Sometimes A Great Notion - Tacoma AJF-22

**Sam Sherry** · Today, 05:05 PM

We are lucky here to observe masterwork instruments featuring offset soundholes. Guitars from Tom Ribbecke, Steve Anderson and Ken Parker make their way across these pages in the hands of elite players and collectors. The Tacoma AJF is not them, for many reasons.

By the numbers:
17" x 25.5" x 3" archtop
5.6 pounds
3.5 -- this is the third Tacoma archtop I've owned if you don't count the one that was crushed by UPS.

Rightly or wrongly, Tacoma's approach to archtop building was about like this: A great model and great solid wood are more important than great handwork. Johnny Smith provided the model, the CNC did the carving and the wood speaks for itself:

Briefly:

It really feels good. The classic JS model feels large but manageable. I've got it set up low and easy even with the 0.013s it shipped with. Something about this guitar feels like home to me, which is why I keep coming back to it. At one point about ten years ago I was down to one guitar and it was an AJF-22.

This guitar sounds great unplugged -- clear, deep and even. The EMG Hi-Z floater never became a star but it's a solid unit that calls to mind the Bartolini pickups I grew up on.

It is what it is and it ain't what it ain't. For a small fraction of the cost of an offset-soundhole masterwork it's an instrument that I wanted to get back to. Go ahead and laugh -- I do too! -- but I hope to hold onto it this time.