Again in 1979, Takamine revolutionized the amplification of the acoustic guitar with the introduction of the Palathetic electronics system. Utilizing six separate and individually shielded piezo-electric parts, the pickup and onboard preamp gave acoustic guitarists who wanted to plug in higher management of tone, in addition to the flexibility to play at louder volumes with much less suggestions and improved readability. 

This progressive design, which propelled Takamine onto the worldwide guitar market, has modified little within the final 4 many years. Every year, the corporate makes a number of handcrafted guitar fashions in very small portions, and one of the vital latest is the FT340 BS, restricted to 300 items worldwide. I put this good-looking dreadnought by means of its paces and was suitably impressed by its sound and playability. 

Placing and Effectively–Constructed

At first look, the FT340 BS appeared like a traditional and easy dreadnought. However once I took the guitar out of the case, I used to be struck by the fantastic thing about its burled sapele again and sides, with their heat, reddish hue and darkish, rippled figuring. As I continued to look at the guitar, I discovered proof of high quality artisanship all through—contained in the field, there have been no glue traces, and all of the seen joints had been nicely seated. The fretwork was clear, with none tough edges. The physique’s flawless gloss end mirrored pleasantly within the afternoon solar, and the satin pure end on the again of the neck felt clean to the contact.

Properly Balanced Voice

Taking out my trusty 1.4mm ToneSlabs choose, I discovered the acoustic sound of the FT340 BS to be full and balanced with out being overpowering. I began off by enjoying a bit of J.S. Bach’s Cello Suite No. 1 in G main. The 644mm (25.35-inch) scale size was snug even with six-fret stretches, and the nut width of 42.5mm (1.67 inch) gave sufficient house for my plectrum to carry out the duty of both a relaxation stroke or alternate selecting. 

The sustained arpeggiated passages on the Bach association blended collectively properly, because the guitar possessed a nice pure reverb and maintain. And the notes projected with precision and stability, although the FT340 BS isn’t fairly a cannon like among the best dreads. I discovered the tone fairly simple to manage, however I needed to preserve a lighter contact with my choose than I usually would. 

Subsequent, I improvised some strumming patterns with alternate bass. The person bass notes rang clear and sat nicely within the mattress of the chord. If I pushed too exhausting with my selecting hand, the sound acquired barely muddled, however so long as I saved it mild, the guitar delivered greater than I put into it. 

Considerably surprisingly for a dreadnought, FT340 BS excelled when fingerpicked. I moved from a free improvisation to Peter Gabriel’s 7/4 acoustic prog masterpiece “Salisbury Hill,” and the notes projected with nice readability—I might play extraordinarily flippantly, and every be aware sang. Refined shifts in quantity had been simple to realize, and the lighter contact made harder elements simpler to play. 

I then labored my approach by means of a chord-melody association of “Nuages” by Django Reinhardt. The melody notes sat properly above the chords when picked with a bit of emphasis. Moreover, I discovered the compensated saddle for the primary and second strings offered correct intonation. Whereas this guitar isn’t constructed for this model of enjoying, it responded to dynamic variances once I dug in, so long as I didn’t accomplish that with extreme power.

Whereas instructing not too long ago on the Swannanoa Gathering, a sequence of summer time people workshops in North Carolina, I had the chance to accompany the good Katie Glassman throughout her college live performance enjoying Texas–model fiddle. The following day I used to be capturing the video for this assessment so I believed I’d give the FT340 BS a strive on this model of chording. Despite the fact that the instrument isn’t a powerhouse of acoustic quantity, the bass notes and strummed chords had been properly in stability, and the low finish offered a full basis for the chords. 

After I later plugged the guitar into my Henriksen Bud amp, I discovered the onboard CTF-2N FET preamp a delight to make use of. As one would anticipate from a Takamine, the sound was clear and retained a convincing acoustic character. What stunned me was its capability to retain the identical character at high and low volumes and wherever in between. And although I’m not a fan of the looks of a preamp mounted on a guitar’s bout, I loved the benefit of adjusting the subtleties of the frequency with the onboard EQ. 

The Backside Line

The Takamine FT340 BS is a singer-songwriter’s dream, perfect for gamers who need whole management of their onstage amplified sound. It’s a flexible axe for the gigging acoustic guitarist who wants a constant sound at a wide range of volumes in a wide range of venues. The guitar doesn’t overpower the voice, has high-quality onboard electronics for the stage, and sounds nice by itself. With a road price ticket of underneath two grand, together with a top quality backpack-style case, it’s sensible addition to a performing guitarist’s quiver.

Specs

BODY 14-fret dreadnought; stable Sitka spruce high with Sitka spruce X-bracing; laminated burled sapele again and sides; East Indian rosewood bridge with 53mm (2.09″) string spacing and compensated saddle; tortoise sample pickguard; gloss polyurethane end

NECK Mahogany with bolstered dovetail joint; 644mm (25.35″) scale

size; 1-3/4″ bone nut; East Indian rosewood fretboard; 20 medium nickel-silver frets; Gotoh 18:1 tuners; satin polyurethane end

OTHER D’Addario EXP16 strings (.012–.053); Takamine CTF-2N electronics; gig bag

MADE IN Japan

PRICE $1,799.99 road

takamine.com