My Eternal Love!
My Love for Gibson J200

At Tokutake-san’s live show on Wednesday, I brought out this beauty for the first time in a while—my Gibson J200 Blonde.

Lately, the body’s been showing some serious cracks, so everyone keeps asking, “Is it vintage?” Even on Wednesday, Ritsu Murakami asked me, “Vintage?”

I think I started playing acoustic guitar about a year after I began singing…

I was completely smitten by the bold, masculine sound of the Gibson J200. I wanted it so badly. But my bandmates and even my mom said, “You might not stick with it, so why not start with a guitar you can buy in Japan?” 😂 (Back then, only vintage ones were available.) It was expensive… 💦 So for the first two or three years, I played a Takamine.

Then in 1988, I went to California and started calling every music shop near my house, asking, “Do you have a Gibson J200?” Every single one replied, “We have a Takamine or Yamaha.” 😂 I thought, “No, no, I can get those easily back in Japan!” (lol)

Finally, the last shop I called said, “We have one.” 😍😍😍 I jumped in the car right away (well, I wasn’t the one driving 💦), and that’s how I met this brand-new beauty ♥️

She’s been my partner for nearly 40 years now 💕💕💕

It’s probably time to send her in for maintenance… 😭

水曜日の徳武さんライヴでは久しぶりにこの子、Gibson J200 Blondeを使った。

最近BodyのCracksが凄いからみんなにVintage？って聞かれます。水曜日も村上律さんにVintage?って。

アコギを弾き出したのは歌を歌い出して1年後くらいかな……

Gibson J200の男らしい音に惚れて欲しくて、欲しくて。 当時のバンドの仲間やママに長続きしないかも知れないから先ずは日本て買えるギターにしたら？(当時はVintageしか無く)高かったぁそして2、3年はTakamineを弾いていた。1988年にCaliforniaに行った時に家の近所にある楽器屋さんに片っ端から電話をかけ、Gibson J200はありますか？するとどの店も”We have a Takamine or Yamaha”と言ってくるいやいや、日本帰ったらいっぱい売ってるし(笑) 最後に電話をかけたお店に1本あるよとの事直ぐに車走らせて(運転私じゃないけど)新品なこの子に出会ったのでしたそれから40年近い相棒

そろそろメンテ出さなきゃなぁ……