All user reviews for the Takamine EG530C

First off let me just say that I don't consider myself an "advanced" player. I've been playing for about 20 years, I'm self taught so that means it took me longer than usual to learn to play. I'm mainly a strummer and simple picker. Having said that, on with this:
Made in Korea. (Meh, at least it's not made in China)
20 frets, the last fret is accessible by advanced players but anything past the 13th fret I found difficult.
Nice pickup (TKN4 I believe but not 100% sure) with 3 band equalizer, volume control, notch filter control with on/off button, mid contour on/off and EQ on/off buttons.
Standard acoustic guitar neck, just normal stuff here.
All around this guitar feels solid and well made.

UTILIZATION

Neck does have a nice feel. Top frets are accessible. I like the shape, it's a great guitar for strummers especially. The dreadnought body is nice to hug and just pound away on.
This was my second guitar, my first was a Yamaha FG410 acoustic. Compared to my first guitar, this EG530C was a dream to play and MUCH easier on the hand.

It's a bit difficult to play standing up but most acoustics with the large body will be I guess. I do not like that it has a pin for the strap on the body bottom but no second pin. This means you have to "jurry rig" a tie for the left side of the strap at the top of the neck. Not a "really" big deal, but a bit of an annoyance.

One can get a really nice sound out of this guitar in any number of ways; however, one can also get a "not very great" sound too. You just have to play around with the EQ on the guitar and whatever you're plugging it into and you definitely CAN get a very nice sound from this baby. Anyone saying different is just being a bit unfair and lazy in my humble opinion.

SOUNDS

I like to play folk/rock so this guitar has always given me the kind of sound I like.
I use this guitar mainly through a PA system at church, unplugged and plugged into my BR-600 digital recording studio. In all these situations, this guitar has been more that satisfactory.

I find the best settings for this guitar through the PA system is bass and treble set slightly above flat and mid range left at flat (or in the middle).
This guitar can sound a bit "tinny" when plugged into recording devices (depending on the device of coarse) but this can easily be overcome by playing with the EQ on the Guitar and with control/effects from recording device. This guitar sounds amazing through chorus pedals/effects by the way.

I've heard people complain about the sound of this guitar unplugged but I think it's because they just didn't age it properly. My guitar has a nice sound, a little bright on the high strings but overall a very nice sounding guitar. I let it stand in front of my TV and stereo when not in use, always have. This allows the wood to age and pick up all the tones while it's aging. If you only play country chords on a guitar, eventually, rock chords will not sound as sweet as the country chords. So, in my opinion, the best way to age a guitar is to let it "feel" and "absorb" all the tones possible, even when not playing it.

OVERALL OPINION

I've owned this guitar for about 6 or 7 years now. Overall, it was worth every penny I paid for it. I bought it new for $500.00.

The thing I like most about this guitar is that it's made tough. I've dropped this thing (by accident of coarse) more that a few times, wacked the back of it, knocked the head against any number of things (I'm often playing in tight spaces) etc. and this thing has taken it all with hardly any signs of wear. I look at it now, and except for the first few frets having grooves worn in them a bit, it still looks pretty much mint. I also like the fact that this thing stays in tune for a good long time. Even in temperature changes, I only have to tune it "slightly". In even temperate environments, this thing stays in tune for weeks, I love that! My old Yamaha F series acoustic I had to tune every day which got really annoying.

I would not by another one ONLY because they don't make 'em anymore. This is a great guitar for beginners and intermediate guitar players in my opinion. Advanced user will definitely want a more expensive guitar. But, if one is tight for cash, this guitar is a very sweet instrument for the money, even for advanced players.