What started her on this kick was the current comeback tour of one of her favorite 80's bands from when she lived in Japan, X-Japan. Their lead guitarist, whose name was "hide", killed himself some years ago, so this tour is stirring up all sorts of emotions among their fans. She wants to play just like him, and she wants his guitar, which is something called a Fernandes MG-145 that he had painted. She doesn't care so much about the paint, but she wants the guitar.
This is that guitar:
Yeah, cheesy, tacky, whatever. Looks like a BC Rich Mockingbird, right? With maybe some modifications...
My question is, *is* it a BC Rich Mockingbird? Google tells me nothing. The Fernandes version costs more than $1,000 (plus shipping from Japan), but I can get a Mockingbird locally for $399. I'm wondering if there's some cross-licensing or manufacturing deal between Fernandes and BC Rich. I showed her the Mockingbird and she was unimpressed, because it does not say "Fernandes" on it. She's unconvinced they're the same, though I suspect they are. It's not so much the brand name she cares about, she's just concerned about whether the shape, neck and weight of the guitar are going to feel like what hide played. (I can tell the neck is different between those two pics, but there are different models of Mockingbird.)
Anyone know for sure? This is basically a starter guitar and I don't know that she's going to play forever so even she thinks spending $1,000 on it is a little ridiculous. She'd almost convinced herself to settle for an Epiphone Les Paul but I'd like to get her something closer to what she really wants if I can.
)
