'81 Takamine C-128

[rothenfield]

Hello Folks, this is my first post here. Briefly about myself, I started playing guitar when I was 14 and sang and played lead in a high school garage band in the late 70’s, then never played again for decades until a few months ago when I started playing a cheap Woods classical guitar that I had picked up a few years earlier but never really played. Some of the old finger memory started coming back and I felt I was ready for a classical guitar upgrade. So, I began scouring the craigslists in So & Nor Cal for a bargain solid top classical. I thought I had found the one a couple of weeks ago when I bought a beautiful old blond Kawaii 662 that has an absolutely gorgeous solid arched back that I’m guessing is sycamore or some other zebra striped wood. However, the more I played it, the more I realized that while its banjo-like twang was interesting and fun (it kind of reminded me of the twang of a Fender Telecaster I once owned), it didn’t have the clarity and projection I was looking for.

A few days ago I popped into a Guitar Center while my wife shopped next door and ended up playing several classical guitars in their sound room. I was particularly interested in the Cordoba C3 & C5 since I’d read good things about them. I had set a price I wanted to spend on a “used” guitar at $200 and the C3 was on sale for 160 so I started taking it seriously; however, I found the sound of both the C3 lacking in both clarity and projection so I was just about to leave when I noticed the used Takamine C-128. The sound was so much more precise and warm that even though it was 250, I bought it. I’m loving it and trying to find more info about the early C-128/132 models. I found a site where I could plug in the serial no. and it said that it was made in July ’81. This one appears to have many of the attributes that I would, in my limited experience, associate with a much more expensive guitar. The top is apparently solid spruce, however I’m unclear on whether the beautiful rosewood sides and back are solid or laminated.

So, in an effort to learn a little more about the history of Takamine in the late ‘70’s and early ‘80’s in order to gain a better appreciation for this guitar that I have.

Thanks in advance.