Takamine JJ325SRC-12 - Overview and Best Prices

Takamine JJ325SRC-12 Review
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  • From Takamine's 2019 Signature series
  • John Jorgenson Signature
  • Made in Japan
  • 12 strings
  • 25.4"'' scale
  • 12" Fretboard Radius
  • Solid Spruce top
  • Ovangkol back
  • Ovangkol sides
  • Mahogany neck
  • Rosewood fretboard
  • Bridge pickup: CT4B II (Preamp/Active)
  • Fixed bridge
  • Acoustic Asymmetrical C Set neck
  • 20 Medium frets
  • Takamine Gold tuners
  • Side-By-Side Comparison
Show Specs
Takamine JJ325SRC-12 Specifications
Takamine JJ325SRC-12
General
Brand: Takamine
Year: 2019
Configuration: N/A
Strings: 12
Made in: Japan
Series: Signature
Colors: Red
Left-Handed Version: Yes
Body
Type: Hollowbody
Body Material: Solid Spruce
Sides Material: Ovangkol
Back Material: Ovangkol
Bridge: Fixed
Neck
Neck Joint: Set
Tuners: Takamine Gold
Fretboard: Rosewood
Neck Material: Mahogany
Decoration: Dots with custom 12th
Scale Size: 25.4"
Shape: Acoustic Asymmetrical C
Frets: 20 Medium
Fretboard Radius: 12"
Nut: Bone
Nut Width: 47.6mm (1.875'')
Electronics
Pickups: CT4B II (Preamp / Active)
Hardware
Strap Lock: No
Hardware Color: Gold

Our Scores and Tone Evaluation

Playability 73
Sound 85
Build quality 84
Value for money 76
Overall Score 81
Tone Evaluation
  • Heavy Metal
  • Hard Rock
  • Jazz
  • Blues
  • Funk
  • Country
Strengths & Weaknesses
Takamine JJ325SRC-12
  • Made in Japan
  • Expensive Wood
  • Bone Nut
  • Top Brand Pickups
  • Electronics
  • Bone Saddle
  • Solid Top Wood
  • Cheap Fret Wire (NS)
  • No Locking Tuners
  • Laminated Side Wood
  • Laminated Back Wood
  • No Compound Radius Fretboard
  • No 21:1 Tuner Ratio
  • No Strap Lock

Price Overview

Its average competitor's price is $2400, which means that the Takamine JJ325SRC-12 is around 17% cheaper than the competition. This takes into account all instruments of the same category in our database with 12 strings and Fixed bridge that are made in Japan.

User Reviews & Feedback

Not all instruments are created equally. That's why it's important to have different opinions. Here's what our users who have played this instrument say. If you've played it before, help others by voting below!

Weight

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Tuning stability

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Neck speed (thickness)

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Neck access to high frets

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Neck profile shape

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Fret edges

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Pickups noise

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Pickups power

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Often Compared With

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Hand Size Comfortability

After taking into account the neck profile, scale size, fretboard radius, and nut width, we can conclude that the Takamine JJ325SRC-12's construction favors people with relatively small hands.

Nevertheless, this comes down in the end to personal preference. Make sure you test this guitar—or another one with similar characteristics—before buying.

Big Hands
Small Hands

Beginner Friendliness

The Takamine JJ325SRC-12 meets 3 out of our 8 criteria items for beginner friendliness, which means that it's not recommended for complete beginners. This takes into account the type of frets, scale length, nut width, bridge type, fretboard radius, and neck profile to determine the easiest combination for new players to get used to.

New Player Friendliness

Takamine JJ325SRC-12
  • Easy-to-use bridge
  • Tall frets
  • Comfortable neck
  • Comfortable shape
  • Comfortable fretboard
  • Narrow nut
  • Short scale
  • Soft Strings
  • Locking tuners

Videos

Takamine John Jorgenson Signature Series JJ325SRC & JJ325SRC-12 Demo by Jake Allen
Takamine 381SC VS Takamine JJ325SRC
Takamine John Jorgenson JJ325SRC-12
TAKAMINE JJ 325SRC 12 - UNBOXING / REVIEW = RESEÑA
Takamine John Jorgensen Signature Series 12 string Demo

Playability

Scale Length

Scale length is the distance the strings will span between the bridge and the nut. It can tell you a lot about the overall playability and tone of the instrument. A longer scale length means longer distance between frets, brighter tone and more string tension—which means lower action, but more difficult bending of the strings.

Here's the Takamine JJ325SRC-12's 25.4" scale length compared to other common sizes:

Takamine JJ325SRC-12 Scale Length Comparison
Takamine JJ325SRC-12's scale length (at the top) compared to other popular sizes

This is considered a long scale, but slightly shorter than what's commonly found in acoustic guitars.

Since the distance between bridge and nut is relatively long, strings will feel stiff and more difficult to bend, but the tone will feel brighter. It will also be less likely to produce fret buzzing and rattling when strumming hard.

Neck Profile

Takamine JJ325SRC-12 Neck Profile
Takamine JJ325SRC-12's neck profile

The neck profile tells you the thickness (neck depth) and shape in cross section. Every difference will completely change the feeling and comfortability of the neck. This is a highly subjective thing, but most players indeed prefer certain types of necks (like Cs and Ds) because they feel nice in most hands.

It has a Asymmetrical type neck. The shape is Asymmetrical. Even though it looks like a poorly-made job, it's, in fact, the shape that most naturally adapts to the arc that your hand makes when grabbing a guitar neck. You'll notice that the lower part of your palm makes a more pronounced, deeper curve while the upper part makes a more subtle arch. This is the shape that adapts the best to that natural shape of your hand.

Fretboard Radius

When it comes to fingerboard radius, personal preference will dictate which one is better for you. However, most people seem to agree that a more curved (lower) radius will make it easier to play chords while a less curved (higher) radius is better for soloing and bending.

The Takamine JJ325SRC-12 has a 12" fingerboard radius.

Here's an image comparing this fretboard radius to other popular choices:

Takamine JJ325SRC-12 Fretboard Radius Comparison with Fender Stratocaster and Gibson Les Paul
Takamine JJ325SRC-12's fretboard radius compared to others

This is the same radius that Gibson uses in most of their guitars. When compare to the other popular radius of Fender Stratocasters, you can see that it's a lot flatter. Guitars with this radius are usually made to bring a good balance between single-note and chord playing.

Compound radius fingerboards give the best of both worlds. Unfortunately, the Takamine JJ325SRC-12 has the same radius across the board.

More with the same fretboard radius:

Playability compared to main competitors

25.4'' Scale Length
Asymmetrical Neck Profile
1.875'' Nut Width
12'' Fretboard Radius
25.4'' Scale Length
Asymmetrical Neck Profile
1.811'' Nut Width
12'' Fretboard Radius
25.4'' Scale Length
Asymmetrical Neck Profile
1.827'' Nut Width
12'' Fretboard Radius
25.512'' Scale Length
D Neck Profile
1.89'' Nut Width
15.75'' Fretboard Radius
25.4'' Scale Length
Asymmetrical Neck Profile
1.827'' Nut Width
12'' Fretboard Radius

Nut Width

Takamine JJ325SRC-12 Nut Width
Takamine JJ325SRC-12 Nut Width

The Takamine JJ325SRC-12 has a nut width of 47.6mm (1.875''). This is within the most common range of nut widths for a 12-string guitar. It offers a good balance of string separation at the nut. It's the size that most guitarists prefer as it gives them just enough space to play open chords without muting the strings, but without spreading the strings too wide and making bar chords difficult to perform.

Frets

It comes with nickel silver frets, so they won't last as long as stainless steel frets. If you use your instrument a lot, you might need to replace the frets after a few years. But this is unlikely as most people change instruments before this happens.

Fret Size

Takamine JJ325SRC-12 Fret Size Comparison
Takamine JJ325SRC-12's fret size (in orange) compared to other popular sizes

Finally, let's talk about fret size. Some people prefer tall frets because it's easier to press the strings and perform bends since there's less friction against the fretboard. On the other hand, some people like shorter frets because they like to touch the fretboard when playing, or because they got heavy hands and tend to press too much on the string and alter the of the note pitch accidently.

The Takamine JJ325SRC-12's frets are Medium size. With medium frets, you can feel the fretboard more than with jumbo frets, but it's still easier to press the strings cleanly than with small frets; notes might change their pitch just slightly if you press hard on the fret. Also, if you need to do some fret leveling after years of playing, you'll have some room to sand them down without having to replace them.

Playability Score

Bending & Vibrato Ease 75
Chord Playability 75
Solo Playability 70
Playability 73

Tone

The type of wood and even the shape of the body will have a lot of influence in the final tone of an acoustic guitar. Here's we'll talk about what kind of tone you can expect from its specs.

Wood

Spruce wood pattern used for guitar building
Spruce Top
Ovangkol wood pattern used for guitar building
Ovangkol Back, Sides
Mahogany wood pattern used for guitar building
Mahogany Neck
Rosewood wood pattern used for guitar building
Rosewood Fretboard

Spruce Top: This wood has a light color with tight grain patterns. It's very stiff but relatively light. It's known for producing a well-rounded tone with a broad dynamic range.

Ovangkol Back and Sides: It's a beautiful wood that's popular for acoustic guitars. Its tone sits somewhere between rosewood and mahogany, meaning it has a punchy low-end and nice mid-range.

Mahogany Neck: This is the type of wood found in many top-of-the-line guitars, so that's a positive point for the build quality. This red-looking wood Mahogany is found in Africa and Central America and has great sustain and a warm tone due to its high density. The downside about this type of wood is that it's relatively heavy.

Rosewood Fretboard: Since the ban of Brazillian Rosewood, this has become a rare and expensive wood. It's not usually used for guitar bodies because of this, and also because it's heavy. Instead, it's used mainly for fretboards. Sometimes it's also used for necks because it's an extremely hard wood (even harder than maple). Its tonality tends to favor warm tones.

Pickups

This guitar comes with pickups from one of the top brands: Takamine. So you can expect well built pickups with great sound that shouldn't need an upgrade anytime soon.

Sound Score

Sustain 85
Versatility 85
Tuning Stability 70
Sound 85

Build Quality

Country of Origin

Knowing where the instrument is produced is a good way to know how well it's built. Some manufacturing countries are known for having higher quality standards. For example, most expensive instruments are made in the US or Japan, but there are some exceptionally great countries—like South Korea—that are building a good reputation.

The Takamine JJ325SRC-12 is made in Japan. You should expect a high-quality guitar with excellent quality control. It can be compared to guitars made in the US, which is why they're also expensive.

Bridge

Fixed: The advantage of fixed bridges is that they don't require any kind of set-up. This makes it extremely easy when changing strings because you don't need to adjust anything besides tuning the guitar. Also, the fact that the bridge is directly attached to the body will help to increase sustain. The disadvantage is the lack of versatility since you can't create the same vibrato effects as with tremolo bridges.

Nut Material

Another important thing to analyze is the nut material, as it's one of the most important aspects that can affect the sound and playability of your guitar. A well-cut nut will make sure it stays in tune and will make it more comfortable to play.

In this case, the Takamine JJ325SRC-12 has a Bone nut. This material is one of the highest quality you can get. It provides excellent sustain and tune stability if cut well. The only disadvantage is that it's an organic material, so it's not consistent. Two different bone nuts, even if made from the same bone, will probably sound slightly different. However, bear in mind that this is only relevant when playing open strings.

Build Quality Score

Quality of materials 76
Features 85
Quality Control 90
Build Quality 84