Tacoma EM16CE

I believe this is a 1999 model. It has solid mahogany back and sides and a Sitka spruce top. This is a thinline model, which is about 3 inches deep. The spruce has nice "silk, which is the horizontal grain pattern. The bookmatching on the top and back is well done. I can hardly find where the pieces were matched. The neck is mahogany with a rosewood fretboard and bridge. The pegboard is faced with rosewood. The The bind is tortoise shell, with black/white purfling on the top. No pickguard, which is my one complaint since Tacoma puts clear Lexan pickguards on many of their models. The soundhole is surrounded with abalone trimmed with a turquoise stained ring and black/white rings. The tuners are Gotoh, and I've heard good things about them, although a prefer the Schaller design. The electronics are by Fishman and include an undersaddle pickup and the Prefix Plus preamp/controls.

After putting new strings on the guitar (the old ones were installed in April 1999), the sound was great. Even though it is a thinline body, the bass is present, although not as nice as my Taylor 810. Since this guitar is made to be played electric, I didn't expect a great acoustic sound. It sounds like it would cut through in a band just fine, although I haven't tried that out yet. I use a Carvin AG100 acoustic guitar amp. Between all the tonal settings on the guitar and amp, I should be able to dial in a good acoustic sound. The Fishman system has very little hum. It also allows me to cut the frequency that causes feedback using a notch control (very easy to us) or semi-parametric midrange controls (frequency and level).

The action at the 12th fret was a little high. I adjusted the truss rod to take out a little of the curvature in the neck, which lowered the strings a little, and I didn't get any string buzz. The finish is very good. I found a couple of spots of overspray on the neck, but those were easily removed with very fine sandpaper and steel wool. Tacoma chose nice woods for this guitar. The fretwork was well done. The wire between the endpin jack and the preamp rattles around a little. It might have helped to put in a self-stick wire retainer somewhere along the wire. The neck is similar to some of my electric guitars and very comfortable to play.

Like the other reviewer, I'm a little concerned about the lack of a pickguard. I'm not hard on my guitars, but I already noticed a couple of dings in the face caused by people who played the guitar in the store. Everything else seems solid, and Tacoma provides a lifetime warranty. I probably wouldn't bring a backup guitar. The only thing I can imagine going wrong is for the battery to go out. And the Fishman Prefix Plus has a battery check light. I always carry extra 9-volt batteries to gigs.

I haven't dealt with the company yet, but I may check to see if I could add a pickguard. It looks nice without the pickguard anyway. The warranty is lifetime (at least to the original order, and possibly it can be transferred).

I've been playing guitar since 1965. This is my third acoustic in the current collection (Taylor 810, Baby Taylor) and I have owned a couple of others during those years. I also play electric guitars, which drew me to the EM16CE. The neck width is 1 5/8, which is the same as most of my electric guitars. That makes the transitional from one guitar to another easier for me. The thinline body is very comfortable. The width of the guitar is about the same as a dreadnaught, but the guitar has a slimmer waist. It is similar in style to the Taylor 14 models. The cutaway allows reasonable access to the higher frets, but the heel of the neck and the body prevent easy access to these frets. The cutaway is the kind that comes to a point; I would have preferred a more rounded cutaway, like on the Taylors.
I should note that the price was heavily discounted because the store was not doing well with Tacoma guitars. They like the quality of the guitars, but they did not seem to compete well with the lower end Taylors and Martins that the store sells. The regular price would have been about $1100. At the closeout price, I couldn't help myself. If it were stolen, I'd probably try to replace it. I looked at several thinline acoustic-electrics (Godin Multiac Steel, Guild) and I think the Tacoma was the best value. But they're hard to find in my area.