Dug out my Takamine solid body.

M

moth_baller

New member
For whatever reason I've always called this axe El Jefe. Haven't looked at it in a couple years since I moved.

Had this guitar for a good 15 years. Found it at Wedgle's in Denver down in their basement. Paid 225 bucks for it. Love it!

Part of the fret board by the nut came unattached I've noticed. Knocked the nut off and filled under the board with tite bond. Glue the nut on tomorrow. Manages to not hold then the Luthier it will go in a few months.

Tremelo developed a small crack and a couple fine tuners don't work anymore. Had a gotoh tremelo and locking nut on it when I bought it. Actually found a NOS in the box replacement on reverb for 20 bucks. It's on the way.

I don't know anything about these guitars other than they were only made a couple years. Very little on the net about them. If anyone happens to be educated about them, I'm interested.

The screws that hold the back panel on are gone. The screws that hold on the pickups seem to fit so going to try and match those.

Be nice to have this playing again.
 

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Re: Dug out my Takamine solid body.

Kudos...

That was definitely not what I was expecting when I opened this thread!!!!

Careful not to cut yourself, LOL....
 
Re: Dug out my Takamine solid body.

Yup, kinda like the Martin solid bodies
Click to expand...

I've worked on THEM. They even offered the last bunch of them as a kit, already finished. You just glued on the neck, mounted the hardware, set it up and good to go. I put one together for a client.
 
Re: Dug out my Takamine solid body.

Used to get a few 80's GX100 and GX200's through my shop in the 90's.
They were really nice guitars at a very reasonable price.
I think this is a 400.
Got a touch of the Peavey Rotor and Washburn A20 about it,hasn't it.
Very cool!
Spandex,big hair and one these. Awesome!

Cheers,PJ
 
Re: Dug out my Takamine solid body.

ICTGoober said:
Totally unaware that Takamine made solidbody guitars.
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+1 I didn't know that either. Not only am I surprised that they made solidbody guitars, I'm even more surprised by the pointiness of that model! Looks ace though! I epxect their guitars to be of very good quality! Restore it nicely Mothballer, to me it seems that guitar is worth it! I guess you don't find too many people rocking a solid body Takamine, so I concider this guitar a rarity! :fing2:
 
Re: Dug out my Takamine solid body.

Get that thing up and running! there were so many of those pointies that were forgotten about today. There were 100s of pointy guitars back then that we just don't see anymore.
 
Re: Dug out my Takamine solid body.

That's an amazing axe! Moreso because its a Takamine! I'm floored...I always associate them with acoustics, didn't know they even made electrics, much less pointy beasts like that!

Love it, play it, show it off!
 
Re: Dug out my Takamine solid body.

Thanks everyone. It's definitely an eye catcher and anytime I've pulled it out it draws attention. It always reminded me of the Adam West era (rip) Batmobile because of the red binding everywhere. Yes I must say it is pointy. Funny story about it. For a long time it just lived on my couch. My friends (even if they didn't play) had to pick it up for a few minutes when they were over. One day I sat on one of the points. Felt as if I should be on an episode of SVU.

I did some more googling and managed to finally come up (I think) with the model number. GE-400 KT. I had a different model number of it from a photo long time ago and I was wrong. Seems that acoustic sales plummeted in the 80's and that's why they started making these? They only made solid bodies for a couple three years in the mid 80's, The couple examples I've seen say 1985 and my serial number starts with 85 so I'm assuming it's an 85. Couple years younger than I am now.

If you search for solid body Taks, there are some more proper looking/ less aggressive guitars they made. I've come across 3 in person my whole life. This prick drummer guy who I got in a fight with way back in the day had one and there was one I came across in a pawn shop (now I wish I would have bought) for a 125 bucks. They were definitely lower end models. Seems mine was more higher end but I could be wrong. doing a search for my model number I came across one that sold on reverb. Seller had it listed at 850 bucks and it sold. Doesn't say an offer was accepted. In much better shape than mine. So I may have something worth a bit of money.

As far as I can tell (from googling) it's a neck-thru design. Made in Japan. The backside is pretty bad shape. Drunken accidents, jamming and it managed to come loose in the case when I moved, looks like it's all mahogany. Minus the trem, it seems to be all original. Tuners are stamped Takamine. Not to sure about the pickups though. There's no markings other than a number on the bottom of them. Got a hard case with it when I bought it. Don't know if it's the original case. No markings on it. Fits it well enough to think it's the case that came with it. It is a sort of explorer style guitar so I don't know if it happens to fit in an explorer style case.

It has a coil splitter. I've never been a huge fan of the pickups on it. They sound good and everything just don't seem to match the attitude that this guitar gives off. If I did change the pickups, will the coil splitter still work? Or do I need a specific type that pairs with the splitter?

Seems I did an aright glue job. Got the nut put back on. Cleaned up the excess glue in the slot and got the nut put back on. Putting it back on the nut wasn't ever sitting completely flush against the fret board. Had a small but obvious high spot in the middle. Very light sanding and got it fit nice and flush.

The NOS trem, strings, and some new cables are all supposed to be delivered today. I should be able to string it up, do some adjustments and give it a test drive tonight. Prepared for the worst that whole fret board glue is bad if it needs a truss adjustment or just string tension in general. If it's in need for serious repair, I'll get it fixed later down the road. I have to get at least one of my amps sorted out first. Never not be worth it to me to fix it. Certainly don't see myself parting with it. First guitar I ever bought with my own money.

Maybe I'm daffy enough to attempt fixing it proper myself. I'm interested in building an axe. I have my old Ibanez EX100 still That I stepped on in the dark (slid off the recliner) and broke the neck. Didn't break clean through. I filled it with glue long time ago and didn't do a good job clamping it because I was in a hurry to go party. I'm so glad I've outgrown all that nonsense. Ibanez necks aren't available. I know it was never anything other than a cheap guitar. Might be good to cut my teeth on as far as building/repair work. May start a thread for curiosity sake.
 
Re: Dug out my Takamine solid body.

Mother Baller,don't believe everything you read on Google.
Contrary to what you have read,the 80's were when Takamine really took off as an acoustic maker.
They offered excellent,pro quality guitars,made in Japan at affordable prices.
They also had features the big name acoustic makers didn't offer on their mid range guitars back then such as, cutaways,piezo transducers,on board EQ,primo woods and decent hardware.
The electrics were seen more as testing the waters to see if they could break into that market.
They were made by Matsumoku.
The early 80's GX 100 pointy was a rebranded Aria Pro ll ZZ. Very nice axes!
Anyway,sorry to hijack your thread with ancient history.... Your 400 is still a cool axe.

Cheers,PJ
 
Re: Dug out my Takamine solid body.

Pontiac Jack said:
Mother Baller,don't believe everything you read on Google.
Contrary to what you have read,the 80's were when Takamine really took off as an acoustic maker.
They offered excellent,pro quality guitars,made in Japan at affordable prices.
They also had features the big name acoustic makers didn't offer on their mid range guitars back then such as, cutaways,piezo transducers,on board EQ,primo woods and decent hardware.
The electrics were seen more as testing the waters to see if they could break into that market.
They were made by Matsumoku.
The early 80's GX 100 pointy was a rebranded Aria Pro ll ZZ. Very nice axes!
Anyway,sorry to hijack your thread with ancient history.... Your 400 is still a cool axe.

Cheers,PJ
Click to expand...

Cool. I didn't know that. I take what I read with a grain of salt. But with how little info there seems to be. Not like I have a whole lot to go off of.
 
Re: Dug out my Takamine solid body.

Update. Everything was delivered but ran into a problem putting the trem on. When attaching the springs, the bushings/stufs that are pressed in the body lifted out. I have no reason to change the trem system so I'm gluing the studs in.

Hopefully tomorrow I will be able to string it up.
 
Re: Dug out my Takamine solid body.

Well I decided to string it up this morning and got that accomplished. It plays! Not great though.

I got the trem adjusted for the most part. It intonates at least.

Going to see how strings on it again affect the neck and do some tweaking over the next day or so. Seems it might need some fret work. Hoping that's all.
 
Re: Dug out my Takamine solid body.

That is so great seeing someone pulling them from the mothballs and putting them back into action. Look forward to hearing more as you tweak. I am a big fan of the oddball solid bodies.

pair.jpg
 
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