Nobody touches my guitar! (2)

There is an overlooked QC issue at the Indonesian plant because this S621QM (2015) proves just that. Its predecessor, the S521 (2014) had a slanted string travel from the nut to the machine head. I avoided those as soon as I saw them. The S521 are still sold at Swee Lee (left overs). There are no such issues with the S621.

I'm not a fan of the default Quantum pickups. Once upon a time, the Quantums were manufactured by DiMarzio & equipped in the S-Series of the past. The in-house Quantums today are a far cry from those. They might be acceptable for some of us but for me personally, they had to go. Replacement pickups - DiMarzio Air Classic (DP191). The name sounds so demure but it's capable of manifesting some of the best distorted tones. The magnet on board is an Alnico 5 but the overall technology ensures a reduced string pull & lots of bottom end girth. Speaking of bottom end, the bass output here is kept low so if you employ a boosted bass response at the amp end, it sounds very commanding.

My embrace of the lesser string brand continues, a set of Olympia 9s are in this one. It's not about the brand name but the actual quality & performance that counts.

Viva olympia

Managed to re-string my colleague's Epiphone acoustic a couple of days ago. Strings of choice: Olympia CTA-1152, corrosion resistant version. These are less than $8 & they sound good. OK, maybe they are fresh strings, devoid of grime & tarnish for optimum performance. My colleague gave his thumbs up; darn good value for money. 

Folks, sometimes the lesser brand names have more in store for us, above expectations so to speak. What's preventing us from buying them? Pride & ego. We tend to judge a product by the brand name. No doubt, some brand names have proven their worth over time; Tupperware & Energizer are easy examples. We also tend to follow the popular choice, not wanting to try something less popular for the fear of not getting the money's worth.