BUZZ Magazine September 2016

ten, and was still with me just recently when the Daniel Childs Band rocked a
birthday party at Nauti-Nancy's in Clearwater. This workhorse is one that I
consider more than a tool, but a friend, because of the thousands of hours I’ve
spent sweating with it in my hands, or the lonely nights when songwriting was my
only therapy, or Worship gatherings when it was used to accompany singing.
Whatever the setting, the Takamine has always risen to the occasion. However,
this guitar has a whole history of its own from before it fell permanently into my
hands.
My dad, actually, was the first owner of this guitar. If you’ve followed these writings, you’ll know that my
dad is an entertainer as well, and was actually my original inspiration to enter the live music field. He even had a
record deal with RCA for a while in the early 90’s, which is when he acquired the Takamine (in 1991) and began
to use it as one of his primary work-horse guitars. During the early 90’s, the Takamine was seen in my dad’s hands
on national television in one of his music videos, which aired on television stations such as CMT and TNN. He
also played it on multiple television programs, including “Nashville Now” with Ralph Emery, and “Music City
Tonight” with Crook & Chase. And as dad toured, the Takamine even crossed international borders as dad played
it all over Italy and France.
When my dad became an endorser of Taylor Guitars around 2003, the Takamine fell into my hands. Though
I had already played it (borrowing it from dad) for many years, I was now able to keep it with me on a consistent
basis, and it was with me when I moved to Florida for the first time in 2010. In years before that and in years that
followed, I played it all over the United States, on stages of all types. I’ve played it on stages in the Pacific
Northwest and the tropics of Florida alike. Fairgrounds, churches, venues and beach clubs, it has been faithfully
catering to my performance needs through thick and thin, and is still my go-to working acoustic guitar today.
Takamine is a brand that I often refer to as “the working man’s guitar”. Though it’s name is not as
prestigious in the acoustic guitar world as, say, Taylor or Gibson, there’s a good reason why hardworking,
long-time entertainers such as Toby Keith, Steve Wariner and the late Glenn Frey remain die-hard Takamine
endorsers. This company has set high standards for several years as a leader in acoustic pickup innovation, and
the guitars themselves are incredible works of craftsmanship. I, personally, know these guitars best for being very
easy to play, and for delivering top-notch quality and reliability in all types of performance situations. They’ll
take a beating and keep singing brilliantly, as if nothing had ever hit them.
Today, my Takamine bares its fair share of scars and scratches across its face. The middle of the guitar is
beginning to cave in, and many of the frets are worn down and in need of replacement. Sometimes I wonder how
this thing continues to perform, while it continues to hold up through 3 and 4 hour sets in the beautiful Florida
summer heat. The three-band EQ on Takamine’s CT4B preamp system gives me all the flexibility I need to tailor
the guitar’s sound to the way I need to hear it, and always provides a very clear, well-balanced live tone. The neck
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