New Tak Matsumoto Signature Model “TAK MATSUMOTO DC KORINA”
Tak Matsumoto News 
Tak Matsumoto is at it again, releasing a new Gibson Signature Model, the “Tak Matsumoto DC Korina”. Fans are very delighted to see the new lineup of the Double-Cutaway model, one of Tak’s favorite guitars. The body is made out of korina wood, giving it that yellow’ish color.
The guitar will come in two flavors:
TAK MATSUMOTO DC KORINA ANTIQUE NATURAL (Price: 534,000 Yen / Approx. $5340)
TAK MATSUMOTO DC KORINA GOLDTOP DARK BACK (Price: 499,000 Yen / Approx. $4990)
These two models will go on sale on July 30th, 2010.
Here are the specs of this guitar:
TAK MATSUMOTO DC KORINA
Body & hardware
Korina back with Korina top, ABR-1 bridge & Stopbar tailpiece
Neck & Headstock
1 piece Korina neck, 22 fret rosewood fingerboard, Abalone inlays, TAK MATSUMOTO DC neck profile, Vintage
tulip tuners
Electronics
Burstbucker TAK MATSUMOTO Special Zebra (Exposed coil), 2 volumes, 1 tone, 3-way selector switch
Finish option
Antique Natural (V.O.S. finish and Aged gold hardware)
Gold top dark back (Gloss finish, Nickel hardware)
Larry Carlton & Tak Matsumoto To Do Additional Live Performances
Tak Matsumoto News Additional live performances have just been announced for Larry Carlton’s & Tak Matsumoto’s “TAKE YOUR PICK” tour in Japan.
September 1st – Zepp SAPPORO
September 2nd – Zepp SENDAI
September 6th – BLUE NOTE TOKYO
September 7th – BLUE NOTE TOKYO
And here’s a little video of Larry and Tak performing together in Blue Note Tokyo:
Tak in The Alfee’s Takamizawa New Solo Album
Tak Matsumoto News The Alfee’s member Takamizawa Toshihiko will release his new solo album, Fantasia, on August 25th, and Tak is credited as guest musician.
Tracklist or other credits details aren’t available yet, so stay tuned for further news
TAKE YOUR PICK USA/Europe Release Date & Support Members
Tak Matsumoto News Yes, you’re reading this right. Larry Carlton’s and Tak Matsumoto’s “TAKE YOUR PICK” is going to be in stores in the United States and Europe on June 15th, 2010! A tour has yet to be announced for Europe, but we will keep our hopes up! There has been no word on pricing, by the way. However, the distributor for Europe is going to be in-akustik.
As for Japan’s tour, the support members have been announced! Which means that from June 12th onwards, these fine people will be accompanying Tak and Larry during their tour:
Bass : Michael Rhodes
Drums : John Ferraro
Keybord : Billy Steinway
Larry Carlton & Tak Matsumoto TAKE YOUR PICK 6/2 OUT!!
Tak Matsumoto News 
This is what we’ve all been waiting for! Larry Carlton and Tak Matsumoto have announced today, that their collaboration album, “TAKE YOUR PICK”, is going to be released in Japan on June 2nd, 2010. It’s going retail at a price of 3,059 Yen (approx. $32 / 24€).
While this is a pretty hefty price tag for an album that doesn’t contain additional content such as a DVD, I’m sure we’ll all forget about the price once we get to listen to all 12 quality tracks, half of them arranged and written by Tak Matsumoto, half of them arranged and written by Larry Carlton. Seeing as how the album is evenly split among songs by Tak Matsumoto and Larry Carlton, “TAKE YOUR PICK” seems as fitting for such an album as a title will ever be. Die-hard fans would even say that this album is the compilation of the best music from the west, and the best music from the far east. Larry Carlton’s style is pretty bluesy, too, and thus it was only a matter of time until these two great musicians met.
Taking a look at the cover of this album, it becomes clear that this is indeed a mixture of American music and Japanese music, illustrated by 2 guitar picks with their respective national flags on it. It has got a lot of meaning to it, if you closely analyze the cover. It is very simplistic and yet gets the message across. A lot of cover artists fail to do so nowadays.
The track listing, no doubt, reveals a very blues, jazz oriented album, that, I bet, does not fail to have the fan listen to the best of the best, when it comes to Larry Carlton’s works as well as Tak Matsumoto’s works.
Overseas fans, unfortunately, will probably have to wait a little longer to get their hands on this masterpiece as this press release by Larry Carlton & Tak Matsumoto does not illustrate whether the album will be internationally available, or not. Stay tuned for more news!
“TAKE YOUR PICK” Track listing:
01. JAZZY BULLETS
02. Nite Crawler 2010
03. THE WAY WE WERE
04. Islands of Japan
05. Neon Blue
06. Tokyo Night
07. hotalu
08. East West Stroll
09. Easy Mystery
10. ao
11. Take Your Pick
12. A girl from ChinaTracks arranged and written by Larry Carlton: 02, 04, 05, 08, 09, 11
Tracks arranged and written by Tak Matsumoto: 01, 03, 06, 07, 10, 12Price: 3,059 Yen
McSwain Guitar Tak Matsumoto Model
Tak Matsumoto News So, wow, I just spotted this on a Japanese blog. The guitar looks pretty amazing. It’s named “TAK’S MACHINE #0005”.
Well, if you look at the pictures, it’s only obvious, that it’s called “a machine”.
Tak Matsumoto of B’z (one of the greatest Japanese rock bands in history) and Stephen met in March of 2009 in Los Angeles. Tak visited the shop and decided that he wanted to play McSwain guitars. He and McSwain designed a smaller version of the original McSwain body shape for the guitars Tak ordered. This is what is now affectionately referred to as the “McSwain Jr.” Domo Arigato Tak-san!!!! See you in Tokyo!
