Tacoma DBR20

This is to clarify a comment. The DBZ20 is the new assigned number for the DBR20. I have seen both together and they seem identical. GREAT sounding instrument! Compared to Larrivee, Martin, and Guild in the same room (and on different days), this instrument outdid them all. It makes the lower price seem odd!

Model year 2002, Made in Tacoma, WA. Actual model no. is "DBZ20", not DBR20 as indicated by the review category.
Solid Spruce top, solid Brazilian Rosewood back, sides and peghead face, very cool 4-color herringbone purfle, Mahogany neck, gloss finish, rosewood fretboard, gotoh tuners, clear pickguard, hardshell case. Tacoma wisely produced a Brazilian dreadnought without a lot of expensive features that are unrelated to sound quality.

I think that the spruce tops on Tacoma's DR38 and DR55 are of higher grade than the DBZ20 tops, because I once saw them advertised as "select" or something like that. I also suspect that the Brazilian is not of the highest quality, and the sides seem to be made from a block of wood that is significantly different from the block used for the back. The truth is that you'd have to pay at least twice as much for a guitar with top-quality Brazilian and spruce so this is really not a fault of the DBZ20. Also, everything I wrote with regard to the tonewoods could be completely wrong. More importantly, it's the sound that matters so refer to my comments below...

I would give the sound an 11 if I could. Incredibly rich and full, and with great sustain. First-position chords sound like they are being played on a piano using all 10 fingers. It made every other solid rosewood guitar (Martin, Taylor, Guild, Gibson) in the store sound like a tin can, and it was cheaper.

It's perfect for any style requiring clear, rich, loud notes, particularly solo or minimally-accompanied performance. The tone stays true at lower volumes as well. Although I also use it for fingerstyle, a true fingerstyle player would prefer a high-quality fingerstyle guitar. Of course, no guitar can be an amazing dreadnought as well as an amazing fingerstyle guitar. This is an amazing dreadnought.

The action was a little higher than I prefer, which is a good decision on Tacoma's part. The action on a new guitar should be set where most customers would not want to raise it.

Fit and finish are flawless. The guitar is beautiful. The back is incredibly figured with streaks of black, red and orange, and has a general brownish-red hue. The spruce top has tight, straight grain.

It seems as solid as any acoustic I've ever picked up, but it'll be a while before I expose it to the elements. I can't comment for sure on the reliability or durability since I've only had it for a short time, but I have no reason to think that it won't be at least as durable and reliable as any other acoustic.

I emailed Tacoma before I bought it and my emails were answered promptly. They even sent a catalog insert describing the guitar to me without my asking. The warranty seems terrific and I doubt that I'd have any trouble using it.

I've been playing since '86, but have only recently been trying to really improve. I have an old Yamaha FG-430, and wanted to treat myself to a quality acoustic. I was extremely lucky to buy this guitar for the price I paid, since even the least-expensive online stores were asking $2100. Norwalk Music is an all-around music store with a lot of band and orchestra instruments and they said they were having trouble moving it because most people were only interested in Martins and Taylors in that price range. Their loss is my gain.

If it were lost or stolen, I would buy one again for this price in a heartbeat. If I had $2100 to spend on a guitar, I would definitely buy it over other dreadnoughts in that price range.

I purchased this dreadnought guitar brand new about a month ago. It is a very understated, a plain brown wrapper with a 14 carrot gold core. I was very impressed by the finish; the entire guitar is truly perfect. The top is made from Solid Sitka Spruce, and the back and sides are made from Brazilian Rosewood, finished in high gloss. Other features include the 4-color herringbone wood top purfling, Rosewood fingerboard, and "Tone Shaped" bridge Brazilian Rosewood peghead. with inlaid Ivoroid logo. The body is all tied together with Ivoroid body and neck binding. The clear pickguard really sets the guitar apart.

The only accessory was the hard shell case, which came at no additional cost.

The first time I played this guitar I almost lost it. I could not believe the amazing noises that came forth. I am a terrible musician, and it made me sound better. At least that is what I told myself to justify the expense. The tone is even, and balanced, and it maintains this tone know mater how soft of hard it gets played. It is equally at home being strummed as it is at finger picking. WOW is usually the response I get when people here it. In fact my brother who is a die hard Martin guy is thinking of buying a Tacoma after playing mine. The more it gets played the more it opens up. I think it sounds as good brand new as my friends 35 year old D-35

I had to have some work done to the guitar to make it correct. I had a buzz in the two bottom strings that was corrected by some fret filing. I also had to set the neck to bring the action up a bit to suit my liking. I also had to change the strings to # 12 Martin SP?s. They really helped to unlock the rich tones. The hardware on the guitar is flawless, the adjusters did require some oil to get them moving correctly.

The Guitar is very solid, so far so good. Time will be the ultimate test of this box. I certainly feel that it is built, as well if not better than some of the more popular brands on the market. The finish is as good as I have ever seen on a Martin or Taylor, and better than the modern Gibson boxes.

I haven't had to deal with any issues yet.

I have been playing for about ten years, most of that time was spent on an old fender 6 string that realy should have been retired years ago. I am amazed how much more willing I am to practice when the sound quality is this good. My only complaints are with the initail setup of the truss rod, and the fret buzz, and the Hardshell case. It is a nice case but seems very cheap when compaired to what you get with other manufactures high end guitars.