Takamine
Timeline
Dec. 1959
Ohsone Gakki Ltd., the predecessor of Takamine is founded
May. 1962
Renamed to Takamine Gakki Ltd., named after the symbol of Sakashita,
Mt. Takamine.
Sep. 1965
Reorganized to a stock company, Takamine Gakki Co., Ltd.
Aug. 1968 Mr
Mass Hirade joins Takamine
Apr. 1979 Mr
mass Hirade becomes President of Takamine
Jan. 1975
Set up Overseas Division to start doing business directly with
overseas distributors
Apr. 1978
Developed its proprietary Palathetic pickup
Apr. 1979
Launched its first acoustic-electric model
Jan. 1987
Introducing the Year model, Takamine Limited Edition
Oct. 1988
Announced the industry's first modular-type pre-amplifier
Oct. 1993
Installed the industry's first laser cutting system and started
automated CNC machining of parts
Apr. 1999
Developed 24-hour fully automated CNC neck machining line for higher
neck precision
May. 2002
Released the 40th anniversary model
Sep. 2005
Opened the new head office and main factory
1959
- In the beginning
1959 saw Takamine
make its start as a humble music instrument workshop at the foot of
Mt. Takamine in Gifu, Central Japan, which was then known for its
wood craft industry. With the booming folk music in late 60's,
acoustic guitars were rapidly gaining popularity among Japanese youth
and, as a result, increased the competition and quality amongst
Japanese luthiers. The basis for Takamine's success was formed in
these years.
Mr Mass Hirade,
who joined the company in 1968, made a great contributions to the
design and quality of Takamine instruments. In fact, his
contributions are still honoured to this day with a range of the
"Classical" family models still carrying the "Hirade"
name.
In the mid ‘70’s,
Mr. Hirade assumed the presidency of Takamine, and immediately set
about increasing the world distribution of the Takamine brand by
forming a relationship with Kaman Music Corporation in the USA.
<1978
- Electro Acoustic
Around the same
time that Mr Hirade took over as President, the size of concert
venues was getting larger, and professional guitarists were
struggling to have their acoustic guitars heard above everything else
on stage. Starting from attaching a microphone to their guitars, they
tried magnetic pickups and then contact pickups, but the sound
quality was far from acceptable.
Takamine entered
full-scale development of an electro-acoustic guitar in the late
1970s with their engineers being allowed to pursue their own ideal
sound without being bound by the traditional rules of guitar-making
and, as a result, invented several key components, one of which was
its proprietary ‘Palathetic pickup’. This unique and innovative
device integrates transducers and the guitar bridge in a way which
minimizes feedback and between-strings crosstalk, successfully
setting the industry standard of today's electro-acoustic guitar. The
first commercial model of Takamine electro-acoustic guitar with this
Palathetic pickup was completed in 1978.
In April 1979,
Takamine launched its first electro-acoustic guitar in overseas
markets and it was not long before renowned American musicians
including Ry Coodar, Bruce Springsteen and Jackson Browne came on
stage with their own Takamine. In fact, the Eagles' Glenn Frey used a
Takamine 12-string electro-acoustic for the intro of the famous
"Hotel California" track, and the brand?name
“Takamine” quickly became known all over the music world.
1988
- The Launch of the Preamp
Always striving
to be ahead of the industry, 1988 saw Takamine release their first
single unit preamp, which realized interchangeable preamps by
integrating preamp and battery case in one housing unit, and also by
unifying the top panel size. This proved a boon as technology
developed, as the player could keep their prized guitar, and update
the preamp if required.
Meanwhile,
Takamine was also developing the two-way truss rod jointly with
G-GOTOH. This innovation added to the already superior stability of
the Takamine instrument – further reassurance for the player that,
when they got on stage or stepped into the studio, their instrument
would play exactly as it did last time they played it.
As if 1988 wasn’t
productive enough, Takamine also released the DSP, the world's first
on-board full digital preamp, which received strong support from many
professional guitar players around the world.
2004 saw the
introduction of the Cooltube preamp (CTP-1) - a preamp which utilises
an ECC82 vacuum tube running at low voltage in order to impart a
supremely warm, natural sound which is rich in harmonics.
Ongoing
It is without
doubt that Takamine owes it’s recognition largely to the electro
acoustic guitar, but that is not to say that they don’t make great
acoustic guitars. Far from it, in fact. If a guitar does not sound
good unplugged, then it is unlikely that any preamp or pickup
combination will make it sound good when plugged in.
Using the finest
stocks of wood, all carefully seasoned, Takmine go to extreme lengths
to ensure that their guitars are among the best you will find. With
each guitar consisting of around 40 components and going through 20
multifunction workstations, Takamine utilise the very latest in CNC
(computer numerically controlled) and CAD (computer aided design)
technologies in conjunction with the finest traditions of luthiery to
ensure that each guitar sounds as good as it looks.
The combination
of modern and traditional methods is what makes Takamine guitars
great.
Unique
Features
Palathetic
Pickup – Technology & Craftsmanship
Pursuing
Sound Balance and Separation - The core of Takamine's electronics
system is its proprietary Palathetic pickup. The superior sound
balance, high separation and clear and natural sound of Takamine owes
much to the unique design of this device. With individually shielded
six piezoelectric transducers, one for each string, the unit hangs
down right beneath the bridge saddle, allowing
the pickup to be
isolated from the vibration of the body, and enabling each transducer
to pick up the vibration of the string directly through the bridge
saddle, which contributes to realizing unsurpassed feedback
resistance even in a high volume environment.
Takamine
On-board Unit Preamps
Selectable To
Your Play-Style and Taste Every Takamine on-board preamp fits the
unique docking port, which means all Takamine preamps are
interchangeable, giving the player the options to fit their preamp to
their style and taste. Another common feature is integrated battery
box so you don't have to loosen and retune your strings every time
you replace the batteries.
Laser Inlay
Work.
Meticulous Work of Art.
Gorgeous and meticulous inlay work is one of the major attractions of
Takamine guitars. Instead of chisels and planes for a luthier to
carry out this work, Takamine employs today's advanced technology –
CAD system, CNC router and laser cutting machine. Yet, after cutting
out the parts, they are fitted in by a seasoned craftsman's hand
piece by piece. The superb combination of materials and colours
depends on the sensitivity and experience of Takamine craftsmen.
Double Bridge
Saddles.
Double-bridge Saddle for
More Accurate Octave Tuning. With the exceptions of nylon string
models and a part of the Keystone series, all other models adopt a
double-bridge saddle. This is where the bridge is divided into two
sections, one for the 1st to 2nd strings and the other for the 3rd to
6th strings. This allows the length (scale) of each string to be
fine-tuned more accurately to achieve better intonation.
Asymmetrical
Neck Grip.
Improved
playability for everyone. The neck profile of a Takamine guitar is
offset, rather like an asymmetrical letter ‘C’. This helps to
improve playability by reducing player's wrist movement distance when
his thumb is moved towards the 1st string.
Two-way
Adjustable Truss Rod & Side-beams.
A
unique structure to correct neck warpage. Takamine models utilise a
dual-channel truss rod system that was co-developed with Gotoh Gut
Company in the mid-90s. While the conventional truss rod (single
channel type) could perform correction within a limited range, the
dual channel truss rod can work with both forward and backward
movement. To prevent the neck from warping, two beams are mounted
along each side of the truss rod to strengthen neck and body joint.
Takamine
original design endpin.
Guaranteeing a
solid connection.
Takamine designed
an all-in-one high-rigid endpin jack that is firmly screwed on the
bottom of the instrument. This helps to prevent the jack from
loosening or falling off as well as protect the body from damages
when audio cable is tugged off. In addition to regular ground
terminal, an extra ground terminal is added to avoid short-circuit or
other troubles caused by bad connection. A standard 3.5mm mini-plug
is used for the connection to the preamp, allowing easy part
replacement