Takamine (Martin "lawsuit" model")
ve...@optonline.net
I've been playing Elena's Tak - looks like a D28, came from a yard
sale, smells like perfume... It's spruce and rosewood. This thing
sounds pretty nice, it's loud, plays pretty nice. It looks like it's
stamped 1979, but hard to be certain.
Just curious - were these Martin-copy Taks all hard woods?
This came our way cheap, I find myself playing it, liking it. Wonder
if others do?
~ Richard B
Wade Hampton Miller
>
> Just curious - were these Martin-copy Taks all hard woods?
>
as well, and the laminates used for the backs and sides were high
quality. But they weren't solid rosewood or solid anything else.
Solid tops, laminated backs and sides.
Richard continues:
>
> This came our way cheap, I find myself playing it, liking it. Wonder
> if others do?
>
>
Oh, yeah, they're great guitars, particularly for the money. I think
they ran about $425 new back then, and what's more, their acoustic-
electric models really had the best plug-in sound of any acoustic-
electrics on the market at that time. A lot of the country musicians
like Ricky Skaggs were buying Takamines just to get the pickups, then
taking them out and having them installed on their Martins.
When I met Ricky Skaggs' wife a few years ago at a musical gathering,
she had her Martin with her and it had those old Takamine electronics
still in it, with the controls right there on the upper bout of the
guitar.
Anyway, at one point I strongly considered selling the Mossman I was
using onstage at the time in order to get one of those Taks. They
sounded much better plugged in than any of the aftermarket electronics
that were available at the time sounded, and I was making my fulltime
living as a musician then.
But I couldn't afford to own both the Mossman and the Tak, so
ultimately decided to hang onto the Mossman.
But if I could have afforded both, I would have owned one of those
same "lawsuit Takamines," no question about it.
Incidently, it's a bit of an urban myth that Martin ever actually sued
Takamine over those peghead and logo issues.
What actually happened was this: Martin had decided that, given the
way the guitar market was going, they needed a line of lower priced
Asian-made import guitars. But then, even more so than now, they knew
that they needed to protect their overall brand image by making sure
that these imports were of the best possible quality.
So the company entered into extensive development plans with Takamine
in Japan. The tooling was brought in, the jigs provided, and the
workers at the plant were trained in how to best reproduce a Martin
guitar.
Takamine was all set to start producing Martin's Sigma line.
THEN Takamine was bought by Kaman Corporation, builders of Ovation
guitars, and Martin decided they didn't want to be getting product
from the subsidiary of a major competitor. So they changed plans and
arranged with another manufacturer to make Sigmas.
In the meantime, Kaman started importing Takamines, and they looked so
much like Martins that you couldn't tell them apart at twenty feet.
The C. F. Martin company never sued, but their attorneys did send a
"cease and desist" letter threatening legal action if the overt
cosmetic similarities on Takamines weren't changed.
Kaman complied, and the Takamines got a new logo and a new peghead
design.
Hence the birth of the "lawsuit Takamine" legend. It has some small
grounding in fact, but has grown considerably in the retelling.
Hope that makes sense.
Wade Hampton Miller
Chugiak, Alaska
Misifus
>
> Anyway, at one point I strongly considered selling the Mossman I was
> using onstage at the time in order to get one of those Taks. They
> sounded much better plugged in than any of the aftermarket electronics
> that were available at the time sounded, and I was making my fulltime
> living as a musician then.
>
> But I couldn't afford to own both the Mossman and the Tak, so
> ultimately decided to hang onto the Mossman.
>
> But if I could have afforded both, I would have owned one of those
> same "lawsuit Takamines," no question about it.
>
I've played Wade's Mossman, and I understand why he kept it. It's a
wonderful guitar. However, a couple of guys I know have lawsuit Taks
and those are very nice guitars, too.
In a bluegrass flavored song circle I sometimes attend, there are a lot
of players who love to play, but don't want invest a fortune in their
guitars. The newer players tend to favor Blueridge guitars, the older
guys have those Taks.
-Raf
--
Misifus-
Rafael Seibert
Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rafiii
home: http://www.rafandsioux.com
Wade Hampton Miller
>
> > Anyway, at one point I strongly considered selling the Mossman I was
> > using onstage at the time in order to get one of those Taks. They
> > sounded much better plugged in than any of the aftermarket electronics
> > that were available at the time sounded, and I was making my fulltime
> > living as a musician then.
>
> > But I couldn't afford to own both the Mossman and the Tak, so
> > ultimately decided to hang onto the Mossman.
>
> > But if I could have afforded both, I would have owned one of those
> > same "lawsuit Takamines," no question about it.
Raf replied:
>
> I've played Wade's Mossman, and I understand why he kept it. It's a
> wonderful guitar. However, a couple of guys I know have lawsuit Taks
> and those are very nice guitars, too.
>
>
Actually, Raf, the guitar you played was a handbuilt Baxendale
Mossman, built in 1987 when Scott Baxendale owned the Mossman brand
name. The guitar I was referring to in my post was a Winfield factory
Mossman dreadnought. That's what I using as a stage guitar when I was
playing Irish music in Chicago back in the early 80's.
It was also a very nice guitar, but was not in the same league as the
guitar you played.
No, if I'd had that 000-42 Scott built for me back when I was playing
the Irish bars, no Takamine would have ever tempted me!
As it was, the advantages of the Takamine pickup system ultimately
weren't enough to make me switch, because the Mossman dread really had
an exceptional sound and great power and projection, as well.
whm
Tony Done
"Wade Hampton Miller" <WadeIn...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:856f1885-2328-43a2...@f1g2000prb.googlegroups.com...
Interesting story about the Tak/martin connection. Do you know who did end
up building the Sigmas?
IIRC, Tama made some good all-solid guitars in those days. Over-built like
expensive Matons, but sweet-sounding and would have been good for
amplification.
Tony D
Misifus
Well, that Baxendale Mossman was lovely.
Kevin Hall
were often built in the same factory which provided Fenders' 'F'series
acoustics.
KH
"Tony Done" <tony...@bigpond.com> wrote in message
news:w59El.2673$y61....@news-server.bigpond.net.au...
Steve
>
> Interesting story about the Tak/martin connection. Do you know who did
> end up building the Sigmas?
>
> Tony D
>
I'm not sure, but I'm guessing it was Samick.
I had one of the "Lawsuit" Takamines - an F400 model. It was a
dreadnaught 12-string. Solid spruce top, laminated Indian rosewood back
and sides. One of the better-sounding 12-strings I've ever come across.
I bought it for $125 used in '86, and sold it last year for $400.
I still have an ES360 model Tak - a D28 copy, but with the
Kaman-designed headstock and logo, but it has that wonderful pickup
system that Wade wrote about - it sounds better plugged in than my other
acoustics with K&K Pure Westerns.
--Steve (not Chuck!)
ve...@optonline.net
~ Richard