Shane Walsh

My Takamine guitar: G Series: EG 10

My Takamine guitar has been by my side for over twelve years.  It’s traveled far and wide with me.  From London, Dublin, Paris and Amsterdam to New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland and Miami.  All of these vibrant cities have sounded a little brighter when I’ve taken out my Takamine.


I remember the day I bought the guitar.  With most expensive purchases you’ll usually take someone along with you for advice.  However, with a guitar you just know if it’s right for you the second you pick it up.  You either fall in love immediately or you don’t.  On a cold, rainy day in 1999 I walked alone into a West London guitar shop and fell head over heels. 


A lot of guitarists will know what I mean when I say that sometimes you pick up an instrument and it’s like you’ve immediately advanced three years in your playing skills.  You can do fast runs, your tone is great and you can finally play some jazz chords!


When I picked up my EG 10 G Series for the first time, I lit up.  Suddenly I sounded like a half-decent guitar player. The action was low, the spruce top more resonant than I’d heard before and the quality-bored machine heads kept the strings beautifully in tune.  The best part about it was the EG 10 was also an acoustic/electric and sounded even more amazing plugged in.


I wasn’t in the shop very long before I’d parted with my hard-earned cash and bought my ticket to the future.


My EG 10 is the best purchase I’ve ever made.  Every song I’ve written has been on this guitar.  It has taken me on a personal journey five thousand miles across the ocean to become a singer/songwriter in Los Angeles.  It’s also helped me write songs that have that have received constant radio airplay, some of which have gone on to be licensed for film and television.


I connect with this guitar and it in turn helps me connect with other people.  Its greatest asset though is an unmatched reliability.  After twelve years of real workload, I have not had to replace one single component.  Arguably, it plays better now than the day I bought it.


My Takamine EG 10 is honest, reliable, hardworking and a talent in itself.  In a nutshell, it’s the one tool I couldn’t live without.


All photography for Shane Walsh provided by: venturevisuals.com