Takamine TF430SS

the reviewers below have provided all the detail

this guitar sounds great. i've owned the taylor 414 which is the same body style as this and the Takamine blows it away in the quality of the sound when plugged in.

great

great

n/a

this is a great sounding guitar especially plugged in. nothing beats the CoolTube preamp. everyone in the band i play with agrees. it is awesome you have to hear it for yourself.

Solid Cedar top, Ovangkol back & sides, great case, beautiful muted sunburst, but the main features that sold me were the very
comfortable neck, the ebony fretboard, and the CTP-2 preamp.

The cedar top puts out a warm sound, without sacrificing brightness. It can sound great strumming or fingerpicking. Then when you plug it in and dial in some tube, you'll be hooked. I agree with the other review, this is the best sound I've ever achieved in amplifying an acoustic/electric.

I bought this used, so I was ok with a couple of very small nicks. The back ovangkol isn't perfectly bookmatched, but I'm not sure it's supposed to be, and it still looks great to me. Other than that, the finish is excellent, and the action is perfect.

I just got this guitar, so I can't really vouch for its dependability yet, but I've played Taks for 30 years, & they have a great track record, so yes, I'd play it without a backup.

Haven't had to contact Takamine CS often, but when I have, they've been quick to respond.

As I said, I've been playing Takamine for 30 years. When it was time to start looking for an upgrade, I played Alvarez, Breedlove, and Taylor. All great guitars, and I could have been happy with any of them. Then I saw this online, and being a singer-songwriter, it seemed like a good fit. I went to a store that carried it, played it, and fell in love. I would have paid the new price, but got lucky & found a slightly used one at a price I couldn't resist. If you're even thinking about a small-bodied guitar, you should check this out.

Beautiful solid woods, hand-selected. Thin, but durable finish. Perfect binding, and flawless construction.

The CTP-2 preamp is completely state-of-the-art. It's the same as the original CTP-1, but warms up a bit faster, and has a dedicated mute button. The best features of it are:

*Incredibly clean, transparent and warm tone
*Powerful EQ with semi-parametric mids.
* Aux. Input to add a second sound source (more on this later)

I know a lot of guitar guys don't care for Takamine, (that's probably a polite way of saying it.) But if you've got a decent set of ears, you can't deny that they can sound great acoustically, and are well-built, reliable workhorses. Their electronics are second-to-none, not as trendy as the new "hidden" picks like the Fishman Ellipse, but try to find me a gigging guitarist who'd prefer to blindly reach in inside their guitar to adjust tone or volume.

Let the doctors and lawyers play their 6K "Special Edition" Taylors, real musicians judge an instrument by its usefulness, not it's snob appeal. And for that this guitar gets a solid "!0". Especially considering its price.

Acoustically this guitar is a 9.5, and I have no doubt in a few years it will reach a "10." It's warm without being muddy, and incredibly balanced with a surprising amount of acoustic volume. It's got it's own sound, which is warmer than most Martins and with more clarity than a Gibson or Guild. It has plenty of highs and sparkle, but it's not particularly "modern" sounding like a Taylor, if you know what I mean.


Plugged it, it's a great representation of the acoustic tone. It's very warm, but still cuts through a band and maintains clarity I love the flexibility of the EQ. And the tube adds a definite amount of harmonics and overtones that you'd never hear on another system.

I've added the Takamine TriAx, (a special version of the Baggs M1 that lets you switch from Active to Passive, unlike the Baggs, and it's black, so more subtle on stage.) With the TriAx, I'd say this setup is light-years ahead of anything else available OEM on a guitar. The controls of the CTP-2 mean you've got everything you need, right at your fingertips.

The TriAxs adds a load of detail, warmth and body, and the all-important body vibrations. To my ear, it's a more effective version of what Taylor has tried with the ES. The whole system isn't identifiably piezo or magnetic- it just sounds good.

To put it over the top, I run the pickup through a Fishman Aura setup,
usually with 50-70% Aura for solo, or 20-40% for band use. Even without the Aura, it's one of the best, but with the Aura, I firmly believe you've got the best set-up currently available, far superior to any onboard Aura setups.

And FYI, I own and still use K&K, Trance Audio and Sunrise setups, (and had a terrible 3-year run with a Taylor ES 514ce and K4) but for a flexible onstage rig, you simply can't beat the Takamine. No feedback, all acoustic tone.

Easily equals a Taylor as far as perfection of contruction, but ironically for a Japanese company, Takamines have a lot more hand-crafting than most big American companies now.

Super easy, untiring neck and a low action without buzzing. The Frets are like mini-mirrors. The neck joint is one of the cleanest I've seen on a production guitar.

It's actually as clean as my Lowden F-25c, (my all-time favorite acoustic guitar,)

Another area Takamines in which Takamines are heads-above the rest. They simply are the most reliable stage guitars around. My Taylor 414ce used to give me nightmares about quitting halfway through a gig. My Lowden with Sunrise and Trance Audio, and my Lowden with K&K Trinity are also very reliable, but wouldy ou rather have a $6000 setup or $1500 one at a gig in a bar in NYC?

Mike Makure and Co. are super friendly. I contacted them asking about the Cool Tube Preamp because, frankly, I didn't believe all the hype. Turns out, it wasn't hype, just a brilliant system.

They converted a Lowden-freak, whose been to the factory in Ireland, and who never would have considered playing a Japanese guitar. What does that say about them?

Lot's of snobs don't like Takamines, but if you are a working musician, there's almost no point in using another guitar. A Cool Tube loaded Tak, especially with the TriAx, will always give you a great stage tone, acoustic tone, a perfect tuner, and lot's of control and no feedback. I play between 250-320 gigs a year and need the most reliable guitar around. Brad Davis and John Jorgenson are far busier than I am and what do they play?

Use your ears and fingers to decide. Takamines are just the best for live use, and they still manage a world-class, mic-ready sound. All for much less money than the competition. So if an all-10 review seems
excessive, keep in mind that I've spent probably $25,000 on acoustic guitars and pickups over the past 20 years and this $1500 guitar with a $160 TriAx is the best thing that's happened to me.