I normally don’t write reviews, but this is an exception because I’ve been so pleased with this guitar. To be up-front, I didn’t buy this through Amazon, but instead through a local retailer, at a similar price.

To prep you for what I’m about to say, what I write is absolutely true, and from the heart of a pleased customer.

Starting at age 13, I’ve been playing steel string guitar now for the last 37 years. When I was 16, I loved guitar playing so much that I committed to save up an entire summer’s worth of life guard wages to buy myself a Martin D-35 guitar. I did so, and still have and love this guitar today – my main guitar.

A while ago, I was at a local music store waiting for a non-guitar related service of some kind, and while I was waiting, I pulled a few guitars from the hangers on the wall, and messed around with some of my stock guitar riffs and pieces I know.

Among those guitars was this Jasmine S34C guitar. I was really impressed with the sound, and had to double-check the price tag to overcome my disbelief.

I probably played that guitar for another 1/2 hour, amazed at the great sound, appearance, and playability of such an inexpensive guitar. Action was easy and close, yet the neck absolutely straight, the fit and finish was flawless.

Over my years of guitar playing, I’ve sampled many guitars, often in settings such as this, and I have to say, I have not played a guitar that I enjoyed as much as this one selling for anything less that 0.

I’ve purchased a couple of these now for family members, and if I didn’t have easy access to one around the house (my daughter’s guitar), probably would have bought one for myself, just for a variety from my D-35.

I have to say that on one of them, I did need to file one of the high frets down slightly to remove a slight buzz – due in part to the very close action of the strings. I found that the action varied a bit among the 4 S34C’s at the store, so you may find that you want to modify this slightly if you have the capability (fairly simple). I chose the one that had the most desirable action for my tastes, but all of them were acceptable.

Anyway, this guitar comes very close to closing the gap between low priced guitars (and this is a REALLY low priced guitar!) and high priced guitars over 00, such as my Martin. Honestly, if my Martin were lost, stolen or destroyed today, I would not (even if I could) pay the high price to get a new one. Much as I love that guitar, the Jasmine S34C would be sufficient to satisfy me. It kind of hurts that such a high quality guitar can be purchased so cheaply! (makes my Martin seem way over-priced) If it weren’t for name-brand appeal, I believe the high-priced guitars would be pushed out of the market place by ones such as this from Asia.

As mentioned in other reviews here, it is rather light-weight, which can feel a bit strange, if you’re used to a heavier guitar, and the finish is matte, not gloss – also a bit unusual, but I like it.

All in all, I personally feel this guitar is an absolute steal, and would not hesitate to recommend it highly.

I was thrilled when my guitar arrived and even more so after I tuned it and began to play.

My guitar is absolutely beautiful. The finish is flawless. And it’s got that new guitar smell…ahhhhhh.

It does have a pick guard (that is not shown in the photo on any website or in any catalog) which pleases me. It would be a shame to scratch the surface while strumming with a heavier pick. I read one review on a music vendor’s website where the reviewer complained about Takamine and Jasmine printed all over the pick guard. And they were right about that…but I found it very easy to remove all these words by simply peeling off this protective sticker. Dah.

The strings are a little heavier than I like but I’ll be changing them in a few weeks anyway.

The sound and craftsmanship is anything but what you would expect from such an affordable guitar and everything you’d expect to pay more for. It has a rich, full bodied sound.

I am now a diehard Takamine fan.

Customer Video Review Length:: 0:44 Mins

First the bad: this guitar came with low quality strings that were corroded and unplayable in my opinion. The first thing that I did before even playing it was to change the strings.

If you are a beginner this may be a problem unless you know someone who can do it for you. If not, I suggest you purchase a string winder (B0002E1G5C), a set of good strings (B0002H09RU) and a guitar tuner (B003VWJ2K8.) Find a web page or YouTube video that explains how to change the strings on an acoustic guitar. However you may get a guitar with a shiny set of new strings that sound great and this won’t be a problem. But you will need the stuff that I mentioned later if you keep up with your playing. Actually if you are a beginner you will need a guitar tuner — buy one with your guitar. You will never sound like you are making progress with an out-of-tune guitar.

The good: This is a surprisingly nice guitar for very little money. I needed a “crasher” guitar that I wouldn’t feel guilty if I bumped it around and a second Takamine guitar for a gift. I purchased this along with the slightly less expensive Jasmine By Takamine S35 Acoustic Guitar (B0002F58TG). This guitar has a little better sound than the S35 — deeper bass and crisper highs. Also different is the shape of this guitar’s body which looks sleeker and cooler than the more traditional S35. Also this guitar has a cutaway for access to the higher frets and on my guitar the intonation up there was not bad.

I find the fingerboard to be a bit slow for faster lead playing but maybe the guitar just needs to be broken in.

This is a nice looking, nice playing and nice sounding guitar. Rather than take someone’s word about the sound of the guitar, I made a video so you could hear for yourself.

You can’t go wrong.

You can get a pretty good guitar for very little money these days.