Black Saturday

Was at Beez's to get pickups fixed into my Ibanez RG521. Was there early to avoid the road closures for the NDP 2025 rehearsal but roads closed earlier than I expected. The good thing - the City Hall-Peninsula-Funan underground linkway facilitated regular pedestrian movements regardless of the road closures. Thank goodness.

The pickups in question are DiMarzio D'Activator X. I have these pickups in my Ibanez Destroyer so I know what to expect from them but strangely, in this guitar, these manifest more low frequencies. It might be due to the direct body mount but I like what I'm hearing.

Of course, a quick re-string before the pickups were soldered into action. So this pack of Harmony strings were left inside a bag at my storage space since March 2024 - yikes! But Harmony strings, true to its enduring nature, remain usable.

Taylored

This is my Taylor Academy 12. Not new, bought before COVID set in. The action here is nothing like my electric guitars but it sounds awesome when finger-picked. As such, I do not attempt to lower this any further. I don't need to play any proper songs on this one, just listening to any notes is simply time well spent. 

My employment contract will run out in a fortnight's time so weekends or days off are spent indoors to curb unnecessary spending. Spent yesterday (holiday) re-stringing the Academy 12. The sound of fresh strings on any acoustic guitar, to me, has that up-lifting feeling. Semi-therapeutical on some days. Yes, I keep the gauge on all my acoustics to 10 - 47. I don't benefit from 11s or anything thicker due to my playing style / quirks. 

The Academy Series of acoustic guitars by Taylor are value-for-money instruments, definitely. Of late, this value-for-money consideration is quickly being betrayed by rising prices. The Academy models were all sub-$1K instruments when they debuted around 2018 if memory serves me right. The pre-ampless version you see here was $850. If you wish to purchase one today, the Academy Series are all listing in excess of $1K:

• Academy 10 / 12: $1,099
• Academy 10e / 12e: $1,299

That's how things are today with guitar prices, not just acoustics, mind you. Prices are going up. Blink & you regret not buying stuff. Wishing everyone a good weekend in advance.

Hello, November...

Harmonious end

It's the final day of the Swee Lee sale & I managed to grab some worthy strings. There are some D'Addarios in there but majority of the haul are Harmony strings. You might not have heard this brand name but they are there in the history of guitars & all things related. They don't do much contemporary stuff & only your Dads or Granddads might know who they are. That aside, they make good, affordable strings.

Do you often drop by the Katong branch? Not so for me because it's out of the way; I'm from the West & this outlet is in the East. It's almost an end-to-end travel but if there's something worthy to check out, I'd gladly make effort to get there. The store's also a cozy corner with ambient lighting & I certainly enjoyed the less crowded atmosphere (especially on weekdays) & always took the opportunity to talk to the staff. More importantly, being in the Katong neighbourhood means making my way to the food center across the main road to enjoy a Mee Rebus quickie & a wonderful, warm serving of Cheng Tng. With the departure of Swee Lee, my trip to Katong would be few & far between. Thank you to store manager, Mr. Faizal & his motley crew, for the memories; my every trip there was worth it.

You know, it's testing times with the Covid-19 situation in the mean time. Stringent temperature screenings are in place in many venues. In the name of the greater good, please adhere/ comply to the requirements. If you are offended by the intrusion of these temperature checks, I'd suggest you stay home & make online shopping do your bidding. My heartfelt appreciation goes out to the Swee Lee Katong team who braved the insolent, foul-mouthed individuals at the store entrance for refusing to comply with the temperature screening & hand sanitizing exercise. It's a quick one at the door & you're free to enter the premises but your darn ego chose to make it difficult for yourselves & others. You know who you are, you belong in the gutters & should not mingle with society. 

On that note, have a good week ahead, everyone - stay vigilant & virus-free. 👍

Ash

I managed to re-string this one during the CNY holidays. My TL71 has creamed off after four years & the ash grains are beginning to rival my floor laminate. Despite being ash-bodied, it remains light with the typical pronounced lower midrange coming from this wood type. The thing about Japanese Fenders, most of them feature a glossed neck & it might put off the purists. However, I deem mine to be as playable as my other non-glossed necked guitar; it's a matter of familiarity. I bought this one at Sound Alchemy when Beez was still their neighbour at Excelsior Shopping Center. 

That's right, I swapped out the string retainer for this rounded version for this guitar as well. 

Pickups: Hot Stack (b)/ Quarter Pound (n). These Seymour Duncan pickups are really something. So I have the Hot Stack in my TL-Rose as well & I love the stinging tone & it's more pronounced here due to the brass saddles there. The hot neck pickup was intentional just to underscore the fact that I don't do country music with this one - no disrespect to country music proponents out there.

Harmony strings are good albeit under-rated. If you wish for a neutral-sounding set (nether too bright nor too mellow), this is the brand to get. Together with Martin's Darco range, they are absolute value-for money.