[andare]

Last week I jammed with a friend. He owns a no name, cheap dreadnought he bought in a pawn shop for about $25. He had to reglue the bridge, change the pins and do other minor adjustments. Basically a genuine POS.

Well, it blows my Takamine EG332C (solid cedar top cutaway) out of the water, especially in how much bass it has. Notes feel like they're springing from the guitar.
My Takamine, on the other hand, sounds totally dead. The notes are nice but there's no projection, no bass, no sustain, even with new strings.
I adjusted the truss rod, the string action, cleaned the fretboard, bought different string gauges, the works, yet every other guitar I've tried was easier to play.
It's my first and only acoustic, a high school graduation present from my parents that I personally picked out of many instruments back when I knew nothing over 20 years ago.

Just bummed out.
I'm now looking for a parlor and ready to pull the trigger on an old, cheap Framus. Can't suck worse than my Takamine.

Has anyone had similar experiences?