Takamine Guitars are crafted from the finest handpicked tonewoods, hand-crafted by expert luthiers, all providing players with an unmatched excellence and surprising affordability.
Takamine had its early beginnings while guitar playing and music was gaining popularity in Japan during the early 60's. As their business grew they saw the need to develop their skills and attract design and manufacturing talent. One of the most important additions to the company was one Mr. Mass Hirade.
Hirade joined Takamine in 1968, and made great improvements upon design and build quality, and set forth with his staff to energize and strengthen the business. The factory began producing their world class "Classical" that to this day still carry the Hirade name. Through Hirade's dedication and commitment to Takamine, he was able to begin an overseas trading business in 1975. Takamine Guitars were able to reach out to guitar players around the world. Takamine was finallyplaced in the hands of musicians who had only heard about their great sound and fine craftsmanship.
Takamine made great advancements with their palethetic pickup, and set the standard for the industry. Other manufacturers soon offered acoustic/electric models, but none has reached the level of sophistication and performance set by Takamine. Our Takamine pickup is like no other. It's an integral part of the guitar's design, not a retrofit like most other "factory" systems. Six individual piezo transducers are embedded in the bridge plate where they sense both string and soundboard vibration. Takamine also pioneered the slider control preamp style for the acoustic/electric guitar. No other guitar company had the technological advancements that Takamine set in place, and to this day no other guitar company can achieve that level of quality in the market.
The Hirade TH5 classic represents Takamine's premium line of guitars but is a bargain in terms of tone and playability: deep robust tone and a slender easy to play neck are hallmarks of this model. The TH5 features a solid cedar top, solid rosewood back & sides, solid mahogany neck, fancy rosette, bone nut & saddle, ebony fingerboard, gold plated deluxe Gotoh tuning heads, and Cool Tube Preamp. Lifetime warranty. 50mm nut and 65cm string length. Handmade made in Japan.
