Are Takamine Guitar G Series Any Good?

I am one of the converted. For many years I had an acoustic guitar that I loved and cherished and in my younger days kept polished and maintained on a regular basis. That was before the kids came along. Now I'm just happy that my guitars stay in one piece. Like many other guitar players out there I walk the tight line between budget and quality, but what I found was an extremely effective way to balance on this tight rope – I discovered my first Takamine guitar!

You will be familiar with the following scene:-

A young man walks into his local music store. He's been out and about and all he intends to do in this shop is look at all the guitars he can't afford. He will probably spare a passing glance at the reduced to clear drum machine in the corner too. He might, if he has the time, ask to try one of the best guitars in the shop. After his rendition of his favourite tune he gingerly hands the guitar back to the shop assistant, remembers that he has a few pennies left in his wallet, and buys a couple of cheap plectrums. He gets home and plays his old guitar (with his new pick) with a touch of resentment at what could have been if only he had the money.

We can't all afford Martin or Gibson guitars, but if you want to get an excellent guitar that is right up there with a more expensive make then Takamine delivers just this. I was that young man who entered my local guitar store with nothing more in mind than some light browsing and an outside chance of a plectrum purchase. For a change I wasn't in a rush to get home to deal with the many parental duties that come with the job of being a father and I thought I might ask for a little shot of some of the nice shiny electric acoustic names the shop had to offer. I think I got through about three guitars including a Freshman semi-acoustic that was quite nice sounding and is incidentally manufactured only a few miles from where I live. They where all way out of my price range and to be honest none of them really blew me away.

The keen shop owner handed me another black electric acoustic and by this point I was really thinking about leaving the shop, but he seemed a little desperate for a sale so I thought I would humour him a little longer. I plugged the lead into the guitar and played a few chords. I was blown away at the richness and clarity of sound that resonated around the small store. I did a little finger picking and couldn't believe how defined every note was. I was in heaven. The TP4T preamp was doing it's job extremely well and after a few more minutes of losing myself in my own little musical world I stopped playing and asked the shop owner how much it was. I knew it was a Takamine guitar so I naturally assumed it would be pretty expensive, but I checked the price tag. I couldn't believe it. It was less the half the price I expected it to be - 200 pounds. Little did I know that they had a whole range of budget Takamine guitars called the G Series. This one was the G Series Dreadnought EG341SC and I quickly laid down a deposit only to eagerly come back and pay the rest a few weeks later.

I have friends that have much more expensive Takamine guitars and I wouldn't be so bold as to say that this is the best Takamine, but they have all been struck dumb when they try out mine followed by looks of amazement at the price revelation. I enjoy playing this guitar every day and if you are on a budget, but still want excellent quality then I would definitely check out Takamine's G Series. Indeed, any Takamine guitar I have had the pleasure of playing has made me want to be a better musician.

You won't be disappointed!