Meow-niversary

Taking this time to commemorate meow's 11th anniversary with us. That's right, she wasn't born here, we took her in years ago as she was dumped at our workplace. Unfortunately, the workplace building was gonna be closed down & we were moving out so meow came home with us. This is her typical pose everyday, she would fall asleep on her favourite / preferred plastic bag, leaning against the plushie TS. We are still hazy as to when she actually came in to live with us but we could all agree it was May. We love you, Lisa the cat.

Anniversary... out

As you can see, pretty much snapped up as soon as they were available. So what's the point of updating? To show that these made it here after all. 

Blackniversary

Anniversary pedals by BOSS, both in black - SD-1-4A (40th anniversary) / MT-2-3A (30th anniversary). No additional features or magical circuit components, just the commemorative colours. If you already owned one, chances are, you'd want another - it's the looks. Summer release, folks, don't go asking your dealers now.

Pic: delicious audio

35-versary

In conjunction with their store anniversary, every $299 (& above) purchase at 35 Guitar Avenue, entitles you to a lucky draw chance. Prizes are depicted here. So this marks the start of a good March 😁

Anniversary distortion

The commemorative Anniversary DS-1 is now available at Swee Lee- just $20 more than the standard model. 👍

Limited killing (LTD content)

Come 25th July, this limited edition LTD guitar will be released to commemorate Metallica's 30th Anniversary of their Kill 'Em All album. However, only 300 units are available worldwide...

Kill 'Em All wasn't my first Metallica album, Garage Days Re-revisited was it. It got me listening to ...And Justice for All in my early adolescent years. At that point in time, it was really hell trying to locate all of the band's previous releases- nobody did a re-issue/ re-print until much later towards the early 1990s. All this was on cassette tape & that was when I bought Kill 'Em All, Ride the Lightning & Master of Puppets in a single purchase. Those were the days...

Marshall: JVM 1W

It's a Marshall Sunday & I chose to play this one: JVM 1W. It's one of 2012's anniversary models by Marshall which I didn't quite appraise at the close of last year but it's a keeper, definitely.

The immediate address here would be- 'would this puny rep be any close to the real JVM?' & the quick answer to this is- there is a semblance. The JVM is 'new' to Marshall in terms of drive voicing, it's unlike what a DSL or JCM800 has in store, it's just a little more defined. The clarity on board is much appreciated & you could hear that in this one. However, due to feature ergonomics, this JVM does not feature that fiery red mode of its drive channel so in terms of utmost extremity, it's not gonna happen. The cleans- one of the most respectable Marshall cleans out there; think contemporary, though, not vintage.

Tonal proceedings are restricted by the small 8" Celestion driver but it's a 'Celestion' you say & it's suppose to mean something in terms of tonal command- it's the size, not the brand name that pretty much defines this amp.

So it's my Ibanez S420 & this JVM this morning. I'm a little under the weather but it's no excuse for a good guitar time.

Ibanez: RG2XXV

One of the current highlights (forgive the pun) at Swee Lee's BB showroom is the Ibanez Anniversary RG2XXV. Like the S1XXV before it, it's a novelty commemoration; there's nothing special about this guitar save for the fact that it's been given an anniversary assignment. I'm not being too dismissive of this one, I believe I'm giving fair warning to prospective buyers who would be checking it out in the hope of discovering something new- please approach this one like any other RGs currently out there. Maybe you're discovering neon pink/ yellow & going head over heels over it, well, good for you.

Ibanez did a wise thing by pricing it in the same bracket as the standard RG3XX models, so someone shopping for an RG would be a little swayed by the fact that for the same amount of money, he could own a limited production model instead. Despite my obvious belittling of its reverence, it's indeed a worthy player as far as QC & playability go. In fact, I'm recommending it to those of you who are truly considering a virtuous RG to invest in, I'd say go for it- ignore the loud colours, of course.

Marshall JCM800 (Part 2)

The JCM800 1W is well, a typial JCM800 amp, manifested in novelty dimensions. I'm saying this because the JCM800 roar is in tact despite the size, it's that kinda amp which needs cranking up for optimum ferocity. If this is your initial encounter with one, be informed that it's not a metal-type of drive on board but it's an achievable standard with:

1. Master + Pre-amp volume cranked way up
2. Pedals to boost the pre-amp section

Blues- if you think you need that crunch for blues application, this amp has it but it could sound a little harsh as if hinting at its more intense capacity on board. That BOOST button there would give you added drive but its immediate effect is one of limitation- there's a little compromise in terms of EQ settings as well as volume. I needed to reconfigure my EQ (slightly) & rectify that volume drop every time the BOOST function is activated.

Still to be continued... :-)

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Mid-year is here!

Marshall: JCM800 1W (Part 1)

I've just received my Marshall JCM800 1W head some days ago, still in the discovery stage; it's a mere 1W, so I'm not expecting too much from it.

The control panel features a 3-band EQ, a booster switch & a pair of volume controls- Master/ Pre-amp. There isn't a channel switching button here so you effectively have to turn up the pre-amp in order to hear the drive coming through, more of it is achieved by activating the boost button. At lower pre-amp levels, the boost isn't apparent but adding more master volume would work things up. So we have, effectively, a trio of controls influencing one another in terms drive voicings, I took my time to know what works so it's not exhaustive.

Unlike its full-sized counterparts, this 1-watter sounds rather midrange/treble excessive, I had to trim them down, in fact, to minimum performance to hear accepable tones, otherwise, it sounds sharper than a hissing cobra.

Alright, enough feature highlights (I think)- tone highlights in next installment :-)

Selling: Marshall Anniversary JTM 1W

I'm not a keen clean tone fan so I should not be kidding myself by keeping this one, more so when I don't rely on distortion pedals to kick up the dirt...

• Selling: Marshall JTM Anniversary 1W head (accessories included)
• Condition: 9/10
• Self-collect: CCK mrt stn
• No reservations/ No trades/ No installment considerations
• Query/ confirmation: dark1349@hotmail.com
• Price: $499

Black anniversary

12th August was Metallica's black album anniversary- 20 years ago we bought this black bundle, some of us loved it while the rest of us felt that the money could have gotten us some other worthy albums. I was in the latter camp. It was quite the case of not hearing what you want to hear from the guys whom you've trusted to churn out some of the most commanding music in heavy metaldom.

The songs in there were definitely worthy music- that's incontestable but some of us simply find them unacceptable coming from Metallica. Whatever the case was, I bought the cassette tape format & dumped it into a canal on my way home. The cover sleeve went up in smoke- no kidding, I burnt it. There's no loss of a good cover art, yes? It's barely illustrated, after the incendiary process, it still looked... em... black. He, he...