Takamine guitars
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Native name | Takamine Gakki Seisakusho |
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Private | |
Industry | Musical instruments |
Founded | 1962 |
Headquarters | Nakatsugawa, Gifu, Japan |
Area served | Worldwide |
Products | |
Website |
Official website |
Takamine Co., Ltd. (株式会社 高峰楽器製作所 Kabushiki-gaisha Takamine Gakki Seisakusho) is a Japanese guitar manufacturer based in Nakatsugawa, Gifu, Japan. Takamine is known for its steel-string acoustic guitars.
The company was founded in May 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.
English speakers often pronounce the company name as /ˈtækəmaɪn/ ("ta - ka - mine"), but the correct pronunciation in the original Japanese, is /tɑːkɑːˈmiːneɪ/ ("ta - ka - mee - nay"). The name comes from Mount Takamine located in Nakatsugawa.
Company history
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. These are the GX100 (Gibson Explorer body style), GX200 (proprietary type body style similar to a Stratocaster, stop tailpiece bridge), GX200-T or TB, (same as GX200 only with a tremolo bridge), GZ300 (proprietary design), and GZ340 (proprietary design). The GX200 and GZ340 contain factory DiMarzio made pickups.
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.
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.[1] 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.
Every year since 1987, Takamine has produced a Limited Edition Guitar model, limited to a few hundred guitars for worldwide distribution. These guitars have come with the company's latest pickup-preamplifier combination and decorative inlays, often with motifs based on nature or astronomical phenomena.[2]
Takamine manufactured its highest quality and most expensive guitars at its Sakashita factory in Japan. [3]
Since March 2015, Takamine's US-American distributor has been ESP Guitars.[4]
Series
- Classical & Hirade
- G Series
- Legacy Series
- Bass
- Thermal Top
- Pro Series 1–7
- Signature Series
- Limited Series
References
- ↑ "Martin lawsuit acoustic guitar logos". Guitar-List. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
- ↑ Book on Limited Editions. Retrieved from http://www.sttec.com/.
- ↑ http://www.takamine.com/history
- ↑ "ESP and Takamine Announce Partnership in the USA". ESP Guitars. 2015-02-24. Retrieved 2016-07-22.