The Takamine Company was founded over 30 years ago by Mass Hirade, who designed and built the first Takamine guitars. Today, Takamine has become one of the most respected acoustic guitars in the industry, with players such as Pete Townsend, Bruce Springsteen, Nils Lofgren and Dave Stewart using them both for recording and stage work.

Their quality and durability has made them the choice guitar for touring bands the world over. Dave Gilmore used Takamine 6 and 12 string guitars with Pink Floyd during the 'Delicate Sound Of Thunder' and 'Pulse' tours. Unlike other top quality acoustic guitar manufacturers, Takamine guitars sell at affordable prices, making them one of the most popular guitars available today.

This page is dedicated to the history of the Takamine guitar. There is little information available from the company and on the world wide web. We are therefore asking fans and owners of Takamine guitars to help develop this page. If you know of any existing reference material, any landmark dates or other information you think should be included on this page, please send an email to [email protected]. We would also like to feature any rare and vintage Takamine guitars you may have, including a photo and short history.

We are especially interested in cataloging when new guitar lines were introduced, when new concepts in design were implemented, and recording the history of ownership of the company ( Takamine is presently owned by Kaman Music). Over time, we hope this page will develop into a complete historical record of the Takamine guitar.