Haruko's Rickenbacker 4001
Midnight Blue · Instrument, Weapon, Tool
Haruko's left-handed Rickenbacker 4001 is the object most closely identified with her after the yellow Vespa.
She plays it like an instrument when FLCL feels like being a music show and swings it like a weapon when FLCL feels like being an action show. It also carries impossible modifications, including the pull-starter mechanism she uses repeatedly.
The bass is involved from the moment Naota's first forehead growth appears and remains part of Haruko's attempts to force open the route to Atomsk.
Why it matters
FLCL never asks the guitar to choose between being cool and being functional. Haruko does not carry a guitar-shaped weapon. She carries a guitar and simply refuses to respect the distinction.
The Crimson Gibson EB-0
Atomsk's Bass · Pulled Through Naota
The crimson Gibson EB-0 appears through Naota as the connection to Atomsk becomes stronger.
Unlike Haruko's Rickenbacker, this is not an instrument Naota simply chose to carry. It arrives through the same impossible process that has already produced Medical Mechanica machinery from his head.
By the finale Naota is wielding the bass while carrying Atomsk's power, turning an object that first appeared as evidence of somebody else's presence into part of his own confrontation with Haruko.
Why it matters
The bass visually marks the point where Naota stops being only the doorway everybody else is using.
Canti's Flying V
Appears with Canti's Red Combat Form
Canti's Flying V appears alongside the red, winged combat form associated with absorbing Naota and drawing on the power moving through him.
The guitar is part of the same visual escalation that gives Canti his halo, wings and drastically increased fighting ability.
How you can tell
Domestic blue Canti is the robot doing chores around the Nandaba house. Red Canti carrying the Flying V means something much larger is moving through him.
Amarao's Guitar
The Adult Tries to Join the Guitar War
Amarao eventually arrives armed with a guitar of his own, which is funny precisely because Haruko has spent the series making the instrument look inseparable from impossible power.
Amarao knows more than Naota about Haruko, Atomsk and Medical Mechanica, but possession of a guitar does not suddenly put him on Haruko's level.
Why it matters
FLCL repeatedly lets Amarao have the information of an authority figure without giving him the effortless control he wants to project. The guitar fits him perfectly: he has copied the shape of the thing without becoming the person who made it terrifying.
