Fernandes Artists and Their Instruments
A Fernandes guitar and a Fernandes Sustainer installation are different connections to the brand. This guide brings together artist models, documented instruments and names from the archived artist roster.
Billie Joe Armstrong
Green Day, with his Fernandes guitar
Heath
X Japan, with a Fernandes bass
Billie Joe Armstrong’s Blue
Green Day’s guitar tech discusses Armstrong’s blue Fernandes in Premier Guitar’s 2013 Rig Rundown. That interview provides a direct account of the instrument and its working setup. A familiar stage guitar can be heavily modified, so its current pickup arrangement should not be treated as the specification of an entire catalog model.
Artist guitars and retrofit electronics
The Fernandes catalogs place artist testimonials alongside the Sustainer system. Those endorsements establish a connection to the technology; they do not imply that every guitar a musician used was built by Fernandes. When tracing a specific recording, use a rig interview or session account rather than an endorsement list alone.
Japanese signature instruments
hide, HEATH and Tomoyasu Hotei are among the Japanese artists associated with Fernandes. Signature names can span multiple versions, with different finishes or electronics. A catalog model inspired by an artist is also distinct from that musician’s personally modified stage instrument.
Following a name to a model
The directory links to the relevant guitar, bass or Sustainer category. These are starting points for comparison, not a complete inventory of each artist’s equipment. The U.S. archive includes Tony Campos Tremor basses; other signature ranges require the appropriate Japanese catalog.
The players, at a glance
Use the category links to explore the type of Fernandes equipment associated with each player.
Rock, metal & beyond
Billie Joe Armstrong
Green Day
Played a well-worn blue Fernandes "The Revival" for years, on stage and record.
Explore→Robert Fripp
King Crimson
Explored sustained, evolving soundscapes with Fernandes electronics.
Explore→Reeves Gabrels
David Bowie / The Cure
Featured in the archived Fernandes Sustainer artist roster.
Explore→The Japanese scene
What players said about the Sustainer
“The Fernandes Sustainer gives my guitar playing a whole new dimension. As a matter of fact it's sort of a dimension of slow motion. I actually can play long slow notes now.”
Steve VaiFernandes 2013 catalog
“My Fernandes Sustainer gives me infinite sustain as it should be with control and musicality.”
The Edge, U2Fernandes 2013 catalog
“The Fernandes Sustainer adds a whole new dimension to the way the guitar responds. I can get a beautiful soft attack like a flute, or the most screaming heavy metal feedback in existence.”
Paul GilbertFernandes 2011 catalog
Curious how it works? Read about the Fernandes Sustainer.