Yamaha Guitar Group Announces Acquisition Of Córdoba

Heralded suite of brands from Córdoba Music Group will join existing offering of guitar products from Yamaha, Line 6, and Ampeg

Calabasas, CA—February 6, 2023 – Yamaha Guitar Group, Inc., a U.S. subsidiary of Japan-based Yamaha Corporation, today announced the acquisition of Córdoba Music Group. The addition of the Córdoba line-up to Yamaha Guitar Group’s portfolio — alongside the Yamaha, Line 6, and Ampeg brands—adds an iconic selection of acoustic and electric instruments, as well as accessories to the widespread offerings already available from Yamaha.

Córdoba Music Group (CMG) was originally founded as Córdoba Guitars by Tim Miklaucic, with a mission to bring the nylon string guitar to a wider guitar community. “The nylon string guitar is the mother of all guitars,” stated Miklaucic. Beginning in 1997, Miklaucic assembled a team of master luthiers to create guitars built with a nod to classic techniques of Spanish guitar makers from the late 19^th and early 20^th century. From there the Córdoba brand blossomed.

As it grew, Guild Guitars, with its own impressive history dating back to 1953, was added to the CMG portfolio in 2014. Following the addition of Guild, HumiCase, and DeArmond pickups joined the group. CMG also took over distribution of Savarez and Aquila strings in the U.S.

“We’re thrilled to be making this announcement,” said Joe Bentivegna, President of Yamaha Guitar Group. “Córdoba Music Group’s brands, in particular their flagship Córdoba and Guild lines, are revered throughout the world. We are honored to take on the next phase in maintaining and evolving these beloved brands.”
“Córdoba and Guild guitars, as well as our other products from HumiCase, DeArmond, Savarez, and Aquila have created a strong and lasting bond with both our customers and our employees,” added Miklaucic. “We’ve enjoyed the opportunity to work on this transition with Yamaha, and I’m confident that both the customers and employees are going to find that our brands are now in great hands.”

The addition of brands from Córdoba Music Group expands on the already wide variety of offerings for acoustic, electric, and bass guitar products from Yamaha, Line 6, and Ampeg. This new venture is an instant complement to Yamaha’s own array of nylon fretted instruments and adds ukuleles and acoustic bass guitars to the mix, as well as a selection of pickups, cases, and strings. The addition also brings with it skilled USbased premium guitar manufacturing and processes. All of this is in service to an initiative by Yamaha to continuously broaden the scope, quality, and innovation it can offer guitar players.

Over the next several months, the teams at Córdoba Music Group and Yamaha Guitar Group will be looking for opportunities and interesting ways to provide new value to their customers, dealers, and distributors.

About Yamaha Corporation

Since its founding in 1887, the Yamaha Corporation Group has developed its business activities focusing on musical instruments, audio products, Yamaha music schools, semiconductors, and other products and services related to sound and music. With its unique expertise and sensibilities, Yamaha is committed to creating excitement and cultural inspiration together with people around the world.

About Yamaha Guitar Group, Inc.

Yamaha Guitar Group, Inc. (YGG) is a U.S. based wholly owned subsidiary of Japanbased Yamaha Corporation, that is now dedicated to serving the needs of guitar players through three distinct brands: Yamaha, Line 6, and Ampeg.

Yamaha began manufacturing guitars in the 1940s and began exporting them to the world in 1966. First, in the ’40s, came nylon-string classical acoustic guitars, but it was 1966 that proved to be a particularly impactful year for Yamaha guitars. Introduced, at that time, were SG electric guitars, SB electric basses, FG steelstring acoustics, and a guitar amp. Numerous other offerings have followed, ranging from amps and effects pedals, to an ever-growing range of high-quality guitars, such as the SG, BB, FG and Revstar^® families. Over time, the brand has expanded such that Yamaha now builds some of the best-selling acoustic guitars on earth; over a million people a year are transformed into acoustic guitar players by virtue of acquiring their first Yamaha. Yamaha is also no stranger to innovation in the guitar space. For example, 2017 saw the launch of the TransAcoustic^TM guitar—a unique new category of hybrid acoustic guitar offering onboard chorus and reverb effects to provide a more engaging and inspiring playing experience.

For more than two decades, Line 6 has created products that empower musicians to achieve their full creative potential—from the world’s first modeling amplifier and the iconic red POD to the Helix and HX families of guitar processors and Powercab active guitar speaker systems. These and many other products have received numerous accolades and awards, including the Guitar World “Platinum Award,” the Premier Guitar “Premier Gear Award,” and the Guitar Player “Editors’ Pick” Award. For more information, visit line6.com.

Ampeg has produced some of the music industry’s most innovative amplification products including the first bass combo amp, the first guitar amp with reverb and the de facto stage bass amp, the SVT. Since the 1940s, Ampeg has offered unique and often first-to-market features and performance capabilities, resulting in six U.S. patents under the Ampeg brand name. In 2019 Ampeg celebrated the 50^th anniversary of the SVT.

About Cordoba Music Group

Cordoba Music Group is a leading manufacturer and distributor of acoustic and electric guitars, ukuleles, basses and musical instrument accessories. CMG’s brands include Cordoba Guitars®, Guild Guitars®, DeArmond® and HumiCase®, which are internationally distributed and used by musicians around the world. Other CMG brands include Savarez®, and Aquila®, of which CMG acts as primary importer and U.S. distributor to retail stores. The company’s corporate headquarters are located in Santa Monica, CA, and distribution and manufacturing facilities are located in Oxnard, CA.