Introducing the Cool Tube®

After over two years of research and design time, Takamine has once again demonstrated their leadership in acoustic-electric guitar amplification technology.

The Cool Tube® preamp introduced at the January 2004 NAMM show in Anaheim, California is the most significant development in “on-board” acoustic signal processing since Takamine presented the Acoustic DSP, the industry’s first on-board “digital” acoustic guitar preamplifier in 1998. The Takamine Cool Tube® preamp is an on-board acoustic- electric preamp that utilizes a 12AU7 dual triode vacuum tube. The Cool Tube® packs a huge amount of features and amazing tone into a compact package that fits neatly into Takamine’s “SoundChoice” docking port. This new Cool Tube® preamp joins a range of five distinctly different preamps that are all interchangeable, giving the Takamine player several great options to fit their personal style and taste.

Cool Tube® Demo Video Clips and Audio files from Brad Davis & John Jorgenson 

The Cool Tube® preamp gets its name from Takamine’s unique and new technology that runs the Tube at very low voltages, therefore the tube does not glow or produce high levels of heat. The tube actually runs at only two or three degrees above ambient, so there is no concern over the delicate tone woods being affected by radiant heat. With the Takamine Cool Tube® preamp, the playing will be hot, the tone will be warm, and the tube always remains cool.

Cool Tube® Features:

Takamine players will find a most useful array of features to enhance their recording or live performance applications:

• A chromatic tuner available at your fingertips keeps the guitar in tune. The tuner is capable of being calibrated from A438, to A445. An LED display reveals the note being played and directs the player with illuminated arrows that show sharp and flat.
• The EQ section utilizes a shelving, graphic EQ, which can cut or boost bass and treble frequencies. The mid range is shaped using a semi-parametric EQ section comprised of a rotary knob used to choose the mid point of the midrange frequency. The midrange frequency can be cut or boosted with the mid slider. The range of frequency covered by the rotary knob is 200hz to 8.5Khz.
• The tonality of the preamp is further enhanced by the use of the rotary knob labeled Cool Tube® With this control, the player chooses the depth of effect the tube places on the signal generated by the proven Takamine Palathetic™ pickup. With this knob the player can choose from a high degree of “CUT” for aggressive strumming; expanded “sweetness” and harmonic density with fatter lows and rounder highs; or levels of rewarding richness for finger style players.
• An auxiliary input jack and volume knob, which can control an additional add-on pickup of your choice. This facility can accept a magnetic sound hole pickup, or a soundboard transducer. The AUX control knob is used to blend the add-on signal with the Takamine pickup. A small switch in the back of the preamp can be used to match the varying outputs of different pickups with the preamp. The output volume slider can then control the blended signal. The Cool Tube® is powered by 4 AA batteries, which will deliver approximately 24 hours of playing time.