1990s Jasmine by Takamine S80S Dreadnought Guitar




This guy was just in for repair -- some fretwork, setup, and adjustments. It's a Korean-made instrument and one of the earlier "Jasmine" guitars made by Takamine. It handles and sounds like a late-'70s/early-'80s Alvarez-Yairi product or similar, which is good in my book! The build quality is not quite as accurate or clean as those, but it does look nice and has held-up pretty-much bang-on for the past 3 decades.

The top is solid spruce and the back and sides are (apparently) ply jacaranda. It's x-braced and the shorter scale length makes it feel less-stiff on the left hand than many '80s/'90s imports that ape the Fender 25 1/2" scale.

Work included: a fret level/dress, setup, light bridge shave and saddle adjustments, cleaning, and a setup.

Setup notes: it plays spot-on at the 12th fret with 3/32" EA and 1/16" DGBE action. The truss rod works but the neck has a hair of relief on the treble side.

Scale length: 25 1/16"
Nut width: 1 11/16"
String spacing at nut: 1 7/16"
String spacing at bridge: 2 1/8"
Body length: 19 3/4"
Lower bout width: 15 1/2"
Waist width: 9 3/4"
Upper bout width: 11 1/2"
Side depth at endpin: 4 7/8"
Top wood: solid spruce
Back/sides wood: ply jacaranda
Neck wood: mahogany or similar
Bracing type: x-braced
Fretboard: rosewood
Bridge: rosewood, synthetic saddle
Neck feel: slim C-shape, ~12" board radius

Condition notes: there's a center-seam separation that's been filled and is stable on the top. Otherwise it shows average use-wear throughout with small nicks, dings, and scratches all over.











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