Tacoma DM14CE

2005 (post-Fender), made in Tacoma WA, dreadnought cutaway, solid spruce top, solid mahogany back and sides, high gloss finish, Tacoma hardcase plus truss rod adjuster.

LRBaggs/Tacoma pickups, with treble, bass, volume, notch controls, easy to change click-out battery. Very nice neck, medium width (1.75 I think), ebony fingerboard which I prefer.

Had features I wanted--cutaway with on-board controls, solid woods, comfortable neck with ebony board.

Every cutaway with on-board electronics I tried sounded pretty dull, probably because I'm spoiled by my pre-war D-18, but also because the cutaway and the electronics have got to detract from the sound. So after playing $1900 Taylors, Larrivees, Takamines and other acoustic/electric cutaways, which I thought sounded muted if not muddy, I spent a lot less on this Tacoma. I can't say that its sound acoustically is as bright as I would like, though it's new and hopefully will age well. It is very well balanced, good mid-range, and I particularly like the sustain at the high end--nice and clear treble tones, all the way up the (cutaway) neck. I'd prefer a stronger, fuller bass, but I practice a lot acoustically and it's definitely playable.

Amped it sounds great, presumably because of the LR Baggs electronics. I play it with a Marshall AS50R, which I either use alone or, in a larger or louder setting, as a pre-amp and monitor run through the PA. It has very ringing acoustic tones, excellent definition and clarity, very good reproduction of an acoustic sound whether strumming or picking. I set the amp with a little reverb, and occassionaly use the chorus effect for lead lines, though clarity of acoustic reproduction is why I wanted it, and it definitely does that well. The bass sound is much better amped than acoustically--it's clear and not muddy at all.

I use it for jazz and Brazilian, folk/folk-rock, country, and ballads. (I'm an accompanist/lead player for a couple of groups, not a pro though). For rock and blues (and jazz sometimes) I still use my vintage strat and vintage twin, or sometimes a very old tweed deluxe.

Between the guitar and the amp the feedback/notch controls seem to work pretty well, though I haven't used it in a lot of different rooms yet. I haven't fully licked the feedback issue, particularly when another guitar has been miked and run through my amp along with this guitar. Played alone, the feedback seems relatively easy to control and eliminate but still takes some experimentation.

I bought this new on eBay (I know, potentially big mistake, but it worked out),and the set-up was a little high. The truss rod adjustment is simple, and I had a luthier take it down cautiously and,now that I know how simple it is, might take it down a little more--particularly since most of my usage will be amped and I won't be hitting it too hard under most circumstances.

The only flaw I found, which I was concerned about, were protruding frets, which poked out as I slid around on the neck and were really really bothersome to play. Definitely a concern, stemming from buying mail order (would never tolerate that if I played the guitar first), but ultra-fine steel wool (recommended by my luthier) and playing it seemed to take down what must have been a pretty small flaw because after a month or so of playing it disappeared and I forgot that this was ever a problem.

It also doesn't have a left-side strap button--don't know if that's an oversight--so I wind my strap on the headstock, old-folkie-style. The strap button on the end is also the output.

The woods are nicely matched, it's a pleasure to look at, the ebony fretboad and headstock are attractive, and I think the finish (minus the fret-filing issue) is excellent--I haven't noticed any finish flaws despite those who write that post-Fender Tacoma quality is less reliable. The Tacoma case, as someone else wrote, is pretty cheap and tacky, but it fits well so does the job.

I'm not sure if I'm yet a fan of high-gloss finish, but it surely is tough and lasting on the durability side--hard to scratch, and I sometimes pick with a very hard pick. I'm using it live, and can't see why it won't continue to hold up. I'm expecting it to be reliable and dependable, because I bought it so I don't have to use my vintage guitars. I like the easy-to-change battery, which just clicks out--another thing that can go wrong but easy to deal with. On a gig, I'll always have back-up guitars--just changing a broken string is too long except between sets, but that's not because I expect anything else to be a problem with this guitar.

I think I have a warranty since I bought it new from a dealer on eBay but have not needed anything on it so far.

I've been playing for 45 years, since I was 15. I have a pre-war D-18, bought in 1963, a '60 Strat, bought in 72, a '66 Fender Twin and a 50's Fender deluxe--all vintage not because I'm a collector but just because I bought this stuff way back when. I've bought and sold other Martins and electric Gibsons in the interim, and also recently bought a travel Taylor(110)and an Ibanez Artcore AF-86, which I bought for jazz but serves as an all-purpose back-up.

I bought this guitar (and amp) because despite playing a lot of rock and blues I love acoustic sounds but don't want to use my old Martin, which I used to play miked in clubs back in the 70's. And, I tried a bunch of cutaway acoustic electrics, not the highest end but all over $1000 and didn't like them very much, but since I needed the cutaway and on-board electronics, I took a chance on this. I chose the Tacoma because I had bought my daughter an EM9, which is a great little guitar, and I bought a friend a DM-10, both great deals which sounded as good or better than much more expensive guitars.

If it were lost or stolen, I would most likely buy another Tacoma acoustic electric, this model if available and reasonably priced, or something very similar. I love the amplified sound, particularly on the treble end, which is a combination of the guitar and the LRBaggs pick-up. I don't think you can do better without spending upwards of a couple grand.

2003/4 model made in the USA. It is a full depth dreadnaught body style with cutaway, LR Baggs active Element pickup and side-mounted preamp with volume, bass.treble, and feedback notch controls. The gutiar cable jack is the endpin type.

The top is solid spruce, while the sides and back are solid mahogany with very nice ribbon highlights.

The neck is solid mahogany and a 25.5" scale. The fingerboard and bridge are solid ebony. The FB has dot markers and is 1.75" wide at the nut. The rosette is abalone inlaid. The triple b/w body binding is tortoise.

The tuners are Tacoma branded, small button tuners.

Yes, I do miss not having an onnboard tuner, but with my $20 tuner that attaches to the headstock, I'm fine as-is.

This is where the Tacoma excels - sound! Man, this guitar sounds fantastic unplugged. It comes strung with Elixer Nanowebs which are very brght strings. While the DM14C doesn't have the low end a Martin bluegrass guitar would exhibit, the balance between lows, mids, and highs is very, very nice, makig this guitar just as good for finger picking as it is for strumming.

Amplified, this guitar sounds wonderful through my Fender Acoustasonic JR amp: bright, chimey, full. Sounds much better with just the gutiar than using a front-end processor like a Zoom 504-II.

The action is better than equivalent Taylors and most electrics you could buy. Fretting at the 1st fret and 12th are easy. Build-wise the only nitpicking flaws were some extra glue under the neck where it rides on the top fo the guitar and a reddish hue to some of the spruce top (seems to be the spruce they used); other than that, it was perfect.

Playing 20 years off and on. Own Fender and Polytone amps and Gibson archtop guitars.

I got a whole lot more guitar than I was expecting from this DM14CE. I was expecting a Taylor 210 but got at least a 410CE instead.