onewilyfool Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 I mean Martin or Gibson......but TAK??? I guess nothing says "country" like Takamine!!! I guess I'm an American made guitar guy...ESPECIALLY for country....just sayin'! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danner Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 They sound good plugged in. Gibson, not so much. The Baggs element quacks pretty bad. Just sayin' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissouriPicker Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 I've read that Tak gives him guitars to play. I really can't believe any country/folk performer would deliberately choose a Tak over a Martin, Gibson, or even a Taylor. Still, a Tak kind of fits him because I see him as being similar to many current day country stars: a cardboard cowboy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Motherofpearl Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 Garth brooks plays a tak too! Has his own made its a real decent guitar cedar topped and all. When you at it you can get his tone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onewilyfool Posted April 10, 2013 Author Share Posted April 10, 2013 Just as an aside.....not ONE of the awrd winning women on CMA can sing as well as those two girls on American Idol......but I don't always get country music.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mking Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 Glen Frey plays a Tak and swears by the one he has been playing for going on twenty years. I think it is the plug in feature of these. Me, I can't stand the way they look (that ugly headstock shape), so I can't get to the sound. But they have been used in the past by a lot of artists. Bruce Springsteen plays one when he plays acoustically, same for Kenny Chesney. I think the higher end ones are probabaly good guitars but I have to stick with my 2 Gibson LG-2s, my J-45 TV, my Martin HD-28, and Taylor Grand Concert Redwood sinker guitars. I have enough. Oh, I almost forgot my Alvarez-Yairi. No Tak for me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j45nick Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 Still, a Tak kind of fits him because I see him as being similar to many current day country stars: a cardboard cowboy. Boy, ain't that the truth! There's not a lot of country in most of today's "country" music. It's just pop, with more rhinestones and southern accents. Time to get back to your roots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fortyearspickn Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 Most of these shows have a lot of Gibson content. Quacking or not. This show was unusual, I only spotted one. But, I was amazes to see woman performer with a Takemine that looked identical to an SJ200. Yes, Garth plays Taks, and George Strait almost always Taylor. But, call it "only seeing what you want to" but It seems to me the great majority of performers chose Gibson. especially when you consider Gibson represents a very small percentage of the total available. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 I don't give a hoot about Blake Shelton but I have had a chance to play some of the higher dollar Taks when a sales representative just happened to be in a store I was hanging around and I gotta say -they ain't too shabby. Even Springsteen plays a Tak these days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mountainpicker Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 Takamines were my first two guitars but I moved on pretty quickly. Like a lot of guitar makers they copy what was designed a long time ago by Martin and Gibson. It's interesting to me how few really new body shapes and designs hang around for long...everything seems to devolve back to the 1930's. It's amazing how enduring those old designs are. But Takamine focused on amplifying an acoustic guitar and carved a niche for themselves with the plug in crowd which was very smart of them. Their workmanship is excellent and one of the Taks I owned, a D-28 copy, had about the fastest neck I ever had on any guitar I've owned (so far). But that guitar was built too heavily and just had no volume, probably because it was meant to be plugged in. As for what passes for country music these days, I don't care for it, but it keeps radio stations alive at a time when there isn't much left on radio, like I grew up with. It's perhaps the last bastion of what used to be called Top 40 radio (and even that genre was commercial to the point of distraction and got usurped by FM). Hell, commuters gotta have SOMETHING to listen to of a morning! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j45nick Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 It's perhaps the last bastion of what used to be called Top 40 radio (and even that genre was commercial to the point of distraction and got usurped by FM). Hell, commuters gotta have SOMETHING to listen to of a morning! Just plug your MP3 player into your car audio system. Forget radio, unless it's NPR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 Just plug your MP3 player into your car audio system. Forget radio, unless it's NPR. I find it dangerous to listen to NPR while driving - the endless stream of calm, soft, monotone voices is sleep inducing. Think I will stick with Little Steven's Underground Garage. A good daily dose of The Sonics followed by Sonny Boy Williamson is often just what the doctor ordered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onewilyfool Posted April 10, 2013 Author Share Posted April 10, 2013 My wife actually LIKES these shows, and I get dragged along for the ride....just like last year, everyone sounds alike!!!??? All the women and all the men sound basically alike, all "country rock", same three chords, same licks, same themes, same clichés . It's like a great machine is churning this stuff out. Give me Hank, Waylon, Willie, Johnny......a little feeling, a little soul....not this pablum with a nasal twang..........sigh...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j45nick Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 My wife actually LIKES these shows, and I get dragged along for the ride....just like last year, everyone sounds alike!!!??? All the women and all the men sound basically alike, all "country rock", same three chords, same licks, same themes, same clichés . It's like a great machine is churning this stuff out. Give me Hank, Waylon, Willie, Johnny......a little feeling, a little soul....not this pablum with a nasal twang..........sigh...... Amen, brother. Put on pair of pointy-toe boots, a crumpled hat, add a southern accent (even if you come from Pennsylvania), and call it "country". My wife, who is a trained singer, say she can't tell the female "vocalists" apart. I can't tell any of them apart, male or female. (Of course, my father used to say that when the Beatles and the Stones came around, too. "They all looks like girls and sound like cats fighting".) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
struma6 Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 Had a Tak EF341 for years. Great guitar. Cedar top, good electronics, loved the neck... When I stopped leading worship at the church I went to I gave it to a young girl who was a rabid guitar nut and starting to come into her own, chop-wise. She loves the guitar and I get pix frequently of her playing it. I love Gibson acoustics but they ain't the only game in town. A good Tak is a good guitar and needs no apologies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MartyF Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 I have a Tak EN10-12 from 1987. I really like it. Very playable and it sounds great. Cedar top/ mahohgany back and sides. I can't say I've played more than mine but I'm told the Japanese made ones are supposed to be much better than the Jasmines and the other non MIJ models. Would I choose a new one over a new Gibson or Martin? Probably not but I won't say anything bad about mine. And I won't worry about bringing it to the beach or around the campfire for a drunken sing along either. I'm not so sure I'd be taking a hummingbird out for that kind of night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onewilyfool Posted April 10, 2013 Author Share Posted April 10, 2013 I just found out that right wing nut Toby Keith plays a Tak??? I thought he was ULTRA patriotic and pro-American????? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fumblefinger Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 I think a lot of musos leave their Gibbies and Martins at home. I saw Springsteen put on a fantastic showin Brisbane March19 with a Tak but he has an early 50s Gibson Slope which is probably what you hear on his studio recordings. For all us old farts pis#ing and moaning about new country artists, have a youtube browse of Jennifer Nettles and Sugarland. Wow, wow , wow was all I could say when I discovered her recently. You may not like everything she does but she does everything well. Country, rock, disco, Gospel, pop, if you can't find something in there to like maybe try fishin'. OWF, she even has a song called "The last country song" which might help you with the mysteries of country music. And you'll see lots of Gibsons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 For all us old farts pis#ing and moaning about new country artists, have a youtube browse of Jennifer Nettles and Sugarland. I love Jennifer Nettles voice - but Sugarland is just white bread bland. I would rather listen to her pre-Sugarland stuff or even with Bon Jovi. I also think Gretchen Wilson's voice is great - hate her material though. I keep hoping she will join Alice in Chains - maybe form a Gretchen in Chains. To my ears most though country sounds like bad 1970s southern rock with a fiddle or pedal steel thrown in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rar Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 Even Springsteen plays a Tak these days. ... when he goes on the road and wants an acoustic guitar he doesn't have to worry about abusing. (We're talking about a guy who throws his guitars to his guitar tech on stage.) In the studio, where tone actually matters? Mostly his J-45 and J-200 when he plays an acoustic. -- Bob R Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesKing777 Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 The word was Takamine for hassle-free acoustic-electric playing, but that was in approx 1980, so it takes a while for the words to fade..... I don't think I have ever tried a Tak, nor a Taylor, but a friend has a fairly reasonable to play Toyota guitar. Or was that a Yamaha? BluesKing777. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mking Posted April 11, 2013 Share Posted April 11, 2013 There are two acts you all need to see: Lyle Lovette, and The Time Jumpers. Then you will have heard the best of country music AND Country & Western music!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
telemaster03 Posted April 11, 2013 Share Posted April 11, 2013 I had an EN20C that I bought used from a pawnshop here in town. It was pretty good, mahogany with a cedar top. I gave it to a buddy and he still plays it all the time. The first Takamines that I saw back in the 70's were pretty good knock off's of Martins. They go for a fair chunk of change now on fleabay. My recollection from the 90's is that Takamine was the go-to guitar for most country singers - most notably Steve Wariner, who is a good player. There was Garth Brooks and his rhythym playing and singing side man, can't remember his name. Toby Keith did and still does. I can recall seeing them on a lot of country concert stages. Then there's John Jorgensen, Lee Ritenour, Bruce Springsteen, Jon Bon Jovi, Glenn Fry from the Eagles, and there was even a Takamine ad featuring Pete Townsend back in the day. I agree that today's country music isn't good, can't listen to it for more than 5 minutes or so before I return to the land of the ipod or NPR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fortyearspickn Posted April 11, 2013 Share Posted April 11, 2013 I just found out that right wing nut Toby Keith plays a Tak??? I thought he was ULTRA patriotic and pro-American????? A superficial reading could conclude you believe very patriotic Americans are nuts, O. W. and/or hypocritical when it comes to guitars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onewilyfool Posted April 11, 2013 Author Share Posted April 11, 2013 That would be a very superficial reading, you are right about that.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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