A week ago, in another thread under 'Fender', YerDugliness looked for feedback from anyone about Tacoma acoustics. With no other replies than mine in a week, I've edited it, reorganized it, added to it and moved it here.

While it may seem strange to stop making really good guitars, Fender bought the struggling Tacoma company in '05 with the ulterior motive to move production of Guild acoustics to the Tacoma factory from their Corona, CA plant where they’d been making them since FMIC acquired Guild in ’95 and closed the Westerly, RI Guild factory). Since Tacomas own traditional 'roundhole models' were/are not only fine quality all solid woods since 2001 and had been generally list priced several hundred dollars lower than Guilds, they killed most of those Tacs to switch Tacomas wood resources, luthiers and factory time & equipment (lots of CNC technology for consistency in parts) to making Guilds and not compete with themselves. They've cross-trained personnel to handle production of both lines.

Tacoma was originally a wood company and only got into making guitars in the mid-90's. They started with the Papoose, a little 6-string thing tuned to A. Distinctive in Tacoma's original designs, now known as their 'Wing Series' is their paisley-shaped soundhole, offset on the upper bout, similiar to McPherson's, both of which on the same principle as Ovation's Adamas designs: with no big hole in the middle of the top allowing more top surface to vibrate freely, and top bracings designed accordingly. Early on, they made 'traditional' guitars under contract for Washburn. That stopped and they focused on making their own besides their Wings series. They also contracted with a plant in the Orient (china?) to make Olympia's, their 'budget-priced' alternatives like Epiphone is to Gibson.

Tacoma's roundholer necks are bolt-on from inside, similar to Taylors. If ever they'd need a neck reset, this makes life less miserable. Their Wing Series axes bolt on from the outside.

Tacoma had some serious issues with finish bubbling and peeling on their guitars in the later 90's and apparently got all that resolved by '01. But the damage had been done to their reputation, and they did virtually no marketing or PR to overcome the stigma, since they really had no budget to do so with their underpricing leaving them no margin to invest in it. So the brand remained fairly anonymous and still does, outgunned by marketing bigshots like Taylor.

Last August, I traded in an '04 Washburn EA20SDL (fyi, 'Washouts': I got $500 for it) to get this bomber for 50% of its $2,382 List price. This was the first Tacoma I finally had the resources & nerve to buy, and it hooked me:

'05 JK28C...jumbo, solid Koa b/s, Sitka Spruce top, mahogany neck, ebony board & bridge, tortoise bindings, Tusq nut & saddle, ebony bridgepins. Fishman PrefixPlus Preamp w/ UST. Gotoh tuners. 1.625" nut... alot less 'bling' than the 55 series, but man...how that koa changes with the light...



Two months later, I traded in a Seagul/Godin SA-12 toward an ‘01 DR16C solid rosewood & spruce cutaway dread with a Tacoma/LR Baggs pre-amp/UST that had been traded in by a guy to get a new Tacoma DR28. An outstanding guitar,and I'd still have it, if I hadn't traded it's $900 value this past April to get this outrageous guitar for 50% off it's $2,399 List Price, thanks to Fender clearing its warehouse:

'06 DR55...dread, rosewood b/s (3-piece back) Englemann Spruce top, mahogany neck, koa bindings, ebony board & bridge, abalone edge & fret marker inlays & rosette. Tusq nut & saddle, ebony bridgepins. LR Baggs Miratone preamp/UST. Gotoh tuners. 1.75" nut:



The dealer I’ve bought my Tacomas from has really done quite nicely with Tacoma over the years. He’s taken several Taylor 300, 400 & 600 series guitars in on trade-ins toward Tacomas.

That not only indicates that at least the players who made those trades found Tacomas to be superior to their Taylors, but the dealer got to resell the Taylors to the other Taylor-hounds who enjoy their fabled clear & bright tone, thanks to their incredibly fragile & susceptible to low-humidity thinner-than-typical-tops. Essentially, their own Mr. T says 'Pity da fool', as Taylor makes a big deal of the importance to be sure to religiously keep their guitars properly humidified, with a warranty carefully peppered with appropriate legalese.