In early 2007, Takamine unveiled the newest editions to its new line of Nashville model guitars. An homage to the Music City’s rich traditions, the Nashville line of instruments was designed with the guidance of some of the world’s hottest players and built to deliver the projection and vintage tones that bluegrass players, flatpickers, and other roots musicians look for.

Not content to make the Nashville line a strictly retro set of guitars, Takamine leveraged its extensive experience in onboard-electronics, which goes back to 1973, and equipped the line with the company’s latest electronics and updated design elements, including a modern headstock. The TF360SBG, which we received for review, is among the instruments born from this marriage of contemporary and modern design as well as one of the most unique guitars in Takamine’s history. And through the company’s thoughtful efforts to bring together the tonal flavor of a mid-century flattop and the flexibility of modern electronics, Takamine has delivered a versatile flattop that gives both adventurous players and traditionalists plenty of tonal territory to explore.

CLASSIC LOOK WITH A MODERN TOUCH

The TF360SBG’s herringbone rosette and purfling, small pearl fretboard dots, plastic tortoiseshell pickguard, exposed gear tuners, and subtle “T” headstock inlay give this guitar a clean, classic, understated look.

Overall, the construction was quite clean. I did notice some superficial imperfections upon close inspection, however, including a slight bleed in the herringbone inlay around the binding, some finish splattering on the inside, and traces of wood shavings. None of these flaws were substantive enough to affect the sound or structural integrity of what is essentially a fine-looking instrument.

CLEAR AND FOCUSED TONES, VERSATILE SOUND

Takamine states that this guitar was developed in cooperation with the help of “the world’s hottest flatpickers.” While it’s not clear exactly who helped develop the guitar, noted Nashville touring and session picker Brad Davis was given a prototype to use in the studio and gave it great reviews.

In my book, a good dreadnought usually has a focused sound, lots of power, clear highs, and a heavy low end. The TF360SBG delivers on all four counts and feels great doing it. The tonal range was well balanced, the bass tones clear and strong. And picking my way through a quiet, midtempo David Grier tune with a capo on the second fret, I found plenty of response to light picking. Single-note lines up and down the fretboard leaped out with plenty of brilliance.

When I really dug in for some heavy strumming and pounding, the guitar had no problem keeping up, though the sound was occasionally a little brighter than I expected. Attempting one of my fingerstyle tunes down at the nut, I was surprised at the excellent response to a light touch, since the heavier bracing of a dreadnought usually produces less response to fingerpicking. I was also pleased with how comfortable the thick neck felt under my hands, since my main ax has a much lower profile. My fingers had no problem navigating the fretboard or thumb fretting, but those with smaller hands may find it difficult to get their thumbs over the substantial neck.

COOL TUBE PREAMP WARMS TONE

Much of the TF360SBG’s modern appeal lies in the Cool Tube preamp, which is designed to provide warmth to an amplfied acoustic signal in the same way that a tube preamp does in an analog recording environment. And indeed, turning up the Cool Tube when I plugged in the Takamine fattened the sound when picking or strumming—adding a substantial amount of warmth and volume to the signal without imparting any unwanted compression or overdrive. The three-band EQ had an extra knob for the midrange frequency, which allows you to isolate and increase or decrease output in those frequencies. This capability could easily come in handy for feedback reduction, which is often created by pesky midrange peaks.

I was also immediately impressed by the onboard tuner. If you press the tuner button once, you can tune the guitar while hearing yourself through the amp; if you hit the tuner button again, the signal mutes while you tune; hit the tuner button a third time, and you’re out of tuning mode. As someone who likes to mute the guitar when I tune, I liked having this option, but I thought it was cool to also have the option to tune by ear. Even better for songwriters and fingerstyle players: it’s a chromatic tuner, so whatever tuning you want to get into is at your fingertips.

THE WRAP

Overall, I found the TF360SBG quite versatile, and capable of delivering rich tones and playability whether I was at picking or playing with my fingers. Add to that the flexibility of powerful onboard electronics, and you have an excellent ax for any player who wants a plug-and-play solution for gigging. And while singer-songwriters and fingerstyle players may be well-served by the Takamine’s full-bodied voice, this guitar is great match for roots players looking to work in both traditional and more contemporary contexts. Given the still burgeoning legions of roots musicians with a foot in both worlds, the TF360SBG may soon be a common sight on stages from uptown to the Opry and at backwoods bluegrass festivals everywhere.