Steve Onotera – the popular YouTube guitar player who goes by the name of Samurai Guitarist – has become the latest guitar personality to launch their own gear brand with the unveiling of the Otera TK-1.
Samurai Guitarist is one of YouTube’s most prolific and influential personalities, and at the time of writing boasts 1.18 million subscribers on the platform. The rest of his social media following isn’t too shabby, either, with over 120,000 followers on Instagram.
Onotera has built his following off the back of his educational, informative and entertaining content, which spans guitar reviews, deep-dives into quirky gear hacks, lessons, covers, opinion pieces and more.
He can now add “entrepreneur and guitar maker” to his already stacked resume, after Onotera announced the launch of his almost-eponymous gear brand and its first-ever electric guitar, the TK-1.
As Onotera explains, the guitar itself has been a long time coming and its origins can be traced back to well over two years ago when he finally took the first step towards the brand itself and committed to making his dream a reality.
“Like so many guitar players, ever since I picked up the instrument I've been dreaming up my own signature model,” he says of the brand’s beginnings. “However, 10 years into this YouTube thing and no brands have expressed any interest in doing a signature guitar with me. So I figured, you know what, forget them. I’ll do it myself.”
Samurai Guitarist began working with guitar brand guru Tracy Hoeft to get his vision off the ground, with the resulting model going through a number of refinements and prototype phases before being finally signed off earlier this year.
Built by the Cort factory – which also builds guitars for Squier, Ibanez and PRS – the Otera TK-1 puts a distinct spin on the classic Telecaster template, boasting a slightly more boxed-off silhouette that delivers a very tasty contemporary vibe.
Specs include a three-piece maple neck joined to an ash-topped basswood body, as well as a pair of Seymour Duncan pickups – the P90 Silencer Soapbar in the neck, and BG1400 in the bridge.
A 9.5” radius rosewood fingerboard flashes 21 jumbo frets and dot inlays, while the neck has been shaped to a vintage U profile with a semi-gloss finish purposefully selected for playability benefits.
An ashtray bridge plate with three brass saddles a la vintage Teles also makes the cut, as does a stunning turquoise-esque finish. Each TK-1 ships with two pickguards – a standard white one, and another with a Cherry Blossom motif and Onotera’s signature.
"For years, I imagined a guitar that felt different – one that captured everything I love about the classics, but with its own character,” he explains. “I didn’t want perfection. I wanted something real. Otera was born from that idea. The TK1 is the guitar I always wished existed.
“Every detail was chosen for a reason, with the hope that it inspires the same passion in you that it inspires in me.”
It’s a move we’ve been increasingly accustomed to seeing in recent years. Onotera is just the latest in a growing line of professional players and social media guitarists who have sought to branch out into the world of guitar making.
Rob Chapman and Ola Englund are but two names, with the likes of Tosin Abasi and Zakk Wylde also establishing their own brands. All of those players spoke to Guitar World back in 2022 about the rise in artist-led gear companies.
Only 100 TK-1 examples will be made, with each priced at $1,299 apiece. However, there’s a slight twist: “Once they’re gone, this exact guitar will never be made again.”
Indeed, when they’re gone, they are gone – and when that happens Onotera will set about designing a follow-up (the TK-2, perhaps?).
For more info, head over Otera.
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