Text: Jorge Quesada

Introduction
Takamine has carved out an important niche in the acoustic guitar market. Few guitarists today don't know or haven't heard of this brand. In earlier issues, other models from this company have passed through our hands, leaving a good taste in our mouths after testing. They are well-made instruments with good results and, perhaps what has hooked most of the public best, a fairly competitive price.

Given the ISP giveaway in which we are raffling off this guitar (you can find out more on page 41), what better than to put it to the test first, to know for certain what we're talking about.

First Impressions
The guitar arrived quickly and perfectly packed. This may seem like a note of little interest but, on the contrary, it tells us a lot about the conditions in which instruments travel before reaching stores and the speed of their distribution. These are facts worth taking into account.

On unpacking, we found a guitar with good finishes, natural look in a gloss finish. The focus of this series, according to the manufacturer, is instruments for the semi-pro and professional guitarist, in Jumbo, NEX and Western shapes. Our guitar today, the EG540C, belongs to the Jumbo category. Among its distinguishing features is a modified nut, which helps achieve optimal tuning and intonation.

Playing It Unplugged
With a medium feel, neither especially stiff nor basically soft, we ran through the first phrases after tuning. Here I'll note how easily it tunes; I get desperate with guitars that "go crazy" and resist being tuned. That's not the case with our guest, which was docile and friendly about being brought up to pitch.

The sound is very defined and nuanced. Perhaps a bit hard, which, in my view, suits certain kinds of playing or styles better than others. In any case, it has a distinct personality. The blend between strings is good and the volume (or stridency) balance between highs, mids and lows is even, meaning there are no shrill strings or notes.

To finish the unamplified sound section, I found more than reasonable quality relative to the selling price. This is a mid-priced guitar and, therefore, you have to demand quality without losing sight of what it costs. Whenever I test acoustics, I pay special attention to three results: the guitar in chords (open and barre), arpeggios and solos. When you play open chords you can clearly sense the depth, body and volume of the instrument; playing barre chords I can tell whether the sound is too "dry," and in solos I look for note definition and the timbre it gives me. Faced with these three listening tests, the Takamine showed ample volume in open chords, a certain need for pressure in barre chords, and very bright, defined solo sounds. The melody section was the one I liked best of all.

The Preamp and Its Plugged-In Sound
This is Takamine's new TK40 preamp. It is quite complete, giving us three-band EQ, gain control, a mid attenuator, a feedback filter, bypass, a battery indicator and something that is always welcome: a built-in tuner.

I have to confess that I was more drawn to the amplified sound than the acoustic one. Perhaps because I could shape it however I liked, adapting the bass, mid and treble levels to my preferences. I like the clarity and precision of the notes it produces. That hardness of tone I mentioned in the previous section also shows up here, although with the versatility the preamp offers we can "readjust" it.

It didn't strike me as an especially sweet-sounding guitar. Although it responds well in rhythm parts like "pads" in the backing of a song if we trim it a little in the shrill frequencies. Conversely, that excess of vigor is magnificent for soloing with one, two and three strings, showing an edge over its competitors in musical styles where we want character and a certain tonal hardness.

I'll finish by praising the preamp, since it seems very reliable for live sessions and capable of controlling feedback perfectly.

Conclusions
Choosing an acoustic guitar is, to my taste, especially personal. The variations in sound within the same quality and price levels are truly notable. That doesn't mean one guitar is worse than another; surely for certain tastes and styles a hard sound will work better, for others a sweet and mellow one, bright, muted, and so on.

Therefore, and given that each person's taste in sound doesn't affect quality, I base my conclusions on parameters such as good intonation, its stability, the good quality of the preamp and its wide range of possibilities, the good finishes and, of course, a very sensible price for a semi-professional guitar.

July 17, 2006