I took a student loan and bought this thing right after I got out of high school at Elderly Instruments in Michigan for $1000. It wasn’t my very first one, but it was the first that sounded exceptional and meant something to me. Sold it to a friend back in 2004. It happened to find my way back to me! Its beat to snot. The finish is peeling off, there’s nearly a hole worn in the soundboard, and the original case had totally been destroyed. But it still has the magic it did when I first got it.
If anyone needs an AMAZING sounding acoustic guitar, for DIRT CHEAP, and doesn’t care what it looks like, I recommending going on Ebay or Reverb, find a Tacoma where the finish is peeling off (this is a common problem in these things) and buy it, because the cosmetic damage will greatly devalue the guitar, but it doesn’t damage its sound and playability at all.
If it didn’t still play like a dream I would’ve smashed it over that friend’s head for degrading the shape of it. The truss rod on my first guitar is trashed. I should Dr. Frankenstein it.
Tacoma made some outstanding guitars back in the day, but the overwhelming majority had that issue with the finish peeling off. Seems like it’d be worth just stripping the clearcoat off and leaving it natural
I still have my first ‘good’ guitar. (Incidentally, I bought it in Tacoma, WA)
It’s an 80s model Fender Gemini classical that I paid $500 for. I even still have the receipt for the final $25 payment I made on it in 1989. The cardboard case fell apart years ago and it travels is an SKB flight case now.
It is one of 4 Brand New guitars I’ve had out of the 100+ that have passed through my hands over the years (I still have 2 of the other new ones as well, though one is only a couple years old)
It still plays and sounds the same as it always has, even if it doesn’t quite look new anymore.
What would that do to the sound? The soundboard isn’t peeling on this one. That giant gash near the sound hole is from the dudes pick lol. I don’t know if he was trying to do a Willie Nelson with the poor thing or what, but it seems the finish on the body wouldn’t make that much of a difference. You think?
I also noted that it sounded less bright and ringy and a bit deeper and woody-er. I threw a band new set of elixir string on it just to see if still had that sound I loved when I first got it. I can’t tell if its because the guitar has changed or I’ve gotten really used to higher end acoustics. I put medium on it. Right away after i got it strung up, I realized I used to have medium lights on this one.
I think its sad what happened to Tacoma. I always thought they made a better sounding guitar than they were ever given credit for. I wouldn’t be surprised if their higher end ones could go head to head with a Breedlove if you blindfolded a player and asked him which one he preferred. I almost always prefer them over the lower end Taylors and Martins. And they were all reasonably priced imo.
If you feel like the guitar will be staying with you for a while, you should have someone put some finish on it. If it loses too much of the finish it will be very susceptible to humidity changes, which could cause cracks, or the bridge lifting up. A thin coat wouldn’t change the sound very much at all if whoever does it knows what they are doing. Send an email to my boy Frog at Elderly, he’ll give you the facts. I love beaters. I almost don’t like buying a new guitar, because it is almost inevitable for me that it gets dinged up, and as long as the guitar plays properly, the battlescars give it character.
Ha ha I have an old beat up Fender it think F25 that I bought off a hitchhiker back in the sixties. I feel bad for not playing it the last ten years. It saw many a party. Got too hard to play. Well, there you have it.
Its beat to snot. The finish is peeling off, there’s nearly a hole worn in the soundboard, and the original case had totally been destroyed. But it still has the magic it did when I first got it.
