Takamine P5DC Acoustic-Electric Guitar - Natural Reviews

I don't record so everything I comment is either playing the guitar acoustically or plugged in live. First off this guitar is a cannon in terms of acoustic output and tonal quality - I play hard and it doesn't care; It's just ridiculous. It is so well made. Construction quality, woods and appearance are beyond anything in this price range and as good or better than some of the big names in my opinion. The cool tube preamp is not a gimmick - you can add tube compressed warmth which I think just sounds fantastic live; Yes it's a battery eater - deal with it. The deal maker for me is the proprietary Palathetic pickup - I'm surprised SW doesn't tout this in their description because there's nothing like it - unchanged in proprietary design for well over 40 years (since '78). The natural acoustic character comes through and it never sounds harsh no matter how hard you bang away. I'm still a big fan of my passive K&K equipped instruments but this palathetic equipped Tak is my main girl and if you trust me should be an easy choice for you - make sure your Tak model has this system because the lower price models do not. I'm including a photo of the pickup intricacy for your illumination and consideration.

I purchased the P5DC 8/2020. The guitar unplugged tone and volume is very well balanced and musical. I was concerned that the CTP-3 tube preamp would eat batteries and it does, so I bought a set of good rechargeable NiMh batteries to see if they work well and they do just as good as the good Duracells. I am very happy about that because the ability to really dial in the tone to match the natural unplugged tone is fenominal. I set the guitar up with Martin Marque 80/20 bronze custom light and switched the 1st and 2nd strings to .010 ans .013 because I do a lot of bending playing lead. Such an awesome guitar. I am so glad I chose it. My Sweetwater agent Nick was great to work with.
Thanks Ronnie V.

I could of bought any guitar I wanted as I've been in need of a new acoustic for a while now. So after pondering for a while, should I go with Martin, Taylor, Gibson, Something about the Takamine just kept calling my name. I've owned two Takamines back in the day so I was familiar with the brand but after reading reviews, hitting a few guitar shops and playing some of the other brands I pulled the trigger and bought the Takamine P5DC and glad I did. The tone is beautiful unplugged and when I plug it in and set the CTP-3 and a little EQ, it's pure music to my ears. The neck fits my hand perfect and the fingerboard is fast, action is setup excellent, fret height is just right. I'm so glad I made the decision to go with Takamine. Money well spent. I've been playing guitar for over forty years and I would definitely recommend this guitar.

A little bright on the high end. As normal for my taste, replaced bridge pins with ebony and Santa Cruz Mid Tension strings and this baby is So sweet it is almost too good. I am sure the original set up is perfect for other ears. Needing different and knowing how is what makes music what it is. Over all this is a tremendous buy for quality and over all function. I would buy again and surely suggest this guitar. Oh a big shout our to Rob Kramer. Smart guy with character.

Purchased an EF360GF prior and the P5DC is my second Takamine purchase. Where the EF360GF is an in your face chord strumming work horse (even not plugged in), the P5DC is more versatile guitar which has a delightful sound. Equipped the cutaway and the standard custom light strings, its easier for solos and gives access to the higher frets. Plugged in, and with the on board Cool Tube pre-amp the guitar really comes to life. For sound projection, this guitar is best when plugged into an amp. Nice job Takamine. Love it.

This guitar is everything I wanted and more. You aren't going to find anything better for the price. I am looking forward to enjoying it for many years to come.

Let me begin by saying, the Takamine P5DC is actually a work of art. Don't get me wrong, so are Boseman Gibsons, it's just the difference in approach. With Gibsons you get the individuality of the luthier who built it as well as pure American quality. The Japanese culture however, is in this Takamine (which I purchased from Sweetwater). Take it out of the case, sit down and strum, then smell the inside of the guitar, it's alive. Everything about this guitar is precise. The fit and finish are impeccable. As you play, you can almost see the craftsman's painstaking attention to detail while building it, an expression of his culture as opposed to his personal interpretation. In the tradition of Samurai sword builder's, he's in there alright, but behind in the background allowing his creation to take the spotlight and speak for itself.

As to sound and tone, the words to describe are multitudinous, so allow these few: big, bold and beautiful.

Okay, now to playability. I'm a skeptic to the point of being cynical at times. So when I first inspected the guitar for any problems, I noticed the action seemed a little high at the upper frets. I wanted to call my Sweetwater engineer to complain, but then I did a little research. According to one of Britain's most reliable luthiers, "For a good, general purpose playing action that suits fingerpicking and strumming styles of playing, the 'action' at the 12th fret should be a little under 3mm for the 6th string, and around 2mm for the 1st string." Pulled out my trusty feeler gauge, measured and sure enough, the Sweetwater boys were right on the money, 2.137 mm for the EBG strings and 2.8 mm for the DAE.

So, here's the deal, you could spend a thousand or more on another guitar, but I'm not sure you will be buying anything better than the Takamine pro series. You will be buying a different sound I suppose, and that's fine, but you won't be buying better quality and you'd be making a mistake buying anywhere but here. If you're like me and suffer acutely from buyer's remorse every time you spend more than $10, take heart, the Sweetwater guys make the process singularly pleasant as you know it will be right or if not, they will make it right.

This guitar is special. I'm a big CF Martin fan and this P5DC compares very favorably. Even just acoustic is almost as loud as my HD-35. Can't wait to hear amplified. Very easy to play (maybe even easier than my Martin). Also, very pleased with my experience with Sweetwater.

One of the finest sounding acoustics I've ever played in this price range. This is an heirloom quality instrument in all respects... outstanding tone, great value, exceptional manufacturing & finish. The neck & fret-board feel very comfortable & you can sense the quality of this instrument just by holding it in your hands. First thing I did was lower the action a little & install some Spectrum, Super Light strings for increased playability. I lost a minute amount of "unplugged" volume by doing so but to me, the trade-off was worth it because the guitar still has great volume/tone & is much easier to play without a hint of fret buzz. This guitar rings out even with a very thin pick... now, that's impressive. I couldn't be more pleased with mine & this 50th anniversary model might be very collectible in the future... maybe the future is now! Well done! Thanks again to all the fine folks at Sweetwater... exceptional service on each & every transaction. "I'll be back."

First of all, I'm happy to announce, this is the first review for this guitar. I know it's just a renamed, slightly altered version of the TAN16C, but technically it's the first for the P5DC, so I feel special... I've been playing a Taylor 414CE (2002) for 10 years (the past 4 professionally). I absolutely love this guitar, but have been tough on her. I play hard and use a very percussive style. Let's just say my luthier loves/hates me because I'm such a regular in his shop, but his heart breaks a little every time I bring it in for a "tune up". He says I'd be in prison if it were a woman... Anyway, I recently cracked the top beyond any repair worthy of the tone it once had, so we agreed put her into retirement. He even removed the preamp, so I can't play out if I'm feelng nostalgic... Over the years, my he always tried to convince me to buy a higher end Takamine and I wanted no part of it. ONLY American in my house! This guy knows his stuff though and after researching, I realized I needed to take a risk. I have never purchased a guitar without playing it first, so I was beyond apprehensive, but 24 month no interest financing is hard to pass up. This guitar played like butter right out of the box, but unfortunately all takamine guitars come standard with light strings and those don't cut it for me. After my luthier set it up for mediums, holy crap this thing is amazing. It's built like a tank. The CT4-DX preamp is great, but extremely sensitive. You have to tweak it carefully. Comes with a 4 band EQ and option to put a second pickup in for blending. I doubt I'll ever do this, considering it sounds so good already...

**Warning** Takamine is majorly lacking in preamp setup guidance!

The first couple gigs I played, I had to jack the gain up big time to get the guitar loud enough and had no idea why. The guitar still sounded great, but was a bit on the thin side. It wasn't until I really examined some high res pictures of the preamp that I saw a gain knob on the inside. Not very convenient, and of course, it was turned all the way down! I jacked it up about half way and this thing sounds $$$$$$$$$. I can't imagine how well the tone is going to develop over the decades.

For the price, you cannot beat Takamine acoustic/electrics. I play 200 shows a year and will never purchase another brand (unless I get stupid rich). There's just no need. The preamps are superior to Fishman and completely blow Taylor Expression System out of the water. If you gig a lot, get a Tak and don't ever look back. Leave your high end martins and gibsons in your studio and only play them acoustically.