The Unique Guitar Blog: The Takamine Guitar Story

1970 Martin 0-16NY

I mentioned in another article my love/hate relationship with a Martin 0-16NY guitar that I once owned. It was a beautiful instrument but must not have been set up properly at the factory. It would never play in tune. After returning it to the Nazareth factory twice with no results, I traded it. Ever since I have searched for something similar.

Takamine F-312

I eventually found a guitar that resembled it but played so much better. This was a Takamine guitar that had a small parlor style body, slightly wide fretboard, and a slotted head. Plus I didn't have to use silk and steel strings like I did on the Martin. Unfortunately the seller was asking much more than I was willing to pay.

Early photo of Takamine Factory

I had heard about Takamine (tah-kah-mee-nee), but only knew they were a Japanese guitar manufacturer. Within a few years I saw that a lot of well-known guitar players that were using Takamine guitars instead of Martins. The brand became quite popular in the 1980's due to their unique acoustic pickup system.

Takamine started in 1959 as a small family-run instrument workshop with only five employees. It is located in the town of Sakashita, at the foot of Mount Takamine in central Japan. Hence the company name.

Takamine Guitars

By 1968 The company had grown to 60 employees and had become a leading Japanese builder of classical guitars and mandolins.

Master luthier Mas Hirade joined Takamine and introduced many effective design and manufacturing improvements.

To honor his work many of the company’s finest classical models add Hirade’s name.

Mas Hirade - Company President

In 1970, Mr. Hirade became Takamine’s president. His vision was to expand the company’s audience to a wider international market. One of his first accomplishments was to have Takamine partner with American distributor KMCMusicorp. This was the company that founded and made Ovation Guitars, (Karman Music).

Glen Frey F-400 12 string

In 1977, guitarist Glenn Frey of Eagles used an F-400S 12-string model to record the iconic intro to the song "Hotel California". This garnered some serious attention for the brand.

Palathetic Pickup

Perhaps Takamine’s biggest improvement was the development of the under-saddle Palathetic™ pickup. This piezo based design produced a more natural acoustic sound than prior piezo guitar pickups. The proprietary under-saddle piece composed of six separate, fully shielded piezo transducers, one for each string. The piezos are outfitted under the bridge plate and make contact with the saddle via metal cylinders.

It is no small wonder that these instruments allowed the company to become an industry leader and the preferable artist instrument aiming to satisfy the need for musicians of the time by reliably amplifying their acoustic guitars at arena concerts that were constantly growing in size and loudness.

Ry Cooder - Takamine

Guitarist Ry Cooder was one of the first musicians to get a hold of the earliest prototypes of the product, which continued to be developed following Cooder's personal feedback.

The first instrument officially offered to the public with the pickup was model PT-007S in 1979.

AccuAcoustic Preamp

During the late 1980’s into the ‘90’s Takamine introduced the AccuAcoustic preamp with parametric equalization with digital signal processing. This system was designed by the Korg Company.

Takamine also introduced a Limited-Edition series. This was a small production of meticulously crafted guitars built by the company’s most talented builders and aimed at the high-end guitar market.

Garth Brooks Signature

During the ‘90’s Takamine collaborated with well-known personalities to create guitars built to the artist’s specifications and needs.

The Garth Brooks model first appeared in 1995, followed by The John Jorgenson model in 1999.

Specialty Inlay

In 1993 Takamine began using laser guided CNC machinery to produce more intricate inlay work on the high-end guitars.

G-30

The G-Series models was introduced, aiming to offer more affordable instruments.

These guitars were manufactured outside of Japan using cheaper labor. An offshoot of Takamine’s budget line are Jasmine Guitars, which are made to Takamine's specifications in Indo-Asian countries using lesser grade materials.

Since March 2015, Takamine's US-North American distribution has been handled by fellow Japanese guitar company ESP Guitars. This same company also became responsible for Takamine's distribution in Mexico starting October 2024.

Sigma Guitars

As a follow up to my article about Levin/Goya, you may recall that in 1968 C.F. Martin acquired the Swedish guitar manufacturer Levin to set up a European distribution center. In doing this Martin established a less expensive line of guitars sold under their Sigma brand. Some sources site Takamine as a company beginning to manufacture Sigma instruments. However Dick Boak of Martin Guitars states Sigma Guitars were exclusively manufactured by Tokai Gakki. Competing company, Kaman Guitars (Ovation), became the exclusive United States distributor for Takamine.

Apparently Takamine had produced some guitars that looked spot-on like a Martin guitar. This practice was nothing new. Asian guitar builders considered these to be "tribute" instruments. A letter sent by CF Martin threatened the Japanese company, so Takamine changed their designs to avoid litigation. However there are "Martin-like" Takamine guitars that exist. This may account for the Takamine O-16NY style instrument that I mentioned at the beginning of this article.

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