Rattle & Strum

As The Edge Creates A Ruckus In The Gear Industry With His First-Ever Signature Guitar And Amp, Guitar World Catches Up With The U2 Guitarist To Talk About The Evolution Of His Axes During His Career And His Philosophy On What Makes A Guitar Special.

- Joe Bosso

Back in 2005, Guitar World asked the Edge why he never endorsed a guitar. “I’d really, really have to believe in the thing,” he said thoughtfully, then added, “I don’t want to be that guy on the posters: ‘Buy this guitar’ and all that crap. I’ve talked to a few companies over the years. Plus, I’ve had a lot of people do custom stuff for me—that’s different. Again, I don’t want to be a poster guy in music shops.”

This year, however, the U2 guitarist changed his tune, and he makes no apologies for saying, ‘Buy this guitar’—or amp, for that matter. “I’m so proud of these two pieces,” he says of his recently unveiled Fender Edge Strat and its companion piece, the Edge Deluxe guitar amp. “Each design presents something very unique and updates the original item in some cool ways. Let’s put it this way: I know I’ll be using them quite a bit.”

Along with Bono, the Edge joined Fender’s board of directors in 2014, but he stresses that the idea of rolling out signature products essentially grew out of personal necessity. Some of his Seventies-era Stratocasters, which he relies on for live performances of songs such as “New Year’s Day,” “Pride,” “Sunday Bloody Sunday,” “Where the Streets Have No Name” and “Bullet the Blue Sky,” were failing from the wear and tear of year-long stretches on the road. “[Longtime guitar tech] Dallas [Schoo] started to look for replacements, and things kind of grew from there,” Edge says. “Fender remade some pieces that were totally amazing. Having tried the guitar, I just realized this is a great instrument and I’d be very proud to put my name to it. When something is so good, you just have to share it.”