Tacoma DF18 LTD

All features are covered in the other reviews, but let me tell you this is one of the greatest maple guitars ever. Beautiful, easy player, and loud as can be. truly the unsung masterpiece of this style of dreadnaught!

I love the sound. For a maple, it is very full and rich. Did I say LOUD??? I use this in acoustic jams when I want to cut through and be heard! I keep it with Elixir Custom Gauge; fat bottoms, normal high strings. It just roars.
It's a little on the bright side, as to be expected, but still has a lot of mid and bass punch. I wish they still made this model.

Flawless finish. The previous owner retro-fitted a glue-in mount for the neck and pulled the neck bolts. I think the nut and salled are both bone. Unknown if that was stock or a refit. But it sounds and plays fantastically. Bookmatching if perfect! Maple is real wavy, too.

It's rea tough. I will install a preamp and K & K Mini-Pure into it and take it gigging. Oh, nobody mentioned that the end pin installs with a supplied Allen wrench, which can be easily removed and behold: a routed hole for an end pin output jack! No drilling required when you want to install pickup. I SURE WISH EVERY COMPANY DID THIS!!

Never had to contact tacoma. I understand Fender just bought them out. A guitar tech informed me that he considers this merger a good thing; that Fender will not do the same blunders and off-shore nonsense they did with Gretsch and Guild. Also, the comapany has slowed down to producing7 guitars per day, with tighter quality control. I am going to wait and see.

Playing since 1965. If I had a first guitar like this, I'd have been in heaven.
If stolen, I would try to find another. The closest thing to it is a nice old Guild.
I love its vibe, the abalone rosette, and the crisp attack, bright tone and increcible colume of this thing! The neck is marvelous. I never had a Tacoma except for the Tunderchief acoustic bass, which is the best there ever was, too.
I kind of wish the neck was left stcok, since I think that helps resale value; but the volume and sustain and action probably all benefitted from the glue-in job, which was done very well.
Hey, I see Tacoma acoustics s are going for around $1500 locally! Is this right? Didn't they used to be $600 or so?

As stated in other reviews, this is a maple guitar with a spruce top. Absolutely beautiful I think, although the back and sides are laminated maple, though I understand they all were in that year (1998, I believe). Has nice abalone inlay around the sound hole (just like my DM18) with white binding on the body and fingerboard. Came with the archtop HSC.

Great sound! The fact that the sides and back are laminated don't seem to affect it at all. Seems to be a bit brighter and louder than my DM18, but not a huge difference in sound in my opinion. I love the sound of Tacoma's. I suppose that's why I went out and bought this one not that long after I bought my DM18! I just don't think anybody can compete with these guitars for the money.

Seems to be set-up quite well, although I think I'll lower the saddle a bit. A little too high for me around the 12th fret. The finish is great, even better than my DM18 which is a 2002 model! Maybe they tried a little harder on this because it's a limited edition. The maple has a beautiful grain. I'm not sure if it would be considered flame or figured, but it's pretty!

Seems to be very well built. I have no complaints.

Haven't had to deal with them, but I've tried to contact them and got nowhere. I have some contacts in the lumber industry who have dealt with them directly in the past. They asked if they could get me a tour of the plant and were flatly denied. I firmly believe this could be their fatal flaw. Customer service and support are vital to a young company, and I think they're dropping the ball.
Although I just ran out and bought another one of their guitars. Shows you how much I like their guitars!

I've played for over 30 years and I've owned and played a lot of guitars. I wanted a Taylor or a Martin for quite some time, but then I played a Tacoma. I like them better (or equal to Taylor) and I can afford them! I suggest that everyone at least try them out, and when you do, try to forget that they cost a third the price of a Taylor!

The other guy's review pretty much covers all the important features. so, yes. ditto. and i got a great case ith it. although, i did have mine outfitted with the high-end on-board electronics which include: advanced eq, notch, frequency contour, phase, brilliance, etc. very nice. check out the Tacoma website for specifics.

I was looking for just a great, even sound, and this is definitely it.
I generally plug it into a pa system, and it sounds better than most. It has a rich, bright sound. Very even. It actually makes you play better. Where some acoustics sound the same whether you play delicately or go nuts, this one really wants to be played with care. Which, to me at least, is a good thing. Although if you just want to strum the bejesus out of it, it's fine too.

The action is perfect. Med-low. Great for bending too, which can't be said for most acoustics. As far as craftsmanship, verything is done perfectly.

I've only had mine for a few weeks, but it's a sturdy piece. I can't imagine it not lasting a long, long time. The on-board stuff is really well done too.

I called them before i ordered my guitar to ask some dumb questions, and they were great. I called them after i ordered it to see how long it would be (6-8 weeks) and they were great. I got my guitar and discovered it didn't have a pickguard (they're clear and easy to miss), and they were great; overnighting me come pickguards with instructions. Although, i ended upnot putting one on because, well, i don't need one.

I've been playing for about 15 years. I have an Ibanez electric, which is fine; a Fender Jazz Bass, which i love; and a cheap Palmer acoustic, which i use for alternate tunings, and is also fine. The guitar is exacly as i expected when i ordered it; more so, actually, because my maple is so much more gorgeous than the one i played in the store. If this guitar were lost or stolen, i'd cry, then get another just like it. It doesn't really compare to other guitars, as far as i know. It really has a tone that i haven't experienced before. I was really dissapointed with most of the acoustics i played while shopping around; with the exception of a couple of very high-end taylors. although, they were about 5 times as expensive. So, frankly, i would've paid another grand-and-a-half for this guitar. And i hope for the guitar playing world that Tacoma doesn't realize how criminally cheap they're letting the things go for.

Made in the USA, 1998. 14 frets to the body, all solid-wood dreadnaught. Spruce top, flame maple back and sides. Gloss finish. Tacoma "tone-shaped" bridge and clear pickguard. Mahogany neck with rosewood fingerboard. Included custom-fitted Tacoma case with arched top.

I'm a sucker for the sound of a maple guitar, which I admit is not for everybody. The sound is sharp and bright, though well balanced with good bass response. Sustain is not as great as in other dreads, which I actually prefer because it improves note separation. Not nearly as boomy as most dreads, which is also a definite plus.

The guitar is simply but nicely appointed. The top is matched well and the seam is almost invisible. The maple back and sides are not the prettiest maple you ever saw, but still quite attractive (again, if you like maple guitars, and I do). I've never been wild about Tacoma's transparent pickguards, but it doesn't detract from the guitar's appearance. The red mahogany neck is sort of a visual jolt connecting to the blond maple body. The gloss finish is very well executed and flawless.

I don't gig, so it's hard to know if this would be a good gigging guitar. It is built very sturdily, as are all Tacomas I've ever played. Whether it could take years of banging around on the road is hard to say.

I've never dealt with Tacoma; however, the guitar comes with a lifetime warranty, which is transferable with a one-time payment.

This is one of about 20 guitars that I own, and it's quickly become one of my favorites. I own mostly small-bodied guitars, and have avoided buying dreadnaughts because I didn't like the bass-heavy sound many of them have. The Tacoma has a much more balanced sound, I think largely due to the maple. Many would argue that it's not a classic dread sound, and they'd probably be right-- so if that's the sound you want, this may not be the guitar for you. However, if you like the idea of a well-balanced tone that sounds exceptionally clean even when you play real loud, this is a great box. Tacoma is WAY under-rated, as far as I'm concerned. They're producing some of the best guitar bargains available today.