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Takamine (guitar manufacturer)

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 80.229.222.168 (talk) at 23:43, 30 May 2017 (→Company history: Changed "in the early 1980s" to "early to mid 1980s", to account for the GZ-340T model produced until around 1985). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Takamine Co., Ltd.
Native name
Takamine Gakki Seisakusho
Company typePrivate
IndustryMusical instruments
Founded1962; 62 years ago (1962)
Headquarters
Nakatsugawa, Gifu
,
Japan
Area served
Worldwide (except Wierden)
Products
WebsiteOfficial website Edit this at Wikidata
EG-361SC model
1978 F-340S model

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.

Although English speakers sometimes incorrectly pronounce the company name as /ˈtækəmaɪn/ ("ta - ka - mine"), the correct pronunciation, as in the original Japanese, is /tɑːkɑːˈmiːneɪ/ ("ta - ka - mee - nay").[citation needed] The name was taken from Mount Takamine located in Nakatsugawa.[citation needed]

Company history

While known primarily for their acoustic and acoustic-electric guitars, Takamine produced a limited run of very high quality solid body electric guitars in the early to mid 1980s.[citation needed] 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.[citation needed]

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]

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.[citation needed] 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]

Every year since 1987, Takamine has presented a Limited Edition Guitar model, which has been produced in very limited quantities up to a few hundred guitars for worldwide distribution. These guitars have come with the latest pickup/preamplifier combination available and artful inlays, often with motifs focusing on nature or astronomical phenomena.[1][full citation needed]

Since March 2015, Takamine's US-American distributor has been ESP Guitars.[2][non-primary source needed]

Series

  • G Series
  • Legacy Series
  • Pro Series 1–7
  • Signature Series
  • De-djent Series

References

  1. ^ Book on Limited Editions. Retrieved from http://www.sttec.com/.
  2. ^ "ESP and Takamine Announce Partnership in the USA". ESP Guitars. 24 February 2015. Retrieved 22 July 2016.
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