Neck

Finally back, my SEW761. Sent it to TYMC for bolt holes to be drilled. The neck you see there is a replacement neck so it came without neck screw holes. TYMC did an awesome job, alignment was spot-on.

The new neck also came with no trus rod cover. I choose to leave this as it is; a reminder of what took place & the amount of patience that I put into this guitar to bing it back to life.

Travelling Kohlman

I've always been impressed with the Kohlman bags due to its comfort & durability factors. You can now get one for your travel-size acoustics at TY Music Center ($87).

Pic: TYMC

Tanglewood @ TYMC

We begin April with this promo by TYMC - For online purchases, key in TANGLEWD50 at checkout to get $50 off the acoustic guitars featured here: CLICK 👍🏾 Tanglewood is a UK brand name, largely under-rated here & understandably so with the dominance of Martin, Taylor & Takamine. I find them to be value-for-money instruments if you are not particular about the brand name & have a playability focus.

PS: Hello, April! 😎

Pic: TYMC

TY @ Laz

Just a heads up - you can now purchase TYMC products at Lazada. Why is this a big deal? You know how it is with these online shopping thing, yes? There will be discount vouchers offered periodically so it's like a sale of sorts.

PIC: TYMCFB

Clearance @ TYMC

 

Some stuff are clearing for a good deal @ TYMC. The Carvin LB20 you see here is definitely one of them. Modern tones with a good thump. When I tried this out sometime ago, I managed to hear it in action with some OD & it's one of the more pleasant ones I have ever come across.

These are good stuff as well, especially when you are on a budget - $15 ea... 😯

PIC: TYMC FB

SALE @ TYMC

Sale now happening at TYMC- amps, ukuleles, guitars. 😐

Of bridges

The Fender American Pro Jaguar & Jazzmaster received a feature refinement in 2017 with the addition of a 'new' bridge which isn't new. Seen above is the aforementioned bridge which is clearly visible at the manufacturer's website.

The hardware in question is actually the Mustang bridge which retrofits into the Jaguar/ Jazzmaster  readily due to identical measurements.

As you can see, the original Jaguar bridge (right)  features saddles which do not have a dedicated string slot unlike the Mustang's (left). Players with a dedicated bending technique often face the frustration of having their strings dislodged & causing unwanted tuning issues during play. This is a DIY 'upgrade' if you wish to avoid such contentions, simply purchase the Mustang bridge (available at TYMC by the way) & do a swap over. Done. 

Give away (3) DONE

ALRIGHTY! It's time for another give away. I'm grateful to TYMC for sponsoring the recently appraised Kohlman cable. This is a 2m version featuring straight + angled (L-shaped) plug combo. As you can see here, it's still fresh from the store. All you need to do get this for free (that's right, I'll even mail it to you) is:

• e-mail me a blank entry with the subject title: Let's try Kohlman
• wait for my reply to declare you as the winner, do not disclose any personal details while you're at it
• no time limit as per Give away (2), I urge you to try your luck. 😁

Belated congrats to Fahmi, Ferrain Gan (Cleartone strings) & Dylan (Joyo noise gate) for winning the previous give aways. Thanks to everyone who participated, I appreciate your support. More give aways to come till I say that's it. Serious, no joke.

PS: Thanks, everyone, for participating. We have a winner 😀

Kohlman cable @ TYMC

It's about time I do this so here goes... 😁

The Kohlman brand of instrument cables is an in-house name for TYMC. These are currently offered in 3m/ 4.5m/ 6m lengths featuring Amphenol plugs which are shrink wrapped at both ends. The cable itself features OFC material with a rubber inner jacket doubled with plastic braiding you see here unlike other off-the-shelf models where rubber-based material serves to be the final, outer-most covering. 

In use, the cable offers a full-bodied midrange performance with lots of clarity. This would be a good discourse for both humbucking & single coil pickup guitars where tonal details are the order of the day. One of my test set up featured a bottom-heavy tone courtesy of a bottom heavy cab & an EQ setting devoid of much top end response. This really brought out the sparkle from the cable & prevented a mud-out experience at high volume performance. The entire cable length proved to be quite tug resistant & crackle free during a tough love session where it was stepped on & used as a proto-whip (do not try this with yours).

Some contentions:

1. In use with entry-level guitars with cheap default pickups, the cable manifested excessive treble responses
2. The plastic outer-most 'braided' jacket is a little stiff & hampers flexibility at times

Why go with Kohlman & not other boutique brand names which are readily available at the stores here? The good people at TYMC promised a customizable length should you need this to be looked into for performance considerations. Also, you can negotiate the type of plugs you prefer; straight at both ends or straight plus an L-type at one end (SG players, you'd appreciate this consideration. The Kohlman is also durable to begin with & it's blessed with proper shielding so your signals don't pick up radio waves during play. That's right, this is what manufacturers out there do not tell you when it comes to their 'mid-range' instrument cables. Despite manifesting them as somewhat durable & no frills, they pick up external signals readily, meaning, the cable itself is like a radio antenna once you plug in. All in all, the Kohlman currently stands a tier above the fundamental standards offered out there so spending money on one is a wise move. 

Rating: 8/10

Availability: TYMC

List: Prices according to prescribed length, please call TYMC for further queries

Kohlman

Had been plugging in with this cable (available @ TYMC)- more insights to come 😁

Subtracting SUB1

This is my Music Man SUB1 guitar, bought from Davis GMC in 2005. The SUB1 range were the only models they had in store & at that point in time, I was hoping the EBMM instruments would be distributed by Davis GMC thereafter but apparently, things didn't follow up well. It wasn't a boutique MM model that's for sure. Back then, Fender did a Highway 1 & the concept of just finishing the instrument in satin instead of a gloss overcoat to reduce cost, caught on- Gibson did their Faded series at about the same time. Music Man did their SUB1 which was discontinued in 2006.

Just last week, I brought it out of hibernation & the electronics were cranky which no contact cleaner could cure. The main culprit was the corroded input jack. That was when I decided to give it a make over to serve my needs. I sent the original pickguard as a template reference to TYMC & they did a bridge humbucker only version which you see here. Controls were reduced to a solitary volume knob & everything electronics-related was handled by the master himself, Mr. Beez. 

So here it is, my revised MM SUB1 guitar which I think should not have been discontinued. EBMM couldn't keep up with the production costs to maintain the wonderful price so that spelt the end of this series. The Sterling range currently offer a SUB series of instruments which are much confused with this model. I would tell you that the SUB1 is a solid player & worth every cent.

La Bella: Vapor Shielded

Got myself a set of La Bella strings. These are treated strings just like the corrosion retarding formulae of others but the LB camp chose to do it their way & I'm obliged to try. La Bella VS strings are available @ TYMC.

Artec: Rock 'N Roll

It's the in-thing now; mini pedals. The ones capable of populating your pedal board in terms of quantity & variety. The leading names to note: Mooer, Eno & Artec. Mooer is the standard to beat, uncompromising in quality, both tone & QC-wise. Eno is mocking Mooer in terms of price & selected models are sheer value-for-money. Coming on to Artec, these guys are serving you functionality with some acceptable compromises.

The Rock 'N Roll (RNR) pedal is a mild drive/distortion type capable of letting you have some smooth, boost-type push at lower gain settings while the upper end gain markings let you enjoy some DS-1 type distortion, nothing too intense. The overall controls performance are responsive but you need some patience with the mini GAIN & TONE knobs. Much of the cost-trimmings here involve the materials in use- plastic. The RNR sports a plastic housing & chassis so in terms of vulnerability, this one is outright fragile. The pedal simply fails if it's used unsecured so the best application here is to strap it down to your pedal board. I have only acquired this baby for about a week but it's working well, so much of the consideration would be to see how long it would last. 

Tone-wise, the RNR would appease single coil worshipers more than the typical humbucker fan. Given the right pre-amp to couple this pedal, some Malmsteen type, throaty single coil distortion is achievable. In terms of accommodating fat humbuckers, the RNR is a little wanting in terms of bottom end definition.

It's an interesting time to be dwelling in mini pedal goodness. Manufacturers are giving us players some good variety to work with & the competition has manifested a good range of prices as well. But with the goodness comes some compromise & this should be well understood & accepted. Purchase decisions are then at the behest of your learned investigation- cheap & good may not last you through & the upper end, more revered products may just be downright awful. Take time to shop & select what you need (not what you want). Keep in mind that these babies require power supply (no battery capacity whatsoever) so that would entail some supplementary expenditure.

Artec mini pedals are now avaialble at TYMC.

Artec's compact take

After my visit to Beez's, I headed to TYMC to check out Artec's latest offerings. Nothing evolutionary, just a range of compact pedals & yes, others were there before Artec so there's no gloss to this embrace. I managed to have a go at the 3 units you see here- a clean boost & 2 drives. Prices are kept below SGD80 & this was made possible for a simple reason- all pedals feature plastic housing. If you think this is a complete turn off, stop whining & move on; you have ENO & MOOER to choose from. As always, thumbs-up to the TYMC team when it comes to customer service. I had plans to try only the Blues Drive but they took 2 others for comparison's sake & that should be the way- letting the customer decide & widen his options before making an informed decision. It's not easy choosing a pedal, let alone choosing something one really wants in terms of preferences. More report to come :-)

Eno

We end May on a good note- Eno pedals are now in stock at TYMC. These are very much like the Mooer range of pedals but they are of a different price range, particularly tagged to please, really. I'm pedal-hunting in the mean time & these are good stuff for the money.

Pic courtesy of TYMC.

Bacchus goodness

The Bacchus goodness continues- it's a case of coming back to check out what I last tried to be good. TYMC had since brought in more Bacchus guitars & basses in store & prices are very attractive to say the least. So they look like some over-hyped copies of some brand name but let's not overlook the fact that QC & tone are well above average for these instruments. All I did recently was to play one in store (happened to be the Tele-type bass you see above, the BTB-1 to be exact) & was quite over-whelmed by the goodness. I get such vibes coming from Edwards instruments & we know where they are coming from in terms of being very close to a certain established brand name. This gorgeous Sting-vibe instrument retails for less than $300 & that's reason enough to drop by the store to check it out.

Sale @ TYMC

 

We also begin November with some... how shall I put it?... deserving news. Sale is now on @ TYMC. The stuff on clearance are listed here, there might be more added to the list as we go on. How's your wallet? :-)

Embrace death (3)

The Deathbucker went into my BC Rich Gunslinger.

Master Beez gave it a thumbs up as well. We were taken aback by the cleans, definitely.

Summary of the Deathbucker performance:

• high output pickup, absolutely impressive with lots of distortion
• manufacturer says, it sounds like an active- yes, that's audible & present
• how about the cleans? As this is a passive pickup, the cleans are above-average. Has an impressive performance in split mode, true to the manufacturer's claim as well, it's quiet even with distortion dialed in
• cleans to die for- as in, will it rival a PAF-type pickup? No but the cleans here is really something considering it's a high output unit

The Lace Deathbucker is available at TYMC, yours for $125 :-)

The Russian menace (1)

Maybe I'm a sucker for minor mods but I got excited when TYMC announced they are carrying the Russian K40Y-9 capacitor. That's how big it is compared to a 2mm guitar pick. The K40Y-9 is a highly acclaimed cap amongst audiophiles, they get to hear the performance rather immediately as opposed to us guitar dweebs, a large majority of whom couldn't quite differentiate tonal difference from pickups let alone a capacitor whose good life needs some 'breaking-in' time very much like tubes in amps.

So here it is, the K40Y-9 in my Jackson DK2 orange guitar. I sent this guitar to Beez for a push-pull coil split switch replacement so the opportunity was there to try this cap out.

To be continued...

Carvin clearance

One of a few Carvins clearing at TYMC: SH445 going for $2,160 $1,725...