Part 1: Intro

Acoustics

Warning: Pictures overload. I might get sued for putting up so many pictures =.= The specs are taken from Fender Japan website. The prices are just for references, if you wanna buy it at Japan.

The pictures are the 'evidence' that YUI actually uses these guitars, not just posing with it. Hence, mostly are screencaps. Another purpose is to refresh your memory hee, I'll try to put captures from different videos.

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1. Main Guitar: Martin D-28 (1977)



My rant on this guitar.

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2. Fender ESA-10CE (*Discontinued*)



157,500 yen = RM 4,428 = USD 1,287
ELECTRONICS: FISHMAN ELIPSE VT PREAMP
COLORS: NATURAL
FINISH: GLOSS (POLYESTER)
TOP: SOLID SPRUCE
SIDE & BACK: SOLID PALO ESCRITO ROSEWOOD
NECK: MAHOGANY
FINGERBOARD: EBONY
SCALE LENGTH: 648mm
WIDTH AT NUT: 43mm

YUI's entry in Fender Japan

YUI used this guitar as her main acoustic in 2nd Tour 2007 “Spring & Jump”. It's almost the same as GA-45 (the one she's using), but with a thinner C-shaped neck. For GA-45, it will be having fun with the band during lives. With ESA-10, it will be bringing back YUI to her origin, starting point, which is street performance. As what YUI said, 'Things that she won't give up by no means/ the unforgetable feeling'. Using 'sound' to represent what she felt about the 'things she won't easily give away' which matters the most.

Apparently when dear YUI first played this model, her eyes gone wide.

Previous Entries on this baby:
LINK 1 - LINK 2

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3. Fender GA-45SCE : Natural

YUI has a LONG history with this guitar, I bet she has more than one GA-45SCE. Lets start with the original model, which has black bridge pins embedded on the 'straight' bridge, and golden tuning pegs.



97,650 yen = RM2,737 = USD 795
Finish： Gloss (Polyurethane)
Top： "AA" Solid Spruce
Side & Back： Solid Rosewood Back, Laminated Rosewood Sides
Neck： Mahogany
Fingerboard： Rosewood
No of Frets： 20
Bridge： Rosewood
Electronics： Fender®/Fishman_Classic 4T
Scale Length： 643mm
Width at Nut： 43mm
Strings： Fender®60L (.012-.052)
Case： Hard Case
Unique Features： Abalone Inlay, Tortoise Shell Binding, Gold Hardware

I wonder why she had to manual tune it in Taiyou no Uta. Isn't it has a built in pre-amp?? Then, she changed the pins to white , and tuning pegs 'turned' silver. As shown below:



I had troubles selecting which screenie to upload LOL. In the end I choose the older ones since so many of you complaining that you miss the so-called old YUI. Put smaller pictures to avoid being sue haha. Anyway, during their 60th anniversary, Fender gave YUI another GA-45 with her name (silver inlay) on the 5th fret board.



I'm 100% sure that she has 2 GA-45s. Go and watch the Rock in Japan Fes video, she used GA-45 with yui sign in Good-bye days, in TOKYO she used GA-45 without sig xD I need someone to explain this picture below:



What is that black thing stuffed inside the sound hole?? Internal mic??

EDIT: It's a guitar sound hole cover.

I just realised that she used GA-45 without sig after watching it for so many times not noticing it =.=

Actually this model of GA-45 is discontinued. The latest version is with curved bridge. Since YUI is THE artist in Japan being associated with GA-45, Fender decided to let her use the new GA-45 (main difference is the rounded bridge):



Is this meant that she now has grand total of THREE GA-45SCEs?! (one with the 'yui' on the fretboard one without, plus the new version???)

For the new version of GA-45, as usual they added the silver 'yui' sign on the fifth fret.



AND, they added this silver thingy on the 19th fret....



It's a silver turtle inlay!! (as you know dear YUI has 3 turtles as pets) Made by some person (nabe chan) from YUI's equipment maintainance team. The original image was named 'nobita' fyi, which is one of her turtle's name. The other 2 are Suneo and Giant (sounds familiar? Hint: Doraemon).



I only saw YUI uses this new GA-45 in YUI LOCKS though (see the curved bridge):



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4. Fender GA-45SCE : Sunburst



Same model with the one she always uses (YUI said in Oricon style 061120), but different colour (and silver tuning peg). It seems that this colour is not available in Fender Japan website...limited version??

again, I wonder why YUI has to use tuner even though that guitar is embedded with this:



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5. Fender GDC-200SCE: Natural



60,900 yen = RM1,707 = USD 496
Finish： Gloss (Polyurethane)
Top： Solid Spruce
Side&Back： Laminated Ash
Neck： Nato
Fingerboard： Rosewood
No of Frets： 20
Bridge： Rosewood
Electronics： Fender®On-Board Active Preamp w/Piezo PU
Scale Length： 643mm
Width at Nut： 43mm
Strings： Fender®60L Phosphor Bronze (.012-.052)
Case： Soft Case
Unique Features： Venetian Cutaway,"F" Inlay at 12th Fret,Gold Hardware

I've never seen dear YUI performed using this guitar, normally this guitar appeared in magazines or interviews.

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The rest are non Fender guitars, during the early days before YUI 'picked up' by Fender. In a Hong Kong magazine interview (East tOUCH #624), YUI said that she has no contract with Fender but admitted that they sponsor her.

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6. Yamaha FG Series (either FG-402 or F-310 or whatever)



This Yamaha was used in the cover of It's happy line too. YUI used this guitar since debut after she switched it to Fender during Tomorrow's way period. I believe that this guitar was given by YUI's teacher (西尾芳彦, founder of Voice) back then in Voice music school. He said it in Oricon interview that when he first met YUI, she was still a real amateur when it comes to singing and instruments, he even had to buy a guitar for YUI (because she didn't have one, had to borrow from her friends).

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7. Unknown Martin (Martin D-35 or whatever)



It was used in feel my soul PV as well. Since Martin is famous for being freaking expensive, most probably it was borrowed for shooting purpose.

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Hopefully it is not too confusing to read =x

Next, electric guitar.

Special thanks to nobuさん, 沈黙の堕天使さん, crazyfcuk @ YUI-CN, Fumiko and all the YUI Lovers out there for providing valuable informations and helping me out to dig around lol. It was a really fun process =D

As for the pictures...either from Fender Japan, YUI LOCKS, or stole it from Channel 2, Jpopsuki, JPM, YUI Lover, YUI-CN, or YUI-forum. lol!!

Till then.

Intro

My passion towards YUI's guitars started last year and grew towards a crazy extent through this thread. I think I've covered most of it and hereby I'll share my 'findings' with you guys. Feel free to correct me if I made any mistakes, I DEMAND you to tell me. If you happen to own the same guitar as YUI's, you may send me pictures of it to make me jealous.

I might get sue for putting up these pictures >.<







Those are her Fender guitars. We are gonna talk about the story behind these guitars one by one next. The guitars which YUI actually used it in live performances. YUI once counted the number of guitars she has in Yahoo Live Talk (2006/06/07). She has 3-4 electric guitars, 6-7 acoustic guitars, and one bass guitar.

In a Singapore paper (The New Paper) interview (2007/05/22), YUI said that she has 4 electrics, 5 acoustics and 2 basses. They got her electric wrong so don't believe in it too much =x

Here's a list of the guitars YUI uses before in public.

Electric Guitars:

1. Squier/ Standard Fat Telecaster : Candy Apple Red/ Rosewood Neck
2. Fender/ American Series American Telecaster : Chrome Red/ Maple Neck
3. Fender/ Classic Series '50 s Stratocaster : 2-Color Sunburst/ Maple Neck
4. Fender/ Classic Series '50 s Stratocaster : Black/ Maple Neck
5. Fender/ American Series American Telecaster : 2-Color Sunburst/ Maple Neck
6. Fender/ New American Standard Telecaster: Candy Cola/ Maple Neck

Bass:

Squier/ Bronco Bass Trino Red (mentioned in Fender Japan)

Acoustic Guitars:

1. Martin D-28 (1977)
2. Fender/ ESA-10CE
3. Fender/ GA-45SCE Natural
4. Fender/ GA-45SCE Sunburst
5. Fender/ GDC-200SCE Natural
6. Yamaha FG Series (Yamaha FG-402 or whatever)
7. Unknown Martin (Martin D-35 or whatever)

Useful Links:

Fender Japan: LINK 1 - LINK 2 - LINK 3 - LINK 4
YUI Board wiki: YUIのギター
nobu san's blog: Part 1 - Part 2

I will rant about them one by one (with pictures) in my next entries. Gonna finish compiling it before school starts (next week) T.T

Till then.

Related Posts:

• YUI's Guitars Part 2: Acoustics
• YUI's Guitars Part 3: Electrics
  

If you watched Densha Otoko before you'll understand the 'communication' below easier. I'm too lazy to explain it so...to sum it all, this is the place where I do my 'negotiations', to get 'rare' YUI stuff.

In Channel 2 (2ちゃんねる), basically you don't have to put username, and the ID changes from time to time. So you can remain as anonymous all the while if you want to. This was what I encountered yesterday, I shall call it: How stupid Teo can be.

It started out someone giving the download hint (yes you have to guess where they 'hide' it) of YUI Locks. when you found the place, you will have to insert the password to download it. I only translate the necessary parts.

Teo: Italics

It's long lol....I should learn how to 'hide' it someday and put 'continue reading' instead.

If you can 'decode' it, there's a 'prize' waiting for you =) Try to break it when you have the time to read one by one.

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806 ：萌える名無し画像：2007/07/02(月) 14:16:45 ID:6a21E3ho0
YUI LOCKS!　2006年11月分
N11_14412 犬のナマエ (password hint: dog's name)

821 ：萌える名無し画像：2007/07/02(月) 17:40:51 ID:2GA69AZM0
It's troublesome to use uploader so...　
ttp://www11.axfc.net/uploader/16/so/N16_18692.jpg.html (<- switched it to a mysterious gift from Teo instead)

pass解らん奴用　Radio (<- this suppose to be the password hint)

It takes time so be patient. If you have any complaints I shall delete it.

827 ：萌える名無し画像：2007/07/02(月) 18:04:18 ID:8XGMxQhv0
>>821
㌧㌧！ (tonton, means thank you)
Donwloading it full speed～
>>823 (Mr. 823 cannot figure out the pass)
It's not difficult.
It's the one we always use.

834 ：萌える名無し画像：2007/07/02(月) 19:01:25 ID:nbVdWhxKO
>>826 To those who don't know you can just give up and go back home.

836 ：萌える名無し画像：2007/07/02(月) 19:32:29 ID:E5vpHNC7P
答えを探すのは　もうやめた kotae wo sagasu no ha mou yameta
落とさなくてもいい otosanakutemo ii (you can remove it if you want to)

837 ：萌える名無し画像：2007/07/02(月) 20:02:22 ID:WlzEEZbq0
hint
what month what date

839 ：萌える名無し画像：2007/07/02(月) 20:05:33 ID:jB67JTnbO
>>821
What's the content?
I cannot on my computer, hoping that you guys can tell me. (using mobile phone)

841 ：萌える名無し画像：2007/07/02(月) 20:16:01 ID:6a21E3ho0
>>839
It contains a great amount of goodies!
It's true that takes a lot of time to download it w (w kinda means warai, which means laugh)

858 ：萌える名無し画像：2007/07/02(月) 21:31:28 ID:tKbCFlLQ0
>>821 is >>806?

859 ：萌える名無し画像：2007/07/02(月) 21:38:51 ID:6a21E3ho0
>>858
ＮＯ！

>>806 is included in >>821
I recommend you to have a look at it better.

Here comes Teo, who still cannot figure out the password after trying different combinations....

914 ：萌える名無し画像：2007/07/02(月) 23:25:03 ID:TcSHSNRW0 (<- me)
>>821
Is the PASS 'dog's name' or Radio??
If it's radio, was it in 8? Capital letters? Kanji?
I'm sorry。。。useless me。。。since it's easy。。。
Can you guys give me more hints?　orz (orz = ○|￣|＿ )

918 ：萌える名無し画像：2007/07/02(月) 23:28:24 ID:U6rqkpve0
>>914
I still can't break >>821 but >>806's 'dog's name'
>>821 should be something different.
I cannot break it so I'm not sure about it.

919 ：萌える名無し画像：2007/07/02(月) 23:28:25 ID:zVJ6KY6zP
>>914
Relax dude.
First I wanna ask you, bear in mind, who's that person most of the people
gathered here like the most?

920 ：萌える名無し画像：2007/07/02(月) 23:29:51 ID:2BUPHtS7O
>>821さん
Thank you very much.
Finally figured out the Pass.
I will try all the stations (^0^)/
>>890さん
I too tried for 3 hours.
Really troubled o(＞＜)o because of it my stomach hurts now...
So some Hints from me....
４ letters！
starts with 0 ends with 6
I'm sorry if it's too hard to figure it out.

922 ：萌える名無し画像：2007/07/02(月) 23:30:12 ID:6a21E3ho0
>>914

>>806 Dog's name

>>821は
pass＝解らん奴用のカンタンなもの (a very simple thing for those who 解らん)
Radio＝content

923 ：萌える名無し画像：2007/07/02(月) 23:30:36 ID:e58tmtyS0
>>920
Wait..ｗｗ Should keep it as secret！

927 ：萌える名無し画像：2007/07/02(月) 23:32:48 ID:U6rqkpve0
>>922
Ultra thanks, finally figure it out
>>821
Thanks.

928 ：萌える名無し画像：2007/07/02(月) 23:34:22 ID:QW3QVBtZ0
>>920
We don't call that a 'hint'ｗｗ

934 ：萌える名無し画像：2007/07/02(月) 23:51:49 ID:h5duGCaE0
OD26 (<- FREAKING obvious now, yet I still cannot figure it out)

935 ：914：2007/07/03(火) 00:08:02 ID:I1nhTzXw0 (<- me, again)
>>918、919、922
Thanks for the hint but。。。I still don't know T.T
What is 解らん? Cannot find it in dictionaries orz
Sorry。。。I'm a gaijin (Malaysia)。。。maybe。。。(note: I don't mind being
called gaijin)
If I managed to figure it out the pass, I will upload something for you guys.
I'm >>121(sageない奴) and 139. Terribly sorry about that.

939 ：萌える名無し画像：2007/07/03(火) 00:15:38 ID:NoZjrlbV0
>>935
Why you jumped over >>920 ｗ

940 ：萌える名無し画像：2007/07/03(火) 00:19:32 ID:QNHyClRv0
>>935
Oohh！Are you still doing well？
The hint is >>920 look it carefully.
It's very simple, don't make it too difficult.

941 ：914：2007/07/03(火) 00:23:28 ID:I1nhTzXw0 (<- me again, I put 914 so that they'll know it's me)
>>920's hint
I've read carefully。。。Is it all numbers?
>>940
I still haven't bath yet (laughs).
YUI's tone：Aah, dame da。

Then I figured out the pass after seeing this message:

942 ：萌える名無し画像：2007/07/03(火) 00:25:48 ID:QNHyClRv0
>>941
YUI , Selamat hari jadi ! (LOL!!)

943 ：萌える名無し画像：2007/07/03(火) 00:26:37 ID:sVgxfa+I0
If you've read >>920 it seems impossible not to know the answer orz

944 ：914：2007/07/03(火) 00:27:57 ID:I1nhTzXw0 (<- me)
>>942
Otto！！！I know it now！！！！(swt）
Thanks a lot！！！
So...what shall I upload now?

946 ：萌える名無し画像：2007/07/03(火) 00:30:32 ID:QNHyClRv0
>>944
Sama-sama.

956 ：914：2007/07/03(火) 01:14:39 ID:I1nhTzXw0 (Then I uploaded this)
逆電三連敗　locks
N13_20950 yui
Till then.

958 ：萌える名無し画像：2007/07/03(火) 01:19:41 ID:LMm02PEw0
>>956
アビュがと～ (YUI used アビュ abyuu in her latest diary entry)

959 ：萌える名無し画像：2007/07/03(火) 01:25:06 ID:QNHyClRv0
>>956
Terima kasih !
Selamat malam　

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END.

Don't know if you guys understand it or not. Feel like saving it here. It was very funny seeing myself being so stupid. The hint is so obvious yet I still cannot figure it out after looking at the messages over and over again.

In the end, I spent 4-5 hours trying to get something I already have =.= But for the first time I felt the 'warmth' from these anonymous people, can really understand how Densha feels now (they can be really mean sometimes though). Even used Malay language to help me ^^

So can you figure it out the pass?? Received your 'prize'?

If you cannot 'decode' these, then Channel 2 is not a place for you.

Special thanks to Saustic for making the decoding process less torturous hee.

Till then.

Album: GReeeeN - あっ、ども。はじめまして。 (Nice debut album by these four dentist-to-be, ai no uta is currently THE big hit)

Last week I went to KLCC twice lol. And Japan Foundation Library (located at Ampang Park). Grabbed these:


(sorry blurry pics, Panasonic Lumix is in America now T.T )

I was not going to buy that Oricon style 6/25 (4 pages of YUI) but after reading it, there goes RM 18.30...Yea you can ask the people there to 'rip off' the plastics and read the content of the magazines available there (manga cannot). That's what we called GOOD customer service =D

Picked this book to be my first Japanese book hee:

Japanese: 乙武 洋匡 - 五体不満足
English: Hirotada Ototake - No One's Perfect

My sensei once recommended this book in the class but back then I ignored it =x This book's target readers are primary school kids (4th year above) so I guess I can understand most of it, plus it has furigana, makes the reading easier. But...still not really used to reading Japanese -_-"" I only used to magazines' writing style and YUI's LOL.

Borrowed Haruki Murakami's Dance Dance Dance too =D Haven't sart reading it yet, the language used looks difficult...

Back to the magazines:



From above: Oricon style 6/25, B-Pass July, R&R Newsmaker July.

All black themed =.= Spot the same outfit?? Speaking of Oricon style, the interview starts with this question:

Q: Did you lose a bit of weight during concerts?
YUI: REALLY? Ureshii na (I'm glad/ happy). I had worked hard during the lives (laughs).

=.= In B-Pass the interviewer 'teased' dear YUI too "Very slender~" because she looked very the slim in skinny pants + black boots xD And YUI replied: Uwah~ Ureshii!! Lol. YUI kinda talked about this weight thing too in YUI Radio #22 but I can't remembered...will listen to it again.

This question in Oricon style caught my attention too:

Q: You don't really go to clubs and have fun right? (rough translation)
YUI: Ah, that, no. If I went there, I think I might 拳動不審 (laughs).

拳動不審 <- I cannot find this word online, help? EDIT: JKDragoon said that it kinda means 'feeling uncomfortable, not used to it.' (apparently it is derived from Chinese =.= Must ask my Chinese major course mates then). Even though you can kinda figure out that dear YUI doesn't look like the type who likes partying, being able to 'confirm' it directly from her made me so happy and ended up buying this magazine lol. *imagining YUI, dancing in the club...* I'm nerdy so I don't go to these places as well =x Yay for another similarity~

In R&R Newsmaker, found 'evidence' that confirmed dear YUI wrote My Generation around last year's December (2006/12) after reading the script.

Met Fanny (YL's moderator) for the first time at KLCC. I'm 'revealing' my thick eyebrows =x


('stole' it from here)

We were looking at this page:


(Free 'Rolling star' wristband from the meeting =D That white thing )

Natsumi: *looks at R&R Newsmaker* She really good at posing for pictures these days.
Teo: Hai lor. (Yalo)

After the meeting, went to Bentley (guitar store) and 'played' Fender Telecaster and Takamine guitars for the first time!! *HAPPY* Next target: Fender Stratocaster and Taylor xD

Listened latest YUI Locks featuring Takeuchi Yuuko. Karen san kinda summarised part of it in her blog. Great episode...Understand acoustic was GREAT!! Plus YUI's Japan-ish French was cute xD "asanuno jyuuban" (08:15 minutes). Yuuko sensei's reply was funny too. They can really make great sisters. YUI never been to foreign countries before (me better...at least went to Singapore before lol), seems like she wants to visit London someday.

Latest YUI Radio was fun too, until YUI's manager said something that changed the atmosphere hee.

PS: I've added a chatbox on the sidebar => Might update some tidbits of dear YUI in that box from time to time. You guys can check it there for latest YUI infos. You can post your comments there too if you want to. I will 'respond' from time to time.

PPS: For those entering local University today, Happy suffering~ bwahahah. Means that my holiday is ending soon T.T

Till then.