Edge's Infinite Guitar

marik · 06-01-2009, 06:15 PM

From what I understand Edge is dualy-responsible for the creation of the Infinite Guitar (with Michael Brooks i believe).

As far as i know they were credited on inventing this during the making of JTree, and obviously it was used for WOWY.

My question is....

from watching videos of the era, it does not appear that the guitar edge uses to play WOWY looks any different. Nothing looks to unique about it to me. So is this infinite guitar creation ACTUALLY a whole guitar they invented, or is it really just an effect they created. I didnt think the guitar itself was called an Infinite guitar. I mean, could you just walk into a guitar shop and ask for one?

Expecially considring that on later tours, Edge appears to use different things to recreate the same WOWY intro, i seem to think it is just an effect. Didnt he use an e-bow as an alternate way of playing the part? And other clips he is using the whammy-bar. Is this what he was doing when the 'infinite guitar' effect was in use?

Muad'zin · 06-02-2009, 03:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infinite_guitar

Infinite Guitar
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The Infinite Guitar was created by Michael Brook, as a way of allowing an electric guitar note to be held with infinite sustain (hence the name). It consists of an electronic circuit that takes the signal from a standard guitar pickup, amplifies it, and feeds it back into a separate pickup coil. When set up and used correctly, the result is a continuous sustained note that can be used as is, or treated to create new sounds or emulate traditional instruments.

In addition to his own instrument, based on a Tokai Strat copy, Brook produced two Infinite Guitars, one of which belongs to Daniel Lanois. The other belongs to The Edge of U2, who famously used it on "With or Without You" from 1987's The Joshua Tree.

The principle has been the subject of patent litigation in the past, and is currently available commercially in several forms, including the Sustainiac, the Fernandes Sustainer and the Vibesware Guitar Resonator. There seems to be no historical indication of how familiar Brook or the developers of other sustaining devices were with The Gizmo, a mechanical device developed in the mid-1970's by Godley & Creme that also provided similar effects, or with the EBow, invented in 1969.

As you can see, no actual new guitar was built, an existing model was adapted as it were. From what I gather the infinite guitar is similar to the Fernandes Sustainer. In the sense some piece of hardware gets built into the guitar leaving your right hand free to yank the whammy bar. There all similarity ends as that piece of hardware is very different. The Sustainer gets built entirely into the guitar whereas the infinite guitar came with some external kit. Henceforth that when you watch it being played it has two jack chords being connected to it.

Rumor has it that it was prone to break down, which is why they stopped using itsomewhere during the Zoo TV tour, with Edge switching to eBow first (like on the Sydney DVD) and then to the sustainer since Popmart.

YouTube - U2 - With or without you - Zoo Tv

Edge_Orchestra · 06-02-2009, 12:41 PM

The name Infinite Guitar is a bit misleading. It is more of an modified guitar. With a rack box that the modified guitar goes through.

It looks as though Edge's was either a Fender or Squier Stratocaster that had been altered.

All the other posts regarding it becoming unreliable are true. Edge has mentioned it shocking Dallas numerous times.

The_Pac_Mule · 06-03-2009, 08:30 PM

U2 had a good thing going when they would give bono a guitar and not tell him it wasn't plugged in

06-01-2009, 06:15 PM	#1
marik Refugee Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Edmonton, Ab, Canada Posts: 1,135 Local Time: 01:51 PM	Edge's Infinite Guitar From what I understand Edge is dualy-responsible for the creation of the Infinite Guitar (with Michael Brooks i believe). As far as i know they were credited on inventing this during the making of JTree, and obviously it was used for WOWY. My question is.... from watching videos of the era, it does not appear that the guitar edge uses to play WOWY looks any different. Nothing looks to unique about it to me. So is this infinite guitar creation ACTUALLY a whole guitar they invented, or is it really just an effect they created. I didnt think the guitar itself was called an Infinite guitar. I mean, could you just walk into a guitar shop and ask for one? Expecially considring that on later tours, Edge appears to use different things to recreate the same WOWY intro, i seem to think it is just an effect. Didnt he use an e-bow as an alternate way of playing the part? And other clips he is using the whammy-bar. Is this what he was doing when the 'infinite guitar' effect was in use?

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06-02-2009, 12:41 PM	#3
Edge_Orchestra New Yorker Join Date: May 2007 Location: USA Posts: 3,159 Local Time: 01:51 PM	The name Infinite Guitar is a bit misleading. It is more of an modified guitar. With a rack box that the modified guitar goes through. It looks as though Edge's was either a Fender or Squier Stratocaster that had been altered. All the other posts regarding it becoming unreliable are true. Edge has mentioned it shocking Dallas numerous times.

06-03-2009, 08:30 PM	#4
The_Pac_Mule War Child Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Vermont Posts: 845 Local Time: 09:51 AM	U2 had a good thing going when they would give bono a guitar and not tell him it wasn't plugged in