History of the Takamine Guitar

Takamine started as a Japan-based small family business, but has since grown into one of the leading acoustic guitar manufacturers in the world. Founded in 1962 and globalized during the mid-1970s, Takamine capitalized on the growing popularity of the guitar in Japan and around the world. It has been credited with making several technological advancements in the development of acoustic guitars, gaining most of its global recognition for the development of the first-ever acoustic-electric guitar.

Origin

As the acoustic guitar rose in popularity as the dominant instrument in folk music during the early 1960s, the same groundswell occurred in Japan. Takamine started as a small instrument repair shop at the base of Mt. Takamine in Gifu, Japan. It wasn't until 1968, however, when the company began to grow into the worldwide corporation it is today.

Mass Hirade Joins the Company

Several years after its inception, Takamine aimed to grow their distribution and reach more artists and designers. Mass Hirade, a talented artist and luthier who was well-known at the time, joined Takamine in 1968 to help improve upon the overall quality of their guitars.
He headed the design and development of the Takamine classical acoustic guitar, which to this day carries Hirade's name and remains the most popular brand of Takamine guitar. Under Hirade's guidance, Takamine was able to expand their shipping overseas by 1975, and grow into a global enterprise.

Birth of the Takamine Brand

Sometime in the mid-1970s, Hirade became President of the company. Determined to launch the Takamine name into a global brand, he partnered with the Kaman Music Corporation based in the United States. They began an international exporting operation that exploded in 1975 through the end of the decade.

Advent of the Acoustic-Electric Guitar

Around the same time Takamine gained worldwide notoriety for their craftsmanship and excellence in acoustic guitar design, popular music encountered a problem. As concert venues grew in size, so did the sounds of the musicians playing in them. But artists and technicians alike found it difficult to recreate the sound of their acoustic guitars as they played them through microphones into large speakers.
Takamine made a breakthrough in technology to fix this problem as they developed the first acoustic-electric guitars in the mid-to-late 1970s. The key to the development of the technology was the "palathetic" pickup. The bridge of the guitar contains six electric transducers, one for each string, and vibrations of plucked strings go directly from the bridge into the pickup. Takamine released the first successfully produced acoustic-electric guitar in 1978.
It not only effectively amplified the acoustic sound, but minimized inter-string noise and feedback to produce the brightest, cleanest-sounding acoustic guitar ever played through an amplifier. The palathetic pickup system has since become the industry standard for acoustic-electric guitars, and remains Takamine's greatest advancement in technology and contribution to the world of music.

1978-Today

Unveiled in 1978, the Takamine acoustic-electric guitar was soon endorsed by such prominent artists as Bruce Springsteen and Jackson Browne. The Eagles also played the Takamine 12-string acoustic-electric as part of their classic, "Hotel California."
Takamine further developed acoustic guitar technology with the invention of the first-ever single-unit preamp, which allowed for interchangeable amps during live shows. This latest advancement gained even more recognition for Takamine, which today remains one of the top acoustic guitar manufacturers in the world.

References

• Welcome to Takamine
• Takamine - Classical Guitar