NGD - 1980 Takamine C-128 Classical

[Nick]

Randomly stopped at Guitar Center on my way home Saturday. I've been looking for a "nice" classical for a while, but I'm usually put off by the local used offerings in my budget for various reasons, and something about buying the nicest new Cordoba I can afford just feels contradictory to my ethos. My Guitar Center now locks up every guitar over something like $800, but they have a small room where they stock their scratch and dent, plus any "budget" vintage/used acoustics. While scratch and dent to an electric is usually something repairable, the acoustics are pretty solid non-buys, or "luthier specials" that are barely marked down to 20%. Occasionally I'll find something ALMOST perfect, but it'll have a top crack, bowed top, lifting neck, high action, always something.

So I spotted this really nice looking Takamine and just picked it up and started playing. I couldn't find a single thing wrong with it. It was however strung by an idiot, 5th string was reverse wound, 3rd was strung on the 1st peg and it was missing the 1st string. But the action was perfect, low and no buzz anywhere, and it sounded beautiful, considering the poor condition of the heavily oxidized strings. Ran home, grabbed a few trades, after a somewhat stressful ordeal with that I left with it after checking out the included OHSC. Solid spruce top, rosewood back and sides. I like that it has just enough cosmetic patina to have character but is still very well kept for its age with no big/visible scratches. They threw in a pack of D'Addario Pro Arte strings.

[plopswagon]

Hopefully it’s not the legendary dreaded cursed Takamine of Albany. (that’s why I prefer “dreadnoughts”)

Put seriously, I’d love a classical guitar.

[Nick]

Doesn’t feel cursed haha.

A few more shots. I love all the subtle details - everything adds up to feeling like a much more premium guitar for this price, although I guess it was one of their more budget friendly/barebones offerings back in the day.

[sunshiner]

Looking gorgeous, congrats! Being a long time plywood dreadnoughts basher who can't play to save his life I always sort of despised classical guitars but one day sat down and played a friend's classical guitar and was amazed how big and full it sounded.