Introduce Yourself!

Mike Markure · Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2005 10:45 am Post subject:

Hello Folks

Hope you all do not mind if I join the fun here.

My name is Mike Markure. I am the brand manager for Takamine Guitars.
I am based in Connecticut.

I have been a musician since third grade. I played professionally for many years and nowadays I still get hired for the odd recording session and every once and a while I will play a festival or concert or two when somebody gives me a call. My strong suit is playing the low notes. I am a bass player and love the acoustic guitar and play it everyday but consider myself just an OK guitarist. (I totally embarass myself on electric)

Nice to see a community of Takamine enthusiasts. I hope I will be able to contribute to the discussions here.

Kazman · Tadpole Joined: 17 May 2004 Posts: 21

Mike!

How nice to see you here! I am the same Kazman (Kazmann) formerly from the AG Forum that you have assisted many a time. Very Happy

So far, I like this forum and think is a great "safe" haven for all Takamine enthusiasts. I won't be a broken record, but I have become dog-tired of some of the attitudes and views on the "popular" forums, especially towards Takamine.

Fellow Forumites:

We are fortunate to have Mike join our group. He is a real expert on everything Takamine (and more) and has a tremendous amount of product / support knowledge for everyone here.

Welcome Mike! Very Happy

guitarstrummer · Tadpole Joined: 21 Jul 2005 Posts: 18 Location: Colorado

Welcome aboard, Mike M. Glad to have you join us. What does a "brand manager" do exactly? Are you just responsible for Taks or do you also have anything to do with Ovations (I think the same parent company, Kaman, has them both). Looking forward to your expertise.

cyberfan · Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2005 7:22 pm Post subject:

Hello,

I stumbled across this website about 15 minutes ago, thanks to Google. I haven't read many of the posts yet, but I'm sure there's people on here that like their Takamine's as much as I like mine. I look forward to posting on here in the near future.

I bought my EF340 new around 1980.

Charles

Mike Markure · Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2005 4:29 am Post subject:

Hi Everybody

As the brand manager for Takamine I do many things. I am the primary designer of the product range, select the tonewoods for our special models, I handle marketing and promotional activity, interface with the factories to make sure evrything is going accordind to plan, get involved with artist relations and our dealer network. Lots of fun stuff.

I spent 19 years at Ovation. First I was in the factory doing various proceedures then I went into quality control and R+D. then I went into sales for a few years.

I had the opportunity to manage Trace Elliot and Warwick marketing for a couple years before the Takamine position came my way. So I have been having a pretty good time.

I am very much at home with Takamine because I love acoustic guitars. All my efforts are focused on making Takamine a solid, world class instrument that any player would be proud to own.

I hope I can be of some use here. I am sure I will learn from all of you.

Nice to see you here Kazman.

guitarstrummer · Tadpole Joined: 21 Jul 2005 Posts: 18 Location: Colorado

Mike M.,
It looks like you're the perfect person to have on board. Thanks for joining. I look forward to hearing your viewpoints in the future. I don't know if you're the one to specifically thank or not, but thank you to whoever is responsible for including the upper strap button on the EAN40C12 that I just purchased. I know it's just a little thing, but I was pleasantly surprised to see that one was included. I think most people end up having one installed anyway, so it's nice to not have to worry about having it done later.

Kazman · Tadpole Joined: 17 May 2004 Posts: 21

Hey Guitarstrummer,

Good to see a fellow Coloradoan on the board!! Very Happy

I am in Parker (southeast of Denver) and have lived out there for 5 years.

We know about dry conditions and humidifying guitars, don't we??!! Winter is a coming! Rolling Eyes

guitarstrummer · Tadpole Joined: 21 Jul 2005 Posts: 18 Location: Colorado

Hey Kazman,
Yes, we do know about humidifying guitars. I was starting to think that no one else in Colorado played guitar anymore. Seems like most people posting on these forums are from back east. I'm in the Johnstown area. Perhaps our paths will cross some day. Good to see you on the forum.

Mike

rockawayrocks · Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2005 2:30 am Post subject:

I'm Tom, age 53, and started playing guitar a year and a half ago. For years I convinced myself that I had no ability or talent, so I never even tried to learn an instrument. I finally decided that I didn't want my very last words to be "woulda, coulda, shoulda", so I took the plunge.

My first guitar was an Alvarez AD60SCBK. As beautiful as it was, the very narrow nut and shallow neck made it difficult to see even slight progress as a brand new beginner. Three months later I stepped up to a Martin Smartwood OM with a 1-3/4" nut and it made all the difference.

This past spring I found a great deal on another Martin, a solid mahogany 000-15 which serves as my travel, outside, and lesson guitar.

For the past few months I've been gassing for an inexpensive, solid top 12 string. I fell in love with a Takamine EG335SC, but at $550 after discount, plus an extra cost for a case, it was beyond my total budget for a guitar that wouldn't see daily use.

Yesterday I stumbled upon a brand new EG335SC that a local store was blowing out at $369......and they threw in a cheap hard case to sweeten the deal!!! For less than $400 including tax, I got a great 12 string. I pick it up later this week. 'Hotel California' here I come.

I'm looking forward to asking a lot of questions, and I have a few already that I'll be posting elsewhere.

Thanks for providing this forum.

Tom

guitarstrummer · Tadpole Joined: 21 Jul 2005 Posts: 18 Location: Colorado

Welcome to the forum, rockawayrocks. Great price on the EG335SC. It's a nice guitar. I also have one, but paid more than that for mine three years ago. The only problem is that it will only make you want to upgrade down the road. I recently picked up an EAN40C12, so unfortunately my EG has now become a hand-me-down to my daughter. I couldn't bring myself to part with it.

leesguitar · Posted: Mon Oct 31, 2005 7:51 am Post subject:

HI MY NAMES LEE I LIVE IN THE UK. 48 YRS OLD ,MARRIED WITH A SON 19 AND A DAUGHTER 17 ,A CARPENTER BY TRADE , 30YRS PLAYING GUITAR ,MORE GIBSONS ,FENDERS, MARTINS THAN I CARE TO THINK ABOUT, ALL GONE TO OTHER HOMES ,DUE TO HAND PROBLEMS I NOW AM DOWN TO 3 GUITARS ,A STRAT ,A BABY TAYLOR AND MY NEW TOY A TAKIMINI TRAVEL GUITAR ,THE SHORTER SCALE IS EASIER ON MY HANDS. FOR 15YRS I HAD A EN20 ELEC/AC ,WHICH WAS MY PRIDE AND JOY BUT DUE TO THE ONSET OF VIBRATION WHITE FINGER I HAD TO SELL IT TO A FANTASTIC COUNTRY GUITARIST WHO NOW WILL NOT USE ANY OTHER ACOUSTIC THAN TAKIMINE. I LOOK FORWARD TO JOINING IN WITH THE FORUM AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE REGARDS LEE Laughing

jazzer · Newbie Alert Joined: 23 Nov 2005 Posts: 3

Howdy from Canada. I'm 52, have 3 boys, and 2 grandsons. I also play a bit of keyboard and have a trio. I just love my Tak EF261AN. What a guitar! I've had many, but this is a real keeper. I also have an Alvarez classical and an Epiphone Dot. I've been off work for awhile due to multiple sclerosis, but can still maneuver the fretboard a bit. Been at this for 37 years now and plan to continue as long as I can. Great forum.

kb6kgx · Posted: Sat Nov 26, 2005 11:12 pm Post subject: First-Time Takamine Owner

My "musical career" (don't be frightened by the quotation marks!) has seen me through piano, cello and tenor saxophone. About fifteen years ago, I decided to take up guitar because it dawned on me that nobody EVER said, "Hey, bring your sax to the party!". That and the coolest guy always seemed to be the one with the guitar.

Anyway, I bought a friend's old Yamaha G65 off of him when he decided to upgrade. It served me well for all this time, though it had seen some better days. So, for the past few months I've been looking around for something new.

A new Guitar Center store opened up a few blocks away from me, so after two visits checking out the stock, I came away tonight with a new Takamine EAN40C Acoustic/Electric. Bought the little 12W amp with it, too.

I was not impressed by the entry-level Martin and Taylor guitars, and even the Ibanez didn't blow me away. But this... the 40C... just sounded great. Came with a real nice hard-shell case, too.

I'm just a casual strummer. Can't figure out how to finger-pick for the life of me. But I know enough basic chords to play the stuff I like and to handle the occasional group sing-a-long every now and then.

One big question, though, should I be real extra careful because there is the lack of a pick guard on this model? I'm not really comfortable with a pick, anyway, and use my fingers for basic strumming. So, maybe it's not an issue.

Also, I read somewhere that the 45C, with different wood, has a deeper, "beefier" sound. Is this true? The 40C has a great sound and it DOES sound even better when plugged in, but I'm wondering if I should trade it back in for the 45C?

11/29/05 Update:

Heard a rattle in the guitar, flipped it around, moved it back and forth, and out came a small piece of wood. OOPS!!!! Took it back to Guitar Center... they had alread sold the other 40C on the wall, and were going to order me another from the factory. But I tried a 10C Dreadnought style, and liked the fuller, bassier sound and swapped it in place of the 40C. I'll see if I can get used to the slightly larger body style. My old Yamaha was more similar to the 40C but wasn't a "cutaway" design. There's a 30-day return policy, so I'll see if I like the feel of it. The sound, of course, is great!

Emil · Newbie Alert Joined: 30 Nov 2005 Posts: 3

Hi guys

I guess it´s time for me to speak up as well.
First of i´m from Sweden so i´m sorry for the poor english. 24 years old (young?) and i´ve played for 11 fine years. I bought my first Tak a few months ago and i have never played a guitar that´s given som much bang for the buck as this one.
I got a EG 531C and it´s the only one a play at the moment.

I´ve been visiting this forum for some time now and i love it.
So here i am.

nicholas · Not So Newbie Joined: 28 Dec 2005 Posts: 5

Hello all. Name is Nick Johnson, and I live in southern california. I've been playing off and on ( mostly off ) since I was 17. Geez ... 20 years now. Have a decent stable of guitars to cover most sonic whims

01 Gibson 59 reissue Les Paul
69 Fender thinline tele
00 Fender custom shop strat ( Fralin pickups, powerbridge piezo installed )
03 McInturff DRP Taurus
04 Takamine EG523SC-12
91 Gibson custom shop J200 in tobacco burst with factory installed p/u

Every last one of my musican friends wants my J200, but it was my first really good guitar, so I don't want to sell my baby. That being said, my friends Takamine NP25C blows the doors off my J200 in tone. He won't sell it to me, and I can't find one of my own. Life is funny sometimes ... happy playing all