Tacoma AJF28C Archtop

This is an all solid wood guitar with superb craftsmanship which was made before this company become part of a large multinational supermarket maker. It is a passive guitar with an EMG floating pickup.
Mine has heavily quilted sides and back and is a beautiful tobacco sunburst.The bridge is of a composite material and is attached via the strap button which doubles as the input for your electric cord.
Hardware is of the highest quality and is black in color. The neck has a 25.5" scale and the frets are perfectly leveled and crowned. The shape of the neck is very comfortable. I think the radius is in the 12" range. The wood of the fingerboard is high quality ebony and the position dots are offset and are closer to the bass strings. This guitar has the famous Tacoma offset soundhole. The case which came with this guitar is comparable to custom shop offerings by PRS and Gibson and is the highest quality case I have ever received with a guitar. The controls for the pickup are cleverly hidden behind the ebony pickguard and are VERY responsive. One pickup is all you really need. Mine is the superior set-neck version.

One thing I can say is: Why was this guitar discontinued? This guitar is the only one I know of that is equally at home as an acoustic guitar, as a wonderful jazz box, and it sounds killer as a blues as well as rock axe. I string this guitar with Thomastik flatwound's from 10 to 46. I have experimented with several different string sizes and makes, the Thomastik's really are the ones, and the nuances I can get out of this guitar with just a slight adjustment of the hidden tone control are a joy. This guitar just begs to be played. From Lenny Breau clean tones through a chorus pedal, or even Randy Bachman dirty tones through an origanal Pro-Co Rat, this guitar does it all. I would have to say this is the most responsive guitar I have ever owned, and I have owned plenty. I know of people who search endlessly for the "tone". This guitar has it in spades. I have never played a Fender,PRS or Gibson which sounds as good as this guitar.

I bought this guitar from Chris at Chris Guitars in Albany,NY used for $1500.00 with case. It was set up perfectly as usual for this merchant. The top and back are PERFECTLY bookmatched, and the finish is flawless. Everything is 10/10. The action is very low and the shape of the neck is perfect-think early 1990-1991 Les Paul Classic.

This guitar will stand the test of time. It is very well built.
I could use this guitar without a backup no problems.

Great guitar. PERIOD!!!

A FINE GUITAR WHICH FEATURES A WIDE TONAL RANGE. I PLAY MOSTLY JAZZ/BLUES AND THE TACOMA GIVES ME ALL THE RANGE I NEED. THE FINISH IS IMPECCABLE AND IT CETAINLY IS BETTER IN THE FLES. THE PROBLEM IS THE EBONY TAILPIECE. IT IS CLEARLY A DESIGN FAULT. MINE BROKE TWICE. I GOT NO HELP FROM TACOMA AND WAS BITTERLY DISAPPOINTED IN THEIR LACK OF INTEREST. MINE HAS BROKEN AGAIN. I HOPE FENDER OFFER BETTER ASSISTANCE AND ADHERE TO THE LIFETIME GUARANTEE PROMISED. I WOULD BE VERY CAREFUL ABOUT BUYING THIS GUITAR, AS GOOD AS IT IS.

EXCELLENT SOUND....WHEN I CAN PLAY IT PROVIDED THE TAILPIECE STANDS UP

AGAIN, THIS IS EXCELLENT - WHEN THE GUITAR IS PLAYABLE

VERY DISAPPOINTING AND, I REPEAT, AS GOOD AS THIS GUITAR IS, UNLESS THE TAILPIECE PROBLEM HAS BEEN SOLVED AND THE MANUFACTURER STICKS BY THE WARRANTY, I WOULD RECOMMEND AGAINST IT. THERE IS NO WAY I WOULD GIG WITHOUT A RELIABLE BACKUP. I GOT CAUGHT ONCE WHEN THE TAILPIECE BROKE IN WARMUP....FORTUNATELY I HAD ANOTHER CHEAP JAPANESE AXE ON HAND.....THAT WAS BETTER THAN AN UNRELIABLE, EXPENSIVE AMERICAN GUITAR DEVOID OF MANUFACTURER'S BACK-UP

HOPELESS, BORDERING ON DISHONESTY. THE SELLER, ACOUSTIC OUTFITTERS, HAVE BEEN GREAT AND WENT THE EXTRA MILE. BUT AT 2 GRAND THIS IS AN EXPENSIVE GUITAR. I EXPECT THE LIFETIME GUARANTEE TO MEAN THAT. I WROTE TO THE MANUFACTURER AND PHONED THEM SEVERAL TIMES, BUT GOT THE RUNAROUND. IF THIS IS HOW THEY RUN THEIR BUSINESS, THE SOONER THEY ARE OUT OF BUSINESS, THE BETTER. VERY, VERY POOR.

PLAYING TOO MANY YEARS TO REMEMBER. HAD MANY GUITARS. SAVED HARD FOR THIS, AS I SAW IT AS MY PERFECT AXE. I WAS EXCITED TO FINALLY BUY ONE, BUT NOW, WELL, I GUESS MY DISAPOINTMENT SHOWS. I SUPPOSE THE GUITAR IS CLOSE TO PERFECT, WHEN PLAYABLE...BUT THE ONE I PURCHASED IS FLAWED AND THE MANUFACTURER COULD NOT CARE LESS. THEY SEEM TO HAVE THE ATTITUDE THAT ONCE THEY HAVE YOUR MONEY, YOU CAN GO 'WHISTLE DIXIE'

2002 model jazz box. 21 frets. Carved spruce top. Floating EMG pickup. Gotoh tuners, ebony pickguard & tailpiece. I rate this a 10 for features because it has the one feature I want - Simplicity! Volume nad tone control are under the pickguard, some don't like this but I find I rarely touch them and it keeps a real clean look. Aesthetically this guitar looks so much better in person than it does in any pictures I've seen, just gorgeous.

I play mostly solo jazz, which is why I would want a guitar of this type. I sometimes usee a pick, but usually not, and I sometimes use and amp but often I don't. The sound in any configuration is just beautiful for what I want. I roll the tone all the way down and use the eq on the amp and I get that sokey Kenny Burrell type sound. Acoustic sound is just enough for me. The teardrop hole in the upper bout gives me an excellent bass/mid response and when amplified it stays somehow just shy of feeding back. Nice balance for walking a bass line over chords. Everyone who has heard this guitar has been floored by it. Played it through a big buck Fishman and the sound was phenomenal, but it even sounds really good through a Crate GT60, much to my surprise. I've played for 43 years and this is the sound I was searching for.

Set up was very good right off the rack. The action is low enough to fly on, but high enough to use for fingerpicking. Running Sadosky 12 gauage flatwounds on it and the feel is great. I may try some heavy Elixirs next just for comparison. There are absolutely no flaws that I can find.

The guitar will hold up to what I give it. The pickguard/pickup is mounted only to the neck , so it's not real solid feeling. People who anchor their hand too much to the pickguard will find this disconcerting and will probably loosten the unit up, but it's easy to tighten. I sold my backup guitar, that's how confident I am. Plus, having played it I don't want any other guitars.

Tacoma is now owned by Fender. I had a question that I emailed them and I got a detailed response in a respectable timeframe, can't ask for more than that!

As I say I've been playing a long time, so I've owned a lot of guitars. I had a '51 ES175 that of course is a tremendous collector's item, but it didn't play nearly as well as this guitar! In shopping I tried everything I could find, Godin nylon multiacs, Gibsons, Guilds, etc. I played this one first and I just kept coming back to it. Glad I did!

2004, made in USA
21-frets
Solid carved Sitka Spruce top
Solid carved Maple back
Solid figured Maple sides
Glossy Finish
Ebony fingerboard
Tone and volume control hidden under the molded carbon graphite floating pickguard.
EMG passive floating humbucker
17-inch, hollow body, cutaway-archtop
Ebony floating bridge
carbon graphite tailpiece.
Black Gotoh tuners
Precision string compensation
paisley soundhole
came with very nice archtop case

Has more sustain that traditional archtop, very warm for an archtop, with a super booming base, and perfectly balanced mid and high, this is a loud beautiful sounding guitar. it simply makes me melt to play it. My style ranges from jazz, funk, fusion, to rock and folk, and this guitar is a step ahead of me all the way. especially for the funk ;-)

Very Rich sounding, with added brightness since i put on flats. there is nothing i don't like about this guitar, its perfect for me.

i don't know about the factory, bvut i bought it from a store with nine resident techs. The music emporium in lexington, MA. it was set up perfect when i bought it, and hasn't needed work in the 3 months that i've owned it.

the only flaw i can think of is the pickup wire that runs inside the body isn't attached to anything besides the pickup and the output. so it makes a banging noise when i shake the guitar around.

i've bummped it many times, never real hard, but enough for me to worry, but the tough glossy finish has yet to scratch.

This is my primary guitar, and it needs no backup.

I had to install the front strap button myself, and it's very soild

no problems yet

I've been playing for 5 years, and this is my favorite guitar ever.
if it was lost or stolen i would consider suicide.
it sounds great, it looks great, it feels great i LOVE IT!
i compaired it to everyother guitar, martains, taylors, other tacoma's seagulls all kinds of things, this is hands down my favorite guitar in the price range.