I've owned 3 and still own 2. Trying to sell one.
Takamine GX-100TB
A black explorer with a tremolo. I won't likely ever sell this one. It's really beat up looking paint wise and because most people aren't aware of these Takamine's 80's history with lawsuits and changing locations and such don't think it's worth much without GuitarCenter telling them it is. Super tiny little neck, good tuners, and the pickups sound so thick and modern. It's just a passive dimarzio that was made for the series but they sound great to me.
Takamine GX-200
Strat style version of the GX-100. Same hardware and such as the first. I just traded this guitar and a Peavey Firenza JX for an Epiphone Sheritan II.... so.... I regret that obviously. I at least could use the GX-200. I despise the Sheritan and it really killed any chances of me ever giving Gibson products another shot.
Takamine GE-400 GT (Double P Bass)
Detailed explore shape almost with more cutouts. One of the most metal looking bass guitars ever. I'm in the works of selling this one. It was the first electric instrument I ever got and it was so destiny that I did. I was visiting my grandparents in Abilene, TX and during one of those nights I had just 1 long dream. It was a solid black guitar and solid black bass, both crazy sharp bodies and they were spinning through clouds and lasers at me. The next day I asked my mother to take me to a pawn shop and the very first one we hit had 2 basses in it. 1 was just some Fender style bass and next to it was the Tak. I always hated round, boring bodies on guitars and the Tak had pretty much the same shape as the bass in my dream.
The Tak was twice the price as the other one and my mother was always super broke. I tried my hand at talking the price down on the Takamine and the manager said they couldn't do it by policy. They said before they can haggle, the item must be in the store for 30 days and that bass had just gotten in the night before. My mom gave in and I was able to walk away with it. Those were awesome days for pawn shopping. Now they all use price checking over the internet and mark everything in the store near what it's worth brand new. My cousin was a musician in a Jagermeister backed band and I took it over to him to show it off. He tried scratching off the label from the head stock claiming Takamine only made acoustics and that someone must have just stuck a sticker on it.
I spent years, literally years, hunting down what I could from this series of guitars. I collected every image I came across on the web as they slowly started getting posted. Even Takamine used to not be of help. They would send you a short e-mail from an advertisement that named all 6 guitars. It gave me enough information to look for other models. Takamine changed ownership after a major lawsuit and during the move they lost nearly all their paperwork on multiple series' of guitars including their new and experimental walk into solid-body electrics. I started cataloging the owners of my bass even. Keith in Hawaii is the Takamine GURU. He has nearly 100 Takamines from this rare 80's series. David Vincent of Morbid Angel of course. Anytime I found another owner, their information was saved and an e-mail was sent.
At one time I meant to collect the whole series but It's just not worth it to me anymore. I have a special place in my heart for the GE-400 GT as it was my first real instrument and I will always own my GX-100TB because its just the perfect guitar for my hand size. I would like to someday have the GX-100 refurbished to brand new looks. I used to be really strict on "EVERY SCREW MUST BE ORIGINAL!" but these days, I've changed my mind and I think it would just be nice to have the Tak brought back to it's former glory.
I would like to have an 80's Japanese Ibanez RG models.
I have some videos done with the Takamine GE-400 on my YouTube channel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKDDNsMcjMI
