Mami Sasazaki

Originally purchased as a regular Fender American Standard Strat HSS in black with a white pickguard near the end of 2009. Around March 2010, MAMI customized this guitar with a paint job that she designed on Photoshop. The result is the all-black guitar with a "melting ice-cream" design that you see today, painted by RADICAL BRATS DESIGNS. -SCANDAL HEAVEN

RADICAL BRATS http://www.radical-brats.com/

Currently, MAMI's HSS strat is missing the volume knob (which had been for some while, c. 2014) and she seems to leave it missing.

Debuting during the 2013 STANDARD Tour, it's a Custom Shop Les Paul Standard with a dazzling bright blue sparkle. It's used for songs like 'Metronome,' 'Koi no Gestalt Houkai,' 'Kagen no Tsuki,' 'Weather report,' 'Awanai Tsumori no, Genki de ne,' etc. -Go!Go!GUITAR

Specs: Pelham Blue VOS Finish / Maple Top / Mahogany Body / Mahogany Neck / One-Piece Rosewood Fretboard / Hide Glue Neck-Fit / Original Historic Truss Rod Sans "Tubing" / 24 ¾" Scale Length / 1-11/16" Nut Width / 22 frets / ABR-1 Bridge / Stopbar Tailpiece / Custom Bucker Pickups / Kluson Deluxe Green Key Tuners / Nickel Hardware

Pelham Blue was originally a General Motors/DuPont car manufacturing color that Gibson started using on guitars, and Pelham Blue is now back in vogue. -gibson.com

Mami uses this boost as part of her signal chain.

(MAMI uses) two Marshall JCM2000 50W Dual Super Lead heads running through a 280W 1960AV angled 4x12" cab and a 100W 1960AX (or possibly a 50th Anniversary) angled 4x12" cab. -SCANDAL HEAVEN

The guitar has three pickups with a humbucker at the bridge position (the neck and middle pickups are single coil), and the tone is neither that of a Strat nor a Jazzmaster. Therefore, at the bridge position the tone has a decent low end to it. This results in a distorted tone that is somewhat perfect for those high intensity rocking tunes. When played clean, the ‘painful’ trebly tones are also suppressed! -MAMI

MAMI's signature Jazzmaster, first introduced in the PV for Playboy in 2012, is also known as the 'Stratomaster', and it boasts an Adjust-o-matic bridge unlike a regular Jazzmaster. This sig JM also has a Seymour Duncan Hot Rails humbucking pup at the bridge position.

Her signature JM had been released for sale in three runs from 2014-6. The one sold is slightly different from MAMI's actual guitar as it uses a regular JM bridge, and has a Duncan Designed Hot Rails humbucker at the bridge position. A few players had complained of the QC on these models, and had to resort to getting the guitar professionally set up at their own expense.

MAMI was last seen using this guitar during the HELLO WORLD Hall Tour in Japan back in 2014.

This Fender 70s Strat is a new addition, and had its debut at the MTV Storytellers show at Osaka BILLBOARD Live to celebrate SCANDAL's 11 years as a band. From the article on the December 2017 issue of Go!Go!GUITAR it does seem that this was a custom-made piece, although it is uncertain if it is Japanese or a US Custom Shop made. The following is what MAMI said about the guitar (translated by SCANDAL HEAVEN):

The grain of the wood was made visible by making it a vintage cherry red color. The neck and fretboard were made of maple to bring out the brightness. Features such as the bridge and tuning pegs were made gold to bring out a feeling of quality. I made sure to make its appearance pop without giving it a heavy feeling and not making it too low-key. The sound is also important, but I took being able to use it for a long time into consideration. -MAMI

Mami swithed to using a Bogner head, looks to be an Ecstasy model with white nobs, and cabinat, likely a 4 by 12 inch speakers, for the most recent release and live shows. May be a custom blue color as well. Credit to @ritsusasazaki29 on instagram for the great image of the amp as well as Mami.

Two Marshall JCM2000 50W Dual Super Lead heads running through a 280W 1960AV angled 4x12" cab and a 100W 1960AX (or possibly a 50th Anniversary) angled 4x12" cab. -SCANDAL HEAVEN

The Marshall Astoria (Astria[sic]) Dual amp. MAMI utilises the Astoria as her main amp on the tour when she is not able to use her usual JCM2000 head/cab, and due to the Astoria's dual-channel spec, she gets both her clean and dirty guitar tones from the amp. For the larger venues, MAMI would use the JCM2000 head and 4x12" cab.

Details and photo abstracted from GiGS magazine.

As of the Queens are trumps tour in fall 2012, MAMI has been playing this acoustic guitar when occasion calls for it (acoustic lives, songs that use acoustic guitars, etc.). -SCANDAL HEAVEN

And as every MAMI fan knows, she used the Yamaha for the acoustic rendition of Koe at the MTV Storytellers BILLBOARD Live show in Osaka in August 2017.

Mami Sasazaki currently uses the Dunlop Cry Baby GCB-95 Wah Pedal, having transitioned from a VOX wah pedal. The Cry Baby is known for its legendary Fasel® inductor and aggressive wah sound, as highlighted in a user-uploaded photo on Imgur.

Mami Sasazaki utilizes the Boss FRV-1 '63 Fender Reverb pedal, managed by her technician, Motchy. This pedal is known for recreating the iconic 1963 Fender Reverb sound through COSM technology, as shown in the provided image from Imgur.

Mami Sasazaki uses the Electro-Harmonix Little Big Muff Pi fuzz pedal, as shown in an image on Imgur.

MAMI first used this guitar in the promo shoot for Sisters in 2015, in the promo videos for SCAFES, and resurfaced when MAMI was featured in the March 2017 issue of SOUND DESIGNER magazine. -SCANDAL HEAVEN

Fender AVRI '64 Telecaster in Lake Placid Blue

Mami Sasazaki uses the ZVEX Fuzz Factory as part of her collection of fuzz and distortion pedals, as shown in an image from Imgur.

Mami Sasazaki uses the Creation Audio Labs MK 4.23 Zen Boost pedal, as shown in a user-uploaded photo on Imgur. This pedal is known for its sleek chrome design and versatile functionality, offering clean boosts for solos and pushing tube amps into overdrive. It's also effective as a DI for high-fidelity recording in studios or live settings.

Mami Sasazaki uses the ZVEX Wah Probe Vexter, a unique wah pedal featuring proximity sensing for rapid wah effects and a built-in Super Hard On™ for adjustable volume. This is demonstrated in a user-uploaded photo on Imgur.

MAMI uses two ARC-3s - one on her own pedal board and the other on the board controlled by her guitar tech, Motchy.

ARC - 3 is the flagship model of Free The Tone completed by conducting a test under a practical environment such as a live venue and a rehearsal studio to improve operability and reliability. Built-in HTS (Holistic Tonal Solution) circuit which operates with internal voltage +/- 15 V DC so that you can make the best use of the individuality of guitar, bass, effector and amplifier, send and return to input side, output side, effect pedals, and management of the entire signal line. -FREE THE TONE (Google Translated)

Mami's first guitar was a Busker's BSE, which she said she picked based on the color, "I decided based on a favorite color; I got a pastel pink guitar." She used if for about six months before buying another guitar when she was first learning how to play in 2006.

Fender Made in Japan Modern Stratocaster (November 2019 - present)

First spotted in rehearsal videos, MAMI debuted this guitar in the color Olympic Pearl at C3AFA Singapore 2019 in early December 2019 and A.M.D.K.J MV.

She uses a Fender Black Polyester Logo strap with it.

An auto wah on her board. She also uses classic wah pedals

For chordal and single note pitch shifting. Noticeable in MAMI's solos for Take Me Out and Koisuru Universe!

This guitar was first spotted during the AniUta KITAKYUSHU 2011 event in February of 2011. -SCANDAL HEAVEN

This JM appears to still be in regular use at SCANDAL's live gigs.

Two Marshall JCM2000 50W Dual Super Lead heads running through a 280W 1960AV angled 4x12" cab and a 100W 1960AX (or possibly a 50th Anniversary) angled 4x12" cab. -SCANDAL HEAVEN

In MAMI's blog entry on Aug. 5, 2010, MAMI shared with her fans that she had recently bought a Gretsch White Falcon. Price? A whopping ¥509,250! Even though she bought it during the summer of 2010, she had only used it for casual/personal use. It wasn't until early 2011 that the White Falcon made its formal debut by appearing in the PV for "CUTE!", which is fitting since the White Falcon was used to record that track. -SCANDAL HEAVEN

MAMI still uses it live for songs like Kon o Yomu .

Mami Sasazaki uses the Xotic Effects BB Preamp MB, known for its enhanced mid-boost control and true bypass feature. A user-uploaded photo on Imgur shows Sasazaki with the pedal, highlighting its role in adding a distinctive "bite" and up to +12dB of mid-treble boost to her sound.

Mami Sasazaki uses the Eventide TimeFactor Twin Delay, as managed by her guitar technician, Motchy. The TimeFactor offers nine dual delay types, including Multitap, Reverse, and Mod, with options for stereo or mono operation, and features a built-in looper.

Mami Sasazaki employs the Boss OC-3 Super Octave pedal in her setup, managed by her technician, Motchy. The pedal offers versatile octave effects, including a Polyphonic Octave mode, Drive mode with distortion, and the original OC-2 mode, catering to both guitar and bass inputs. The usage is documented in a photo shared on Imgur.

Mami Sasazaki uses Steinberg Cubase AI as her DAW on an iMac. This version of Cubase is included with her Steinberg UR44 audio interface, as shown in a screenshot from Postimg.

Mami Sasazaki uses Fostex PM0.4n Studio Monitors, as shown in a screenshot from Postimg. These monitors feature a front-ported, two-way bass-reflex system with a four-inch bass/mid driver and a 5/8-inch soft-dome tweeter, driven by a pair of 18W power amps.