I recreated the guitar tone for Crush 40's "I Am... All of Me"

Today’s arrival…!

Nuno Bettencourt of Extreme said his unpainted guitars sound better. I don't think Senoue considers it vital, as all his guitars are painted in some capacity, but the ones he relies on the most generally have thin coats.

Jun Senoue's famous "Sonic" guitars are only used on stage. In the studio, his main guitars generally have paint thin enough to see the wood grain underneath. In 2012, he had one of his guitars stripped and repainted with a thinner coat, which he said sounded much better.

Another “Crush” night…

The black "Sonic" guitar Jun Senoue is famous for is actually a George Lynch signature model he purchased as a teenager in 1987. It was repainted and customized to promote Sonic Adventure in the summer of 1998. He doesn't record with it, though.

Crush 40's "Green Light Ride" is shown to have been recorded on a blue Edwards E-LP-1085SD in behind-the-scenes footage. But actually, this was only for promotional purposes. In reality, the song was recorded on one of Senoue's Stratocasters.

Use the 5A preset (Rectifier + Line 6 Custom 4x12) and your neck pickup, with the tone rolled back a little. Metal Harbor was recorded on a Don Grosh Electratone.

In the late 90s, Jun Senoue was in a band called BLOTTO ROCKERS with Tokyo Yankees bassist AMI. It was short-lived and no studio records ever released.

As far as I know, all his life. His SA1 rack had Marlboro decals on it. It’s still common among Japanese people of his age.

Probably with a guitar, or maybe on a keyboard or simply in his head. (That’s how I do it, even though the guitar is the instrument I’m good at.) Jun started taking piano lessons at Yamaha when he was 3 years old.

As an album, I think it’s inferior to “Thrill of the Feel”, with the cut instrumental tracks and truncated intro on “Dangerous Ground”… But that aside, it’s the best Crush 40 ever sounded. Stellar recordings and cutthroat arrangements. Best rhythm section lineup too.

Jun isn't a big pedal user. He prefers to use plug straight into an amp. But he did have a pedalboard built in 2017 that he still uses for live and studio work. He's owned those phaser, chorus, compressor, and whammy pedals for almost 30 years.

To be honest, it’s just something you learn as a professional. Part of being a working composer is learning “how to write a song” and then practicing it, just like practicing an instrument. Also, Jun’s interest in pop music and his ability to consistently write hits are related.

Jun sometimes performs wearing a T-shirt that says “Keep it Simple (or don’t do it at all)”. I think that’s his unique philosophy to guitar playing. He’s intentional, precise, and only plays what’s right for the song, so that what little flourish he *does* add stands out.

Hard to say. My guess is the junior composers weren’t credited as a whole. Some music was rearranged and re-recorded depending on the version. Larry Mitchell replaced Senoue’s guitars on some tracks.

AMA!! What do you want to know about Jun Senoue's sound, playing style, influences, or equipment? Ask anything, even if you think it's too obscure a question!!