including high dollar Gibson Jazz guitars.

I use an old Polytone amp mostly, but it sounds great through Fender tube amps too. Anything that will keep up with its brightness will reward with a nice overall sound.
Seems to sound its best with the volume pot wide open and the tone pot dialed back just a bit for solos. The volume can be reduced for comping without totally losing the sound but it does lose some highs.

Perfect fit and finish.
The neck was bowed, but responded to the trussrod adjustment just fine.
Action can be low without buzzing.
It has extra w/b/w trim binding on the sides and back, as well as the front, vs one plain white strip binding, as on the neck and headstock. Mitre'd points are perfect.
The maple has a lot of figure and flame.
Everything lines up perfectly and it plays very well, with no sharp edges or snags, body buzzes, etc.

Top build quality and good componnets. Should last a lifetime given reasonable care.
Simple proven design.
No worries.

Lifetime warranty, transferrable.
No experience with the manufacturer, but the shop is responsive.

Playing guitar since 1960.
I've had lots of plywood Jazz guitars, and was looking for perhaps a Heritage Eagle or other reasonably priced solid topped archtop when I tried this one and liked it.
It took a day or so to get the action down and the sound dialed in. It has a nice bright sound vs a lush L5 type of sound.
It's kind of unique sounding, retaining a lot of woodiness.
But at the same time it sustains like an electric guitar and has the longer scalelength, which adds some snap.
I couldn't be happier with this guitar for a variety of duties. It does Jazz sounds well, is acoustic enough for singing accompianment unplugged, and will go loud before feedback for ensemble work, which is a surprise given the floating pickup and therefore less dampened soundboard.
You can always throw your laundry into it through the paisely soundhole if you need Rock concert volumes.

The overall string to string and note to note balance is superb, and you can add nuances to notes with finger vibrato that will actually be heard through your amp!
Amazing.

A winner.

Seduced by yet another guitar. Not sure when this was made. It has the bolt on neck and is in excellent condition. Other reviewer's have given the basic information about the guitar, no need to repeat that. I played this guitar in a local shop and fell in love with it. I came back for 3 weeks played it and tried to justify buying another guitar. I finally came up with the $1100 and told myself to just "do it". I arrived 1 minute before another smitten soul who had also decided to just "do it". By just a parking space I was able to buy this guitar.

This guitar and my Martin M-38 have become my main gigging axes.

I am a woodwind player: Saxophone and Clarinet who doubles a lot on guitar. I play a fusion of Jazz and Klezmer and have been searching for the "clean" sound. I have a very nice Hohner ES 335'ish guitar that I put a piezo bridge in to attempt the sound I wanted. The modified Hohner is 70% the sound I hear. It required balancing the piezo and magnetic pickups with seperate processors for each. A lot of wire and hassle. The Tacoma gets a wonderful blend of acoustic/electric without the dual magnetic/piezo system. It also makes setup a cinch: Plug it in and Play. I think I have finally found the sound I here in my head.

I used play through a Boss GT3 directly into the P.A. most of the time. I have been messing around and I like the POD line 6 better for this guitar. The POD brings out more warmth and fullness than the Boss. At home I have been playing it through a Fender Squire with two 12's. This works well for jazzy bebop practicing , but I don't want to lug around a 50 lb amp to my gigs.

There is not a lot of variety in tone with this guitar. Just a very nice defined clean sound. I play mostly single lines and this guitar works great. Chunky jazz chords sound good--but different from a great jazz box.

This guitar was in excellent condition---I have not done anything to it. I will probably have Mike Lull do some adjustments to it after a month or more of playing. It is a beatiful blonde guitar--I don't think anything could be done to it to make it nicer. One of the selling points of this guitar was how easy it was to play. Single note lines seemed to fly from the guitar: Clear and well defined. It was kind of like when a trumpet player plays flugelhorn: All the rough spots smooth out--lines become lyrical.

This is a very well built guitar. It is very light and I think that one should treat it kindly. This guitar should last a long time and provide hours of joyful playing. It is a little bigger than my other guitars--so I have to be careful with it and not bang it up. I trust this guitar without a backup.

Haven't had to contact them yet----5 year warranty.

I have been gigging on guitar for about 8 years. I have a couple of Cort Les Paul copies that I modified with piezo bridges(great guitars),Hohner 335 modified, Ibanez RoadstarII Martin M-38, Old Ibanez acoustic Gibson copy . All my guitars are like beautiful women--each one sings a little different.

If it were stolen I would track down the thief and hit him over the head with my Cort! I would buy another one if I had too.

This guitar is simple: It looks great and has wonderful tone acoustic or plugged in.

I tried to justify not buying it, by trying out a lot of jazz boxes and archtops. I tried a couple of Anderson's and they were nice.I tried one of the new Guild jazz box's and it was a very nice guitar. It is a more tradtional jazz guitar. If you couldn't find a Tacoma--then I recommend the Guild. If you have the money--you could buy one of the classic Gibson's--but I am not sure the sound would justify the price. The Tacoma Archtop is a unique guitar at a wonderful price and if you can find one--try it.

Most of the specs have been talked about in other reviews. A full picture and specs are available at the tacoma website. I got this guitar without a case, just a set of flat wounds tossed in and an extremely good price after factoring in the trade-in.

Sound is the reason. The passive pickup is pure and clean. My fender blues jr. amp does the rest. Jazz, blues, standards, rock.

No flaws, just a little dust and the need to change to new strings ghs 11s flatwounds.

well put together, finish may be a bit delicate, but it's a bloody guitar not a damn hammer.

Been playing for thirty years or more. This is a damn nice guitar.

Mine was made in 1999, has the EMG floating pickup. Comfortable, fairly thin neck with medium frets. Well made with zero defects. The satin finish on the natural wood looks terrific and probably contributes to the sound. Back and sides are highly flamed. They also make a somewhat more expensive model in sunburst, but I have no experience with that one.

It's acoustic sound is it's strongest selling point. Solid Spruce carved top, flamed solid maple sides and back. Very much classic archtop sound: woody, sharp, but with good depth - like an ancient Epiphone. Even response from base to treble.Strung right it could sound like a Maccaferri. Admittedly the paisley sound hole is a bit querky. Their theory is that it leaves more vibrating surface, hence better sound. Seems to work.

Flawless. Beautifully constructed. Some might be prejudiced against the bolt-on neck. A glued in neck no doubt would produce better sustain, but to my mind that's not a quality that's necessarily desirable in a good archtop.

It'a a very light, responsive instrument. Requires careful handling. Not something you can bang around.

Haven't had a problem requiring customer support.

I'm a jazz player with 30+ years experience who is very concerned with acoustic sound. That's why I bought this guitar. I find that the EMG pickups carry this sound well amplified through my Roland Jazz Chorus amp. But it's not an all around jazzer. If you expect it to sound like your old Joe Pass or an expensive Guild you'll be disappointed, but if you love (but can't afford) the classic archtops, like the big old Epiphones or Vegas from the '40's, and want something that comes without the problems that inevitably come with an older instrument, this could be your guitar. I don't think you can get the quality of sound that this instrument produces elsewhere in a modern production model.

This guitar seems to have been designed with progressive jazzers in mind. It turns heads everywhere I go because it's clearly a "jazz guitar" but clearly not a D'ag or a D'aq, ES175, Super 400 or some other instrument designed before the age of the age of the internet.

No f-holes. The paisley/teardrop soundhole is closer to the player's ears and bigger. This really makes playing the guitar a pleasure to play unamplified. It in the same place as a les paul's pick-up selector switch, and it's shape is nicely complimented by the black tailpiece. I can't figure out if it's graphite or wood, but it's really sturdy. The jack is mounted here, and also large and sturdy.
This is important because it's a big guitar, so be careful.
The case it came with fits perfectly and has lots of extra space for stuff.

The wood is gorgeous, and satin finish feels great. And it doesn't smell like GLUE. It smells like a new house, or piece of furniture. Very nice.

Another feature I'm into is the bolt on neck. I'm a very "what if..." kind of thinker, so I like this. The bridge is ebony, floating, and has string guides. The Graphtech nut and Grover tuners are also first class. The truss rod is the only piece of hardware that gives me problems(more on that later)

Though it sounds great amplified, the electronics are the one thing I'm less than thrilled with. The EMG HZ humbucker seems appropriate to the rich and snappy tone, but the tiny vol. and tone knobs mounted under the pickguard don't offer alot of control, and I fear may be limiting this pickup's tonal range. They're not very accessible either. If anyone has any suggestions for mods, please contact me.

I got this guitar with one purpose in mind: to play jazz. I have difficultly getting a fat, Wes Montgomery or Johhny Smith tone from this guitar. But it's great for getting Joe Pass, Jim Hall, Grant Green, and especially Eric Gale type tones. The guitar comes with Elixer round-wound strings. Naturally, using flat-wounds changed the guitars character dramatically, but for my style, I'm sticking with the round wounds(D'Addarios now).

As I mentioned, this guitar's acoustic tone is superb-almost piano like. Amplified, I use it with a Guyatone Compressor and a ZVEX Super Hard-On through a JC120. Once in a while, I crank the SHO and get an AMAZING overdrive sound; not without major feedback, of course. Sounds good with a Wah, too.

This guitar was shipped to me with rather low action. Easy to play, but it buzzed like a bee-hive. The neck was rather straight, so I tried loosening the truss rod, but the nut was jammed! Problem.

The frets are perfect. The finish and wood grain are as perfect as could be expected for a guitar under $3000, and the almost invisible flaws I see may be my own doing.

I've never had any experience with floating bridge before, and this guitar was shipped, so I can really give an opinion on that.

I take this instrument very seriously, but I am a clutz by nature. I have banged it and dropped it a few times already, but it's OK. The finish seems particularly vulnerable to moisture, especially here in Japan. I guess only time will tell.

When I realized the truss rod was no good, I emailed Tacoma. Then I called them and got a response within 24 hrs. It seems they have many services centers around(including Tokyo) that will deal with any problems, so you don't have to ship your valuable investment all the way to Tacoma, WA to get it fixed. They just don't seem to care much for electronic communication.

Beautiful guitar with some great tones. Challenging, but worth it.

*sigh* the Tacoma archtop... finally! Here goes:
American-made archtop guitar; carved solid spruce top, solid maple sides, (carved) back, and neck (the back is nice and flamey. Ebony fretboard; the pickguard and tailpiece sure look like ebony, but Tacoma says they're carbon graphite, so I suppose they are. Black Gotoh tuners. Comes stock with a passive EMG floating pickup, but mine had already been replaced with a Benedetto when I bought it; tone and volume controls under the pickguard. Very subtle satin finish.

Classic acoustic archtop sound. Woody, hollow and resonant. Sharp attack and quick decay. This guitar is fairly demanding of the player, but play it right and it will reward you greatly. A light touch produces gentle and fluid jazz tones, while a heavier attack will generate sharp and strident vamps. Tone-wise, this thing really leapfrogs the other archtops in its price range.
I can't comment on the stock EMG pickup, as it was already removed when I bought it, but the replacement Benedetto really sounds great, and accurately reproduces the acoustic sound.

Tacoma has done a remarkable job of updating the traditional archtop look. This is a really nice looking guitar. The design brings to mind the simple and elegant designs of some of the best boutique archtop makers. This guitar won't blind you with acres of pearl or flashy finishes. Instead, you get nicely figured wood, a gentle satin finish that practically isn't there, and striking black acoutrements that create a striking contrast against the stark blonde wood.
No f-holes on this critter, but Tacoma's trademark paisley soundhole on the upper bass bout. It works for me; your mileage may vary.
Action was quite good out of the case, and the satin finsh on the neck make playing the guitar a sort of silky experience. The body is both wide and deep; you really have to wrap your arms around this thing, which, frankly, is exactly the feeling I want from a big jazz box (I don't know why they even bother making thinline archtops, but I guess somebody likes 'em!)

While this is a solidly built guitar, it is unclear how well it might stand up to the road. I'm inclined to treat it delicately.

Never had to deal with them.

Tacoma continues to impress me with their innovation and commitment to quality instruments. This is my third Tacoma, and no regrets yet. Can you buy a better archtop? Of course you can, but you ought to consider a second mortgage. Tacoma's goal was to create an affordable carved-top archtop, and they have succeeded admirably. I count myself lucky to have purchased this one used, but at their typical street price of around $1500-1600, they're still a great deal.
This guitar does require some commitment from the player; you need to spend some time learning how it likes to be played. Once you find your zone, however, the tone is quite remarkable.
Tacoma did suffer from some fits and starts when they began producing these guitars last year. The early models reportedly had a number of problems. If this one is any indication, those problems have been addressed.
A find flattop guitar is like a best friend, but a fine archtop is like a lover. Consider a LTR witht the Tacoma.