Ibanez and Dragon Ball Z make a play for the coolest guitar collaboration of the year
It’s the home of anime and birthplace of some of the most enduring characters and fictional universes in modern history – take Godzilla, Pokémon and Hello Kitty as a few obvious examples.
Yep, Japan is a hotbed of influential cultural exports, but it’s also a verdant ground for imaginative guitar design, too, with Fender’s Japanese arm responsible for some of the firm’s most out-there designs.
So Ibanez’s new collaboration with the makers of legendary anime hit series Dragon Ball Z shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise…
READ MORE: A range of Hello Kitty-branded Loog guitars just hit the market, but don’t worry – there’s a new full-sized White Hello Kitty Strat from Fender, too
The Ibanez official Dragon Ball Z collaboration collection – unveiled yesterday (26 October) – isn’t simply limited to one guitar, but there’s a whole range of instruments, including two electric guitars, bass, ukulele, accessories and even a limited-edition Tube Screamer overdrive pedal.
Headlining the collection is an electric guitar based on Ibanez’s long-revered RG blueprint, in an orange colourway with a black pickguard adorned with Dragon Ball Z artwork: “Goku and Gohan soaring through the sky using Buku-jutsu.”
Specs-wise, it features Ibanez’s fast-playing Super Wizard neck made of maple and walnut, an Ibanez Edge Tremolo Bridge with Gotoh machine heads for stability, and comes with a custom hardshell case, strap and picks, plus a certificate of authenticity.
Credit: Ibanez
Next up is a more streamlined single-pickup guitar, with slightly louder artwork spanning across the entirety of the body, depicting the moment Goku first awakens as a Super Saiyan. This one also features a slim maple neck and a T106 tremolo bridge.
The bass guitar in the collection sports similar artwork, this time depicting the moment Vegeta awakens as a Super Saiyan. It features a slim neck profile, single bridge humbucker, and B10 bridge.
Credit: Ibanez
The collection also features an impressively kitted out ukulele featuring a concert-size body, side sound port, a preamp with an onboard tuner, and artwork showcasing Goku and Gohan soaring through the sky on Kintoun, a cloud which serves as transport in the DBZ world.
Credit: Ibanez
We can see many pedalboard enthusiasts rushing to grab one of the limited-edition Tube Screamers, too, which features the Tube Screamer logo on the front face in classic Dragon Ball Z typography.
Credit: Ibanez
There’s also a range of accessories and merch up for grabs, including a custom gigbag, guitar strap, guitar picks, T-shirts and guitar cloths.
“This project aims to embody Ibanez’s long-held principles of ‘challenge and growth’ and ‘the attitude of pushing beyond limits’ by aligning them with the worldview of Dragon Ball Z and giving them form as musical instruments,” says Ibanez.
Learn more about the exciting new collaboration at Ibanez.
The post Ibanez and Dragon Ball Z make a play for the coolest guitar collaboration of the year appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
Source: www.guitar-bass.net
