My story and your thoughts

[Song]

My advice is to be patient.
Shop around.
Enjoy the experience.

Will the store where you have credit let you take a guitar home to try it?
In my opinion home is the best place to see if we bond. My amps. My chair.

Good luck in your search!

__________________________

By the way, I hear music!

[slopeshoulder]

Check out the Larrivee brand. Most excellent guitars, I have owned alot of guitars but have discovered Larrivee and they are it for me.

[King'sXFan]

Originally Posted by We Walk in Song

My advice is to be patient.
Shop around.
Enjoy the experience.

Will the store where you have credit let you take a guitar home to try it?
In my opinion home is the best place to see if we bond. My amps. My chair.

Good luck in your search!

__________________________

By the way, I hear music!

Great post, I know the song well but never saw the video before! To answer your question I am fortunate enough to have access to both models in an out of store setting, so I have had the opportunity to compare both side by side over the past 24 hours. I am forcing this to be the final decision because I have spent arguably too much time and money driving across various states looking at guitars, time well spent in my opinion but my girlfriend, who accompanies me on these trips, now knows mores about "tone woods" than she ever anticipated, and she is starting to suspect I have untreatable GAS (she may be right but that is besides the point). In retrospect I would have many more options if I was not chained to the store credit, but alas I held onto that 214cd DLX for a while.

I have mainly been playing my favorite songs on both and seeing which feels better/is more comfortable. I'm fairly confident I prefer the Taylor 322ce 12 fret sound over the Takamine P3NC, for most things at least. I'm having trouble figuring out if things are potentially harder to play on the 12 fret. I've set them both with the same strings, + similar relief and string height, but still cannot figure it out. I know everyone says the 322 is easier to fret, but they feel pretty similar in that department. The 322 is definitely more forgiving, where as the takamine require a bit more precision to have everything ring cleanly. I think I am willing to sacrifice some real estate in exchange for the tone that occurs from moving the bridge back.

My questions really are these, do current 12 fretters feel that more complex chords (Jazz etc.) are easier or harder when compared to a non-12 fret (especially beyond the 5th fret)? Also, I tend to put a lot of strain on my wrist by playing for long periods, especially when recording, how do 12 fretters feel about this issue? I will say the Takamine is incredibly easy to play for extended periods.

[Mark Lew]

Welcome, KXF, hope you enjoy it here at AGF. I'm a new member, too, and these folks have been terrific. Although I have never owned a Takamine, I do like them, in general. What I CAN talk about is the 322ce 12-fretter. I love mine. Plays easy and sounds great. It's not my only guitar, but it could be. Another close option would be the 322 14 fret , which does not have the slot head design. Let us know what you decide on!

[King'sXFan]

Originally Posted by Mark Lew

Welcome, KXF, hope you enjoy it here at AGF. I'm a new member, too, and these folks have been terrific. Although I have never owned a Takamine, I do like them, in general. What I CAN talk about is the 322ce 12-fretter. I love mine. Plays easy and sounds great. It's not my only guitar, but it could be. Another close option would be the 322 14 fret , which does not have the slot head design. Let us know what you decide on!

Hello, thank you for the welcome! I am glad to hear about your love of 322ce 12 fret. I have been digging back through this forum to see what people are saying about them, and I am inspired by a lot of the positive feedback. Also props to Shoreline Music for having a great review of the non-cutaway version. I agree with you that the 322ce 14 would have been an interesting one to add to the mix, unfortunately I could not get my hands on one, and at this point I really love the sound I am getting from the re-location of the bridge. I am actually surprised this style isn't more popular.

[Mark Lew]

The 324 is also a nice guitar. Andy P. did well to pair the mahogany and the Tasmanian blackwood together, for both looks and sound. As to your question of why the style isn't more popular, IMHO this little beauty flies under the radar because of the GC size. It puts out more sound than one would expect. It's kinda stealthy, and almost sneaked by me, too! I was ready for a new addition and went to AGF-sponsor Acoustic Vibes in Tempe to take a look around. Jeff has a fantastic selection of guitars to choose from. I played everything in the shop up to about $4K (a man's got to know his limitations...) but I kept on coming back to the 322ce. It was just so friendly and comfortable to play and warm sounding. I could have gotten a bigger guitar, but this one was so unique and fit into my collection so well that I could not resist it. You're right, it also strums well, and finger style is great. It records very nicely, and has the ES2, which I find to be superior to the older ES in my 714ce. My skill level is average, maybe, but I find this to be a very easy to play guitar. Good luck with your quest, and remember what we always say around here about NGD's; "send us pics, or it didn't happen!"