Loud Star

Loudness fans, ESP has the 40th Anniversary Random Star for your consideration. The catch - only 25 pieces are available. 

Would have been more exciting if it's red because that's what Takasaki went with back then but I'm sure fanboys would be equally excited with this one. 

Goodbye, September.

Pics: ESP Japan / ESP Twitter

Mini R&S

New stuff from Fender but the acoustic kind. A couple of minis - we have the Redondo here...

... and the Sonoran. The former reflecting a dreadnought body design, the latter  a rounded shoulder outline. It's fair to say that the smaller acoustic guitars have an established following with players who want something comfortable to play with, not necessarily a singing tone. These are adults & young learners alike. We have Ed Sheeran to refer to as a point of understanding. Also, Fender has not been particularly strong & more visible when it comes to portraying such instruments. On that note, it's also fair to say that one would not go to a Fender dealer in search of smaller body acoustics compared to a Martin or Enya dealer. These should be in the $400 bracket when they are available.

 

Pics: Fender

DiMarzio: The Tone Zone (DP-155)

Good day, folks. The pickup you see here is DiMarzio's The Tone Zone (DP155). It's my first DiMarzio, my first branded replacement pickup as well. It was chosen to uplift my Ibanez RG when I was still a newbie in guitardom. The tone coming from my RG needed a boost in the bottom end spectrum. The default tone was sharp sounding so those bottom end chugging did not sound thumping enough no matter how I tweaked the amp & pedals. 

Back then, the gullible me was enticed into purchase by DiMarzio ads in magazines, this one here being one of many. Back in 1991, Mr. Big released Lean Into It & I find Paul Gilbert's lead tones impressive; lots of clarity & a punchy bottom end. No Tone Zone was found at Swee Lee back then, it was a very new release & a lack of online exposure at this point in time meant stores were next to clueless when you mention it. A guitar repair store proximate to Hard Rock cafe (it had since relocated) had an incoming DiMarzio shipment with this pickup so I bought one without too much consideration. It was an impulse buy.

Coming back to the pickup concerned, this is its EQ specification; it's a bottom end thumper but rather reserved when it comes to top end responses. After hearing it in a few guitars, I have the following opinion:

• The TZ performs well in warm-sounding guitars. By this I refer to the instrument's body wood. It just sounds more appealing in mahogany. I played an RG3120 with the TZ on board & it simply sounds superb. Also, I've ever fitted one into a Les Paul before & it sounded outstanding as well. 
• It's got nothing to do with the bridge type. Some players I talked to said the TZ fared better in guitars with Floyd Rose bridges or its equivalent. The one in the Les Paul mentioned previously certainly wasn't equipped with such a bridge & I came across two good-sounding Ibanez S-Series fixed bridge guitars with the TZ as default pickups. So the bridge type is independent of the TZ tone performance.
• The TZ thrives on overdrive. Yup, it's overdrive, not distortion. I'm saying this in context of course. The overdrive here is used to push your already distorted amp's front end & not as a primary drive source. 
• It's meant for the bridge position. Ok this will irk the ones who swear by the TZ in the neck as a positive outcome of a non-conventional embrace. If you are looking for that smooth bottom end in the neck position without muddy-ing out, I feel the Air Norton does a better job. 

So did the TZ I bought for my RG work? No. In fact, I hated my guitar after the make-over. It sounded bad compounded by the fact that the store installed a non-F Spaced version. For goodness sake, it's an  Ibanez equipped with an Edge bridge. That showed how much knowledge these people had back then & they worked in guitar-related establishments. Darn. That TZ was migrated into an Ibanez RX which was a lighter guitar & it fared better there. 

Ho!

A quick tribute to Chris Ho, perhaps the only local radio DJ to have embraced extremity till the end. Early this morning he succumbed to stomach cancer. I remember him for his very outward & non-conformist embrace of music & read about him in Big O magazine all the time. For him to go this far in his treatment, from one cancer patient to another, I must say it had been a good fight. RIP.

Pic: Gold 905

What Gibson?

 

If you have been to Swee Lee's website / online store yesterday (26th Sept 2021), you'd notice that Gibson guitars / basses...

... along with the Epiphones ...

... related accessories included, were all rendered out of stock. I asked a friend to pay the site a visit & he was taken aback because they were there Friday (24th Sept 2021). One friend even saw some stuff still available on Saturday (25th Spet 2021) but couldn't believe these were out of stock on Sunday. It's like someone bought whatever's in stock - everything, B-stocks included. 😑 #whattheheckhappened

Essential 31 (3)

Here we go - the cavity route for the Ibanez AZES31 is the HSH version. Hope this gives some joy to the people out there who have plans to mod theirs. Of course, the after market Strat / RG pickguards will NOT fit. Please be informed. 

The pots might be the initial consideration for you folks if you ever consider swapping out stuff to make things sound 'better'. Not that these are bad - I like them - they are the 500K version & this is the reason why the tone is bright in this one. It might be too much for some of us. The Dynamix switch (between the pots) is actually a circuitboard & not something a 3-way toggle can handle if you wish to replace this one as well. There's a whole bunch of wires actually hiding underneath the pickguard as seen here. I have plans for pickup replacement but I will save that for another episode.

Hope everyone is safe & please continue to be safe. The Covid numbers are running crazy & it's only gonna get crazier so safety first, yes?

F-hole

This is a Japanese limited edition Telecaster aptly named the F-Hole Telecaster Thinline.  It's a direct reference to the Fender 'F' cavity opening seen above. It's a little gimmicky, you can say that, but it's something different / quirky / unique which will be acknowledged in time to come.

It's an ash body & that feature can be appreciated if we look at the guitar's flip side. Also present here is the belly cut feature to make your Tele experience more comfortable especially during long playing hours. It's an exclusive model with limited chances of appearing in the stores but being here (in this country), we are fortunate enough to see some of these exclusive models making their debut unexpectedly. Our local Fender distributor has good relations with the Japanese end so sometimes surprises happen.

Pics: Fender Japan

Fiore @ DGMC

This one's rather highly anticipated. It's now available at Davis DGMC (PRS Fiore, List: $3.5K). Listing way more than the Silver Sky, hope it's really worth that much money. That aside, tone-wise, this thing is ace.

Pic: PRS

Fender TT

Fender did this - a MoFi turntable. I do not wish to dwell into too much details but the manufacturer cited the same wood used for a Fender bass was used for this one. Does it really matter? This will set you back more than $3K if you are interested. I'd rather use the cash to buy a good guitar. 

Pic: Fender 

Second generation

I really thought the Gibson Generation acoustics were done with. The former line up ended their good life & were not featured this year in the manufacturer's website. This Fall release is unexpected to say the least but looking at how things unfold in the economy, any manufacturer will be worse off if they do not have something appealing yet affordable in their product catalog.

Unlike the previous generation (forgive the pun), there are more in the line up this time. There's a parlor-like 00 & cutaway models. The obvious difference in design this time round - that additional sound hole at the side. The way I see it, Gibson dared to include this because these are not guitars in their traditional / popular line up. Traditionalist / purist would stay away from these instruments citing a possible removal of the Gibson vibe, whatever that may be. Ironically, these are also the people who wouldn't mind getting one because, first & foremost, it's not as costly as the rest of the Gibson acoustic. It has a new quirky feature but these are not the traditional models so it won't affect the general integrity of models like the Hummingbird & Songwriter. Looking forward to try these if they ever made it here. 

Pic: Gibson

Wedging silence

Cool stuff from Gruv Gear - the Fretwedge. Insert this between the strings & headstock as shown & you'll eliminate the rattling / 'ping'ing commonly generated by strings at this end of the instrument. As seen here, it works for both tilted / straight headstocks. Hope this will be available here soon... 

Pics: GG

Essential 31 (2)

At this price point, a guitar of this nature necessitated a compromise when it comes to areas that can indeed tolerate a compromise. The string retainer of the AZES31 is not the rounded version, the one equipped in the Premium / Prestige selections.  Seen here are the budget M / butterfly style retainers & they are asymmetrical to address the non-staggered tuning shafts. If you've missed it, the ones in the Premium / Prestige models are the staggered version; the reason why only one is needed. 

I have swapped them out for this Gotoh pair. If you are interested, the specific model reference is seen above. What's the big deal? The rounded retainers are devoid of sharp edges & would decrease the likelihood of strings snapping at this end. These are available at Davis GMC. 

IGB724

I didn't realize that the Ibanez IGB724 bag was actually available at Swee Lee but it's out of stock in the man time (List: $89)

If you are looking for comfort & ample protection on the move, this is a good bag to check out. More importantly, the exterior material is water-repellent. From the promo pics above, we note that it's adaptable to 8-string guitar headstocks & an overall fit for smaller basses. Looks like it's gonna be a good alternative to BOSS' CB-EG20. 

Pics: Ibanez / Sklep Muzyczny

Kodak

Once upon a time, the Kodak brand name was quite the king of camera film. Yes, it's that thing one loaded in one's camera in order for photo-taking to happen. It had to be sent to the developer for the photos to be developed & printed. We have pictures in hard copies back then & keep them in photo albums. Gone were those days but not quite the Kodak name. I have no idea if the batteries you see here are actually in active production or leftovers but they are going for $0.80 each at the ABC Discount Store. Thanks to blog reader, Steve, for the heads up. I will always look forward to such bargains because I still run my pedals on batteries. If you are like me, only having one pedal hooked up to the amp during most play time, running it on battery rather than a PSU, makes more sense. 

Purple token

 

Someone sponsored me a pedal - thank you very much! Was gonna choose something else from the list but they were out of stock, this one turned out to be a good consolation. It's something in the likes of BOSS' OS-2. I love the distortion half more than the overdrive half. FYI, Behringer stuff are available at Swee Lee's online store.

Essential 31

So ten days after it was sent to me for a re-string / set up, I have taken over the ownership of the Ibanez AZES31 (I would have preferred the red version over this one but that's purely a cosmetic preference). This was paid for after selling off some other miscellaneous stuff which I had lying around here at home. I managed to shave off nearly half of the asking price for this instrument through this financing & must remind myself it's still not the right time to buy gear in the midst of settling my chemo bills; still expecting at least four more to be in the mailbox soon. Really looking forward to finally declare I have nothing to do with treatment bills any more. Wonder when this day will come...

Anyway, would like to share with you why the previous owner decided to let it go:

• Does not feel like a Strat. Of course, it's not a Fender & it's not trying to be one / outperform one in any way. It's appealing mainly to the Ibanez campers to embrace something more traditional without moving over to the competitor's camp. If you have a good / preferred Strat to begin with, high chance you might not deem this worthy / embrace the subtle differences.
• No whammy bridge. That's right, it's a fixed bridge. If you want the whammy version, the AZES40 has that feature. I'm with fixed bridges these days & welcome this readily.
• No use for that extra switching. This is the signature feature of the AZ models; giving the player  extra tonal manifestations & pickup combos to make it 'unique'. Yes, some of us prefer an S-style guitar to remain as one in its strict manifestation. The extra options are not to our preference & we wonder why we paid for that to begin with

I'm not averse to these features & largely an Ibanez fan so these are acceptable details for me. A 3x single coil combo in an Ibanez is something I've not owned & that added to my OK list for owning this guitar. 

75th

 

The 75th Anniversary Telecaster is now in stock at Swee Lee (List: $1,299 bag included). 

I'm not too into any commemorative guitars but having said that, I own the Fender 50th Anniversary Strat 😁 The Strat in question was a well made instrument, it sounds awesome as well & more importantly, it was conceived to reflect the Strat heritage so some specs were of historical intention unlike the 75th Anniversary Tele we see here. However, this guitar is definitely an above-average player (at least the one that I handled personally). The construction & fitting are ace. That matching headstock-body finish is a very classy touch as well. Between this one & a Japanese counterpart, it's a very difficult choice if you are into vale-for-money considerations. 

Pics: Fender / Futuremusic

JCS21U

It's one of those rare occasion when Ibanez decided to give the S-Series a J-Custom treatment. This is a JCS21U. Liking this green version & they kept it as a 22-fretter; my preference. Pickups are DiMarzio Titans. I don't fancy cream pickups & the gold hardware, the rest are solid appointments.

This all-access rounded neck heel is also a great feature, befitting of it's custom nature. The thing about J-Customs, they are not on a standard distribution practice. Some will debut in preferred international store fronts, some online distributors will get some pieces as well. Also, these instruments are competing against American-made guitars in terms of prices, they don't fare as well in terms of re-sale value. 

Pics: Guitarsale/ Ibanez Japan

CC

I've been messing around with clean tones lately in an attempt to level up my finger picking. It's a little tricky if one is too accustomed to excessive gain / drive levels. A light touch won't work well because poor attack would translate into barely audible notes at the amp end. So I appreciate the role of my (hard) picks in making me play well. To address this concern, a chorus pedal is added into the effects lineup to spur some gain into the mix. Folks, pedals have a gain capacity even though no GAIN control is present. This is true if you have at least a VOLUME control in there. 

The chorus pedal you see here is One Control's Little Copper Chorus. Is one of those pedals in a space-saving format but unlike the rest, it's designed to house a battery as seen above - awesome! I'm only using this pedal for cleans, don't wish to have it run on PSU, too cumbersome. The Danelectro battery was the nearest available one  - grabbed & used. I'm just happy that there is a manufacturer out there who does this so it's a win-win situation for players. 

Once Control pedals are available at Davis GMC.

GTRS @ DGMC

Folks, the MOOER GTRS intelligent guitar featured here last May (click to refresh: GTRS) is now available at Davis GMC (List: $599). Refer to the demo video below to understand its full capabilities. Both the roasted maple & rosewood fretboard versions are in stock. If you refer to the manufacturer's website, only the latter is mentioned. I thought this would be listed for more considering the tech included in the instrument but it's not even $600, that's a surprise.

Pic: GTRS

Ripped

This is a post-humous release by ESP - Laiho's Ripped model. I have no idea what went on behind the inspiration of naming this one. Personally, the RIP there is rather distasteful for someone who went away after creating a significant impact in guitardom. It's like advocating for death & the celebrations thereafter.

Whatever the case, this model features an extra neck pickup which Laiho did not advocate while he was still alive. None of his signature models ever featured one till now. However, according to the manufacturer's webpage, this was one of the final designs before Laiho passed away.

Whatever the case might be, it's good that Laiho is still remembered today. If you are adding details to the instrument beyond the endorser's documented preference just because you can & nobody can stop you, respect what was established before a possible backlash. By the way, keeping the fretboard ebony for all three versions is a tasteful take.

Pics: ESP

Green token

As mentioned previously, no major gear purchases while I'm still clearing my chemo bills. Looking at the figures in hand, it would at least take a couple of months. Behringer pedals are available at Swee Lee in the mean time & you can only purchase them online as none will be brought into the showrooms.  I got myself the TO800 here to prevent me from plunging into deeper depression - it's less than $30. These pedals aren't new, they've been around for a while; at least a decade. I used to own a few Behringer stuff when they were sold at SV Guitars which was then known as Standard Value. 

It's an overdrive & it's green so we now what this is all about. Might do a proper review in time to come but in the mean time, I'm using it as a booster-drive, not as a stand alone drive source.

And yes, I'm running it on battery. 

PS: Thanks for reading my older gear reviews 👍

Clean singles

It's one of those days where I'm not inspired to play but needed to manifest some ideas ringing in my head. Playing time today was a two-episode affair; before & after I re-strung my Strat. Before the re-string, I was really not in the mood because the strings were quite dead to the touch. Might be a case of not wiping down the last time round & letting the strings die in storage. No amount of intense distortion could reconditioned my mind to play something meaningful so the playing stopped.

Strings were quickly removed. Noticed some stained fret surfaces which resisted the polishing fluid. Some erasing took place. Folks, don't be afraid to erase stubborn stains on your frets, the eraser won't eat your frets away, it's very different from using sand paper. Just make sure the grit number is kept to the fine grain. 

Had a pack of D'Addario 9s close by so that was the choice for today. Never under-estimate the power of a fresh set of strings when it comes to inspiration. My post-re-string playing moments were strictly clean tones with a heavy dose of chorus & finger picked all the way. I'm not trying to emulate Ichika or Yvette in this realm of technicality but those playing styles were employed to manifest ideas. I might just need a good clean amp for such playing moments in time to come. Hmm...

From dead end to fulfilment. It had been a good Thursday. 👍

Orange-y

First batch of Orange amps are in at Davis GMC. The Rockerverb 100 head here is easily the highlight of this shipment (List: $2,590).

The AD30 also made it, for those of us who have less gain priority but wanting a good Brit-esque cleans (List: $1,750). I must say there's a healthy British tone scene here in SG with Laney, Marshall, Vox & now Orange filling up the scene. Of course, Orange was here all along under a different distributor but it got obscured & gone MIA for a while - I used to buy one from the former distributor. It's now back. Awesome 👍

Pics: Orange

Modern re-string

Had been spending time with my offsets lately, this one got the most play time.

This isn't an upgrade but just testing to see the benefits of a less resistant set of string saddles. Yes, these helped. Yes, these promote a comfortable hand placement on the bridge. Yes, the strings stayed in place due to the notch / slit. FYI, the Chinese Modern Player JM was equipped with a tune-o-matic type bridge, not the traditional Fender offset version. This is the wrong bridge type if you often whammy, if you don't then it's good. Nothing expensive, this roller version is a Chinese product that works. 

I also like the Seymour Duncan Phat Cats in this guitar. I thought these would be closer to the P-90s in its strict translation but they sound humbucker-esque instead, very suitable for heavy, distorted stuff.

GHS 9s for this one. Old packaging means it's a leftover pack with the freshness still in tact. I believe this was from a June 2020 purchase. 

Essentials (3)

OK folks, my final coverage of the new Ibanez AZES series is this AZES31. Yes, it's the Ibanez version of an S-type guitar but this one has a fixed bridge & that definitely hyped me up. A 25" scaled guitar + triple single coils, that would put us in the PRS Silver Sky territory without paying for one ($429 vs $2,999) but we know it's not gonna be a like-for-like comparison, just a thought.

How would that dyna-MIX switching system serve this guitar since there's no humbucker in there? The above reference shows that, in use, there are series options in position 1 & 5. In position 3, you get a Tele-style pickup combo giving a total of 8 different tonal responses. Keeps you busy on days when counting grass might be an interesting proposition.

Finally, this is something I had left out in my previous coverage - a one piece input jack. Meaning - the entire baseplate is your input jack. Good - a single unit means you won't be dealing with the shaft coming loose over time, reducing connectivity issues. Not good - if the entire plate gives way (eg. crack / break), you think there's a ready replacement out there? Of course, if you don't mind a non-one piece unit like an LP type feature, it's good. I can't confirm this compatibility till I measure one in person. When will that happen? Hmm...

Pics: Ibanez

Re-string S7

On some days, I thrive playing a neck that is a little wider. This Ibanez SIR27FD has a wide neck for sure - to accommodate that extra string. Some people asked me how I play chords with a 7-string & I told them it's like playing the 6-string, just ignore that extra string. Wait... you can actually do that? Of course. Whoever said incorporating the 7th string into your chords is a must? If you can do it, then good for you. Otherwise, life goes on beyond the bother of having that 7th string correctly included into your guitar vocab.  Those default DiMarzio PAF 7s are awesome in this guitar, no swap-out necessary. Also, I still play better with marker-less fretboards. Side dots are all I need.

When I walked into the store & saw this guitar, I firmly told myself - no more black guitars. At a closer look, it's actually a glitter black finish so it's not entirely black & that legitimized the purchase. Based on my logic, of course.

Fresh set of D'Addario, my go-to brand.