Friday, May 30, 2014

1982 Takamine F369 Acoustic Guitar Review

Hiya!

It seems like I have been on a Takamine lawsuit guitar kick the past few months, but I have seen quite a few of them lately. But, today we are looking at an F369, which is a very rare bird – in fact, this is the only one of these I have ever seen.

Takamine is a Japanese guitar maker that has been in business for over 50 years now. They have started building guitars in other countries, but all of their high-end guitars still come from the land of the rising sun. Don’t sniff at their products and say that imports are junk, because they build some fantastic acoustic and acoustic-electric steel string guitars. By the way, the company is named after Mount Takamine in the Gifu Prefecture of Japan. Over the years I have owned and played many of these Japanese-made Takamine acoustic guitars and have found nothing to gripe about with their craftsmanship, playability or tone.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, this company became famous (or notorious) for building righteous Martin guitar copies that earned them a strongly-worded memo from the Martin legal department. Today we are looking at one of these animals: a 1982 F-369.

The F-369 would be a shameless copy of a Martin dreadnought, if Martin sold all-rosewood guitars. They went whole-hog on their reproduction, even using Martin’s headstock shape and logo script. I can see why Martin was upset, particularly when you consider that this is a nice guitar, and surely provided unwanted competition for a fraction of the price. This would be a lawsuit guitar, if a lawsuit had ever been filed.

The body has the traditional dreadnought size and shape, with 14 frets free from the body. This one has an East Indian rosewood body, back, AND TOP! There is no S or SS in the model name, which is usually (but not always) the designation of a solid wood instrument in the Takamine world, but this one appears to be made of solid wood. Who knows, and actually who cares at this point? It is a nice-sounding guitar.

The body has a multi-ply binding around the top and back while the neck is not bound at all. The rosette is elegant, and combined with the black pickguard and the ebony bridge it fits in well with the visual theme of the guitar.

The mahogany neck has 20 chunky frets, and they are skillfully sunk into the rosewood fretboard. The peghead has chrome-plated sealed tuners, probably made by Gotoh. This Takamine shares Martin’s 1 11/16-inch nut, and 25 ¼-inch scale. The fretboard is a bit more curvy with a 12-inch radius, instead of 16-inch.

This guitar was unsold new old stock, so the condition of this F-369 is fantastic, particularly for a 32 year old guitar. There is no wear to the original frets, no cracks or evidence of repairs, and no dings or scratches. It is a real time capsule!

After a quick set-up with new light gauge strings, I have to say that this Takamine is really a winner. It is not terribly powerful, but it has a sweet sound with fabulous overtones. The volume is well balanced from string to string.

The frets are level, and it is a very easy-playing guitar with no fret buzz. It is not super-good for fingerstyle, but it is still a fabulous instrument and it would be terrific for a beginner or intermediate player. By the way, it weighs in at around 4 pounds, 12 ounces, in case that makes a difference to you.

If you are looking for one of these guitars, remember that they are all over 30 years old now, so you should look it over carefully or have a luthier check it out. Just look for the usual stuff: bridge lift, cracks, evidence of previous repairs, and fret wear.

But, good luck with finding one! As I said earlier, this is the only one I have ever seen…

Mahalo!

9 comments:

  1. I have another F-369 Takamine solid rosewood and mahogany neck. Its beat up but sounds beautiful. ser. # 8109:260. Is it the real thing? Can you help me out with a value?

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  2. I have an F-369 that was made in December 1981, and I bought it in January 1982. I love this guitar and call it my oldest son (my other 3 sons aren't too happy about that - HA!!) I have left it in the case for years, in a closet (during the coaching my sons years), and I have played it extensively for many of the other years. I love this guitar, and it plays as good now and the day I bought it. never, ever had a problem, no cracks nothing.
    never selling it

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  3. i just found a ef369 in great shape, except that it is missing the preamp, leaves a hole in an otherwise really nice guitar, anyone know where I can find something that will fit and work with this guitar?

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  4. i have a f369Z 1984 in mint condition with original case....ant one able to put a value on it?

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  5. I have a f369 it is just as described in this review

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  6. The F-369 in Mint condition is a good value around $5-700. The F-369, all Rosewood comes in at around $6-900, If you can find one, and they are rare. My first acoustic in 1985 was the F-349. It was a great guitar, Takamine script and hard-shell case with yellow/gold lining. Not that sturdy, but protective. I am lookin for one or the other in Mint/Excellent condition to complete my collection of guitars, 45 and this would make #46, and those that I bought, sold, and now need this one to complete my original buying over these 40+ years and all the others I have bought.

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  7. I bought my F369 new in late 1981. It has been a faithful companion to me since. I will never sell. I have a Martin and Taylor that I play regularly, now, but the Takamine is still my favorite as it has great tone. Good luck to anyone trying to but one of these beauties. I have never seen another one besides mine.

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  8. J ai une f369 depuis 1982 et elles est comme neuve. Très belle et bonne guitare … fidèle et surtout accroche beaucoup les regards

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  9. I just want to add that I use mine for fingerpicking and it's fantastic I wouldn't use it any other way. Bluegill.

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