A Brief History of Takamine Acoustic Guitars

Takamine Guitars is a Japanese company whose 40+that has also achieved some popularity because even
year history has been dedicated to creating high qualitythough they are inexpensive, they are known to have
guitars. They are always striving to improve on thegood quality.
traditional notion of the guitar by building instrumentsCurrently Takimine has around twenty different guitar
that are unique in their excellence.styles. Some of these are acoustic, some are electric,
The company headquarters is currently located inand some are acoustic/electric styles. These models
Sakashita, Japan, near a mountain range that bearsinclude the Limited Edition 2006 Series, the Signature
the companys name- the Takamine Mountains. OverSeries, the Takamini, the Naturals, the Supernaturals,
forty years ago it started as a family run guitar makingand the Nashville. The guitars are designed to appeal
business and has since evolved into a company thatto a range of tastes style preferences.
develops and builds a score of guitars that are shippedTakamine has also gotten some press because of the
throughout the world.various artists who play them. In particular, Noal
In order to understand Takamines development andGallagher of Oasis played a Takamine Guitar during a
growing popularity, one would need to go back topopular unplugged performance. Other artists include
1960s Japan. That is a time when playing the guitarJon Bon Jovi, Kenny Chesny, Garth Brooks, Brad
and popular music was becoming popular. As moreDavis, Linkin Park, Bjorn Berge, Montgomery Gentry,
people wanted to take up the instrument, the needChristine Kane, and Toby Keith. For more artists visit
increased. Takamine started manufacturing guitarsthe website.
during this time period, largely to meet these needs.Here is what one person has to say about their
The need grew, and so did their business. As a resultTakamine guitar:
of this, they hired Mr. Mass Hirade in 1968 to add skillAbout the Takamine EAN-10C
and creative talent to their team. They neededThe sound of this guitar is what sold me. Balanced
someone who could help develop and create guitarsacross the tonal spectrum. Rich and full a great all
that would appeal to the changing musical tastes ofaround rhythm acoustic guitar. Very easy to play, the
the nation. One of his biggest contributions was theguitar does not get mushy when you dig into it. The
development of their Classical model, a guitar thatelectronics are superior to anything on the market for
achieved great popularity.live playing, comes with build in tuner as well. Whether I
Takamine is known for two things- the quality of theiram playing with friends or solo the guitar works. Nice
instruments (Hirade played a big part in this) and theirand loud but not overly so, I would have to say
prices. They have an excellent budget line of guitarsexcellent for accompanying vocals.