Free The Tone opens orders for HOTEI Signature G-STAGE, capped at 300 units
June 1, 2023 · 1 sources
Free The Tone opened orders for the HOTEI Signature G-STAGE Multi-effects System, a limited made-to-order run of up to 300 units, the maker announced on June 1, 2023. The product carries the model designation HT-GS001 and a list price of 165,000 yen including tax1.
The unit is the result of a joint project between guitarist Tomoyuki Hotei and Free The Tone that began in 2019, according to the maker. Free The Tone says it has handled Hotei's guitar system since 2005 and that development of the G-STAGE took about five years1. The maker states that some parts in the compressor, rhythm overdrive and solo overdrive circuits are NOS (new old stock) components, and that limited supplies of those parts restricted the production quantity1.
The G-STAGE has two modes: a DIRECT mode in which footswitches turn individual effects on and off, and a PRESET mode in which footswitches recall preset combinations of effects1. The effects are a compressor based on the SILKY COMP circuit with an added dry-mix circuit, a rhythm overdrive, a solo overdrive, a noise gate and a delay. The maker says the noise gate is sold separately as the INTEGRATED GATE / IG-1N1.
The delay has three presets, SHORT, MIDDLE and LONG, with different frequency characteristics. The maker says the MIDDLE preset's 358 msec delay time is one Hotei uses frequently, and that the presets incorporate delay times used in songs including "BAMBINA," "CLOUDY HEART," "MARIONETTE" and "BATTLE WITHOUT HONOR OR HUMANITY"1. A FLASH function produces a filtered, evolving oscillation sound modeled on the maker's analysis of an analog delay Hotei uses live; it is switched on and off with the included external footswitch or a momentary (unlatch) footswitch connected to the rear-panel FLASH jack1.
Connections are 1/4-inch phone jacks (input, output and three delay control jacks), a DIN 7-pin connector for the external footswitch and a DC 9V input jack for the dedicated AC adapter. The maker lists the output load impedance as 10kΩ or more1. Each unit ships with a certificate bearing Hotei's handwritten signature, the maker says1.
The maker states that sales through its own website, originally planned as first-come first-served, were changed to a lottery, with winners announced on July 3 at 18:001.