Introduction

Kensuke Kita performing live, 2017

^(\This article is an updated version of my "Sound Like" article from 2021. I have reposted this article due to difficulties editing the original version*, and have included additional information and recommendations based on the increased popularity of amp simulator pedals*)*

Hello fellow musicians and Ajikan fans!
I have been a fan of ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION for roughly 16 years and as a guitarist was greatly inspired by the band's alt rock sound.
After a few years of research I have written a series of "sound like" articles for ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION. The purpose of these articles is to provide context on how the band create their signature sound, and to support beginning musicians or tribute acts who may wish to replicate it.
At the end of each article I have drafted a Budget Rig, which you could use for both at home and in a live environment. I have also provided some general amp settings to tweak and try, which are based on the band's live sound and be can used to help replicate their tones.
This is a 3-part series and if you enjoy this article I would recommend checking out the other articles:
Sound Like ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION Pt.1: Masafumi Gotoh (2024 version) :
ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION Sound Like Part 3: Yamada : AsianKungFuGeneration (reddit.com)

Please not that this article focuses on the band's live sound, which will be different to the albums and can vary depending on the venue. Also (and is a cliché) every musician and instrument will vary slightly due to small differences in play style and build, so also be mindful of that.

To help you recognise the individual guitar tones, Gotch's guitar parts are normally panned to the left earphone and Kita's are panned to the right earphone on the band's albums. (On 2016's Sol-Fa, Hometown and on some of the Planet Folks singles the panning was swapped, with Gotch instead in the right ear and Kita on the left)

Kensuke Kita

Kita during the Hometown UK/FR tour 2019
In this article we are focusing on lead guitarist and backing vocalist Kensuke Kita. Responsible for many of the band's iconic melodies and riffs, Kita's rig setup is a classic rock setup: a Gibson Les Paul and Marshall-esque amp.
Inspired by 90's alt rock and Brit Pop groups such as Supergrass, Blur, Manic Street Preachers and Radiohead, Kita has constantly evolved as a musician and became more involved with the song writing process from Fanclub onwards. (Kita has writing credits on Blue Train)
This evolution can be seen clearly when you compare the punk rock style of Houkai Amplifier with the more experimental, pop inspired Planet Folks. While the earlier records reflected a focus on riffs and octave melodies, Kita now prefers to play around major and minor third chords, triad chords and arpeggios, reflecting his "melody-maker" role in the band.

^{A triad chord is a chord made of 3 separate notes. They are commonly played on the higher strings and Kita uses them a lot, in tracks such as Aru Machi no Gunjou, Sayonara Lost Generation and Gekkou. Major and Minor third chords are sometimes referred to as Dyads if they only include two notes.}

During live performances Kita is known to experiment with ambient tones, but in this article the focus will be capturing a general sound that could be used across the band's discography.

GUITARS

Kita's primary guitar has always been a variant of the classic Gibson Les Paul. The humbuckers are known to having a warmer, fatter tone in comparison to a single coil or P-90 pickup. There will be some debate over using active or passive pickups but in general Kita sticks to a more traditional humbucker, which may have less of a punch than an EMG pickup.
Kita's most recognisable guitar is his Historic Collection 1959 Les Paul Standard Reissue. Kita bought the 59's reissue in 2004 and it has been a main guitar ever since, using it on every Ajikan album from Sol-Fa onwards.
Kita's Historic Collection 1959 Les Paul Standard Reissue
Kita's backup guitar is a Historic Collection 1958 Les Paul Standard Reissue, which is tuned to Eb/D# for songs such as After Dark and Yoru No Call. Kita's other standout guitar is his Gibson ES-335, which is used occasionally for songs with a capo. Kita has been seeing using it for performances of Juuni Shinhou no Yuukei and Maigo Inu to Ame no Beat.
Kita has also experimented with Fender Telecasters, Jazzmasters and Stratocasters on the band's albums, although neither have been seen on stage so far. In a interview with Guitar Magazine, Kita confirmed that he used a Fender Jazzmaster on Empathy.
Kita with his Gibson ES-335, during the Quarter Century Tour

^{Between 2002-2007, Kita armed his Les Pauls with Gibson Burstbucker 2 in the bridge position and the Burstbucker 1 in the neck position. Since 2007, Kita has used Custombuckers in both positions. Like Gotch, Kita uses Tortex Flex picks and are most likely .73mm or .88mm variants}

If you are looking to capture Kita's guitar sound, a Les Paul style guitar with vintage or Gibson pickups would be the best place to start.

AMPLIFIERS

In the band's early years Kita used a Marshall JCM 900-4100 head with a Marshall 1960A cabinet. In 2005, Kita replaced the Marshall amp with the Bogner Ecstasy 101b and Bogner 4x12 Cabinet, which he has used ever since as his main live amplifier.
Kita's JCM900 amp, used during the early 2000's and Sol-Fa 2004 tour
The Bogner Ecstasy has 3 unique channels which Kita switches between throughout the show. I have included a link below which goes into more detail, but essentially the amp has a "green" clean channel, a the "blue" crunch channel and a "Red" heavy channel. The Bogner also has a boost feature that Kita uses for solos.
Channel 1 - Bogner Ecstasy 101B User Manual [Page 2] ManualsLib
Both the JCM900 and Ecstasy amps are based on vintage Marshall sounds, whereas most modern Marshall amps tend to have a slightly darker, more compressed sound.
During most of the 2000's and early 2010's Kita only used the Bogner Ecstasy for live performances, but in 2012, Kita introduced the Shinos Luck 6V combo to his live setup. The Shino's is now used for most of Kita's clean sound, with the Bogner acting as his heavy tone.
The Shinos amps were set up by a former VOX Chief engineer and in general has a blend of Fender and Vox amps tones. They have also been compared to Matchless amps, which Kita has used occasionally on international tours.
Kita's Bogner Ecstasy 101b and Shinos Luck V6
Kita's clean sound can be heard on Angou No Waltz, Mustang and Yuugure no Aka, while his heavy sound can be heard on Standard, Re:Re: and Kouya wo Aruke. Kita has been seen live using the Bogner's red channel on Ima Wo Ikite.
Kita has experimented with several amplifiers in the studio and has been known to use JCM800's, VOX, LDW and Matchless amps on albums, but for the purpose of this article we will look to emulate Kita's vintage Marshall & Bogner tone.

^{Kita used 4x12 Greenback speakers in his Marshall cabinet (this was used up until 2005} & has likely used Celestion Vintage 30 speakers since buying the Bogner Ecstasy. The Shino's is likely set up with the Celestion Classic Lead 80 speaker.)

PEDALS

Kita's 2004 pedalboard, used during the Sol-Fa tour
Kita's role as lead guitarist requires him to have a larger, more varied pedalboard when compared to Gotch. In the band earlier years, Kita did have a smaller setup, and was generally built around a delay pedal, a phaser, a wah effect and the MXR Dyna Comp.
During the Eizo Sakushin Shu Vol. 6 performance, where he used a Boss DD-20 Giga Delay, an MXR M-132 Super Comp, Boss PH-2 Super Phaser, a Guyatone WR3 Wah Rocker and VoxV847 Wah pedal. Kita also used a BOSS TR-2 Tremolo at this time.
Kita's 2009 Pedalboard, which was used during the Eizo Sakushin Shu Vol. 6 performance
The Super Comp is set up almost like a boost effect, to help lift the lead melodies and solos, whereas the phaser can be heard in performances of Mustang and Shinkokyuu. The Giga Delay can be heard in tracks such as Night Diving, Re:Re: and Mugen Glider, as well as the band's ambient jams. The Wah Rocker was used specifically for the Surf Bungaku Kamakura tracks, which he used heavily on the album for lead.
After the release of Magic Disk Kita's board gradually evolved to include a larger selection of modulation effects and delays, in line with the band's changing sound. He has also introduced fuzz and distortion pedals from time to time. For example, he has added the BOSS Tone Bender and Earthquaker Transmisser on the Planet Folks tour.
Kita has also implemented more octave pedals onto his board, which he uses for lead parts on Blood Circulator and the Hometown tracks Boys & Girls and Clock Work. The Electro Harmonix POG2, which can be seen on his current rig below, is used for the intro of Kakato de Ai o Uchinarase to emulate an organ sound.
Kita's current 2022 Pedalboard: (1) FREE THE TONE/JB-41S (Junction Box) (2) Jim Dunlop/535Q Crybaby Multi-Wah (Wow Pedal) (3) Custom Audio Japan/RS 616 (Programmable Switcher) (4)MXSuper Comp (Compressor) (5) Electro-Harmonix/POG2 (Octave) (6) BOSS/TB-2W (Fuzz) (7)EarthQuaker Devices/Transmisser (Modulation/Reverb) (8) strymon/ZELZAH (multi-phaser) (9) BOSS/MD-200 (multi-modulation) (10)(11) BOSS/DD-20 (multi-delay) (12) BOSS/FRV-1 (reverb) (13) Electro-Harmonix/FREEZE (sustainer)(14) BOSS/FS-5U (foot switch) (15) BOSS/TU-2s (tuner) (16) RJM/Amp Gizmo (amplifier channel switcher) (17) FIREGLOW/PPS-05 (power supply) (18) Vital Audio/VA-08 Mk-II (Power Supply)
To help manage his massive pedalboard on stage, Kita has been using a Custom Audio Switcher to control his pedals, which also allows him to create presets for each song.
The guitar runs into the Junction box (top right) and wah pedal before going into the switcher. Kita can then control the effects and amps with the switcher. I have included these loops below:

^{Loop 1: Dyna Comp Loop 2: Dyna Comp, POG 2, Tone Bender, Transmisser Loop 3: Dyna Comp, Zelzah Loop 4: Dyna Comp, BOSS MD-200 (using the tremolo effect}) ^{Loop 5: Dyna Comp, 2x BOSS DD-20s Loop 6: Dyna Comp, 63' Fender Reverb}

Kita has a few additional pedals on the board for solely live purpose, such as the Electro Harmonix Freeze, which can hold a note for a sustained amount of time. He also has a separate BOSS footswitch to tap in a count for his delay sound.
While this may all seem complicated (and it is) many of the pedals are to recreate certain sounds from each of the band's 10 albums, or to allow Kita to experiment during live performances.
You do not need to build a pedalboard this big to sound like Kita. Instead, I would focus on Kita's main pedals, which are the dyna comp, a phase effect, a wah and a delay.

Sound Like Kita...On a Budget

Kita, Quarter Century tour, 2022
To buy Kita's current rig would cost thousands of pounds (the 59' Les Paul alone could be worth £5,000) so much like the Gotch's post we have a few more affordable options that could get you close. The idea is to create a rig that can be used at home or in small venues to perform live, and not to emulate the albums.
Please also note that these are personal suggestions as a fan and if you alternatives find that works better for you, then great!
The main areas to consider are:

• A 50's inspired Les Paul
• A Boutique Marshall style amp
• A compressor pedal
• A Delay pedal and Multi-effect pedals

GUITAR
In terms of guitar options there are plenty of Les Paul copies, but for look and sound Epiphone is a no-brainer. The Epiphone 1959 Les Paul Standard is the newer, more expensive option but is based on the 59' Les Paul model, much like Kita's main guitar. You can buy one for around £749.
Epiphone 1959 Les Paul Standard
The more affordable option is the Epiphone Les Paul Standard '50s, which is also a solid pick and goes for around £500. Both guitars should also be easy to modify should you wish to go in that direction.
AMPLIFIER
In terms of affordable amps, Bogner have recently released the Ecstasy Mini 30W Head which costs around £349. You would need a cabinet, but this solid-state amp should get you close to Kita's live sound and can work for live shows.
Bogner Ecstasy Mini 30W Head
You could also try out the Marshall MG50 and Marshall Origin amps as affordable Marshall amps with a classic sound, closer to the JCM900/Bogner style.
Outside of the Marshall and Bogner options, you could try out Bogner Ecstasy pedals, which are designed to emulate the Bogner Ecstasy channels. Please bear in mind that because you would be running these into a amp that there would be more tweaking required with the settings, but you could have a clean amp and then use the pedal for a heavy tone.
The BOSS Katana series and Blackstar amps both have British style drive channels, but would require more tweaking or pedals to help.
PEDALS
There are a wide variety of pedals to choose from, but things simple we will stick with the basic. Because of its importance to Kita's sound, I would highly recommend the MXR Super Comp. A great example of how this would sound can be on tako wasa YouTube channel, who demonstrated the pedal on this live stream. (tako also has a solid pedal board that is worth taking inspiration from!)
MXR Super Comp
An alternative approach would be to buy a Booster pedal to create the same effect, such as the Xotic EP-3 Boost
A delay pedal is also must for a sound like Kita rig (Especially those keen to play the Re:Re: 2016 intro) and Both the BOSS DD-6 & BOSS DD-8 are affordable options that can definitely do the job, while the DD-200 gives you a more versatile option and the ability to save pre-sets for different tracks.
Boss DD-8
Cheaper alternatives that you could also consider are the Tone City Tape Machine and the TC Electronic Flashback 2 Mini, which are both good options for the price.
The wah pedal is also worth looking and the Vox 845 Wah Pedal would be my shout. At £69 its considerably cheaper than the Dunlop 535Q Crybaby (which is Kita's main wah) and should be okay for Kita's wah sound.
Finally, we are going to focus on the modulation sounds for Kita, and ultimately this is down to preference and what songs you would like to emulate. The BOSS MD-200, which Kita uses, is versatile and should cover most of effects you'll use
BOSS MD-200
For more specific pedals, the BOSS PH-3 Phase Shifter will get you close to his original phase sound, while the BOSS Harmonist is Kita's octave pedal of choice for solos.
You could also consider an ambient reverb pedal if you want to capture some of the ambient sounds Kita creates live, but is not strictly need for playing the band's songs.
AMP SIMULATOR PEDAL OPTIONS?
The final option to consider would be a Amp Simulator pedal. This type of pedal has become increasingly popular in the last few years and would be used in place of a traditional amp and effect pedals. You would then use the Amp Simulator with a IR Cabinet (a powered cabinet speaker) or with a Power Amp in between the Amp Simulator and a traditional cabinet.
They can be fairly expensive to buy and I would only advise buying one if you do intend to move on from your traditional amp/pedal setup, however the Quad Cortex DSP & Headrush Pedalboard would be good starting points. They are both aimed at capturing more traditionally hi gain amps such as the Bogner and Marshall amps, so should be able to do a good job at capturing Kita's sound.

Recommended Amp Settings

The following amp settings were based on photos from live performances and you should bear in mind that the volume may be quite loud for home use, so I would suggest bringing it down. Also bear in mind that every musician and amp will slightly differ so you may need to tweak with your settings to find the right blend.
My personal advice is to keep the gain around the middle and to use the volume to crunch up the sound. Kita does use a cabinet, so you may need to add more low end for a combo amp, and again bear in mind that the volume may need to be lower for home use.
Shino Luck V6:
Vol: 5, Treble: 5, Middle: 5, Bass: 3.5, Master: 3.5, Boost: 7, Level: 4
Bogner Green Setting:
Presence A: 8.5, Presence B: 8, Vol. 1: 5, Treble: 4:5, Mid: 4, Gain 1: 5.5
Bogner Blue Setting:
Vol. 2: 5.5, Vol. 3: 5.5, Treble: 5, Middle: 5/5.5, Bass: 5, Gain 2: 4.5, Gain 3: 5.5

Conclusion

Thank you again for reading this and I hope it's been insightful for you. Feel free to leave feedback below and any of your own tips