Buck-Tick Zone

Hidehiko "Hide" Hoshino

real name: Hidehiko Hoshino

nickname: Hide (pronounced Hee-de)

instrument: guitars; keyboards

first band: Buck-Tick

date of birth: June 16, 1966 (Showa era, year 41)

siblings: older brother, younger sister

marital status: married in 2006

education: graduated from Takasaki High School, Gunma prefecture in March 1985

first record bought: "Pepper Keibu" by Pink Lady

first concert attended: George Tokoro

pets: Hide once had a dog named Jupita but it died in 1993 when it was 2.5 years old, he later got a cat

favorite...

artist: Robert Smith, John Lennon, Paul McCartney (other major influences include various 80s new wave groups)

color: first black, then white, brown, grey, etc.

cigarette: he has quit (previously Marlboro Menthol Light, Salem Light, and Sometime Light)

drink: red wine, oolong tea, Fanta Grape, beer, bourbon, whiskey, cocktail drinks (he's not good with Japanese sake)

food: vegetables, sushi, pudding, etc. Hide is also known to like Okinawan food (pork, goya, sea grapes, tofuyo, etc.)

guitarist: Daniel Ash (Bauhaus, Love and Rockets), David Byrne (Talking Heads)

movie: Le Grand Bleu, Friday the 13th, Bonnie and Clyde (in Japan the title is "Oretachi Ni Wa Ashita Ga Nai" which means: "There is No Tomorrow For Us"), horror and comedies

season: spring and fall

sport: he played soccer in school (goal keeper), he also likes track but these days he snowboards

time of day: night

video: The Cure videos

favorite / influential albums:

(this information was compiled from various books and interviews)

Express by Love and Rockets
Hide loves every guitar riff, even the acoustic pieces, making it one of his favorite albums. When asked who is the one artist that changed your life, Hide declared it was Love and Rockets and the album that changed his life was this one.

Love and Rockets by Love and Rockets

The Sky's Gone Out by Bauhaus
...because Hide loves Daniel Ash's guitar playing

From Gardens Where We Feel Secure by Virginia Astley
Hide listened to this a lot when Buck-Tick was an indie band

The Head on the Door by The Cure
this is Hide's favorite Cure album

Let It Be by The Beatles
not so much as this album specifically, but Hide remembers that The Beatles were one of those bands that he always liked, even before he was into rock music or any band in particular

Vienna by Ultravox

Inky Bloaters by Danielle Dax

The Voice of Love by Julee Cruise

Construction Time Again by Depeche Mode
this is Hide's favorite Depeche Mode album because it is probably the easiest to listen to

Aion by Dead Can Dance

Remain in Light by Talking Heads
at first Hide liked this album and thought it was cool with very good guitar sense but was unsure as to which guitar sound was coming from David Byrne

Fields of Gold: The Best of Sting 1984-1994 by Sting

Requiem by Auto-Mod
Hide thought this was cool at the time

Tin Drum by Japan
Hide also likes the cover art

That Total Age by Nitzer Ebb
Hisashi introduced this one to Hide; for this type of music Nitzer Ebb is Hide's favorite, the songs are "cool"

Blue Bell Knoll by Cocteau Twins

MCMXC A.D. by Enigma
Hide thinks the concept of this album is incredible

The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste by Ministry
Hide likes the mix of guitar and rhythm

The Martyr Mantras by Jesus Loves You
Hide thinks that this is Boy George style house music

X by INXS
Hide likes the cool guitar riffs

Front By Front by Front 242
Hide calls this "electric body music" as well as "shocking and cool"

Atomic Playboys by Steve Stevens
Hide doesn't like this type of hard rock but he likes the guitarist and the colors the sounds have

Maxi by Maxi Priest
Hide doesn't really like reggae but he likes the melodic-ness of this album and listens to it in the car in the summertime [this probably explains why the Hide-written song "Misshitsu" off of Six/Nine has a reggae rhythm]

Crimes of the Heart by Ute Lemper

Equipment Overview

Hide's guitar in the early days was a black and white checkered design. His next main guitar up to Taboo time was similar to Hisashi's in that it was white and sold as the Hide model by Fernandes, (except the Hide model is a telecaster copy whereas the Hisashi model is a stratocaster copy). Then Hide also designed a custom guitar while recording Aku No Hana in 1989. It was in black and two copies were made. These became his main guitars. (The second one was slightly skinnier and the white line is thicker.) I am not sure which guitar he prefers now as he seems to have about 3 main guitars. On the past couple of tours he also has used several different types of guitars but definitely is still sticking with more classic guitar designs.

For guitar straps, a custom thin (leather?) strap with "Buck-Tick" in gold letters was created in the late 80s to early 90s that both Hide and Hisashi used. (This was sold to the public as Fernandes S-3500BT.)

Hide used a combination of Seymour Duncan and Mesa Boogie amps in the early days. During the Somewhere/Nowhere Tour (Six/Nine album) he used a Marshall head. Below is a picture of Hide's gear during the Aku No Hana Tour.

In the first few years of the band, Hide tended to use only a few effects (namely Distortion/Overdrive and Digital Delay), but in the early/mid 1990s he began to dabble like Hisashi and changed his setup. During the Seventh Heaven Tour period, his setup included a Boss noise gate, Yamaha EQ, Boss compressor, Boss delay, Boss chorus, Boss volume pedal, Rat distortion, Maxon HD1501, and Rexer wireless. His Somewhere/Nowhere Tour (Six/Nine) pedal setup includes a Rocktron Bradshaw Switching System, Morley wah, and a Boss FV-300L volume pedal. Here is a diagram of his rack in 1995.

Hide's Chaos Tour (Cosmos) pedals included a Korg AT-1 tuner but a different wah (Vox). The rack system was the same except for the Korg DTR-1 (digital tuner) replaced the Korg A3. Hide changed his wireless system to Sony WD-820 (UHF antenna divider) and two Ex-Pros. Hide continued to use this setup for the next album, Sexy Stream Liner and pictured below are his pedals from that period, including additional single effect pedals (left to right: Visual Sound Jekyll & Hyde fuzz, Pro Co Rat distortion, Marshall The Gov'nor, Carl Martin Hot Drive'n Boost).

The Chaos Tour rack setup was: Uptown Noise Free 4 x 1 Stereo Switcher, DigiTech IPS-33B (harmonizer), Alesis Quadraverb (multi effector), T.C. Electronic TC-1140 (1 channel 4 band parametric EQ/preamp), MosValve MV-942 Tube Works, two Furman PL-Plus (power conditioner), Korg A3, two Rocktron Progap (preamp), Eventide H3000-D/SX (ultra harmonizer), Sony DPS-M7 (sonic modulator), Sony DPS-D7 (digital delay), Yamaha SPX-900 (multi effector), Rocktron PSB-18R (switching system), Rane SM26 (splitter/mixer)_, Rocktron 300G (compressor/limiter), and Rocktron 311 (compressor/expander). His used one Ex-Pro AD-1 and four Pro-1s for his wireless system.

By Sexy Stream Liner, the Marshall JCM-800 had bcome Hide's main amp. The rack at that time appears to be quite similar to Cosmos and consisted of: Sony WD-820, Ex-Pro AD-1, three Ex-Pro PRO-10 (wireless receivers), T.C. Electronic TC-1140 (1 channel 4 band parametric EQ/preamp), Digitech IPS33B (harmonizer), Alesis Quadroverb (multi effector), MosValve MV-942 Tube Works, two Furman PL-Plus (power conditioner), two Rocktron Hush Pro GAP Ultra (programmable guitar amp), Eventide H3000-D/SX (ultra harmonizer), Sony DPS-M7 (sonic modulator), Sony DPS-D7 (digital delay), Yamaha SPX-900 (multi effector), Rocktron RSB-18R (switching system), Rane SA26 (splitter/mixer), Rocktron 300G (compressor/limiter), and Rocktron 311 (compressor/expander).

In the early 90s Hide used Ernie Ball strings. I do not know what strings he is currently using.

Equipment: mid-late 1980s

Strat style with 1 single coil pickup?
custom paint (he probably decorated it himself or let Hisashi do it)
usage: used in 1984
(I have not seen Hide with it since; did he get rid of it?)

Tele style with 2 single coil pickups
custom paint (he probably decorated it himself or let Hisashi do it)
usage: used in 1986
(I have not seen Hide with it since; did he get rid of it?)

Tele style with 2 single coil pickups
white body, black pickguard
usage: used in 1986
(I have not seen Hide with it live since then but he did still have it in 1991; did he get rid of it after that?)

Strat style with 3 single coil pickups
usage: main guitar during Hurry Up Mode era
(I have not seen Hide with it since; did he get rid of it?)

Telecaster style in white with checkered motif (I don't know if he decorated it or if he bought it that way but it looks too professional to have been done by himself)
usage: main guitar during Sexual XXXXX! era
(Hide posed with it for a magazine in 1990 but I have not seen it since; did he get rid of it?)

Fernandes Hide model AKA TEJ-75
Telecaster style
usage: main guitar during the late 80s (he owned 2 copies actually)
Fernandes started selling custom models of Hide and Hisashi's guitars in early 1989
these were Hide's tele guitar (TE-75BT) as well as Hisashi's tele and strat, which I believe this is the model it was based on
(photo taken during Aku No Hana recording)
TEJ-75 sold to the public specs:
neck: maple, detachable neck joint
fingerboard: rosewood, 22 frets
body: basswood
pickups: FGI Technology-T
controls: volume, mini pickup selector switch
bridge: combination-B

Ovation '88 model
6 string acoustic/electric
period: Seventh Heaven - Taboo
this might have also been used to record Koroshi No Shirabe as he still owned it then

6 string acoustic/electric
usage: used during the recording of Taboo

Ovation '89 model (blue)
6 string acoustic/electric
period: Taboo - Aku No Hana
this might have also been used to record Koroshi No Shirabe as he still owned it then
Hide either owned the same guitar in black or sometimes it photographs as black

Gibson Les Paul 1960s model
Hide acquired this in 1989 but I'm not sure if it's been used for recording

Gibson Les Paul standard model
usage: this was used to record Aku No Hana or at least it's been in use since then

Equipment: 1990s

Fernandes Hide model
designed by Hide during the recording of Aku No Hana
Hide owns 2 copies (the second one is slightly skinnier and the white line around the border of the body is thicker--the white line in the pictured guitar is so thin it isn't even visible)
at least one of them has a tremelo arm (AKA whammy bar)
usage: it was Hide's main guitar during the early 90s
Fernandes did sell copies of this as the BT-460HH Hide custom model but later changed it to the BT-110HH Hide custom model

Fender Electric XII
12 string
usage: used to record one song during Kurutta Taiyo

Ovation
12 string
usage: used during the recording Kurutta Taiyo

Ovation Elite 1768
6 string
usage: used during the recording Koroshi No Shirabe

Washburn EA40-12
12 string acoustic/electric
usage: used early to mid 90s (you can see it in the video for "Jupiter")
this has been on a stand for easy access to an acoustic while playing an electric guitar or keyboard

Yamaha LL12-55D custom
12 string acoustic
usage: used to record the Koroshi No Shirabe version of "Jupiter" (3 guitars were used to track that song)

Martin O-18 (rental?)
6 string acoustic
usage: this may have been a rental during the recording of Koroshi No Shirabe and not used much as Hide favored 12 strings during the recording

handmade custom guitar (rental?)
6 string acoustic
who made this and other details not known
usage: this may have been a rental during the recording of Koroshi No Shirabe and not used much as Hide favored 12 strings during the recording

Dobro (rental)
6 string acoustic
usage: this was rented during the recording of Koroshi No Shirabe and was not used at all as Hide favored 12 strings during the recording

Fender Telecaster (rental)
usage: rented during the recording of Koroshi No Shirabe and used quite a bit

Gibson Les Paul (rental)
usage: rented during the recording of Koroshi No Shirabe

Fender 1961 Stratocaster (rental)
usage: rented during the recording of Koroshi No Shirabe but it was not used very much

Fernandes ZO-3 blue
this is a practice guitar with a built-in amp
usage: Hide plugged it into an amp during the recording of Koroshi No Shirabe and was surprised at how good it sounded (not sure which if any tracks it made it on)

Fernandes BT-MM white
black on white
usage: used during Darker Than Darkness Tour
(Hisashi designed this guitar but it also went on sale to the public and it appears Hide had the right-handers model--it makes one wonder if Hide owns more Hisashi models and if Hisashi owns any Hide models)

Roland JD-800
usage: used since Darker Than Darkness (notably "Dress")
it was used to record the following tracks on Six/Nine: Kimi No Vanilla, Rakuen, Aikawarazu No "Are" No Katamari Ga Nosabaru Hedo No Soko No Fuki Damari, Kick (Daichi Wo Keru Otoko)

Burny? sunburst
sorry, I don't know the details of this guitar
usage: used during Six/Nine era

Fernandes RST
color: candy apple red
body: alder
neck: maple
fretboard: rosewood
pickups: 3 single coil DiMarzio Blue Velvets
bridge: GE-101TC
controls: volume, tone, pickup balance

Fernandes RST
color: snow white
specs: basically the same as the candy apple red model above

Gretsch Country Club mid-1960s model
deep green with f-holes
neck: maple
pickups: Gretsch humbuckers
usage: used during "Muchi No Namida" for example; it might have been the guitar used on "Mienai Mono Wo Miyou To Suru Gokai    Subete Gokai Da"

Morris
12 string acoustic/electric
usage: used mid to late 90s

Gibson Les Paul custom '73-'74 20th anniversary model ("black beauty")
specs: basically same as the Les Paul original
Hide acquired this in 1989 but it wasn't really used in Buck-Tick until around the mid 90s
usage: it was used to record the following tracks on Six/Nine: Love Letter, Kagiri Naku Nezumi, Hosoi Sen
(Hisashi has the same guitar, but for left-handers of course)

Fender Stratocaster red
the bridge is built for a tremelo arm but it has broken off
usage: used during "Rasenchu" for example; I believe this was the strat used to record Six/Nine's "Kodo"; this model appears the same as one rented to record Koroshi No Shirabe (specifically the rental was a 1963 model) so I am not sure if the one pictured was rented as well or if he liked it so much he bought one

Burny RLC-70
body: maple top, mahogany back
neck: mahogany
pickups: Fernandes VH-1 (front), Duncan JB (rear)
Hide owns 2 copies (the other is set to D tuning)
usage: this was Hide's main guitar during the mid to late 90s

Burny LS
body: maple top, mahogany back
pickups: gold humbuckers
controls: 4 knobs
usage: it was used to record the following tracks on Six/Nine: Itoshi No Rock Star, Uta
this was sold as the Hide custom model LS-105

Burny LG-85BT black
body: maple top, mahogany back
neck: mahogany (another magazine says maple, perhaps that was the version sold to the public)
fretboard: ebony
pickups: GMH-220 (front), Fernandes (rear) (another magazine says both were GMH-220 but again perhaps that was the version sold to the public)
controls: volume, tone, 3-way mini toggle
usage: this has been one of Hide's main guitars since roughly late 1997
Hide also owns this in 2 other colors, pearl white and silver
Burny did sell copies of this as the Hide custom model (available in silver or black, see below)

Burny LG-85BT silver
body: maple top, mahogony back
neck: maple (though it might be mahogany as the original above)
fretboard: ebony
front pickup: Burny GMH-200
rear pickup: VH-400
bridge: GE-103B-T & GE-101Z-T
controls: volume, tone, pickup balance
Burny did sell copies of this as the Hide custom model but the specs were slightly different than Hide's actual copy
(picture taken during 13th Floor With Moonshine Tour)
there also was a mini version sold during the 20th anniversary

Equipment: 2000s

Fernandes BT-95HH
blue with white pickguard
pickups: 2 single coil, 1 humbucker
controls: volume, tone, pickup balance
usage: not too often and I don't know more about this, sorry
Fernandes did sell copies of this as the Hide custom model and I believe it was available in blue and red but I'm not sure if Hide also owned it in red

Burny BSF-HH
white with f-holes
body: maple / mahogany / maple 65mm
neck: mahogany, 628mm-scale, set-neck
fretboard: ebony, 22 frets, 350R
pickups: Dimarzio DP-168 (2)
controls: volume, 3-way mini toggle
bridge: GE-103B-T & GE-101Z-T
usage: this seems to be one of Hide's main guitars of late
Burny did sell copies of this as the Hide custom model (the specs are from Burny's site and may not be the same as Hide's actual copy)

Burny BSF-HH red
body: maple / mahogany / maple 65mm
neck: mahogany, 628mm-scale, set-neck
fretboard: ebony, 22 frets, 350R
pickups: Dimarzio DP-168 (2)
controls: volume, 3-way mini toggle
bridge: GE-103B-T & GE-101Z-T
usage: used since Parade tour and festival
as noted above, Burny did sell copies of this as the Hide custom model (the specs are from Burny's site and may not be the same as Hide's actual copy)

Fernandes
I don't know the specs for this guitar, sorry
usage: Tenshi No Revolver Tour

Gibson J-50 Modern Classic sunburst
classic 1960's edition with '60's pickguard
body: mahogany 4-ply top, single-ply back
top: premium sitka spruce
neck: 24-3/4" scale
fretboard: rosewood
pickups: active electronics with sound hole mounted volume control
bridge: traditional Gibson rosewood bridge
tuners: nickel grovers
pickguard: tortoise J-50
usage: Tenshi No Revolver Tour

[this page was last updated on Monday, 07-Jul-2008 22:26:15 PDT]