Product: Tacoma CF26C Chief
Price Paid: US $1,400
Submitted
10/16/2003
at
04:37pm
by
Anonymous
Features
:
9
Made in 2002, Tacoma WA factory
22 frets, all solid wood - Spruce top, curly Maple back/sides
Bolt-on mahogany neck, Ebony fretboard with pearl dot inlays
Gloss Sunburst finish, Gotoh tuners
Active B-Band p/u, no external controls
Price includes deluxe case, truss rod adjustment tool
Sound
:
10
Sound is warm and bright with a bump in the midrange and a little scoop out of the bass to give it a nice clean attack and egde in a band setting as well as solo singer/songwriter. Using a SansAmp PSA-1 direct box with a Mackie mixer and powered PA.
This guitar made me want to get out of my old style approach to acoustic. I always played D's and G's with traditional guitars, but now I'm experimenting up the neck with inversions and substitution chords I previously knew nothing about. Neck was slim and profile was awesome like a strat. Body was not to thin, but still easy to get my arm around.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
9
CF26CSB had a stunningly low action, more so than previous years of Tacoma's that were a little different. The pickup was perfect, no crackling or distortion, and none of that "light tap on the body gives you monsterous response from pickup syndrome". Fretwork was even and the neck to body joint was seamless. I changed out the gold tuners to a custom set.
Reliability/Durability
:
10
I use this guitar every weekend gigging out in restaraunts, bars, and coffee shops. The pickup has held up really well especially in transport (I've had guitars on planes before where pickups shift, but the B-Band stays put). I sweat all over the finish and I keep forgetting to wipe it off all the time. Emailed them about what to use to clean it and I heard to use napftha butane lighter fluid! It works though, no harm to the finish and I go over it again with polish. I depend on this guitar without another acoustic backup only a strat comes with me to the gig.
Customer Support
:
9
Lifetime transferrable warranty. Emailed company a few times about which hardware to retrofit and how to clean and got a response back within 24 hours. Awesome service if you ask me. No warranty issues to speak of.
Overall Rating
:
10
Been playing 11 years, own a Taylor 310K dreadnoght, G&L bass, Japanese Strat, full PA and rack. I use this guitar for writing, live gigs, and studio overdubs. I never play my Taylor anymore and when I do I feel limited by the body joint and the tone. Love the Sunburst finish too, Tacoma does it better than anyone. Gibson's bursts used to be good in my opinion, but this one is much nicer. Highly recommend Tacoma.
