Fernandes Hisashi Imai Stabilizer Guitar

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I don't know if you'll believe me that it's possible, but it would seem that the Japanese are even more crazy about the guitar than we are in the West. They have long had guitar models that simply do not see the light of day outside of Japan. Just take a look at some Japanese guitar websites - you'll see all sorts of guitars that you've never laid eyes on before.

The Fernandes Hisashi Imai signature guitar features their own Sustainer system and a stabilizer bar similar to that found on the Roland GR-707 guitar synthesizer controller of the 1980s. With the GR-707 the bar supposedly kept the neck rock steady and allowed for accurate tracking of the strings. I'm wondering if the bar on this Fernandes maybe performs a similar function and improves performance of the sustainer? But the cynic in me doubts it; I reckon it's just there for aesthetics.

Hisashi Imai is guitarist of Japanese rock band Buck Tick who formed in 1984, and are founders of the Japanese musical movement known as Visual Kei, a style of music characterized by the use of make-up, elaborate hair styles and flamboyant costumes (and which sounds like the 1980s never ended for some). I suppose it figures that such a band would use flamboyant looking guitars too.

G L Wilson

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!

Internal Combustion Guitar: A New Kind of Guitar?

When I first looked at Woody B's Internal Combustion Guitar website I couldn't quite figure out what I was looking at. Was it absolute genius or completely bonkers?

Viewing the videos the picture does become clearer, but I don't think these convey the full potential of this instrument. It seems the concept behind the guitar is to recreate the effect of playing in front of a bank of Marshall amps and finding that "sweet spot" where your guitar resonates with the power of the amps and enables you to execute some blistering guitar playing - BUT - without the extreme volume and need for a bank of Marshalls.

As Woody B, who would seem to be the creator of this beast, says: "It's the guitar you don’t just play... you actually feel the ride!"

From what I can work out what happens is that the guitar has a "driver pickup" mounted near the bridge. The signal from this is fed out to a small low-wattage amp, and then back into the guitar which has its own resonance chamber and speaker. This has the effect of bringing the guitar to life with its own resonance and sustain which can then be tuned with a pot to the rear of the bridge. The neck pickup - one of Lace's very tasty alumitone units - then captures the sound of the whole and sends it through to your main amp. Or alternatively, you can use the hex pickup on the midi-capable V12 model to send to synth equipment.

It's a very intriguing instrument, and puts me in mind of the new Moog guitar with its various sustain modes.

One feature it does have in common with the Moog guitar is a particularly hefty price tag. If I had the necessary money I think I'd be hard pushed which to buy: the Moog or the Internal Combusion Guitar. I certainly prefer the Internal Combusion Guitar when it comes to aesthetics and part of me suspects that it may have more "mojo" (if I'm allowed to use that word!).

In summary: very interesting. I'd like to see and hear more.

UPDATE: Read the Comments for more on this guitar from Woody B himself.

Moog surprise all and sundry with a new GUITAR, of all things!

Yes, it's official, after teasing everyone on 1st April saying they were going to start production of a guitar, legendary synthesiser manufacturer Moog have called our bluff and the Moog Guitar Paul Vo Collector Edition is now available to order.

But, despite its pedigree, this is not guitar synth and neither is it a midi-guitar. However, it does feature some pretty cool electronics that directly affect the strings of the guitar.

With three playing modes - Sustain, Mute and Controlled Sustain - this looks like a serious challenger to Fernandes Sustainer guitars.

"Sustain" gives infinite sustain on every string and at every fret position; "Mute" is designed for staccato playing, as it removes energy from the strings (a sustainer in reverse!), and "Controlled Sustain" sustains the notes being played while muting those that aren't (which is something the Fernandes system most definitely cannot do).

It sounds great to me! As a huge EBow fan I was very excited a few years ago by the idea of having a Fernandes Sustainer guitar, but two Fernandes guitars later and after much experimentation I have decided that, ultimately, they do not deliver the goods. However, this current Moog guitar isn't exactly affordable at $6,495, so I reckon I'll be sticking with my EBow Plus and Fernandes guitar for a while longer yet.