SA Igno

Got this one out yesterday & fixed an appointment with Beez. This is my Ibanez SA1260, it's a rather heavy guitar but it's bright sounding.

Beez wired the DiMarzio Igno into this one. 

The thing about pickups, we can't hear them in action first before buying. I based my choice on the pickup's EQ performance as seen above. I try not to get swayed by the tones I hear from a video performance because the player's quirks & set up tend to influence tone. So the Igno is a clipped treble pickup, quite likely to complement the bright nature of the SA. However, I overlooked the fact that it has an Alnico 8 magnet that might just add to brightness but everything turned out well. Despite the touted reduced top end, the brightness is rather commanding. The pickup has a strong lower frequency response so if your music is largely based on that EQ focus, it will serve you well. 

Fresh set of strings - La Bella. Pickup & strings purchased from TY Music 👍🏾

EQ pic: DiMarzio

Brothers from different mothers

Had been spending time with these two last week: Ibanez RG521 (T)/ SA1260 (B)

Every time I felt that I actually like a non-Ibanez guitar more than I thought I did, I would make it a point to spend time with an Ibanez. Any Ibanez, it doesn't matter. Prior to this, I had been spending time with my Fender Jaguars mostly. I really love the 24" scale length, neck profile & overall feel, the tone could have been something else but I'm alright with what was meant to be. 

So is Ibanez the undisputed champion in my tone arsenal? For me, Ibanez is a safe brand to own because it's what I grew up with, what I started with & what made me the player I am today (not much of a player actually). On some days, I am better off playing a non-Ibanez because the change helps me check my true ability. We often get away with something we embrace within our comfort zone. Our true potential is therefore that struggle to get on with limitations; this my friends, is what defines us.

Coming back to the siblings you see above, the RG's neck profile is my staple. I have small hands, I struggle to play mistake-free given a thicker, narrower & rounder neck profile. No doubt, a capable player can handle what's thrown at him because it's the ability that matters, tools do not measure the person's capacity. However, note that a competent individual always specify his tools because these help them shift boundaries, it's a no longer a matter of overcoming hurdles. We should never let others define the tools for us because we have different needs. The SA on the other hand, is quite the opposite of what the RG has to offer, narrower (slight), rounder & thicker neck profile, something that would spell doom for me but not quite. The narrower, rounder & thicker specs here are the Ibanez interpretation, not a duplicate of the competitors. This is important for me because my go to brand name is offering a variation according to their understanding of what things should be & that is what clicked with me so the SA was a win-win purchase, definitely. Siblings these instruments are but twins they are not. 

Yellows

Had been spending time last week with my Ibanez SA1260. This is one of the reasons why I'm holding out on the AZ series; they sport a similar rounded neck profile, slightly narrower as well vs the RG's wide-thin carve. OK so I've swapped out the default pickups to DiMarzios:

• Neck: True Velvet
• Mid: Area 67
• Bridge: D Activator X

Corroded whammy tension springs so...

... it's my chance to try this yellow trio (available @ Davis GMC). Rationale- it's coated so it will resist corrosion, yes? We'll see about that.

Fresh strings- Touchtones by SFARZO. You won't find these off the shelves here, purchased them online. I like to try the obscure brands.

Wishing you a good Monday + a good week ahead. Some give-ways in the works 😎

Hey, dad! (Part 44)

Hey, dad! Thanks for letting us pose with your set-up. This is my little project for school, we take turns to bring Bruno the bear home & record whatever we do with it. Well, my teacher would soon know that Bruno can't even move his fingers to strum a guitar. But wait... Bruno has no fingers so that explains everything.

New pickup- Ibanez SA1260

So this is the latest pickup trio in my Ibanez SA1260:

• Neck: DiMarzio True Velvet
• Middle: DiMarzio Area 67
• Bridge: D'Activator X

Initially, the neck Area 67 stayed put but after some time, I feel I can do better with a more twangy pickup in the neck, especially with lots of distortion so the 67 migrated to the middle position. I have a non-stacked unit in the neck, the True Velvet, which is the best for this guitar. It's frustrating hunting for the right preferred DiMarzio for the SA1260 due to its heaviness. Also, I'm not a DiMarzio fan, the selections I made are less fruitful, I'm more familiar with the Duncan selections but I would want to keep the pickups here an all DiMarzio affair.

Dimarzio: D Activator X

This is my Ibanez SA1260 with a fresh bridge pickup- DiMarzio's D Activator X. The previous humbucker in there (also a DiMarzio), a PAF 36th Anniversary humbucker, didn't last a month. The pickup doesn't do well with a hefty guitar like my SA here which also churns out much bottom end in its unplugged performance, a vintage voiced/ output pickup doesn't help the situation; it's adding oil into water.

My initial intention was to go for a Seymour Duncan humbucker as I've had much success matching the various models on offer to the guitars I own but I decided to keep it a DiMarzio affair since the single coils (stacked humbucker actually) in there are DiMarzios (a pair of Area 67). I need a pickup with a strong midrange response, nothing too excessive in the treble offering but with enough bass to push lots of bottom end palm muting through. The D Activator X offers high levels of midrange & bass with the former exceeding the latter offerings slightly. Regardless of whatever niche appeal the manufacturer proposes this pickup for, it works in this guitar. I didn't grab it by virtue of its high output which is typically associated with heavy music because that's not a sure formula. I'm in it for the clarity & distortion saturation.

PS: Thanks Beez for the excellent workmanship once again.

Ibanez: SA1260... the deviation

It's another pickups overhaul, this time my Ibanez SA1260 received some significant make-over. The default pickups were retired for good & as you can see here, the cavities are some of the neatest the manufacturer has to offer.

No whammy applications with this guitar so 5-springs in there, as usual.

The reason why this post is tagged as a 'deviation' is evident in the pic above; I chose to have a Mallory capacitor instead of the usual Orange Drop routine. I was doing some spring cleaning for the last few days or so & discovered I had a Mallory stashed away in one of my guitar bags. The numeric on it had faded & I thought it should be used as soon as possible before some further deterioration takes place. I also had the volume & tone pots replaced; despite the guitar being very new, the pots were stiff. All these done at BEEZ's.

Finally, a fresh set of GHS .009s in the guitar & my preferred action set up. Played this guitar after watching CSI last night for quite some time. The other reason why this is a 'deviation'- DiMarzio pickups in here. Despite being a hardcore Seymour Duncan fan, I digress occasionally as a check of sorts; I don't mind having other brand name pickups in some of my guitars as a tonal reference. The newbies here are:

• Neck: DiMarzio Area '67
• Middle: DiMarzio Area '67
• Bridge: DiMarzio PAF 36th Anniversary

Ibanez: SA1260

Ok, the casual drop-by at the last Swee Lee Katong Sale (26-11-2010) entailed into an acquisition episode. Accidental, of course. While walking around the store- in the hope of finding some desirable basses- I stumbled upon the long discontinued Ibanez SA1260. Gave it a quick unplugged testing (no testing during SALE day please...) & it was for keeps. Back in 2004 when this guitar was one of the Prestige highlight (before it became the blueprint for Andy Timmons' AT200/ 300) no Prestige hard case was offered so it came with Ibanez's equally commendable M100C case instead.

The SA1260 are one of the few Prestige models to feature a set of chrome tuners.

A reminder of the SA's curved body top akin to that of the S-Series' feature but not as pronounced.

The feature I like most is the SA's SAT Pro bridge which is devoid of sharp edges & screw protrusions. I don't foresee the use of the guitar's whammy in time to come so the bridge was set flat & flushed against the body's top surface.

The Ibanez V-series pickups; the single coils here sound great- not as chimey as Fender's but lots of overwound-type warmth. However, the humbucker will have to go.