TAKAMINE & CRN-TS1

TAKAMINE TC135SC & CRN-TS1
98
GUITARIST JUNE 2022
supply, as well as being a non-endangered
timber. Another thing that hits the eye
immediately is the 12th-fret body join – a
once-familiar attribute in acoustic days
of yore, which then gave way to the more
ubiquitous 14th-fret join of today. The
slot-head offers a stylish punctuation
point to an already good-looking guitar,
and amplification duties are once again
performed by a CoolTube variant, this time
the CT-4BII with a slightly simpler layout
of controls than its stablemate – tuner, low,
mids, high and volume – but ample to allow
prudent tweaking on the live stage.
Feel & Sounds
Returning to the TC135SC, the general
vibe here is of a well-balanced instrument
both in terms of physicality and tone. It’s
not the loudest nylon-string we’ve heard,
acoustically speaking at least, but that’s
quite probably not the point. This is an
instrument built for the stage, after all. But
it has a lot of charm, with polite trebles
and basses, and our fingers appreciate
the more familiar feel of the narrower
fretboard. After just a very short time, we
felt completely at home in this department.
The neck feels good in the hand – more
acoustic guitar-like than the somewhat
4. The TC135SC’s nylon
strings are tied at
the bridge – another
classical guitar staple
The Takamine has an extended fretboard
that offers a full two octaves on the treble
side, stopping two frets shorter on the
bass. As you can probably already tell, this
is a guitar that is aimed at modern playing
styles – and, as we’ve said, it’s probably just
the job for the occasional foray into the
more gentle side of jazz.
Pickup-wise, there’s Takamine’s
renowned CoolTube under-saddle and
preamp combo in the form of a CTP-3 with
an onboard tuner and an array of tone-
shaping possibilities via sliders for low,
variable mids (via a separate rotary) and
high frequencies with a notch filter. The
CoolTube operates on a 12AU7 dual-triode
vacuum tube that runs at very low voltage,
and has a separate control that will adjust
its character from bright to warm. All in all
you have practically everything you need to
sculpt your live sound to the nth degree.
Moving on to the CRN-TS1, we’re in
more familiar territory, although there
are a few features here that are perhaps
slightly unusual. We’ve covered the thermal
treatment of the spruce top, but where you
might be expecting either mahogany or
rosewood for the guitar’s back and sides we
have sapele. This is sonically in the same
general area as mahogany but is in plentiful
3. The fretboard extends to
two octaves on the treble
side, giving the guitar
some considerable range
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