Fernandes Guitars files for bankruptcy

[MaxOfMetal]

I keep forgetting that. Thanks for the reminder.

I forget most of the time too. It's not like "Sustainiac" was very original.

 

[Spinedriver]

Ever since I got my Ravelle (used on Reverb), I noticed that they kind of disappeared except for Japanese imports. I kinda figured something was up with the company but had no idea what, so now it kinda makes sense. Not unlike Randall in the US, I bought a T2 back in '07-'08 and after that they just kinda went *poof*.
Not gonna lie though, I'm still super chuffed at scoring a Ravelle Deluxe for $400 on Reverb (including a hardshell case).

 

[cardinal]

I would love a top-end MIJ Ravelle or Hide sig. I'm sad to see them fold.

 

[Shawn]

This is unfortunate. I’ve never had the pleasure of playing one of their guitars but have always heard good things about them.

 

[The Monster With .]

Their start copies from the 90's were legit. Made at the same factory as Fender Japan.

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

I'm surprised they were still around lol. Dead in the states for a decade+, minimal presence in Japan, and one of their biggest claims to fame was pretty much taken over by another company. From what I can tell everyone that used Fernandes sustainers (Vai, Kerry King, etc) swapped over to Sustainiacs. So there was pretty much nowhere to go for them.

Also speaking of Fender; wasn't the Jackson PC1 's Sustainer made Floyd Rose/Schaller? Every other time I've seen a FMIC guitar use a Sustainer, it's a Sustainiac, so I don't think it's in-house.

 

[B.M.F.]

This was peak Fernandes right here for me. LP copies so good they were Fripp-approved. RIP to another cool company.

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

This was peak Fernandes right here for me. LP copies so good they were Fripp-approved. RIP to another cool company.

He still uses those Fernandes guitars too. Iirc his main guitar is the Fernandes goldtop.

 

[DarkstarII]

Th

RS-1800 is cool as hell

View attachment 146916
View attachment 146917

That thing looks a hell of a lot like my ‘95 Peavey Impact Milano…except for that weird piece on the back

 

[spudmunkey]

My one knowledge of Fernandes are the Riggs and Blasko ads from the first Rob Zombie album era, the Ravelle shape, and the travel guitar with the built-in speaker...but in my 35-ish years of playing guitar, I've never even touched a single one.

 

[Crungy]

Tbh, I didn't know they were still around. I've played a couple of Revolvers years ago, never owned anything Fermandes. The Sustainer pickup was fun to play around with, I might pick one up if it came around and was a decent price.

 

[Moongrum]

I had an entry level tremor bass like this with the mm pickup:

It was a good little bass. By the way finding a good pic of this model that I could download was pretty hard, and each result on Google Images would take me to websites with expired certificates or would redirect to weird foreign cooking or IT websites.
I think that is oddly representative of how irrelevant the brand became.

 

[Seabeast2000]

 

[Spinedriver]

I seem to recall back in the early days of Metallica, Kirk used to use a Fernandes strat style guitar and that's how I first heard of them.

 

[Nightside]

I seem to recall back in the early days of Metallica, Kirk used to use a Fernandes strat style guitar and that's how I first heard of them.

The hamstercaster

 

[bostjan]

I still have my Revolver Pro 7. It's cool as hell if you like the gimmick. Fernandez seemed to really lean into the "it's cool as hell if you like the gimmick" market. I've rarely seen Fernandez guitars that were cool as hell regardless of the gimmick, though.

It's unfortune that they have to throw in the towel, but perhaps it was more unfortunate that they never really seemed to figure out how to make a guitar that was just enjoyable to play.

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

I seem to recall back in the early days of Metallica, Kirk used to use a Fernandes strat style guitar and that's how I first heard of them.

He actually had two. A black one with a Floyd Rose and EMG single coils he called Edna, and a red one with a Jackson headstock that was tune down to D/C#

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

View attachment 146984

Yep, they're the whole reason I love Fernandes and Sustainer pickups. Although I allegedly read somewheres that Peter never really liked his Fernandes basses because they never got the paint right, it's why he switched to using a Washburn.

His custom Fernandes Ric copy was slick tho

 

[narad]

I forgot they had some exotic wood Schecter sort of models in the 80s. Can't find the model name... this is the closest I can remember:

 

[Thesius]

I forgot they had some exotic wood Schecter sort of models in the 80s. Can't find the model name... this is the closest I can remember:

Probably the 120. Very Schecter-esque