Product: Tacoma DM2812 12-string
Price Paid: US $1600
Submitted
04/20/2006
at
11:01am
by
AD7
Features
:
9
Made in Tacoma, WA.
20 frets.
Body is typical 12-string dreadnought, no cut out.
All solid wood, no laminate.
No controls - mine came with the E7 passive.
Top is solid sitka, back and sides solid mahogany,
neck is one-piece mahogany, fingerboard is ebony,
bridge is ebony.
Body has nice abalone inlays. Nothing gaudy. Very subtle and nice.
Don't know the type of tuner, but the accuracy is good, and the set seems consistent.
I bought mine from House of Musical Traditions in Takoma Park, MD.
It came with a very nice case and they threw in a humidifier.
Sound
:
10
Overall sound is quieter than my old '88 Washburn which is all laminated, but it's a much higher quality tone.
Warmth in the midrange is present everywhere up and down the neck.
Feel is excellent.
I much prefer a passive pickup and I can use an external preamp if necessary (not needed with my mackie board). I've plugged it into a California Blonde and a Top Hat. Sounds excellent.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
9
Action is excellent. Guitar is neither too hard nor too easy (buzzy) to play. It came with standard .12 Es (medium-light gauge strings); however, it was strung very inconsistently (at the bridge, the pairs of strings should be evenly spaced apart - on mine, the variations of distances is significant). I will be putting on Elixir lights very soon and fix this problem. I can't tell you if this was a factory or store issue - I'm guessing the latter.
Fit and Finish seem excellent. No visible flaws.
Reliability/Durability
:
No Opinion
I just got the guitar. I will be playing it very hard (rock 'n roll, and I'm it for the rhythm as we don't have a bass or drums) using a ton of bar chords, slapping, rolling bass lines, and etc. Seems pretty solid so far. It'll be my primary instrument without backup - I'm only worried about breaking strings...
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
No data.
Overall Rating
:
9
I've been playing since college, so over 20 years.
I currently own a go-guitars' backpackers, 88 Washburn 12-string, a 95 Guild undergoing repair.
I compared this to about half a dozen Taylors, a Belvedere, and other low-end 12-strings. This played BY FAR the best, at sometimes half the cost of those other elite brands.
I'd love to have a cut-out to access the higher frets, but as it is, I can access up to the 16th fret without a problem (there are 20 total). This, however, would fundamentally change the body and sound, so I'm willing to do without.
Same goes for an active pickup - those require drilling into the body and also significantly change the tone. Active pickups are nice, but...
In sum, all I can say it that Tacoma guitars play great now. Huge difference from a few years back. Read up on their website - their manufacturing decisions are very different nowadays, and it just sounds like they're building guitars the right way.
