Kikuchi Guitars Hermes Series MV5 PASSIVE (Dark Lake Placid Blue)

The highly anticipated Hermes PASSIVE series has arrived, featuring a newly developed pickup that converts the instrument's natural sound, created by the precise assembly of the body and neck, into an electrical signal without spoiling its natural resonance.

Hermes is made to the fullest extent of Kikuchi's craftsmanship, making it accessible to more players.
Kikuchi Guitars was born 30 years after Yoshiyuki Kikuchi, a leading Japanese luthier, visited Roger Sadowsky, a world-renowned contemporary master craftsman. You can experience the full depth of his musical instrument knowledge, which he has cultivated while faithfully inheriting Sadowsky's philosophy.

Combined with simple controls, the newly developed pickups deliver the warm, natural tone you expect from a passive pickup. They capture every nuance of your picking without compromising it, allowing you to fully express your individuality, from groove-filled playing to percussive slap playing.

Please try out the world-class sound and playability of Kikuchi Guitars, a brand that can be said to be the culmination of Mr. Kikuchi's knowledge and experience from Sadowsky and Three Dots Guitars.

- Neck -
The neck is made stronger and the head is thicker to produce optimal instrument sound and weight balance when playing.
The nut width is narrower than that of a typical J-style guitar, and the neck grip is thick enough for durability and playability, making it easy to grip.This allows you to play smoothly from low to high positions, and even on 5-string mutes with wide neck widths.
In addition, by using nickel frets with a higher hardness, noise generated when pressing the frets is reduced, producing a punchy sound despite the nickel frets. The 22-fret count allows for compatibility with a wide range of musical genres. The neck joint is positioned deeper toward the bridge without excessive fringing, allowing for playing with a feel similar to that of a 21-fret bass.
The string height is set uniformly at every fret position to accommodate a variety of playing styles and musical genres, producing a powerful tone for powerful picking and a warm, enveloping tone for gentle, caressing fingering.

?-Body-
The redesigned Dinky body shape allows for comfortable playing even for players of Japanese builds. The lack of a recessed back panel further amplifies the natural resonance of the wood. The MV model is made of ash. The maple fingerboard provides a light, crisp tone, as well as a dry, punchy tone.

- Hardware -
The lightweight and highly maneuverable Hipshot parts used in the Custom Series are placed in various locations, directly conveying the characteristics of the wood and creating a more natural sound.

?-Pickups?-
The newly developed pickups, exclusively for the Passive model, are designed to deliver a vintage-feeling tone with excellent separation and natural warmth. The volume and tone balance have been adjusted to ensure sound connection is not sacrificed even on 5-string guitars.

-Controls-
The extremely simple 2 volume and 1 tone design ensures that the sound picked up by the pickups is transmitted naturally to the output without any loss. By adjusting the volume balance of each, you can create a wide range of tonal variations.

Model: 5st
Body: Alder 2-Piece (Solid)
Neck : Maple, Thin Matte Nitro
Fingerboard: Rosewood
Fingerboard Radius: 12″ (305R)
Nut Material: Tusq
Nut Width: 5st: 46mm
Fret: DHP24H, 22F
Scale: 864mm (34")
Body Finish: Polyester
Hardware Color: Chrome
Bridge: Hipshot 19mm Spacing
Tuner: Hipshot License Ultra-Light
Pickups: Original Custom J (5st)
Preamp : Kikuchi Guitars Original Preamp
Controls: Volume (Neck), Volume (Bridge), Tone
Body Color / Pickguard: Dark Lake Placid Blue?/ White 3-ply

Semi-hard case included