Standard Sunday

Sunday with the Standard (S2 Standard 22 satin). This was an unplanned purchase. The S2 Series were given the American treatment rather recently  & it came with a revised price which contradicted the manufacturer's philosophy of making the S2 range affordable price-wise. The model you see here is the pre-revision Standard 22 in a satin finish. The reason you don't see the wing button tuners there. I like PRS for its 25" scale length. That in-between (Fender's 25.5" & Gibson's 24.75") feel & tone makes it different (to me). I'm also quite a sucker for non-gloss finishes especially the neck. This was clearing for a good price at Davis GMC once upon a time so I had to grab it. 

I don't quite fancy the default pickups so these are Seymour Duncans (JB / Jazz). I don't see too many covered JB trembuckers available here so it was grab & go from Davis GMC. The neck pickup is a pre-owned unit which the previous owner did not install into his guitar. It was virtually new. I don't whammy so the bridge sits flushed against the body.

Limited biege

Fender Japan recently released this blonde Strat in limited edition satin finish (SGD1,460).

Flashback 2001 - Fender USA released the Highway 1 Strat in satin blonde (SGD1,040). Hmm... 😜

Pics: Fender Japan / Shelton

Tribute (Part 1)

I was in the market for a P90 equipped Les Paul & I wasn't willing to invest in a spanking new guitar, it's just not the right time to do so (read - economic downturn). I chanced upon this one in the after-market. It's covered with that custom graphic & it's not exactly enticing. The former owner cited a preventive measure for doing so; he knew the white finish would cream off so this is a way to mask that out. By the way, this is a 2011 Les Paul Studio '60s Tribute.

The custom graphic was easy to remove. It's an industrial strength sticker so it came off in one piece & did not leave any torn bits on the instrument's body. What it left behind were patches of adhesive.

It's no use fighting industrial stains with regular guitar polish, even the fabled WD40 didn't prove to be effective. I have this adhesive remover for an art project not too long ago & it was the answer to fighting stubborn stickiness; imagine stepping on chewing gum & being at your wit's end in trying to get it off. OK... the Millenials & Gen Zs here might not know what chewing gum is. 

I hope this is a better picture of what I'm fighting with. Many scrubs & more than an hour later, those stains were off. It covered about 2/3 of the body surface so it's not an easy feat. A non-abrasive scouring pad (the exact one featured here: CLICK) was used & I won't recommend doing this if you are dealing with the same problem on a gloss finished body. It will definitely scratch the surface. This Studio Tribute sports a satin finish, while being very susceptible to knocks, it proved to be more tolerant to scouring. 

To be continued... 

T Green

I kept forgetting to update this here - new PRS CE24 model is now available at Davis GMC. Why bother? Two things: 1) If you have not heard a bolt-on PRS in action before, you should take the time to do so. It sounds a little snappier so for those of us who turn down the guitar's volume for tonal variation during play, you'd appreciate the difference. 2) Also, the neck's satin finished for fans of non-gloss playability. This tampas green version is really tempting (since I've called off plans to get the Silver Sky). Hmmm...

Player Plus

These were released late summer in three different pickup manifestations as seen above. The rest are essential LP features less the satin finish & richlite fretboard. Price-wise, listing for a little short of $2.7K (at Swee Lee), the PP won't find a ready pool of fans owing to the aforementioned specs. If I were to be looking for an LP in this price range, I'd opt for the LP Classic (2016 - 2017 range) instead as it sports a rosewood fretboard for about the same asking price. Also, the Tribute range benefits from the satin finish more than any others due to the no frills features. The BFG did a take on this finish type which proved to be unpopular among players who are after a road-worthy attribute. I personally prefer the bare satin option but not on instruments in the higher price brackets. 

PRS 2017: Vela S

New for 2017 is PRS' S2 Vela in satin finish. The model per se isn't new but its finish is rather inviting. What's the benefit of a satin finish? It shaves off some weight from the instrument hence highlighting some middle ground in terms of tone. If you find dents & nicks too heart-breaking, the satin touch is definitely not for you.

Satin standard

This is Fender's new summer revelation for 2013- the Satin series. It's basically a Standard model given the stripped down body treatment. Stripped down as in a gloss-free outermost layer. Something similar had been done before by the manufacturer- recall the Highway 1 series.

New Artcore

New Ibanez for Summer- the AS53. The semi-acoustic idea isn't new though, just the finish + lesser knobs.

Absolutely attracted to this AF...