Tak Matsumoto News

Gibson Custom has announced that it will be releasing Tak Matsumoto’s latest signature guitar, the Gibson Firebird. The guitar will go on sale in Japan in the middle of March to early April and will have a suggested retail price of 698,000 Yen. But don’t let that scare you. Retailers such as Ikebe Gakki have already started listing the guitar for about 490,000 Yen, which is significantly less than the suggested retail price. The guitar will come in two flavors: Vintage Sunburst and Trans Black Burst.

Specifications

Body: Figured Maple top, 3 Piece Genuine Mahogany Back
Neck: 1 Piece Genuine Mahogany neck with maple spline (Vintage trussrod) , TAK DC profile set neck
Fingerboard: 1 Piece Indian Rosewood w/Abalone Trapezoid inlay
Nut: Corian
Tuners: Reissue Kluson Deluxe
Tailpiece & Bridge: Lightweight Aluminum ABR-1
Pickups: Burstbucker w/Alnico 5, Exposed zebra
Hardware: Nickel Knobs: Gold Top Hats
Collateral: Certificate of Authenticity, Hardcase

Tak Matsumoto News

Tak Matsumoto and Slash on the cover of the February issue of「Young Guitar」

With the beginning of the new year, it has been revealed that the February issue (out January 10th) of the Japanese guitar magazine「Young Guitar」will feature Tak Matsumoto and Slash together on the cover. The special issue for the new year includes a special talk session with both guitarists! You can order the magazine at CDJapan right here: http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/NEOBK-1753749.
Don’t trust the cover displayed there, it’s a placeholder as they haven’t updated the page yet!

We will post about it as soon as we get ours!

Tak Matsumoto News

Tak Matsumoto is providing the guitar solo part for the theme song to the upcoming Taiwanese movie “Second Chance”, set to come into theatres on November 7th in Taiwan. The theme song is called “9 Ball” and is composed and written by Taiwanese band MayDay’s guitarist. Lyrics have also been changed to fit the theme of the movie. MayDay’s guitarist MONSTER, who is a big fan of Tak Matsumoto, went to Japan and invited Tak to play the solo for the theme song. The music video to the theme song can be seen below!

Tak Matsumoto News

Visual Kei band X JAPAN has recently performed at the Madison Square Garden in New York, and Tak Matsumoto attended the show, taking a seat in the VIP section of the venue along with GLAY’s Takuro. A picture surfaced on Twitter showing Tak Matsumoto and Yoshiki doing the X pose.

Tak Matsumoto News

While we’re still waiting for some news from B’z, Vermillion has announced that Tak Matsumoto will be guest on bayfm’s 25th anniversary special program. On the show called “POWER OF RADIO SPIRITS”, Tak Matsumoto will have a talk with music critic Masa Ito. The show is broadcasted live on bayfm on September 30th from 9PM to 10PM Japanese Standard Time. The contents of the talk have not been revealed. They just call it a “special talk”.

Tak Matsumoto News

As we previously reported, Amazon.com listed Tak Matsumoto’s「New Horizon」for a July 8th release in the U.S., however, Amazon.com now lists it slated for a September 9th release. Official confirmation has yet to surface as 335 Records lists the album as “coming soon” on their website. I did some further digging, and also found a possible track list for the U.S. version on CDUniverse.

Light of the Moon should be an English translation of「Tsuki no Akari」, but we are not sure if「Once Upon A Love」is the English title for「Gakuseigai no Kissaten」, or if it’s a completely new track exclusive to the U.S. version.

Possible track list for the U.S. release:

01.Take 5
02.New Horizon
03.Feel Like a Woman Tonight
04.Rodeo Blues
05.Island of Peace
06.That’s Cool
07.Shattered Glass
08.Light of the Moon
09.Reason To Be…
10.Black Jack
11.Once Upon a Love
12.Rain