Manuel Gardner Fernandes equipped Tim Henson’s Ibanez nylon-string signature with a virtual whammy bar – and turned it into a different beast altogether
Arguably one of the biggest gear drops this year arrived in the form of the Ibanez TOD10N – a nylon-string signature guitar for Polyphia’s Tim Henson, who used the six-string heavily throughout the band’s most recent studio album, Remember That You Will Die.
Both before and after its official release, we’ve seen plenty of TOD10N action on the internet. Not only has Henson himself given fans an up-close glimpse through numerous unplugged playthroughs, some of the prog virtuoso’s fellow Ibanez signature artists have also had a chance to test-drive the unique instrument.
After Ichika Nito treated it to one of the most technical 18 seconds you’ll ever hear, Manuel Gardner Fernandes put the guitar through its paces with a harmonic-heavy fingerstyle performances.
Now, Fernandes has picked up the TOD10N once again for another playthrough – but this time he’s introduced a twist.
Remember the FOMOfx Virtual Jeff? The innovative digital whammy bar that promised to provide genuine whammy tones for any electric guitar or acoustic guitar, while simultaneously eradicating tuning instabilities?
Well, Fernandes attached one to the TOD10N, and turned the humble nylon-string into a totally different beast altogether.
In the 64-second video, the German fingerstyle innovator reminds us of the sharp tone and percussive quality of the TOD10N, but takes things up a notch by littering his expansive chords and dizzying fingerboard runs with both whammy bar pull-ups and push-downs.
Get The Pick Newsletter
All the latest guitar news, interviews, lessons, reviews, deals and more, direct to your inbox!
For our two cents, the TOD10N sounds pretty darn good with a Virtual Jeff whammy bar attached, which begs the question: will Henson have a go with one himself sometime in the future?
The Virtual Jeff was first introduced back in 2016, but was upgraded last November as the Virtual Jeff Pro. Key among its goals was to eliminate the tuning gambles that come with aggressive tremolo arm action, and to give players an easily attachable whammy bar that could assimilate with acoustic guitars and electric guitars alike.
In operation, it attaches to the body via a machine-groove mounting plate and adhesive strip, and works alongside a stompbox that offers two distinct pitch-shifting sounds and an array of tweakable effects.
To find out more about the Virtual Jeff Pro, visit FOMOfx and head over to Ibanez for more info on the TOD10N.
Thank you for reading 5 articles this month**
Join now for unlimited access
US pricing $3.99 per month or $39.00 per year
UK pricing £2.99 per month or £29.00 per year
Europe pricing €3.49 per month or €34.00 per year
*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription
Matt is a Senior Staff Writer, writing for Guitar World, Guitarist and Total Guitar. He has a Masters in the guitar, a degree in history, and has spent the last 16 years playing everything from blues and jazz to indie and pop. When he’s not combining his passion for writing and music during his day job, Matt records for a number of UK-based bands and songwriters as a session musician.
“When I pull up, Ed is standing there with the wah. He goes, ‘Why does John Frusciante want a piece of crap like this?’” Eddie Van Halen’s tech helped John Frusciante track down a rare wah pedal – but the guitar hero didn’t approve of his gear choice
“It’s a great piece for your arsenal. I did some recording with mine and it worked great”: Joe Perry names his new favorite amp company