1. Japan Superstar Tak Matsumoto joins the ranks of
Legendary Gibson signature artists
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Signature Les Paul is runaway seller in Japan
Gibson has been the choice of legendary guitarists since early in the
century. From Charlie Christian and Wes Montgomery to Eric Clapton, Jimmy
Page and Joe Perry. Even though Gibson is played by a virtual "who’s
who" in the annals of music history, the selection of Gibson Signature
artists has been a highly exclusive honor which has not occurred more
than a dozen times.
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The latest addition to the Gibson signature artist club which includes
superstars such as B.B. King, Jimmy Page, Joe Perry and Ace Frehley is
Tak Matsumoto. The average American music aficionado may wonder who this
is, but to fans in Japan, Tak Matsumoto is fast approaching legendary
status as a rock guitar icon.
As leader of the Japanese rock band, B’z, Tak Matsumoto has taken
his trademark Gibson Les Paul to the top of the charts with album sales
of nearly 60,000,000. Sold-out stadium tours and media clamor surrounding
Tak Matsumoto caught the attention of Gibson who quickly made him their
first Asian signature artist. "There is a lot of great music coming
out of Japan right now and Tak is the number one guitar player in Asia
and in Japan, no doubt." said Gibson CEO Henry Juszkiewicz. "He’s
a loyal Gibson player, a major influence on young guitarists and a superstar.
We couldn’t be more proud to work with Tak to produce a Signature
Les Paul."
The Tak Matsumoto Signature Les Paul is one of Gibson’s strongest
selling models this year with backorders well into the year 2000.
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November 10, 1999 | Gibson Musical Instrument Website
2. B'z Tak Matsumoto's new signature model to be released
Photo courtesy Misa-san |
Tak Matsumoto's new signature model will be named "TAK Matsumoto
Les Paul TAK Burst". This time, America Gibson Company's Custom Division
who is responsible for the production, will soon release it officially.
The proto-type of this model can be seen in "Ultra Soul" and "Gold"
PV. And Tak will also use it on this year's shows. Recently, various music
and guitar magazines have been busily discussing about this. The final version
of this model will get to be released soon. |
October 21, 2001 | Translated
by Keen for this website ©
3. Being Company Official Site's News on Tak's Les Paul
The article has complete details on material and price of the finish product.
A must-read for all Tak's fans and guitar lovers.
Note: Since I know nothing of guitars, the article is too difficult for
me to translate. So here's a link to the English translation by Glen from "Takahiro
Matsumoto Special" 
and a link to the original article in Being Co. website
4. Tak's "Les Paul Tak Burst" Exhibited in
Hard Rock Cafe
To celebrate the release of Tak's two solo albums, Hard Rock Cafe Tokyo and
Osaka have put up Tak's Signature Les Paul for display. It's the first time
for any Hard Rock cafe in the world to display stuff of a Japan artist. After
all, there are only 5 person in the history to own a Gibson signature guitar,
and Tak is the first Asian guitarist in the five. Original article in The Music
272 website
March 5, 2002 | Translated by Keen
for this website ©
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