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Electro Acoustics

Takamine Yozakura LC-O3

Every once in a while, something a little out of the ordinary comes along and sweeps you up in its charm. Keep your eyes peeled for this limited-availability guitar…

In a limited run of just 40 instruments which have been made available for the European market, this is obviously a scarce creature and one worth seeking out (the label inside of this guitar denotes that it is number 16 of 80, probably of worldwide distribution). Takamine have produced two most recent and limited guitars, both the Yozakura and the Kunoichi. This, the former, has been created to symbolise the special occasion of witnessing Japanese cherry and plum blossom falling, contrasting with the night sky, and both use kimono silks and mother-of-pearl to detail their inlays.

Build Quality

The Yozakura has an attractive and inspirational appeal in its looks, conjuring imagery of all sorts of Far Eastern gardens of nocturnal intrigue and splendour. The Takamine brand has long been held in high regard, especially when under the banner of their limited-edition models. Yes, this guitar is made in Japan and there are some really high-calibre features which identify just how well this guitar has been constructed. Apart from the obvious beauty of the kimono silk inlaid flowers, high-gloss finish and artistically balanced soundhole crescent rosette, as per usual with high-calibre guitars, there is more here than initially meets the eye. The split saddle offers more accurate intonation of all your strings and produces better continuity from your harmonics and fretted notes where there may otherwise be giveaway and telltale dissonance. The solid cedar top produces a thoroughly impressive resonance and vibration due to the added attention that has been applied to its thicknessing. The beauty of a non-mass-produced guitar often lies in the time that has been invested in getting the most from the bespoke component elements that make up the whole. This means that the backs and sides will have been given extra attention also, along with the scalloped X bracing. The back also employs solid sapele, an African near equivalent to South American mahogany in terms of strength, response to humidity and tone. As the sides arguably impart less tonally perceivable qualities than the top and back, these remain as sapele laminates. (Takamine have produced incredible electro-acoustic tones with their laminate-top instruments over the years and really know how, when and where to use their laminates for strength and signal transfer.) The gold and bold headstock logo proudly matches the machine heads in superb fashion, along with both the neck strap button and three-screw and pin jack socket. Fretting is immaculate and the black glossy neck profile has a substantial C cross section with a subtle taper further up the neck which has a cool-to-the-touch feel.

Sound Quality

This guitar really does have a personality all of its own and could easily become something of a companion instrument rather than a workhorse guitar. (Not to say that this isn’t suitable for gigging, because it would excel, but there is a uniqueness about it that may make you may feel protective towards it.) Open chords ring out with an alert and shimmering presence and have a vibrant freshness about them, and encouragingly this quality remains in good shape as you play chords further up the fingerboard, without becoming thinned out and more brittle. Their harmonic strength and incredible sustain within this guitar are identifying traits that serve to enhance and add to Takamine’s reputation. You can’t help but want to incorporate them within your playing because they leap out from all the usual places as readily as jumping in puddles causes a splash. It is a joyful instrument and it never becomes aggressive or harsh in its glassine definition. It has integrity in producing more of the same detail and complexity as you dig in and it becomes more brilliant the harder you play.

Other characteristics which really stand out are the impressive resonance and continuing sonorous nature of the whole body when strummed. You can feel that the thicknessing of the guitar has been given a lot of attention as there is a holistic feel of musicality and energy from this guitar – and particularly so from the top end, which creates a full and busy presence. This guitar was supplied with phosphor bronze strings and enhances this.

The CT4-DX Cool Tube preamp is a high-calibre feedback-buster utilising two notch controls, as well as being a tone-shaping unit. There is both a high- and low-mid shaping slider for varying the biggest frequency range open to the ear, and overall the guitar continues to produce an open, airy and bright character unless you chop out the entire top end and radically boost the mids. The clever part is that you can choose to purchase an additional Takamine Triax soundhole pickup, plug this into the preamp jack socket and then blend between the two pickups, using the top right mix pot with two-band EQ and independent notch filtering.

Conclusion

At the £1,918 price point this guitar offers not just a superb studio-quality sound but an expandability which serves to fill out an even more dynamic and full breadth of tone. This is a highly exclusive and flexible instrument and an item to cherish if you are fortunate to source one. It excels as a fingerpicker and is thoroughly musical, sonorous and resonant. It has a great life of its own and brilliant tonal personality.