Takamine G Series Dreadnought | Part 1

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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Preamble

This post is the first of a series on a Takamine G Series Dreadnought Guitar with the serial number "G11023912." The instrument was bought new in 1998 by the current owner's father, who's also an avid acoustic guitar enthusiast. Strangely enough, not only is there no information on this particular guitar online, but it doesn't even appear in any of the Takamine catalogs featuring the G Series. I guess this is another one of life's mysteries. The two images below are of this instrument after servicing, restringing, and a good polishing.  

Takamine G Series Dreadnought

Quilted Maple Back

  

The Headstock 

The headstock features a gloss black face, prominent "Takamine G Series" label, maple binding, yellowed polymer nut, and Grover tuners. The Grovers are replacements for the factory issued gold tuners with black plastic buttons. While servicing the original tuners, I discovered missing washers, frozen bolts, and a badly damaged tuner button. These issues, compounded by widespread corrosion, made it impossible to reuse them. 

"Takamine G Series" Label

Single-Ply Maple Binding

Grover Replacement Tuners

The Original Tuners

Neck and Fretboard

Moving on, we see a stained hardwood neck finished in clear gloss. The heel of the neck is decorated with a maple cap, which is quite a change from the run-of-the-mill polymer cap one is wont to find. On the upper side of the neck is a rosewood fretboard with 20 nickel-silver frets. The third, fifth, seventh, ninth, twelfth, fifteenth and seventeenth frets feature pearloid "Crosstar" fretboard inlays set in dark epoxy. Feel-wise, this is one fast and smooth neck, thanks to the gloss-finished rosewood binding that conceals the ends of the fret tangs.

Hardwood Neck

Maple Heel Cap

Rosewood Fretboard

Pearloid Crosstar Inlays

Rosewood Binding/Side Dots