Tacoma DM16CE4

Mine is a 2000 or 2001 model Hand made in Tacoma Washington prior to the Fender buy-out. The bridge is "tone-shaped" ad you can certainly tell when it's played. Mine has a solid spruce top, with the mahogany back and sides and looks absolutely beautiful even after several years of church playing. It never goes out of town which is a testament to the the neck, headstock, and tuners used. It also came with the Fishman Prefix Plus system which is outstandingly reliable and versatile. It does produce the typical quack from an undersaddle piezo but that is easily remedied with the on-board eq.

I play mostly contemporary Christian praise music and southern rock, this guitar does well in both. It's not a Jumbo Taylor but beyond that particular brand I think it sounds better than anything out there. The guitar is bright on the high-end with no tinny sounding ringing, and incredibly deep on the bottom without booming. The mid range is present without being dominant which is exactly what I like.

The guitar need a 1/4" truss rod turn to drop the action and was ready to go out of the box. These older Tacomas are really crafted well. All of the wood work was immaculate and the finish was thick enough to protect the guitar. I dropped mine once and gouged two deep holes in the soundboard, but nothing would have stopped that from happening. Ironically the guitar actually sounded better after that.

As mentioned previously I dropped this instrument from a height of three feet. The soundboard landed on the metal case hinges which dug deep into the wood. I picked it up and played it and it was fine. After six years of playing on Sundays, nothing has changed but the strings and the battery once. This is a well mad instrument. When I take it to a local shop to get the strings changed, all the local techs get in line to play it as if it were some vintage instrument. I use it without a backup and I have never even broken a string and I have broken some picks while playing it. I have no doubt I will be able to hand this down to my children when the time comes.

It has a lifetime warranty, but they got bought out so who knows how that works. I did need something from the factory once and couldn't get the time of day. I suspect this was when they were struggling financially and right before they were acquired. When I first bought the instrument and wrote to them I got very personable response immediately. I just wrote to Guild's customer service ( which is also now Fender) so we'll see what they say. I don't have high hopes for a big company really caring about something after the purchase though.

I have been playing for about 10 years and currently own this guitar and a 1978 Guild F-512SB. I am forever grateful that when I went to the store to buy a Takamine I was asked if I had heard of Tacoma. I would definitely buy another Tacoma from this time period, it's a quality guitar for a great price. I might have opted for the jumbo bodied models back then before I had the Guild, but the dreadnought really projects with some power.

2003 Model, Made in USA, Solid Spruce Top, Solid Mahogany Sides and Back, nice cutaway body, Fishman Prefix elcetronics, very rare guitar as this model was discontinued in 2001, Gloss Finish, good quality tuners, very playable neck, Tacoma case.

Great Sound for all styles. Played through trace Elliot Acoustic and Roland AC-60. Sounds incredible. Sound will even improve with age. Has a lot of presence and tonal range, brightness, mids, and some low end as well. Fishman Electronics work very well with this model. great for lead, rhythm, picking, strumming. Much more balanced than a Taylor model. Haven't had a chance to play side by side with a Taylor yet, but I would have no problem with putting this side by side with a Taylor 814CE.

Factory standard setting, bridge a little high, nut needs a little adjustment. Once dialed in, it plays very well. Neck will settle in over time. Comes with 12 guage strings, and I will upgrade to 13 guage to get more wood tone and a more balanced output.

This guitar should last big time. I play hard and soft and also in between, and it is really built well. Tacoma is constantly improving and this is one really serious guitar. It could easily go for a gig without a backup and it shouldn't have any problems at all.

Tacoma is awesome. I've called a few times with general questions on other guitars, and they are very easy to deal with. I own several Tacomas and would like to own several more.

I've been playing electric and acoustic for 28 years. I own a few Tacomas ( JK50C, DM1812, and more..) Tacomas are just a great sounding guitar. I strongly suggest shopping for one. If I could get another one of these 2003 Tacoma DM16C, I would. I checked out many many Taylor guitars and was going to buy one a few years back until I checked out Tacoma, and now I don't like Taylor's sound anymore, unless the Taylor guitar costs over $3000. Buy a Tacoma!

It has mahogany back and sides, sitka spruce solid top, and abalone inlays. It is a 1999 model and was made in Tacoma, Washington. It has the Fishman Prefix plus on board. This is the cutaway version.

Just play one! You will love that tone, sweet!!!!!!!!!!!!!! No guitar, and I mean no guitar for the money will sound better. You will spend 3 to 5 thousand to find that tone. Amped or acoustic, it sounds awesome.

I love the neck on this guitar, it is siliar to electric necks. It is a player. I have owned this guitar for a year now, and the only thing I change is the strings. It came suited for me.

The fishman did go out on me, and they (tacoma) replaced immediately, although it is not a Tacoma product they took care of it. I also understand through dealers and players, that Fishmans don't give much trouble either. With the bracing on this guitar, it is built for life!

Great, as mentioned above.

I have been playing for a couple of years. I play in a band at church. I play my Tacoma through a Crate ca60d acoustic amp, and it sounds incredible. In my opinion all other acoustics under 3k suffer by comparison to my guitar. I don't even want to talk about if something happens to it. I love my Tacoma. Play one, I dare ya!!!!!

1999 model made by hand in Tacoma, Washington. The DM16CE4 is a dreadnought cutaway acoustic/electric with a solid mahogany back, mahogany sides, a solid sitka spruce top, and a rosewood fingerboard and headstock.
Unlike some other Tacomas it's got a standard sized, round soundhole beneath the strings and a gloss finish. The guitar is adorned with real abolone inlay around the soundhole, in the position markers, and even in the bridge pins - beautiful! Tortoise body and neck binding as well.
The trademark asymmetrical "tone" bridge is made of solid rosewood. Interestingly, the rosewood fingerboard has a sort of "satin" finish that looks striking and feels wonderful! The cutaway allows full access to every fret on the instrument - very nice!
The electronics? Top drawer! It comes equipped with the Fishman Prefix Plus system which includes a notch filter control as well as volume, bass, treble, and brilliance controls. The frequency and contour controls work together to make tone shaping and feedback control even more versatile. Last, but not least, there is a phase reversal switch which can instantly stop feedback onstage.
My guitar came with a beautiful hard shell case with blue crushed velvet interior. My understanding is that Tacoma now sells their guitars with these new hard cases instead of the gig bags that they used to dole out.

I play everything from 70's rock (Tull, Yes, Zep) to country to blues to alternative. This guitar can handle all these styles with ease. The mahogany sides and back give the guitar a very sweet, full tone with even bass response. As others have mentioned, I've compared the playability and tone of this guitar to similarly priced Taylors, Martins, Larivees, etc. and there is NO COMPARISON!!! Personally I think most Tacomas sound MUCH better than guitars costing 2 to 3 times as much. The sustain of these acoustics is amazing! Even unplugged, strum a chord or hit a single note and it just hangs on!
Electronically, the Fishman setup is one of the best I've ever heard. The incredible versatility of the Prefix Plus allows you to tailor the EQ to practically any venue or recording situation. I'm sure if you spent thousands on super high-end transducers and tube preamps, you could achieve better sound quality, but the Prefix is an excellent vehicle for reproducing the sound of this guitar.

The stock setup is pretty damn good. The action is a tad high for me in the upper neck area, but I'll take it to my local tech and it'll be perfect.
The quality of the woods used in this instrument are exemplary! The sitka spruce top is flawless as is the mahogany on the back, sides, and neck. It's so perfect it almost doesn't seem real! Tacoma obviously hand picks the wood for their guitars. You don't get this kind of quality by accident.
All aspects of it's construction are very well done - the fretwork is beautiful, the nut is cut prefectly, and the instrument just exudes quality.

The guitar is surprisingly lightweight - in that regard it reminds me of some Taylors I've played. But you can tell it's very solidly built. I have no fear at all of gigging with this guitar - in fact, I can't wait to perform with this beauty! This is the kind of instrument you keep all your life then pass on to your kids and grand-kids. I'm sure in 20 years, Tacoma guitars like these will be treasures worth much more than their current value.

I haven't yet dealt with Tacoma - but the guitar has a limited lifetime warranty, so I'm not worried about support.

I've been playing for nearly 30 years (yikes) and I own several other acoustic and electric guitars and tube amps.
The main thing about Tacomas is simply BEAUTIFUL ACOUSTIC TONE, TONE, TONE!!!
If lost or stolen, I'd immediately buy another Tacoma. If the dealer where I purchased the guitar had the same instrument with a rosewood back and sides (DR16CE4?), I MIGHT have gone with it instead. Rosewood just looks so nice on an acoustic guitar.
I realize that there are luthiers out there who make one-of-kind, hand-made guitars and sell them for anywhere from $4500 and up. I'm not saying that a $950 Tacoma can compare with those super high-end acoustics. BUT, most players (even very serious players) aren't gonna shell out that kind of cash for one acoustic guitar! My Tacoma is one of the nicest sounding guitars I've ever heard AND it didn't put me in the poor house!