Ben Morgan-Brown gets to grips with one of Takamine’s ‘budget’ G20 series
Takamine has been around for over 50 years and has an excellent reputation for making great value professional quality instruments. If you’re a regular traveller who doesn’t want to risk taking your incredibly valuable 1930s acoustic on the road, but still want a premium quality instrument with a great sound, Takamine has long been a popular choice.
Which is fine, unless you are not quite ready to spend professional class money and would still fancy a guitar with Takamine’s strengths. Enter the company’s new G20 series, which makes a Takamine available at the sort of prices usually associated with less prestigious brands.
There are four G20 offerings, the GD20-NS dreadnought, the GD20CE-NS, which is a dreadnought with a cutaway and a pickup, the GN20-NS, which features what Takamine calls a NEX body style (think of it as a jumbo that has shrunk in the wash) and a cutaway version, again with electronics, the GN20CE-NS.
Making a change from the near ubiquitous spruce tops found almost everywhere these days, the G20s feature solid cedar tops, which is both a traditional and very respectable choice. To keep the prices down, the guitars feature laminated mahogany backs and sides and, no doubt with an eye on the CITES restrictions on rosewood, they boast ovangkol fingerboards.
So, can you really get Takamine quality for a bargain price? We were in for a pleasant surprise…
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Specifications
Takamine GN20-NS
UK Price: RRP £249
Top: Solid Cedar
Back: Mahogany
Sides: Mahogany
Neck: Mahogany
Finger Board: Ovangkol
Nut Width: 1.6875″ (42.8 mm)
Electronics: N/A
Finish: Natural
