The son ( Kodiak) does very well with the selection process, because he says Dad you seen any new guitars that you like. And so it goes from there. This has to be one of the best sounding Cedar top acoustic -electric models that I have ever had my hands on, it only took about three minutes for it to take control me and the factory setup was excellent. Plugged in you soon find out where Takamine excells over the other brands as this pro series is just that, a purchase that you will keep for a lifetime. It has so a great clean clear tone that with a little reverb & delay just begs to be played over and over. I'm still getting the hang of the bar chords and playing up and down the neck but it was a huge step up from my G-Series and the fact that it comes with a great Takamine hard case was a huge plus. The satin finish I am told will age into a master piece and grain in the body is beautiful. Yes, I'm happy with it and I would suggest that if you haven't looked at one locally then check out SweetWater.com and their policy on being satisfied with your purchase. If I didn't have such a great local dealer I would have wanted to deal with them or ZZOUNDS as they both are great on line dealers.
Look at how many stage players rely on Takamine guitars and talk to those who own them. I can't really afford to put the dollars into the high priced Martin, Gibson, Taylors but I can sure enough playing a great affordable guitar from another manufacture.