Takamine Co., Ltd. (株式会社 高峰楽器製作所, Kabushiki-gaisha Takamine Gakki Seisakusho, pronounced [takaꜜmine] ta-ka-mee-ne) is a Japanese guitar manufacturer based in Nakatsugawa, Gifu, Japan. Its considered to be a major brand of steel-string acoustic guitars worldwide.
 | |
Native name | Takamine Gakki Seisakusho |
|---|---|
| Company type | Private |
| Industry | Musical instruments |
| Founded | 1959 |
| Headquarters | , |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Products | |
| Website | takamine.com |
The company was founded in 1959, being renamed as "Takamine Gakki Ltd." in 1962. In 1978 they were one of the first companies to introduce acoustic-electric models, where they pioneered the design of the preamplifier-equalizer component.[1]
History
The company was founded in 1959, originally a local family-run shop located at the foot of Mount Takamine in the town of Sakashita, Japan, later adopting the mountain’s namesake in 1962, when the small business started to show signs of growth in the local market.[1]
Before the turn of the decade, the company had already established itself as a leading builder of mandolins and classicals guitars at a national level, expanding its size to 60 employees. The year of 1968 saw the arrival of master luthier Mass Hirade, responsible for improvements in both design and manufacturing processes.[1]
In 1975, Hirade became Takamine’s president and worked to expand the company’s audience to a wider market, thus allowing Takamine instruments to be available worldwide.[1]
The Takamine EG523SC came with a clear finish Spruce top and flame maple back and sides. On top is a TK-40 pickup with a tuner and equalizer powered by a 9V battery.[citation needed]
Three years later, the company would introduce its signature Palathetic pickup, a proprietary under-saddle piece composed of six individually shielded piezo-electric elements that has become a staple on its Japanese-made instruments that allowed the company to become one of the world’s leading brands in acoustic-electric guitars, paralleling the need for musicians of the time to reliably amplify their acoustic guitars at arena concerts that were constantly growing in size and loudness.[1][2]
The next decade saw the introductions in preamp technology: The AAP model pioneered parametric equalization, the DSP model -designed by Korg- included reverb effects and allowed the used to create and save presets, and another staple of the company’s products, the Limited Edition series, limited to a few hundred guitars for worldwide distribution each year. These guitars have come with the company's latest pickup-preamplifier combination and decorative inlays, often with motifs based on nature or astronomical phenomena.[3][4]
While primarily known for acoustic and acoustic-electric guitars, Takamine produced a limited run of high quality solid body electric guitars in the early to mid 1980s. Though there is a somewhat limited amount of information about these products, it is known that some of these guitars had bodies that evoked the shapes of Fender Stratocasters and Gibson Explorers, though some high-end models sported DiMarzio made pickups, Floyd Rose or Kahler tremolos and Gotoh tuners.[5]
In the 1990s Takamine was already established as a major brand internationally, and artists like country star Garth Brooks, singer-songwriter Steve Wariner and multi-instrumentalist John Jorgensen would start their collaborations with the company, resulting in Takamine’s first signature models. The company’s factory at this point would introduce laser-guided machinery that added to Takamine’s known prowess in intricate inlay work and the "Supernatural", "Nashville", "Tradition" and "Hirade" models would be introduced at different points in time.[1]
Around this point in time the G-Series models were introduced, aiming to offer affordable instruments manufactured outside of Japan built under Takamine's rigorous quality standards bearing the brand's name, available in all different body shapes, woods and finishes as the Japan-made instruments, featuring simpler proprietary pre-amplifiers.
The turn of the millennium saw the brand once again embracing both innovation, with the introduction of the CT ("Cool Tubes") tube-powered preamp family; and tradition, by opening a new main factory and HQ in its hometown of Sakashita, where it currently resides. Signature models endorsed by Glen Frey of Eagles fame and Kenny Chesney were also introduced at this time.
Since March 2015, Takamine's US-American distribution has been handled by fellow Japanese guitar company ESP Guitars.
Controversy
In the early 1980s, Martin Guitars issued a letter asserting that the Takamine F-340 and other models featured a logo design that was allegedly nearly identical to their own. According to Chris F. Martin IV, CEO of CF Martin and Company, in a speech given to the Unofficial Martin Guitar Forum members on 8 August 2005, no lawsuit was ever actually filed, and Takamine did change the appearance of their guitar logo.[citation needed]
Takamine Players
Signature Artists[6]
- Garth Brooks
- John Jorgensen
- Glenn Frey
- Kenny Chesney
- Toby Keith
Featured Artists[7]
References
Further reading
External links
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