- Punches way above its price tag
- Excellent build quality
- Sounds big, bold and alive
- No cons, just get this acoustic guitar if you want to invest for long term! :)
Hello there, I’m back again with another true and honest acoustic guitar review. This time, we will be looking at a Takamine GD93CE acoustic/electric dreadnought guitar.
Table of Contents
About Takamine
Takamine guitar company was founded in 1959 in Japan and has been active since then. Takamine is very well-known for its unique approach to guitar making, and I believe these are what really set them apart from its competitors. First of all, Takamine’s unique neck profile is formed just like an asymmetrical “C” letter, and it’s smaller in the lower register, which feels like a better fit to the natural form of your hand. This improved ease of playing and playability, and once you get used to it, you don’t want to go back to a non-compound neck profile.
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In addition, their “Split Saddle” (not on this model) design is something you won’t see with other manufacturers. With this approach, the intonation of the guitar is much more developed than a standard design. As you can see in the photo, the contact point of each individual string is way more accurate. Enough said for Takamine’s unique approaches to guitar making; let’s hear the guitar in action.
Sound Demo (no talking)
We all played a part in a different song in this video, and it was recorded with a Rode VideoMic Pro and directly to an audio interface at the same time. During the video, we switched these different parts on and off so you can hear both recording characteristics separately. 
Tech Specs
| Takamine GD93CE | Tech Specs |
|---|---|
| Top | Solid Spruce |
| Back and Sides | 3-Piece Black Walnut and Maple |
| Neck | Mahogany |
| Fingerboard | Laurel* or Rosewood |
| Nut Width | 42.8mm |
| Electronics | Takamine TK-4OD Preamp with Built-In Tuner |
| Finish | Natural Gloss |
| Strings | D’Addario® XTAPB1253 Light (Successor of EXP16) |
The first thing you will notice when you play a Takamine GD93CE (and I must say, this is very true with most of their instruments) is the top build quality. Even though they are made in China, you’ll be surprised by the quality and attention to detail. It has a very distinguishable, refined and contemporary look with a solid top and quite a pretty-looking back. According to their official website, it is stated that it comes with a “Laurel” neck and a “Rosewood” fingerboard in the tech specs. However, they also stated contradictory information in the description section that it comes with a mahogany neck and bound laurel fingerboard. 
As I mentioned before, here you will find me spotting these kinds of small details; that’s why you should always come here and have a look 🙂 I believe it’s a post-CITES thing again; with the increasing prices of rosewood, manufacturers have started to find different woods to replace rosewood. The ones I have played so far had rosewood boards. I think you might have either one of them depending on the stock you are buying from. Takamine GD93CE has also a great sounding and functional preamp and tuner on it, and the one thing I really like about the tuner is its position on the body. 
Most manufacturers place their preamps way too underneath your chin, so you often have to look down to see what’s happening with the settings and tuners. But with Takamine’s positioning of the preamps/tuners, it’s way easier to see. Another point for factory strings! It comes with a D’Addario® XTAPB1253 Light (Successor of EXP16) set, which means you won’t have to worry about your strings getting rusty for a long time! As for the quality, I don’t remember having a faulty instrument from Takamine; they were always in great condition out of the box.
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And most of the time, we did not even need to adjust anything. Overall, for the price range, it’s a piece of art, and I bet you won’t believe it’s made in China! Here’s another short but sweet video of Takamine GD93CE (Natural satin version) played and recorded by MyDukkan below.
Natural Satin Finish – Sound Demo (no talking)
If I aim to spend around €600 – 700, I wouldn’t consider any other brand or model for my acoustic guitar choice, and I’m quite serious!
By the way, I have recently published “25 Best Selling Acoustic Guitars For Beginners and Intermediate Players” which also includes Takamine GD93CE as well. Do not forget to check this out before you buy your guitar.
I would also like to mention another excellent instrument by Takamine, which is the GN51CE model featuring an ergonomic jumbo body design. If you are into jumbo acoustic guitars but stepping back from them as they are not easy to handle, please check my review!
Just for transparency, I was shopping for an affordable acoustic guitar, and the first brand that I locked myself in was, of course, Takamine! 🙂 I recently got a Takamine GD30-CE, which is an entry- to intermediate-level acoustic guitar with a cutaway and onboard preamp. Since I’m not really an acoustic guitar player, it will take some time to get used to it. However, I’m planning to record my own no-talking sound demo and will publish a review along with this material.
Also, don’t forget to check out my Takamine GD11M review here. Regardless of the segment, Takamine guitars never disappoint us! 🙂
Pricing & Availability
As always, you can get the best price offering in the whole EU on Thomann. I got my Takamine from Thomann in the previous months. The strings were a little rusty, and Thomann didn’t even hesitate to send a new set of strings! 🙂
Check out Takamine GD93CE on Thomann here
You may also want to check out Reverb, as there are used listings as well.
Check out Takamine GD93CE on Reverb here
Lastly, you may want to check out Amazon. Although it is very difficult to find any Takamine on Amazon, there are usually some models listed there, too. You may be on your lucky day and order this from Amazon! 🙂
Check out Takamine GD93CE on Amazon here
Hope this has provided helpful insight for you! Thanks for visiting my blog and supporting me so far! I will hopefully see you in the next review here!
