[ THE 60TH ]

— 60 Pieces Limited Production World Wide —

Body Shape

image of a guitar outline in gold

Aside from being among the first Takamine models to feature the new Palathetic Pickup system, the circa 1969 PT-05E also gained attention for its creative combination of classical body shape and steel strings. This breakthrough model also triggered the initial widespread distribution of Takamine guitars in Japan.

Both the “THE 60TH” and “LTD2022” models bring a graceful cutaway to the silhouette and distinctive concept of Takamine’s ground-breaking PT-05E.

image of the interior wooden body of THE 60TH and ltd2022 guitars

Grain Direction Of Top Board

"THE 60TH" is made entirely of solid Hawaiian Koa – top back and sides.

The high-grade figured grain of solid Hawaiian Koa, a beautiful natural wood, has a different direction of rigidity from that of ordinary spruce tops due to its repeated coarse and dense grain, which while sonically desirable, can be less adapted to withstand typical string tension.

image showing the grain direction of the top of the guitar in walnut

image showing the grain direction of the top of the guitar in ivory

image showing the grain direction of the top of the guitar in blond color wood

image showing the grain direction of the top of the guitar in an ivory color

3 Piece Bracing

close-up image of the guitar fret board

In order to improve the rigidity without compromising the resonance, a three-piece bracing made of ebony sandwiched by spruce was adopted. Precise hand-shaping is also applied to reduce weight.

The bottom of the bracing is shaved to match the curve of the body top, then glued to the solid Hawaiian Koa top and again finished by hand-shaping with a chisel.

The unique three-layered bracing not only increases rigidity, but also decrease typical brace mass that would otherwise interfere with top vibration. The ebony core of the tone bar allows proper height at the center while allowing much thinner shaping from both sides creating a triangular prism to further reduce weight while maintaining rigidity.

In fact, if you compare this ebony-centered tone bar to typical top bracing, its weight is reduced by more than 20% promoting significantly more top vibration sensitivity.

This exquisite hand processing is done one-by-one by the highly skilled factory manager, Noriharu Sakurai, and the master builder, Toru Hirokawa who, from Takamine’s craft shop, have participated in the production of many high-end and custom guitars for some of our biggest artists.

image of an oriental craftsman using a filing tool
image of an oriental craftsman using a filing tool wearing an apron with the Takamine logo
image of the genuine diamond logo in lineart

Genuine Diamond

The premier model "THE 60TH", limited to 60 pieces worldwide, has an authenticated genuine diamond embedding as an inlay on the headstock.

Since this process will be done after all the paint has been applied, an extra careful method of creating a hole for the diamond inlay was needed in the paint coat to avoiding any damages.

As the result of various trials, we finally decided to establish the diamond setting by way of programmed NC router instead of a standard drilling machine with a drill bit.

This remarkably tense final inlay process is carried out by our factory manager Noriharu Sakurai with the utmost care for each piece.

close-up image of the guitar bridge
close-up image of the guitar strings and bridge
image of a craftsman working on the guitar bridge

Position Mark

To celebrate THE 60TH anniversary of the diamond wedding, a diamond image position-marker sits on the 12th fret.

This is precisely cut by laser cutting machine inspired by the design of the traditional diamond "excellent cut”.

These small facets of select acrylic materials of various reflective qualities are precisely cut by laser and carefully crafted by hand.

close-up image of the diamond inlay on the guitar neck
close-up image of a craftsman placing the diamond inlay on the guitar neck
close-up image of the diamond inlay finally placed on the guitar neck

Body Trim

image of the body trim logo in gold

To befit Limited Edition status, the body of both models are trimmed with gorgeous abalone inlay.

As Premiere Model, THE 60TH abalone inlays along the top, back, sides and headstock, combined with the complimentary color tones of beautiful natural maple binding and solid Hawaiian Koa body speak to well-conceived design and handcrafting technique.

close-up image of THE 60TH guitar body in light walnut

Shell Trimming Work

The design of THE 60TH has several places where courses of the abalone trim intersect. The highly intricate finishing process of cleanly intersecting the two pieces, “tome” is a technique only a highly skilled Japanese craftsman can produce.

For example, with abalone trim lines that connect at 90 degrees, the chisel blade is used like a mirror to view the intersection and help facilitate the perfectly straight drop of the chisel and precise 45 degree cut.

This extremely intricate process is accomplished by two skilled craftsmen specifically experienced with the crafting of abalone inlay for high-end models.

image of a craftsman scraping the guitar body
image of a craftsman scraping the guitar body aroung the abolone inlay

Hard Case

image of the guitar hard case in black

The hard case for THE 60TH is made by a reliable Japanese manufacturer that specializes in small volume custom-made projects. From the fitting tests to the construction of the case pocket lid, every small detail of this custom case has been carefully studied and developed.

Specifications

image of THE 60TH guitar in light walnut

[ THE 60TH ]

  • TOP SOLID HAWAIIAN KOA
  • BACK SOLID HAWAIIAN KOA
  • SIDES SOLID HAWAIIAN KOA
  • NECK MAHOGANY
  • FINGER BOARD EBONY
  • SCALE 644mm
  • NUT-WIDTH 42.5mm
  • PRE-AMP CTF - 2N
  • COLOR NATURAL

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