Here's the question we hear when a player spots a B-Stock listing on a guitar at this price point: What did they do to it? It's a fair thing to ask when you're talking about a $3,499 all-solid acoustic-electric. So let's be direct about what B-Stock means on a guitar like this, and whether the P7NC is worth picking up at $2,799.20.

View the Takamine P7NC acoustic Product Page

What You're Actually Buying

The Takamine P7NC is part of Takamine's Pro Series — the tier where all-solid tonewoods become standard, not a spec-sheet upgrade. This isn't a laminate-back guitar with a solid top bolted on for marketing purposes. The top, back, and sides are all solid wood.

• Top: Solid Spruce
• Back & Sides: Solid Rosewood
• Neck: Mahogany
• Fingerboard: Ebony
• Nut: Natural Bone (45mm width)
• Saddle: Split Bone, rosewood bridge with abalone-dot ivory pins
• Tuners: Gold with gold buttons
• Finish: Natural Gloss
• Case: SH500A hard case included

The body shape is a NEX Cutaway — NEX sits between a dreadnought and an orchestra body, with enough volume and low-end presence for stage work while staying comfortable for extended playing. The cutaway gives you clean access to the upper frets, which matters if you're doing any melodic or lead work on an acoustic.

Scale length runs 25.35" (644mm) — very close to a standard 25.5" and familiar to most steel-string players. Overall length is around 41.2" (1046mm), body depth at the end block is 4.37" (111mm).

The CT4-DX Electronics — Why They Matter for Gigging

A lot of acoustic-electrics at lower price points ship with a single undersaddle pickup and a basic volume/tone preamp. The P7NC runs Takamine's CT4-DX system, which is a dual-source setup: an undersaddle pickup and a soundboard transducer, each with its own two-band EQ and notch filter, mixed independently through the onboard preamp.

In practice, this means you're not locked into one tone at the board. You can dial in the body resonance of the soundboard transducer and blend in the articulation of the undersaddle source depending on the room, the PA, and what the song needs. The notch filter on each channel helps you chase feedback in a loud live environment without carving out the whole midrange. There's also an onboard chromatic tuner.

If you're playing venues where the sound person just wants a clean, manageable input, this system gives you more control over what hits the DI than most acoustics in any price range.

The B-Stock Reality

The B-Stock P7NC is listed at $2,799.20 — $699.80 below the $3,499.00 MAP price. The discount comes from a cosmetic blemish, not a functional issue. Check the listing photos for the specific notation on this unit; typically on a guitar at this tier, we're talking about a finish mark or a minor handling scuff, not a crack, a structural repair, or a setup problem.

The SH500A hard case is included, same as new.

Who should buy the B-Stock

If you're going to play this guitar — take it to gigs, bring it to sessions, keep it on a stand in your teaching studio — the B-Stock is almost certainly the right call. A cosmetic mark on a working instrument is a non-issue within the first month of actual use. You're getting the same tonewoods, the same electronics, the same hardware, for $700 less.

Who should buy new instead

If mint condition and resale value are part of why you're spending at this level — this is a collector purchase or a long-hold investment — pay the difference for a new-in-box unit. That's a legitimate reason to pass on B-Stock, and we'd rather you know that now.

Our Take

All-solid rosewood-back acoustics with dual-source stage electronics and a hard case don't show up at $2,800 very often. The P7NC B-Stock is a working guitarist's guitar at a price that reflects a cosmetic note in a warehouse log, not anything that affects how it plays or sounds. Look at the listing photos, confirm the blemish is somewhere you won't see from the player's position, and go from there.

View the Takamine P7NC acoustic Product Page

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the Takamine P7NC a nylon-string guitar?

No. The P7NC is a steel-string acoustic-electric. NC stands for NEX Cutaway — referring to the body shape — not nylon classical. It ships with a split bone saddle and standard steel-string hardware.

What does the CT4-DX system actually do differently from a standard acoustic pickup?

The CT4-DX uses two pickup sources — an undersaddle element and a soundboard transducer — each with independent two-band EQ and a notch filter. You mix them yourself to shape your live tone and manage feedback. Most budget acoustic-electric preamps give you one source and a single EQ channel; the CT4-DX gives you significantly more control over what goes to the PA.

Does the B-Stock P7NC come with a case?

Yes. The Takamine SH500A hard case is included with the B-Stock unit, same as it would be with a new guitar.

What scale length does the P7NC use, and how does it compare to a standard guitar?

The P7NC has a 25.35" scale (644mm) — about a tenth of an inch shorter than the common 25.5" standard. Most players won't notice a difference in feel or tension, and it's well within the range that any steel-string player will find immediately familiar.