Takamine Laminate Guitar Question

[sim75]

Hey, I recently purchased a Takamine Gy11 me-ns. When I search it online, all the ones I see have a slotted head stock (classical style) and mine does not. In the store, the tag said it was mahogany top, back and sides and it looked to me like it could be. But when I'm looking online now, it seems to be all Sapele (laminate). It plays really nice and I was comparing it against a Yamaha APX 600 in the store which sounded brighter and maybe better in a way (but more similar to another guitar I have) and I liked what I thought was the more mellow tone of the 'Mahogany'.

I'm noticing now that it seems heavier than my other guitar and I can't decide if that's an issue for me or not. I like the sound and playability of it, (not the weight). And I was under the impression (maybe my own fault for not clarifying with the store workers) that it had at least a solid top (for $500 Canadian).

Looking for some input on if I should keep this or not - Will the laminate top shoot me in the foot years from now (either in resale value or not 'opening up' like a solid top might ) vs. getting maybe something used (tougher in covid times). Laminates seem to have a bad rep. and I'm wondering if maybe that's more to do with a 'cheap laminate - like some random amazon guitar or something from a big box store - and this Takamine Laminate is gonna hold it's sound and value (ish).

-- I know the laminate /solid debate has a lot of info about it in lots of places, but wondering about anyone's specific knowledge about takamine guitars or this particular model (as I cant' find a lot of solid info about it - a lot of youtube reviews are in other languages or don't have the same model (mahogany vs. sapele).
Thanks.

[Tannin]

Hi Sim,

This is a difficult model to find anything much out about. possibly Takamine have discontinued it, or are now making it under another model number. Anyway, it's not on their website, and it isn't much mentioned elsewhere. But for three different reasons we can confidently say that it is laminate top, back, and sides.

First, the price. At less than $600AU, you don''t get solid tops from any top-tier maker. Maybe from a no-name Chinese or Indonesian maker, but certainly not from the likes of Takamine. Solid tops in (for example) Takamine, Yamaha, Gibson/Epiphone start at close to double that price.

Second, I see a review at acousticreview.co.uk which seems reputable and says it is laminate. And third, I can find retailers listing it as "mahogany" without the key word "solid". If it was solid, they would say so. Anything that doesn't say "solid", unless it is from a high-class maker where soilid wood goes without saying, is laminate.

So is it laminated mahogany or sapele? Who cares? Laminate is laminate. It doesn't really matter what they make the top layer out of.

No guitar in this price range has much resale value, so forget about that. All that matters is whether it plays nicely. Only you can decide that.

On the down side, you have a made-in-China (or maybe Indonesia) all-laminate guitar which won't mature into a better sound than it has today, and which won't ever have the subtlety and depth of tone an all-wood guitar can have.

On the up side, it is a Takamine. Not one of their best ones (hand made in Japan) or their second-best ones (made to their specifications in South Korea), but a Takamine just the same and unless I miss my guess it will be well constructed, very playable, and sound as good as you can sensibly expect a fairly cheap guitar to sound. You could do a lot worse than a cheap Takamine.

If you are going to swap it for something with a solid top, you'll have to spend a lot more. I'm not sure that I'd want to do that right now, not unless I could go into shops and play things to make sure I get one I liked. You have to decide this for yourself, but on the whole, I am thinking that you've got a solid, well-made, playable instrument from a top-class manufacturer for not much money. Will you want to upgrade in a few years time? Sure. Worry about that when the time comes.

[Karma]

I have a 35 year old all laminate Yamaha that still plays great. SJ-180. It’s my camping guitar that I don’t worry about humidity over. It’s built like a tank. I also have a nice Taylor 710 that doesn’t leave the house. Having one of each is a good way to balance beautiful sound with utility.