Glaive- deactivated

One of the reasons why I seldom play this one is because it sports a pair of in-house Ibanez CAP active humbuckers. My ears are a little fatigued listening to such responses not that those CAP pickups were under-performing (certainly not!) but because I don't fancy such manifestations.

Made a quick trip to Beez's yesterday to have these replace the CAPs: PATB Distortion (b)/ Jazz (n). A rather peculiar pairing of a menacing bridge model with a reserved neck counterpart. Not really. Seymour Duncan's Jazz (SH-2) humbucker should not be overlooked to deliver outstanding lead tones just because it's labelled to project a reserved demeanour. It's one of those versatile pickups equally adept in clean as well as driven tones. And then some in semi-hollow guitars.

The X-series weapons model are extinct now. They can be identified easily at the headstock less the early Xiphos models which were cataloged without that specific label. 

A quick cuppa before heading home.

FYI, the rest of the family members seen here. These were definitely interesting additions to the Ibanez fold but there were very few takers & it's all about the outlines. Ibanez fans are still hardcore when it comes to the RG. It remains to be the manufacturer's formidable model in terms of sales & no frills offering when it comes to design pleasantries. 

Shoutout to brother Joshua- good to have met you at Beez's! 

3 reasons

Just stopped playing. Today I had my Ibanez S540 for company, plugged into my Peavey XXL combo. 3 reasons why I dig this guitar...

1. Seymour Duncan: PATB Distortion

My Ibanez S540 had seen different pickups in the bridge position, many failed to capture the depth & clarity of the guitar until I had the PATB. Initially I was skeptical as this humbucker is devoid of the regular, circular pole pieces. I thought these smaller, parallel whatever pieces the manufacturer calls them, were incapable of capturing the string vibrations effectively as opposed to its aforementioned counterparts. But back then, I was too judgmental & dismissive just because things were not made they way I wanted them to be. Never, never judge a pickup by its pole pieces. Lesson learned.

2. Seymour Duncan: Hot Rhythm

Many of us are bothered by the need for our single coil- in an HSH pickup combo- to be on par with its neighbouring humbuckers. This defeats the point of having a single coil pickup in there; it's supposed to differentiate your predominantly humbucking tones. My choice for the Hot Rhythm was indeed a blind pick; I was reliant on the manufacturer's product literature as no guitars at the time of purchase featured this model as default. There was no way of hearing it in action to influence my decision, I went with gut feelings. But it was a rewarding plunge as the HR manifested one of the best clarity/ twang, this side of Fender & it's noiseless to boot. It responds tremendously well to (guitar) volume play even when there's excessive distortion in use.

3. Seymour Duncan: Full Shred

This was a particular pick to address the neck voicing; I previously had the '59 in there but it lacked the poke for clarity under intense distortion, despite that unrivaled warmth. It don't want excessive output either as this would affect the neck's 'wooliness'. Was it too much to ask for the best of both worlds? The Full Shred gave me what I wanted & remains as one of my favourite neck humbucker.

Seymour Duncan: PATB Distortion (Part 2)

I spent last night & this morning enjoying the fullsome goodness of what the PATB Distortion has to offer- superb drive response.However, this pickup is very much a master of a solitary trade as the label suggests: Distortion.

The PATB-2 had no problems manifesting great distorted tone through all my amps, it particularly excelled with my solidstate Sound Drive amp, not that this amp is the exclusive pairing for the two wares but more attributable to the aforementioned amp's inherent good tones.

Through my all-tube Marshall JVM, the pickup manifested some racous midrange responses which would please the death/ black metal horde.

Finally, the PATB2 did well with pedals at the distortion helm. It was deliberately made to satiate my (distortion) overdose; I hooked up my tube equipped Duncan Twin Tube Mayhem which was boosted by Guyatone's OD2+, into the Epiphone Valve Jr head. What the PATB2 retained in all settings is clarity. If you peddle bass notes throughout a good part of your song, you'd appreciate this capacity. Good distorted tones often mud out at higher volume settings which is rather prevalent during live shows.

Seymour Duncan: PATB Distortion (Part 1)

Just had my Ibanez S540 equipped with Duncan's PATB Distortion (b)- have not plugged it in yet... performance notes to come.

Thanks Master BEEZ for another fine job!