Takamine D20

This is a Takamine D-20 in a Natural Satin finish, dreadnought style body. Neck is made out of Mahogany as well as the back and sides. The bridge and fretboard is made out of Rosewood. The top is made from laminated Spruce. It has 20 frets. I personally love the smooth silky feel of the natural satin finish. It smells nice and woody too.

The most striking attribute about this instrument is that when you pick it up and strum; it has a satisfying deep resonance which truly feels like the guitar is alive and breathing.

That is not to say it is bass heavy, granted dreadnought style bodies tend to err on the bassy side. It still manages to maintain a well balanced tone that is neither muddy nor thin. It's woody textured midrange and sweet treble cuts through with clarity and impressive harmonic complexity.

The strings that come standard on these guitars are D'Addario EXP. Needless to say I will stick to using this same brand of strings, they truly complement this guitar. This instrument has rather good projection and should handle small unplugged gigs with ease.

I play fingerstyle blues & alternative rock, a bit of Hendrix and SRV for good measure. This instrument can handle it, it sounds especially tasty when playing SRV style rakes. The sustain on this guitar is impressive.

The factory set-up was good, action does gets progressively higher as you go up the neck. The action could do with a slight lowering if you regularly move beyond the seventh fret, otherwise nothing major.

The frets were all well dressed, no nasty or sharp edges to deal with. The finish is beautiful, didn't see any sloppy joins or glue spots. Everything looks smooth and well put together.

This instrument feels solid, considering it's price I wouldn't hesitate to buy several of them to gig with in case something did go wrong (highly unlikely).

Again the natural satin finish on this guitar is most impressive. I'm truly in love with the feel of it, it seems to be quite durable. You're not going to be constantly worrying about scratches or dents, this thing was made to rock. Besides I like my instruments to develop their unique character with wear and tear.

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I've been playing guitar for about 14 years. Over this period I've noticed acoustic guitar making technology improve. One way this has become obvious is value for money. The Takamine D-20 is a lot of guitar for the money. I challenge anyone to compare this and a guitar that costs twice or even three times as much. I remember I used to own an Epiphone solid top acoustic that didn't sound anywhere near as good. From memory it also cost twice as much as this guitar, that was about 10 years ago.

When I first picked up this guitar after trying several other guitars in it's price range. I remember asking the store manager several times "are you sure this isn't a solid top?". I honestly thought he was wrong. That was when I realized how many of our assumptions are based not on fact but on hearsay and rigid traditional views. Which is why it's important to evaluate an instrument with an open mind based on it's true merits.

The biggest mystery with this guitar is that it doesn't feel or sound cheap. It doesn't even look cheap. For $349 NZD which translates to roughly $227 USD, this is an instrument that plays better than many instruments that cost two to three times as much. I kid you not, it just astounds me how the guys at Takamine pulled this one off.

We've all heard and beaten the horse to death about laminate vs solid top guitars. With solid top guitars regarded as producing superior tone which matures with age. Laminated tops flogged with sounding dull, boxy, lifeless, thin, low volume, global warming etc.

The biggest contributor to an acoustic guitar's tone is the top hence the debate. However the type of wood used isn't nearly as important as the construction method. The bracing inside the guitar and the physical structure matter much more. The quality of the glue used in creating the laminate also play a big role.

It's been proven in the past that construction matters more than the type of wood used. "The founder of Taylor guitars made a bet with the owner of the highly regarded Martin guitar making firm that he could construct an acoustic guitar out of packing crate wood and make it sound as good as a top dollar instrument. His opinion was that while tonewoods played a part in how good a guitar sounded, construction methods and bracing were more important in producing a good sounding and playing acoustic. Martin's owner disagreed and the challenge was accepted. Taylor built the guitar and Martin's owner, after examining and playing the instrument has to concede Taylor's point. The guitar did indeed sound very good and was extremely playable. Of course, the packing crate material didn't produce a exceptionally good-looking guitar but that wasn't Taylor's intention."

Anyways I digress, it seems Takamine has made important advancements in guitar building technology. This has enabled them to create a laminate that to my ears sound better than SOME solid top guitars I auditioned.

Make no mistake, technology will continue to improve and soon the playing field will be level. I believe what little advantage of solid tops may be superceded in the future by laminates being more durable and stable in harsh environments as they continue to sound closer to their solid top counterparts.

In summary you can't go wrong if this is your first guitar or your last. Don't make the mistake of buying a guitar just because it has a solid top. ESPECIALLY cheap solid tops, this guitar completely outclassed the entry-level solid tops I compared it to.