Takamine (musical instruments)
Takamine ( Japanese 高峰 楽 器 製作 所 , Takamine Gakki Seisakujo , German "Musikinstrumentewerk Takamine") is a guitar manufacturing company in Japan that has been manufacturing high quality instruments , primarily acoustic guitars , for over 40 years .
founding
In 1962, several independent guitar makers united in the small town of Sakashita (after a regional reform the community is now called Nakatsugawa , Gifu Prefecture ) to produce guitars under a common brand name. The nearby mountain Takamine (means roughly "high peak") served as the namesake.
Initially, classical guitars were built, but over time the proportion of western guitars increased .
In 1968 the internationally recognized guitar maker Mass Hirade joined the company, who also introduced the “Hirade” master series. He brought several decisive improvements in terms of design and quality of the guitars. His hobbyhorse were the classical concert guitars, his master series enjoys an excellent reputation among concert guitarists to this day. It is also thanks to Mass Hirade that international sales began in 1975.
Takamine began experimenting with cartridges very early on and quickly acquired expertise in this area. In the 1970s, an acoustic guitar model was finally brought onto the market, whose piezo / preamp system produced a clarity and a broad tone volume that was unusual for this time. Within a very short time, Takamine became known worldwide with this system. These innovations in the field of electro-acoustic pick-up and the development of further pick-up systems soon brought Takamine market leadership and a kind of pioneering position in the field of electro-acoustic guitars.
One of these further developments was the so-called "cool tube" pickup. This is built into the frame of the western guitar and contains a mini preamplifier with a small electron tube (= tube ) that converts the signal picked up by the piezo pickup into a warm, powerful sound. The Cool-Tube technology was continuously developed by Takamine, whereby the current CTP-3 (= CoolTubePreamp 3 ) represents the temporary development peak .
6-string guitars are factory-fitted with D'Addario EXP16 Light 12-53 strings, 12-string guitars with D'Addario EXP38 Light 12-string 10-47 strings. D'Addario Pro Arte EJ45 Normal Tension strings are used for guitars with nylon strings.
Takamine now produces a wide variety of series, from high-priced models to the cheaper G series. The G series is not manufactured in the mother country Japan, but in South Korea (G, EG series 500) and China (G, EG series 100 to 400).
Acoustic guitars from Takamine, along with those from Martin , Gibson and Lakewood, are among the most sought-after models currently available in the high-quality sector and upper price segment.
Since 1987 the Takamine company has delivered a Takamine Limited Edition guitar every year. These guitars are built in numbers of a few hundred instruments per year, mostly by hand in Sakashita, the headquarters of the traditional company in Japan. There are always electro-acoustic guitars that are equipped with the latest pickups or preamplifiers and that, in addition to rare woods, have elaborate inlay work . Since November 2007 there is a book about Takamine and the guitars of the Limited series with a lot of detailed information, color photos, data sheets and historical and production-specific chapters.
Guitarists
Some famous guitarists work with Takamine, including a. Jon Bon Jovi , Garth Brooks , Nils Lofgren , Bruce Springsteen , Glenn Frey from the Eagles , Kosho from the sons of Mannheim , Meredith Brooks , Julia Nunes , Richard Kruspe von Rammstein and others.
distribution
The distribution rights for Takamine in the USA belong to the Kaman Music Group , which received these rights in 1978 through the acquisition of the distribution company Coast Wholesale. Since then, Kaman has owned a smaller stake in Takamine, which Kaman received in return for actively promoting Takamine US sales of Takamine. The industrial group Kaman is also the mother of the guitar brand Ovation . At the beginning of 2008, Fender Kaman Music took over from the Kaman Group, which parted with its entire music business. In the USA and Europe, Fender also took over the distribution of the previous Kaman guitar brands, including Takamine. In July 2008 the company Fender / Germany in Düsseldorf took over the German distribution . Since March 1, 2015, sales have been in the hands of Musik Meyer again, which had it from 1994 to 2008.
literature
- Rolf-Juergen Bruess: The Art of Wood And Tone. Takamine Limited Edition Guitars 1987-2007 . STTEC, Groebenzell 2007, ISBN 978-3-00-020528-6 .
