Monday, December 31, 2012

2012: Hits & misses (2)

Hit- Duncan's 59/Custom hybrid pickup is a great addition to the fold; nothing really refreshing here, just a successful surgery of two already established pickups, housed in a single unit. It's not the manufacturer's original idea either, it's a product of one of the fans' tinkering. I'm happy with this pickup namely because it lives up to its fused reputation; in part a sweet clean player but a staunch distortion proponent given the drive settings. And then some great harmonics.

Miss- Shred meister Paul Gilbert showed everyone yet again what he could do with the guitar, a trio of single coils at the helm, mind you. However, with this one, he's putting a stop to the firm belief that he's abandoned his singing & song competency to splatter scary notes in your face full time. The shred is still there but it's riding on what Gilbert wanted them to do; to help manifest his ideas, mainly. It's a wonderful release this Vibrato album but it tested my patience in terms of guitar embrace. Nice, just not my type.

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