Takamine first impression (EG360SC)

[Jimi75]

On Wednesday my Takamine EG 360 SC in sunburst arrived. I couldn't wait to get home and unpack the guitar. Man was I nervous, especially because I won this guitar and the whole matter was special to me.

The Tak is the perfect example of devoted craftsmanship. The overall look is perfect, the frets are perfect as is the nice mother of pearl inlays and bindings and on the distinctive points where Tak worked with glue you see no remainders. The two tone sunburst looks like the sinking sun, the transfer from black to the nice brown-orange is very floating. The back of the guitar is a discrete glossed choco brown wood that lets you see the wood's grain. The touch and fell is really exceptional.

The headstock has the typical Tak form. The tuners are kept in pearl and the mechanic itself is gold.

The neck is meaty and you must be a player who likes meaty necks to really enjoy this. I would say it is more of a Gibson acoustic style neck, but do not underestimate these necks, this one especially is fast. I couldn't go wrong with this, as you might know I play all my guitars with high string action and I chose the fat necks, so if you are interested in a Tak of that series, go and play one before ordering it.

The string action is medium I would say, no buzzing and perfect tones when you play with a slide. The intonation leaves no wishes.

The preamp does a very good job. It's the standard three band with built in tuner. This tuner is one of the best tuners I have used so far. This little thingy is absolute precise.

What does it sound like then? Well, it is not as loud as I thought, although it's loud in a way. The sound is very brilliant and the spectrum is perfectly balanced between bass, middel and treble. The tone response is very very direct and this Tak really breathes when you play. Where other guitars sound muddy and tones suffocate in the middle range, the Tak sounds totally unboxy and makes each note live and shine. I know it is very hard to describe this, but I really couldn't believe what I heard...man I am going to make my miles on this one for sure.

Plugged it in with my Gearboxsoftware (Piezacoustic Amp) it sound even 100% better than unamplified. It is so vivid that you really have to learn how to handle it! The overtones just fly out of this guitar.

It is a privilege to me owning such a beautiful instrument. I would have never bought such an expensive electro acoustic had I not won this competition, so I do not take this for granted. This guitar awards you with a beautiful sound and feeling and it "forces" you to write songs. Furthermore due to the fantastic playbility it gives you the opportunity to develop your playing further and to go ahead to unknown ground.

I have made some test clips yesterday, but I still try to improve my amp preset and then I will post a clip for you guys.

I hope you enjoyed my review - yes I am writing very "flowery", but hey did you never ever fall in love with a beautiful instrument?!?

Greetz
Jimi

[Brian Krashpad]

Congrats!

I have a couple acoustics, but really know nothing of acoustic guitars.

[sunvalleylaw]

I have made some test clips yesterday, but I still try to improve my amp preset and then I will post a clip for you guys.

I hope you enjoyed my review - yes I am writing very "flowery", but hey did you never ever fall in love with a beautiful instrument?!?

Greetz
Jimi

Great review! I am glad you like it. I look forward to your clips. I ready what you said about clarity across the board, high middle low, but would you say it is "scooped" at all in presentation of those sounds, like an equalizer set with highs and lows emphasized over mids? More or less, does it have the traditional rosewood back and sided dreadnought sound? I am very interested in Taks when I consider a nicer acoustic someday. And I know what you mean by falling in love with a beautiful instrument. The acoustics that have done that for me are way outside my price range however.

[just strum]

Jimi, Congrats on the new guitar. I hope you will grace the forum with some audio.

[street music]

Sounds nice , Iwould describe my Tak EC340SC almost word for word as your 360. My buddy has the 360 and last night we got together with some other friends and I took my 340, he was blown away by how close they were to being a perfect match to each other in feel and playing. I'm very impressed with what I have seen from Takamine and the price is not bad at all.

[Tone2TheBone]

Cool Jimi...got any pics? I didn't notice any on this thread?