The Pokémon Company has announced yet another collaboration for the franchise’s 30th anniversary, this time partnering with Fender. This collab features two special-edition guitars: the Red Version Stratocaster and the Green Version Telecaster. These models also feature a built-in 8-BitSound System, though this sounds more impressive than it actually is.
The names of these guitars give a hint as to what makes these guitars the special editions that they are. To start, both feature the pixel art used in the original Game Boy games. The Red Version Stratocaster obviously comes in red, with quite a lot of black as well, with Charmander being quite prominently featured in the pixel art. As you can imagine, Green Version Telecaster has a lot of green instead, with Bulbasaur being the star of the pixel art.
Then we get to the 8-BitSound System, which is activated by pressing the volume knob. As the name suggests, it adds an 8-bit-esque effect to the sound produced by the guitar. This is simply a process of bit depth reduction which, like every other bit depth reduction process, results in a very distorted sound unlike the actual 8-bit sounds.
According to the announcement by The Pokemon Company, these special edition Fender guitars “won’t release until 2027”. Fender’s own announcement provides a lot more context to this. To start, these are Made in Japan guitars by Fender Japan. Unfortunately, this usually also carries the connotation of being exclusive to that market. That, in turn, means a raffle system.
For this, applications will be open via the Pokemon Center Online in Japan from 19 until 24 November. Details beyond that, including lottery results, will be announced in the same place at a later date. The Fender announcement does say “for other regions, please check their respective official websites”.
(Source: Pokemon [1], [2], Fender)
