Takamine Dealer Newsletter: April 2017

Dealer Newsletter

APRIL 2017

Welcome to Takamine Dealer News

Hello to all USA-based Takamine dealers, and welcome to the inaugural edition of Takamine Dealer News! We wanted to start this newsletter so we could provide you with some additional resources and educational tools that will make it easier for you to properly qualify and sell our instruments to your customers. We want to offer these sales tools not only to the management of your store, but also to the salespeople who are on the front lines. Please be sure to pass this around to the appropriate people at your store, and (better yet) to send us the email addresses of your sales staff who can then receive this newsletter directly from us. Just send your email addresses to Justin@espguitars.com and we'll take care of the rest.

Finding the Right Customers for Cedar-Topped Guitars

The tone of an acoustic guitar is derived from variables such as body size, shape, and tone woods. This is also greatly affected by the player, and their style of playing. Players themselves have "tone", and this is a great variable in choosing the right guitar for the customer. If we look at the player's influence on tone wood specifically, then a good starting point is the wood that makes up the guitar's top. The top produces most of the guitar's overall volume and translates the flavor of the wood used in the back and sides.

- Red cedar is a top wood that Takamine chooses for many guitars in the product line. Cedar is a softer, lighter wood than Sitka spruce (used in many acoustic guitar tops) and requires less energy to get moving. This makes it ideal for players who strum lightly or fingerstyle players looking for an instrument that is less dynamically challenging. It gets louder earlier, and because of that, the impression is that the wood is warmer than Sitka spruce for the player with light to medium touch. It can make a small body guitar sound louder than its size would indicate as well.

- The downside is that while it's great for those players who tend to the light to medium touch, it can be frustrating for the player with the heavy touch. To this type of player, cedar may come off as too compressed and dull. This player will most likely be more satisfied with the more dynamic spruce, which requires more energy to get moving.

- Before you push a customer toward a particular guitar, it's always a good idea to observe what style and touch the guitarist tends toward. Putting the most satisfying guitar in their hands leads to a shorter path to the sale, and repeat business!

Some of Takamine's coolest cedar-topped models include the CP400NYK, EF261S-AN, and for more budget-conscious customers, the G20 Series.

Introducing the LTD-2017 Magome

Each year, Takamine releases a very special limited-edition guitar, made in very small quantities and meant for the most discerning players and collectors. This year, it's the LTD-2017 Magome. As you might be aware, there's a story behind the design of each annual limited model, and Magome's tale is fascinating, and something you can relate to customers as they marvel at its detailed design.

- Over 400 years ago, during Japan's Edo period that was renowned for arts and culture, there was a highway called Nakasendo that stretched from Edo (now Tokyo) to Kyoto. Over 300 miles long, the road hosted travelers on the long journey between these two great cities. As it stretched through the Kiso valley in Gifu, travelers could stop at Magome to rest their horses, feast on soba noodles made with buckwheat that was ground fresh in the water mills that lined the road, and sleep in the many inns that Magome offered.

- Today in the city of Nakatsugawa, Gifu, this section of the road has been lovingly preserved as an attraction and as a reminder of the fine craftsmanship in this region of Japan.

- The Takamine LTD-2017 Magome is a testament to the artful craftsmanship of this region - the very same region in which Takamine guitars are lovingly crafted to this day. Everything from its fingerboard inlays to its very deep blue finish (so dark it appears black until hit with strong light) helps tell the Magome story in a way that only the artisans at Takamine can do.

Watch this video to see the creation of Magome (and the area for which it's named) for yourself.

Watch Video →

Secrets of the CTP-3 CoolTube Preamplifier

If there's one thing for which Takamine is well-known and respected around the world, it's the ability to take a player's acoustic sound to the stage. This is accomplished with a combination of components included in our acoustic-electric models: the pickup, and the built-in preamplifier. Takamine's highest-end preamplifier is the CTP-3 CoolTube, found in many of our finest guitars including many of our handcrafted Pro Series as well as some higher-end classical models like the TC132SC, and limited edition guitars like the LTD-2017 Magome.

- The CTP-3 isn't called "CoolTube" for nothing. There's an actual vacuum tube inside the guitar - a 12AU7 that runs on low voltage.

- When you first plug a cable into a Takamine guitar equipped with a CTP-3, the tube needs to warm up for a few seconds before the guitar will produce a signal. A red indicator lamp on the preamplifier control panel will blink until it is ready to go.

- The tone shaping abilities of the CTP-3 are amazing. In addition to its three-band low, mid, and high frequency EQ, it offers a parametric mid-frequency control, as well as a notch filter.

- The tone shaping abilities of the CTP-3 are amazing. In addition to its three-band low, mid, and high frequency EQ, it offers a parametric mid-frequency control, as well as a notch filter.

We've created a short video that will help you better understand the CTP-3 and its functions.

Watch Video →

Did You Know?

- Did you know that Takamine was founded in 1962? We are celebrating Takamine's 55th anniversary in 2017, which makes Takamine one of the oldest acoustic guitar manufacturers in the world who are still creating popular and highly-respected instruments today.

- Did you know that Takamine makes great acoustic basses? Both in our Pro Series and G Series, there are acoustic basses like the new PB5 that rival that sonic and build quality of any acoustic bass guitar ever made.

- Did you know about the new popularity of New Yorker-style guitars? The New Yorker is the smallest full-size shape in the Takamine line, but produces a wonderful tone and good amount of volume, making it great for both intimate live shows and recording. Learn more details about our New Yorker models, like the CP3NYK and others, here.

CONTACT US!

The ESP Guitar Company: (800) 423-8388