Joe Medrano – Your Guitar Tech
Last month, Takamine Guitar’s number one guitar tech, set-up man to the stars, Joe Medrano celebrated his 19th anniversary with Takamine Guitars. We couldn’t wait for twenty.
If you ever saw a Takamine on TV, chances are Joe Medrano saw it first. More accurately, Joe was last of the many dedicated Takamine craftsman who saw it first. But it is Joe Medrano who gets that last sweet touch.
Medrano would be first to confirm what the industry already knows, that Takamine quality control is unsurpassed, period, and that pretty much every Takamine arrives stage-ready with a nice medium-low action set-up. But from time-to-time, a tweak here and a bump there in that hands of craftsman like Medrano will account for that extra touch of bonding between guitar and player.
Must be nice, huh? But here’s the thing. For every brand new Takamine that goes right from Medrano’s work-bench to the bigtime, there are thousands of other “Medronized” Taks that are shipped directly to your local dealer. So there’s a very good chance that your own Takamine, or that one you’ve been coveting, has passed through the hands of the legendary Joe Medrano.
Yes, the primary difference between the Takamine guitar Joe sets up for the Grammys, and the Takamine he set up for you…. is the shipping address.
Happy Anniversary Mr. Medrano. And on behalf of every guitarist in America who immediately bonded with their new Takamine Guitar…thank you sir. Here’s wishing you 19 more.
Check out this YouTube video of Joe demonstrating how to remove a Takamine preamp – a nice trick to know if you want to hear how the CTP-3 preamp from your TC132SC classical would sound in your EF360GF Glenn Frey Signature model, or how the CT4BII from your P3MC would sound in your P6N-BSB.
