TakamineEF341SC Pro Series Dreadnought Acoustic Electric Guitar Black with Case

I *almost never* write product reviews. Perhaps I wrote one or two others over the 14 years that I've been using Amazon. But this guitar merits a review -- especially for those people who are considering purchasing this guitar without the opportunity to try it out first.Almost every guitar review you'll find for any guitar on this site, the sites of other guitar retailers, etc. are overwhelming positive. I'm not sure why that is, but it makes it very difficult to determine which guitars are magic and which guitars are duds -- it did for me anyway. It's true that guitar preferences vary from person-to-person, so there are very few absolutes when it comes to good and bad -- above a certain price point, anyway. But I digress...I'm a relatively new guitar player, which, in this case, makes me a perfect reviewer in my opinion. It's my third acoustic guitar. The first was a Taylor bought in a guitar store a couple of years ago (around the same price point as this guitar --a little less, but not much). The Taylor sounds great and seemed to play great, but I had no point of reference on which to judge the playability. My second guitar, which I bought because I wanted a second guitar that I didn't care about as much (could throw it in the back of a car, use on the beach, etc.) was an Ovation Applause AA21-4. Suddenly I had a reference point from which I could judge the Taylor and it made me love the Taylor that much more. The Ovation is a "you get what you pay for" guitar. It seems to fight against me instead of making my life easier. The sound is just okay. It's very difficult to play on the higher frets (for me anyway), but most of the reviews are glowing. It makes me wonder what their previous guitars were because I would not give it a positive review -- especially for beginners (your results may vary). And that's the paradox of buying a cheap beginner's guitar -- you come away feeling defeated because it's so difficult to play, but in most cases, it's not you, it's the guitar! I'm just glad I also owned the Taylor so I knew it wasn't "me." Don't get me wrong -- the Ovation is the perfect knock-around guitar. You friend wants to play but s/he's covered in sand and sunscreen? No worries!Now, onto to the Takamine EF341SC. I'm not even sure where to begin but I'll start here: I'm going to sell my beloved Taylor because now *it* feels like it's fighting me! I only had to play on the Takamine for a few minutes before I realized that it was in a different league than any other guitar I had ever played (granted, that isn't saying much). This will sound cliché, but it's like butter. Chords that were still a bit difficult for me on the Taylor (and were even more difficult on the Ovation) are now trivial. In that sense, this is the *perfect* beginner's guitar (for those lucky enough to be able to swing it financially or with the help of a credit card, of course). The sound is also amazing. Really amazing -- again, in my opinion. The sustain is unbelievable. This guitar is special. There's really not much more to say about it based on my personal experience.This is where you chime-in and ask "yeah, but what would an experienced guitar player think?" Well... I have a close friend who has been playing guitar consistently for 30 years -- composes his own music, plays classical in addition to indie stuff, etc. He's a very impressive player. I wanted a second opinion on the Takamine, so I asked him to check it out while he was over my apartment recently. While he played around with the guitar, I went into the next room to do some work. I come out a few minutes later and he's inspecting the interior of the guitar. I ask him what he's doing, and he tells me he's trying to figure out what Takamine does differently to get such amazing sound out of their guitar. He's blown away by it -- the sound, the playability, etc. Now, the net is filled with "my friends LOVE this guitar" reviews -- so many that it's hard to believe that so many friends could love so many different guitars. But my friend's opinion --again a serious guitar player for 30 years -- echoed my opinions exactly. And he has owned many acoustic guitars and has played hundreds of new and vintage guitars in guitar shops all over the country.I am extremely satisfied with my purchase. I'll end it there because I think you get my point.One thing I need to add: I can't judge the "electric" aspect of this guitar. It's my first Acoustic Electric and, once again, I have no reference point for comparison when it comes to the quality of the pick-up, the preamp, etc.

I have been playing music professionally for over 20 years, and also work in live sound production... thousands of gigs, dozens of venues, and hundreds of different instruments.My opinion is that Takamine makes the best preamp/pickup systems for LIVE performance, full stop. Taylors can sound nice if the player knows how to use the Expression. Some Gibsons can sound decent, but they seem to throw different preamps in every model and there's little consistency in the sound. Martins can sound good if you plug them into an emulator processor that converts the sound of them into studio samples (sorry... it's true).BUT, plug a Takamine in... especially those with the CT4B-II preamp (or even the lower G-series preamp), and you will have a useable, ear-friendly sound with almost zero effort on the part of the performer and engineer. They just WORK.So why THIS model? Well, here's the thing. I absolutely HATE black guitars...haha! But, the EF-341 is simply the best live rig around. The CT4B-II may be the "lower end" of Takamine preamps, but I would argue that it ends up sounding better 99% of the time because of its simplicity.And the guitar itself is a joy to play, once you set it up to your specs. Like any good professional level instrument, it comes off the line with a very standard setup -- relatively high saddle, slightly high nut slots, and the neck set a bit tight. This is NOT a flaw in the guitar or the production!With this particular guitar, I lowered the saddle by about 1.75mm, slightly deepened the nut slots on the wound strings, and added a bit of relief to the neck. Plays like a dream... and SOUNDS even better.And in what seems like a total bonus, Takamine provides some of the nicest "included" hardshell cases in the business with their pro-series guitars.The $1500 price tag is a fraction of the price of many terrible sounding electric-acoustics I have played/heard over the years.If you're a live stage performer, just get your hands on one, set it up and try it out. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

And I surely didn't get wrong. As I began to read the description about this guitar I took attention only to the part talking about how wounderful sound it has and how many others sounds you can create with this guitar. I read only that it was an acoustic and electric guitar, so I decided that it could be the guitar I needed. So I just bought it.When it arrived a had a wounderful surprise: what I didn't know (maybe because I didn't read it) was that this guitar had been shipped in a wounderful black hard case with all the hooks to close it gold colored.Too expensive? NO, no really for a guitar like this and also its case.But ... I had the change to play it only as a classic guitar because the seller is been not so carefull to control, before to ship it, the status of the guitar, if it worked, if there were enclosed the 9v battery and the manual. So I had to return it.Anyway as soon as I could I'll buy another one, because if it has this amazing sound only as classic giutar I can't really imagine as acoustic and electric guitar...For everybody loving very good music: it doesn't matter if beginners or professionists.Belive me: don't loose it !!!

I've played with many guitars in my life.... This one is famous for being Bruce Springsteen's and Jon Bon Jovi's go-to guitar the past decade+. It's a decent guitar...but for all the hype I expected a better sound and feel. Frankly for a beginner it's ok... but let' be honest...this ain't no Gibson, Martin or Taylor... and it doesn't even come near their more budget-friendly guitars. I strongly suggest you try before you buy and make sure you try the budget friends (or within similar priced) version of the other brands.