NGD! Takamine Explorer

[eakinj]

I've seen a ton of those Tak explorers in pawn shops in the late 80's and early 90's, and the majority of them were half-red/half black. I almost bought one a couple of times.

Mine was red and black before I took off the paint. Valley Music in Livermore Ca had a few of these come through the doors, mostly Blue and black. Only one I ever saw that had solid color was black with a weird trem on it, seems like it had exposed springs - can't really remember details it's been 26 years lol..

mines in the garage right now about to get prepped for a rattle can paint job

[amimbari]

Aria pro and the Tak explorer similarity? perhaps

[CowboyFromHell]

You might be onto something there.

[amimbari]

sorry cowboy, here's a much clearer picture, and ya, ya it's a bass



were Takamine units made at the MAtsumoku plant or did they have their own place to assemble them?

[CowboyFromHell]

Yeah, I got that it's a bass. Not much on the paint but as long as it makes you happy, that's what matters. I'll research some about what plant it was and get back when I have something to post. Thanks for the pics.

[amimbari]

I was just posting because eakinj said he had a different 2 tone paintjob, and wanted to show they made white/black as one of the choices
those 2 are not mine, just pics from Tb.com

[Sephiroth]

Aria pro and the Tak explorer similarity? perhaps

Saw a few of thosde in the late 80's too.

The only thing that kept me from getting one was the dots (yeah I am that petty but I really hate them)

Otherwise it's a nice explorer bass without being too massive

[CowboyFromHell]

Ok, one site states their facility is "at the base of Takamine Mountain in Sakashita, Japan" but another states they have a "main production facility in Nakatsugawa, Gifu, Japan since 1966". Another source tells me the GX series was made from 1983-1985, are all mahogany set neck guitars with factory DiMarzio Destroyer and Super Distortion humbuckers and were from $259.50 to 529.50 depending on the model. Seems fret buzzing on the low E and A strings is an issue common to all of them from the factory, probably due to 'their' standard setup, but is easily resolved by the end user. I know that's probably just about the guitars but I'm pretty sure the location info is probably applicable to the basses as well.

[amimbari]

thanks cowboy

[zeegler]

I am a member at the Matsumoku forum, and I had also wondered if the Takamine guitars were produced by Matsumoku due to the striking similarity between my GX-100, and the Aria Pro ZZ. According to some of the well informed Japanese members on the forum, I was correct in assuming that Takamine did not actually build the electrics themselves, however, the general consensus was that they were not produced by Matsumoku. One member also mentioned that he had at some point in time owned at least one example of each, and that although the shape is VERY similar, the Aria was significantly bigger. I would be apt to believe this because the Takamine is surprisingly small for a "Z" or Explorer shaped guitar. Also, the Takamine is set-neck, whereas I have never seen a set-neck Aria Pro ZZ.

[Accept2]

Uncle Matt also always made dove tail set necks.................

[CowboyFromHell]

Small is an understatement, lol. They kind of remind me of the women that used to wear corsets to make their waist tiny. I have to say though that I find it very comfortable to play and very well balanced. Not sure about the basses though. Are they the same "body blank" just sent down a different path after shaping? If so it seems they might be a lil neck heavy but maybe that could be resolved with strap button placement I guess.

[zeegler]

Small is an understatement, lol. They kind of remind me of the women that used to wear corsets to make their waist tiny. I have to say though that I find it very comfortable to play and very well balanced. Not sure about the basses though. Are they the same "body blank" just sent down a different path after shaping? If so it seems they might be a lil neck heavy but maybe that could be resolved with strap button placement I guess.

I don't believe they made a bass version of the GX-100, and the Takamine bass posted above definitely looks bigger. I would also assume that the Aria basses are somewhat bigger than their 6 string counterparts. I have to say that the diminutive size of the GX-100 was a big part of the reason I sold mine. It was a great guitar, played well, nice neck, etc, but small guitars look foolish on me.

[amimbari]

I appreciate all the info ZEEGLER. anything that helps figure out what the heck ya have is a bonus.
it looks like they made a lot of guitars but not too many basses. I only know of one other bass they made in the same timeframe, but it looks like they made a few more varients of the GX series.

and yes, the bass I have is HUGE, wont even think about fitting in a standard case or bag as the pic shows..

here's the only other bass I know of that they made. If your gang knows of any others, please let me know......

[eakinj]

Here's a couple pictures of mine. These are old pictures so sorry about the scan quality.