# Sugizo (J-Rock / Luna Sea content)



## ArtDecade (Jan 21, 2010)

To all of those interested in Luna Sea or X-Japan, Sugizo will releasing his new single on 27 January 2010. It's going to be called "Fatima." Anyway, the guy is always doing something cool. Plus, he knows a thing or two about the guitar! 

Luna Sea:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMMezWwLUYE


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## SnowfaLL (Jan 22, 2010)

Luna sea is cool, but they dont compare to X Japan, the magnitude of amazing players in that band was intense.. hide is a god.

Sugizo has some nice guitars tho, ESP if I recall?


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## ry_z (Jan 22, 2010)

I actually hadn't heard Luna Sea before, but this song is cool. I'll have to find some of their stuff.


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## Desi (Jan 22, 2010)

I have to agree with NickCormier. X Japan's body of work, though smaller, and the talent powering that band is unfathomable. I like Luna Sea, and respect their contributions to Jrock...but...hide is the reason why I even picked up the guitar and continue playing.

Sugizo is awesome indeed, though. And I will look forward to what he's got in store.


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## ArtDecade (Jan 23, 2010)

NickCormier said:


> Luna sea is cool, but they dont compare to X Japan, the magnitude of amazing players in that band was intense.. hide is a god.
> 
> Sugizo has some nice guitars tho, ESP if I recall?


 

He has buckets of ESP models. There are at least 8-9 Signature models that I remember. Some with 'buckers; others with P-90s. Yet, he always sounds just like himself no matter what he uses. At the moment, I have seen him playing a black ESP with two single coils and a P-90. Sounded fantastic.

X-Japan is a beast of a band.


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## JohnIce (Jan 23, 2010)

Rep!

REEEEEEEP!

Sugizo is one of my favs! His leads can sometimes sound a bit samey, he recycles a lot of licks, but his style is still unique. I've never heard anyone solo like him. Above all though, it's his trading off with Inoran that is really inspiring to me, they really taught me a lot about rhythm guitar and arranging songs for two guitars.

About LS vs. X, I'm biased because LS was the first japanese band I got into. X were (and are) a talented bunch, I love much of their stuff and Yoshiki's various solo projects. But to me, Luna Sea always had a more innovative sound. X Japan started out as straight speed metal, then started making grand ballads, and then mixing the two. But Luna Sea had their own sound from the first record, that kind of high-energy punk but with clean, singlecoil guitars (often with a lot of chorus and delay), and a lot of jazzy extensions and whatnot. Not to mention Sugi's violin playing.

So as much as I find X to be more skilled, I'd say LS take the point for originality if we have to compare. I'm obviosly not denying that X were both more influential and more popular than LS ever was.

Btw, for anyone interested, here's a little number I did back in the days of my yout.


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## ArtDecade (Jan 23, 2010)

JohnIce said:


> Rep!
> 
> REEEEEEEP!
> 
> ...




I've always leaned towards Luna Sea as well. I find that I can listen to all of their albums back to back to back and not get ear fatigue. They atmosphere that LS created was second to none.

Dude, those solos are great! Awesome stuff!


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## JohnIce (Jan 23, 2010)

ArtDecade said:


> I've always leaned towards Luna Sea as well. I find that I can listen to all of their albums back to back to back and not get ear fatigue. They atmosphere that LS created was second to none.
> 
> Dude, those solos are great! Awesome stuff!


 
Sugi and Inoran are kings of atmosphere! They really taught me that you don't need keyboards/synthesizers to create intriguing sondscapes, it's very possible to create huge sounding songs just with guitars.

And thanks, I recorded that stuff years ago and listening back to it I don't intonate all those bends quite right, but hey, you live and you improve


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## Bloody_Inferno (Jan 24, 2010)

A Sugizo appresh... you beat me to it damn. 

I've got Cosmoscape spinning in the car at the moment. 

I've been following even the post Luna Sea stuff religiously, even from the other guys too. Spank Your Juice, Fake, the Soundtrack movie, Juno Reactor, X post Hide... I gotta have them all! 

For my opinion on X vs LS, no comparison. 2 different bands altogether, admittedly Luna Sea wins in orginality... JohnIce said it best so no need for me to say the same thing. 

And just look at the influence left behind:













Not to mention all the VK bands like Nightmare, Gazette, Siam Shade (a band that Ryuichi discovered much like Hide discovered Luna Sea), the list goes on...

And every Sugizo fan should have picked up the X Japan 2008 DVD as well as the God Bless You 2008 DVD:



Religious experience!


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## JohnIce (Jan 24, 2010)

*John's daily routine*

1: Get out of bed
2: Put on pants
3: Have coffee
4: Give some more rep to JP for having the most awesome opinions regarding absolutely everything
5: ....

Fuck, that's all the routine I have. Being unemployed sucks 

And I agree, as much as I love the GazettE (arguably "better" guitarists than LS), and as much as I appreciate Sakito for his skills (arguably better than the GazettE, although I've never thought much of Nightmare's music), it's still very obvious that both these bands and many others are VERY Luna Sea-inspired. To the point where it's bordering on lame sometimes. To me, Luna Sea shaped the sound of modern VK more than X did, even if X were more popular with the general public.

Speaking of covers, here's one of my favs:


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## Prydogga (Jan 24, 2010)

Wow, I'm glad I found this thread, it's my first introduction to ths kind of stuff, and it seems to be something that has been missing from my musical life, which is pretty much the only life I have. Great lyrics and vibe and perfect emphasis on melody throughout the guitar parts. 
Something I've always been looking for, thanks guys. I'll rep when I can but it's been 3 days since I last repped but apparently I've still repped too much in the last 24 hours.


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## Bloody_Inferno (Jan 24, 2010)

John, one day I'm gonna hunt you down and get you into the sickest guitar jam ever.  

It's no secret that the VK bands trive on both X Japan and Luna Sea, and to some lesser extent Loudness, Dead End and Bowwy too. I mean, even TM Revolution sang X and Believe in the Hide Memorial summit. 

I do like Nightmare though, their more recent stuff has evolved beyond Luna Sea influence, and Sakito's tone got grittier, which adds an angry punk element to their sound. Gazette did the same thing too, but then again... listen to Aoi's solo on Cassis, then listen to Sugizo's solo on Gravity. Hero worship indeed. 

I also loved the fact that Luna Sea's first album was so trebly, it's like having ice picks and broken glass stabbed through your ears. In theory that would sound terrible, but Luna Sea did it beautifully. 

And for the record... Marty Friedman plays on that Shine cover. 

Funny enough I actually started an Abingdon Boys School thread ages ago... to the praise of absolutely nobody.


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## distressed_romeo (Jan 24, 2010)

Good thread.

I've loved X Japan for ages, and my younger brother's played me a lot of Luna Sea recently. I really like Sugizo's playing; he's really melodic, but has this really quirky way of phrasing that I can't really compare to anyone else.


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## JohnIce (Jan 24, 2010)

Seems like I'll have to look into the new Nightmare some more then if it has a grittier edge to it, I'm not a fan of punk by any means, I'm a music theory nerd, but I love the combination of advanced music with a punk rock approach. For example, one of my favourite bands is Bazra, if you've heard them. It's really a high-energy punk/garage trio but with jazz harmony and sick, Primus-like bass lines. I love that stuff! That's exactly the approach I'm going for in my own band, that gritty, punky sound but with some serious theoretical thought behind it.

Agreed about the first LS album, which was also the first album I heard from them. It's just so atmospheric and new, despite being made 20 years ago  It threw me for a loop for sure.


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## ArtDecade (Jan 24, 2010)

Bloody_Inferno said:


> John, one day I'm gonna hunt you down and get you into the sickest guitar jam ever.
> 
> It's no secret that the VK bands trive on both X Japan and Luna Sea, and to some lesser extent Loudness, Dead End and Bowwy too. I mean, even TM Revolution sang X and Believe in the Hide Memorial summit.
> 
> ...



I'd really like to see Marty Friedman do an album with some of the guitarists on J-Pop / J-Rock scene. His Tokyo Jukebox album is amazing, though. If you haven't heard it yet, give it a listen. He covers his favorite bands, including Mr. Children.  

Also, you are totally right about the mastering on the first Luna Sea album.


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## iamNataku (Jan 24, 2010)

Haha, never thought I'd see a VK thread on here. I was always a diehard GazettE and Fake? fan, not even realizing the Luna Sea connections until my friend played some of their stuff.

X Japan will always be classic, which is even funnier since a random guy just asked if I knew about them. (He just finished a video shoot with them in LA apparently.)

Oh!! I wanted to post this a while back but I was afraid it'd be ignored. Shinkou Shuukyou Gakudan NoGoD. I've always been fan, but their new EP just blew me out the water. Then I saw their new guitarist Shinno rocking a 7-string in the video. Can somebody please tell me the name of that model??


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## ry_z (Jan 24, 2010)

If this is now a general VK thread, I have to throw this into the mix. 

Teru and Hizaki are both awesome guitarists, imo.


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## Shinto (Jan 24, 2010)

ry_z said:


> If this is now a general VK thread, I have to throw this into the mix.
> 
> Teru and Hizaki are both awesome guitarists, imo.


Beat me to it! I wanted to talk about Versailles but I didn't want to risk getting flamed.
Are there any other bands that have this kind of sound (how do I describe it... symphonic power metal?) with not-so-high vocals? I know of Malice Mizer and obviously X Japan (although Toshi sings rather high).


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## ry_z (Jan 24, 2010)

Shinto said:


> Beat me to it! I wanted to talk about Versailles but I didn't want to risk getting flamed.
> Are there any other bands that have this kind of sound (how do I describe it... symphonic power metal) with not-so-high vocals? I know of Malice Mizer and obviously X Japan (although Toshi sings rather high).



I'm not too worried about getting flamed. I'm already enough of a flamer myself. 

I'm sure there are, but I haven't really heard any. I don't listen to much power metal these days though, except for Versailles and Angra.


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## JohnIce (Jan 24, 2010)

iamNataku said:


> Haha, never thought I'd see a VK thread on here. I was always a diehard GazettE and Fake? fan, not even realizing the Luna Sea connections until my friend played some of their stuff.
> 
> X Japan will always be classic, which is even funnier since a random guy just asked if I knew about them. (He just finished a video shoot with them in LA apparently.)
> 
> Oh!! I wanted to post this a while back but I was afraid it'd be ignored. Shinkou Shuukyou Gakudan NoGoD. I've always been fan, but their new EP just blew me out the water. Then I saw their new guitarist Shinno rocking a 7-string in the video. Can somebody please tell me the name of that model??




Cool stuff! I love 7-strings in less-than-metal contexts.

Judging only from the shape of the headstock I think they're both playing custom ESP's. The orange guitar is an ESP Snapper, the 7-string has a silvery logo which is hard to catch in the lighting but it's got a Snapper headstock anyway.


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## Shinto (Jan 24, 2010)

You could bet that most J-rock bands use ESP... just look at the Japanese ESP roster of signature guitars.


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## JohnIce (Jan 24, 2010)

Shinto said:


> You could bet that most J-rock bands use ESP... just look at the Japanese ESP roster of signature guitars.


 
Oh so true, but I did see that guy with an EBMM JP7 in another video, so he may not be endorsed  The other guy definately is though, and possibly the bassist aswell.


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## Bloody_Inferno (Jan 24, 2010)

That must have been Sincrea...

Considering that even the Dir En Grey thread branched out into other Visual Kei appresh, I'm keeping my posts Sugizo/Luna Sea exclusive. 

Speaking of which:











And for those interested in SKIN.... don't hold your breath.


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## JohnIce (Jan 24, 2010)

Ah, Super Love, such a feel-good song 

Dunno if I've posted this here, but I did a tribute to Sugi's song "A Prayer" a few years ago, and called it "Another Prayer"  I'd be happy to hear what you Sugi fans think about it:



And here's the eminent original, for good measure:


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## ArtDecade (Jan 24, 2010)

Ha. This is my new favorite thread ever! Check out this cover of Bowie's Life on Mars by The Vamps. Hyde's vocals are freaking great! This was a bonus cut on the new album.



Oh, and John - your cover is great. I dig the varied tones that you used throughout.


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## Bloody_Inferno (Jan 24, 2010)

ArtDecade said:


> I'd really like to see Marty Friedman do an album with some of the guitarists on J-Pop / J-Rock scene. His Tokyo Jukebox album is amazing, though. If you haven't heard it yet, give it a listen. He covers his favorite bands, including Mr. Children.
> 
> Also, you are totally right about the mastering on the first Luna Sea album.


 
He's got a J-Rock band called LoveFixer (or maybe 2 xx). It's hard to find though. Got Tokyo Jukebox as well. Love the Alan cover. 

Back OT, one of my favorite Sugizo solos:



Triple neck action:


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## JohnIce (Jan 24, 2010)

Nice!  Hyde's english is horrible, but holy fuck that little guy has pipes! His high notes in the song finale get me every time!

@JP: Good call, In Silence is one of my favourite LS songs regardless of solos


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## ArtDecade (Jan 24, 2010)

Bummer - The second video that you listed as Triple Neck Action didn't come up. Which tune was that? (Loveless?)

I'll have to hunt down LoveFixer. I have heard that project mentioned, but I didn't know that he actually recorded anything.


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## JohnIce (Jan 24, 2010)

^ That was Loveless, from the God Bless You DVD but he plays that song on that guitar on all videos I've seen. The version on the Final Act DVD is a good one.


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## Bloody_Inferno (Jan 24, 2010)

ArtDecade said:


> Bummer - The second video that you listed as Triple Neck Action didn't come up. Which tune was that?


 
Loveless. First track on the Mother Album. They opened with that on the God Bless You DVD. John beat me...

You can see the triple neck on an old live version of Mother too. Same with Genesis of the Mind. 

My sister's the biggest Hyde fangirl, so I hear everything he does all the time.  Yeah his Engrish is bad, but his voice is amazing, very akin to Scott Weiland in his solo stuff. 

More Luna Sea, this one's just captivating.


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## ArtDecade (Jan 24, 2010)

Bloody_Inferno said:


> Yeah his Engrish is bad, but his voice is amazing, very akin to Scott Weiland in his solo stuff.



It's a million times better than my Japanese though! 

Who'd have thought to find so many Luna Sea fans on a sevenstring.org? Crazy.


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## JohnIce (Jan 24, 2010)

Bloody_Inferno said:


> More Luna Sea, this one's just captivating.




Intense! 

Although, to me, their most touching song is Mother... there are so many awesome live versions of it that all have their charms, but since you mentioned the tripleneck...


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## Bloody_Inferno (Jan 24, 2010)

^ I actually bought a similar coat to what Sugizo wears when I was in Yellow House Harajuku.  The store lady then tried to sell me a black longskirt like Sugizo and Miyavi, but I had to draw the line. 

Remind to self of my vouchers and go back for more stage clothing....

Thanks for the rep ArtDecade, though my sister is responsible. She has literally truckloads of this stuff. That and a regular subscription to Fools Mate magazines keeps us updated regularily.


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## JohnIce (Jan 24, 2010)

Stage clothes ftw! I have to get my ass around that, I have a bad habit of just walking up onstage in my everyday clothes. Obviously it sounds the same, but I think the visuals are important too. If you look insane offstage, it'll probably look awesome onstage 

Here's another classic that gets me every time:


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## ArtDecade (Jan 24, 2010)

Watching all of these videos is really making me wish that they would head back in the studio together or at least do a few shows. Any word on that ever happening again?


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## Bloody_Inferno (Jan 24, 2010)

ArtDecade said:


> Watching all of these videos is really making me wish that they would head back in the studio together or at least do a few shows. Any word on that ever happening again?


 
Highly doubtful. Nothing together since the Hide Memorial summit. 

Everybody's all busy working individually. Ryuichi and Inoran did join together and formed Tourbillion, but that was 3 years ago. Both have their own solo careers keeping them busy. Plus Ryuichi even played Billy Flynn on the Tokyo broadway adaptation of Chicago. J's got his own solo stuff too (more dirty rock/punk orientated than Ryuichi and Inoran). 

Sugizo's already juggling X Japan and Juno Reactor, in addition to his solo stuff. As for Shinya, he's disappeared again.



Shinto said:


> Beat me to it! I wanted to talk about Versailles but I didn't want to risk getting flamed.
> Are there any other bands that have this kind of sound (how do I describe it... symphonic power metal?) with not-so-high vocals? I know of Malice Mizer and obviously X Japan (although Toshi sings rather high).


 
There's Galneryus, but since Yama B's departure, there's nothing in that camp. But Syu's keeping himself busy with SpinalChord so you can check them out. There's also Deluhi for some epic metal. D is another one that's doing well. There's Omnyouza as well, plus some others I can't remember right now.


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## Shinto (Jan 24, 2010)

Bloody_Inferno said:


> There's Galneryus, but since Yama B's departure, there's nothing in that camp. But Syu's keeping himself busy with SpinalChord so you can check them out. There's also Deluhi for some epic metal. D is another one that's doing well. There's Omnyouza as well, plus some others I can't remember right now.


Already knew about Galneryus/Syu/Spinalcord about 2-3 years ago at least. Love 'em.
Deluhi isn't too bad, but I've only heard two or three of their songs.
Omnyouza... I heard of them while looking for bands that sound like SMG. I need to check them out though.

I just realized Versailles' Jubilee came out 4 days ago. 
I loved Noble, and so far it's pretty good.


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## ry_z (Jan 24, 2010)

Shinto said:


> I just realized Versailles' Jubilee came out 4 days ago.
> I loved Noble, and so far it's pretty good.



I need to give Jubilee another listen. I liked it the first time, but I think it's more of a grower than Noble was. Versailles is still awesome, though it really sucks that they lost Jasmine You.


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## Shinto (Jan 24, 2010)

ry_z said:


> I need to give Jubilee another listen. I liked it the first time, but I think it's more of a grower than Noble was. Versailles is still awesome, though it really sucks that they lost Jasmine You.


I gotta ask: is Gekkakou played on a 7-string? The verse sounds like it's in A# minor.


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## ry_z (Jan 24, 2010)

Shinto said:


> I gotta ask: is Gekkakou played on a 7-string? The verse sounds like it's in A# minor.



It sounds like it. I know their normal tuning is drop C#, but Gekkakou definitely goes lower than that. I haven't seen any live video/photos of them playing it yet, though.


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## JohnIce (Jan 25, 2010)

Speaking of 7's, has anyone of you seen any videos of Sugizo playing his signature 7? I have no idea what songs he uses it on, so I don't know what to look for. It says on the ESP page that it was finished in 2000, which is obviously the same year as LS disbanded, so I'd assume he didn't use it with them. It does say he used it with Spank Your Juice, but I still don't know any songs. ESP made "much longer scale" version a few years later but it doesn't say what songs he used that one for either.


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## ArtDecade (Jan 25, 2010)

I saw that guitar on ESP's site and I wondered the same thing. Another guitar that I saw there had Rickenbacker-type pickups. What tracks did he use that on?


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## JohnIce (Jan 25, 2010)

ArtDecade said:


> I saw that guitar on ESP's site and I wondered the same thing. Another guitar that I saw there had Rickenbacker-type pickups. What tracks did he use that on?


 
That's the 12-string model, I think it's called the S-IV or something. He used it on the song Velvet (not sure about the studio, but for the live shows anyway).



He also played a Rickenbacker 12-string on the Final Act version of Mother, I think he meant this guitar to sound like a Rickenbacker by putting in Rickenbacker pickups and using a semi-hollow body, but I guess he ended up just playing a Rickenbacker anyway in the end.

- edit - Hmm, strange that no one posted this one yet... one of Sugizo's shreddiest moments, for sure!  Cool how his style remains just the same on an acoustic too.


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## ArtDecade (Jan 25, 2010)

Ahhh - I didn't notice that it was a 12 string at the time. Thanks.

I really don't want to turn this into a gear discussion, BUT ... what does Sugi use for his saturated lead tones? It sounds amazing.

John, what did you use on your clips?


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## JohnIce (Jan 25, 2010)

ArtDecade said:


> Ahhh - I didn't notice that it was a 12 string at the time. Thanks.
> 
> I really don't want to turn this into a gear discussion, BUT ... what does Sugi use for his saturated lead tones? It sounds amazing.
> 
> John, what did you use on your clips?


 
He's always used Marshall-flavoured stuff as far as I know. The only amps I know for sure that he's used is Custom Audio Electronics amps in the late 90's. But I guess any EL34 amp with some decent gain on tap would get the job done. Loads of delay and reverb is the most important part  A neck singlecoil would also be useful, as Sugizo almost always uses the neck pickup for leads.

Ironically, I did the complete opposite amp-wise for my clip, I used the L6 Treadplate model on my PODxt which is Mesa-based. I used a lot more gain and less prescence and treble than Sugizo uses, and obviously humbuckers aswell, but like I said, the delay and reverb is the most important, aside from his vibrato and fluid picking style of course.

- edit - Some brand spankin' Sugizo music from the new album!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6d4EH2DvO00


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## Bloody_Inferno (Jan 25, 2010)

Don't forget that every now and then the 'out of phase' position are used by both Sugizo and Inoran. 

Vids of Sugizo using 7s are rare. As for 12 strings, yeah John is pretty much spot on. There's few vids where he alternated with double necks for 4am, but stuck with the Rickenbacker in the end. 

Also he has the custom SKIN strat with 2 P90s. 



Both Sugizo and Inoran didn't exclusively stick to single coils fo the most part. The Style album onwards has them using humbuckers. Sugizo also had that weird config (IIRC Lil 59/Bill Lawrence lace sensor on neck, Lil Screaming Demon/Bill Lawrence lace on bridge) on one of his guitars. Aoi from Gazette took this idea for his sigs. And Inoran has used stock Les Pauls on certain live occasions (Forever and Ever). 


EDIT: Messiah rocks. My sister got the single already.


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## JohnIce (Jan 25, 2010)

Bloody_Inferno said:


> Both Sugizo and Inoran didn't exclusively stick to single coils fo the most part. The Style album onwards has them using humbuckers. Sugizo also had that weird config (IIRC Lil 59/Bill Lawrence lace sensor on neck, Lil Screaming Demon/Bill Lawrence lace on bridge) on one of his guitars. Aoi from Gazette took this idea for his sigs. And Inoran has used stock Les Pauls on certain live occasions (Forever and Ever).


 
That's a vey cool guitar indeed! I think one of those pickups is a sustainer too, though... Would be interesting to try that out, but I imagine I'd miss a humbucker in all those singlecoils after all.

Some of his guitars that look like they have singlecoils actually have Jaguar pickups too. Even some of his Brilliant Mixedmedia guitars were modded to fit Jag pickups in them, and he also played an actual Jaguar on many occassions through the years. I think he ended up getting ESP to make him a Jaguar copy aswell.


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## Bloody_Inferno (Jan 25, 2010)

JohnIce said:


> That's a vey cool guitar indeed! I think one of those pickups is a sustainer too, though... Would be interesting to try that out, but I imagine I'd miss a humbucker in all those singlecoils after all.
> 
> Some of his guitars that look like they have singlecoils actually have Jaguar pickups too. Even some of his Brilliant Mixedmedia guitars were modded to fit Jag pickups in them, and he also played an actual Jaguar on many occassions through the years. I think he ended up getting ESP to make him a Jaguar copy aswell.


 
With the single/hum hybrid; having tried Aoi's sig, the config is voiced to get a humbucking sound when the 2 parallel pickups are switched together, and vice versa to get individual voicings from one coil. It's hard to explain but you've got a complex system with some unique and versatile tones.


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## ArtDecade (Jan 25, 2010)

Bloody_Inferno said:


> Aoi from Gazette took this idea for his sigs. And Inoran has used stock Les Pauls on certain live occasions (Forever and Ever).



The Aoi model is over the top. I saw some pics of that online. It kind of reminds me of the elaborate switching system that Steve Morse used on his old guitar. It had two humbuckers and two singles with all types of switches to split coils or add a pickup on the fly. Way too much work for me. Ha. I'd get lost.


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## ry_z (Jan 25, 2010)

I'd be interested to try one. (Aoi's model) I'd have to think that you could get a ton of different sounds out of it.

The shape is really cool, too - almost like the offspring of an F-series and a Les Paul.


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## Bloody_Inferno (Jan 27, 2010)

JohnIce said:


> Seems like I'll have to look into the new Nightmare some more then if it has a grittier edge to it.


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## JohnIce (Jan 27, 2010)

Bloody_Inferno said:


>




Thanks man!  I was looking up Nightmare just yesterday, in fact. I've known Sakito is a good soloist, but I was pleasantly surprised at how well the rhythm guitars were arranged. One of my main inspirations taken from Luna Sea, and the GazettE for that matter, is the inventive rhythm playing and interplay between the two guitarists. I noticed there's a lot of that going on in this band too, which is great! I have so much more respect for a creative rhythm player than someone who's just got fast fingers.

At the Aoi sig, I figured it would be something like that with the parallel pickups used together giving a humbucker effect, I just have a hard time imagining the result.... it's not a humbucker after all, but two singlecoils going on at the same time, which by my logic would create a sound equal to two guitars with noiseless singlecoils (voiced differently) playing together, pretty much. I don't see how two singlecoils running simultaneously could adopt the sound characteristics of a humbucker, but that's just the sceptic in me  If you say it works I'll believe you


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## ArtDecade (Jan 27, 2010)

JohnIce said:


> At the Aoi sig, I figured it would be something like that with the parallel pickups used together giving a humbucker effect, I just have a hard time imagining the result.... it's not a humbucker after all, but two singlecoils going on at the same time, which by my logic would create a sound equal to two guitars with noiseless singlecoils (voiced differently) playing together, pretty much. I don't see how two singlecoils running simultaneously could adopt the sound characteristics of a humbucker, but that's just the sceptic in me  If you say it works I'll believe you



http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/general-music-discussion/108137-never-thought-id-say-this-but.html

Dave Weiner's new PRS guitar has 5 single coils instead of the standard HSH that he has used in the past. He explains a bit about it in the vid.

EDIT: Sorry, John - I just noticed that you became the star of that particular thread. Good job eclipsing Weiner! Haha.


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## JohnIce (Jan 27, 2010)

Haha yeah, I kinda hijacked that thread right away, didn't I? 

Anyway, that's a guitar I really would like to try out! I'm very sceptical to any pickup that is claimed to sound like both a humbucker and a singlecoil, I'be looked (because it would make my life easier if there was one), but I've never been convinced. I've heard good things about the 513 though so I want to try one, even if I definately couldn't afford one


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## ArtDecade (Feb 4, 2010)

I am sure that a few of you have seen this, but if not... Here is Sugizo playing a phrase loop and solo using the Boss GT10. It sounds pretty awesome. Does anyone have any idea what type of pickups are in that guitar? They look like some very odd P90s.


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## JohnIce (Feb 5, 2010)

That commentator still cracks me up 

The bridge pickup on that guitar (which, btw, is a Navigator N-ST Custom, as is the white one on the stand next to him), is a regular P-90. He seems to use it throughout that whole video. But the neck pickup, i have no idea on. Given that it's shaped like a P-90 it's probably intended to be a replacement for P-90 routed guitars, meaning it's either supposed to sound like a P-90, or to give a singlecoil sound in a P-90 housing. The single line of polepieces indicates that it wouldn't be a humbucker type of pickup.






For curio purposes, I'm pretty sure (judging from the spots on the body) that that's the same guitar that had singlecoils back when he was doing The Flare.


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## ArtDecade (Feb 5, 2010)

Just looked up those Navigators... Wow. That is a no-joke guitar. They also cost a fortune! I've seen a few pics and videos of Sugizo using P90s with X-Japan. On the ESP site, it shows that he is using a Lollar P90 in the Mixed Media guitar. I guess he is going for a slightly fatter tone. Either way, he makes it all sound good! I have P90s in a guitar and I totally dig them. 

Also, the tags on this thread are a trip! Ha.


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## visualrocker69 (Dec 27, 2012)

Sorry to dig up an old thread... 

It's always amusing to me when people characterize Sugizo as somehow inferior to X's guitarists when in fact it's quite the opposite. Since it came out that he'd be filling in for hide back in 2007, so many people were whining about it, and every single time I've referred them to the 1992 Ecstasy Summit &#28961;&#25973; band segment. Sugizo breezed through both hide and Pata's solos in X, and furthermore he learned the song in a matter of hours (he was a last minute stand-in for another guitarist who was supposed to be in that session but couldn't make it due to injury). I realize that technical brilliance is not the musical focus of Luna Sea, but that in no way diminishes Sugizo's standing as a guitarist. His virtuosity by far surpasses that Pata's, and especially hide's, who was in comparison quite technically limited. Sugizo's technique is so fluid, and he makes it seem effortless. This is probably due to the fact that he played violin from the age of 3 or 4. He stated that the technical aspects of guitar playing always came to him so easily - not in a bragging way, just matter of factly. But, once again, shredding is not where his interest lies. He approaches it in a more melodic, textured, violin-like manner. Obviously, he's more into experiemental/avantgarde stuff than rock/metal. He looks up to Miles Davis far more as a musical idol than ANY guitarist, and when he was pressed to state an actual guitarist he admired, what he came up with was Frank Zappa. That speaks volumes as far as his approach to guitar playing... his background as a guitarist is barely even rooted in GUITAR. He doesn't think within the confines of conventional guitar playing.

And for the record, by no means am I a Sugizo fanboy, I'm not even influenced by him strictly speaking, but I do have nothing but respect for his talent and ability, both as a guitarist and songwriter.


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## darkinners (Dec 27, 2012)

NickCormier said:


> Luna sea is cool, but they dont compare to X Japan, the magnitude of amazing players in that band was intense.. hide is a god.
> 
> Sugizo has some nice guitars tho, ESP if I recall?




Never really into X-Japan, they are a legendary band for sure but to me they are just Japanese attempt of 80's US hardrock.

I much prefer Luna Sea as they has their own unique sound.


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## Metaguitarist (Dec 28, 2012)

This is his best performance and musical arrangement in my opinion. Great musician. Too bad new X-Japan is utter garbage. Yoshiki was never really that great. Now he's fully destroyed X.


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## Bloody_Inferno (Dec 29, 2012)

^ While the 2 or so new X Japan songs aint exactly outstanding, I'm going to reserve my opinion until they get a full album or at least 5 songs out.

New Luna Sea on the other hand, all three songs have been awesome.


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## ArtDecade (Dec 29, 2012)

Bloody_Inferno said:


> ^ While the 2 or so new X Japan songs aint exactly outstanding, I'm going to reserve my opinion until they get a full album or at least 5 songs out.



Yoshiki and X-Japan deserve that too. 

Utter garbage? I wouldn't go that far. They aren't the strongest tunes, but they did have a shock to the system when they lost hide. They just need to re-develop some chemistry.


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## Bloody_Inferno (Dec 29, 2012)

JohnIce said:


> The bridge pickup on that guitar (which, btw, is a Navigator N-ST Custom, as is the white one on the stand next to him), is a regular P-90. He seems to use it throughout that whole video. But the neck pickup, i have no idea on. Given that it's shaped like a P-90 it's probably intended to be a replacement for P-90 routed guitars, meaning it's either supposed to sound like a P-90, or to give a singlecoil sound in a P-90 housing. The single line of polepieces indicates that it wouldn't be a humbucker type of pickup.



The neck pickup is based on the Gibson Staple Alnico pickups. Sugizo has incorporated it onto his new SV Eclipse sigs using the Seymour Duncan Staple Alnico V (Custom shop pickups).







Speaking of which, they now come with a quilt maple black sunburst.


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## Bloody_Inferno (May 24, 2013)

How's this for a bump:

Here's some footage of Sugizo doing some play through and explanations of selected songs from the Flower of Life DVD:







Dammit I really really want a freaking Strat now! Hell, I'll even buy a Fender Blacktop and jam on some Phat Cats if need be. 

Also some nice new remixes:


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