Give away (6)

Yes, it's time for another give away (notice it's always happening on a Monday?). Here's another contribution by Davis GMC; the Danelectro Cool Cat Vibe pedal for all the coolest vibrato sensation on your pedal board (assuming you have one). Item is a BNIB FYI:

• Send me a blank e-mail with the subject: Vibrato vibes!
• Do not disclose any details till I reply declaring you as the winner
• Winner will self-collect the pedal, details will be disclosed in the said e-mail
• The item is still sealed, brand new in box
• No cut off date as usual- try your luck...

Belated congrats to Shawn Koh, the Give away (5) pedal winner.

2012: Hits & misses (2)

Hit- Duncan's 59/Custom hybrid pickup is a great addition to the fold; nothing really refreshing here, just a successful surgery of two already established pickups, housed in a single unit. It's not the manufacturer's original idea either, it's a product of one of the fans' tinkering. I'm happy with this pickup namely because it lives up to its fused reputation; in part a sweet clean player but a staunch distortion proponent given the drive settings. And then some great harmonics.

Miss- Shred meister Paul Gilbert showed everyone yet again what he could do with the guitar, a trio of single coils at the helm, mind you. However, with this one, he's putting a stop to the firm belief that he's abandoned his singing & song competency to splatter scary notes in your face full time. The shred is still there but it's riding on what Gilbert wanted them to do; to help manifest his ideas, mainly. It's a wonderful release this Vibrato album but it tested my patience in terms of guitar embrace. Nice, just not my type.

Got new CDs?

2 more acquisitions from Inokii, a little delayed update but nevertheless:

• Abiotic- Symbiosis What can I say but this is a stunning release, a proper LP from this Floridian quintet. Another proof that technicality doesn't get in the way of brutality if there's much thinking in the process. For fans of  The Faceless/ Job For a Cowboy
• Paul Gilbert- Vibrato What can I say but this is a sub-par release by the fretboard maestro. I have the following tracks left on my playlist: Rain & Thunder & Lightning/ Put It On the Car/ Blue Rondo a la Turk/ The Proghorn. The rest of the tracks had been deleted because they contain vocals, not dissing Paul Gilbert for his singing abilities but they have nothing for me, to say the least. This is perhaps the fuzziest Paul Gilbert release ever, as such, Gilbert did the wise thing by not focusing on the shred but more on the melodies. So be advised if you are looking for some inspiring guitar technicalities & come across 'Paul Gilbert' in planet Google- this album is certainly not one to look forward to guitar-wise.

Floyd Rose

Many of us are aware the 'Floyd Rose' name refers to a (locking) guitar bridge capable of lowering & raising (vibrato) the generated pitch. Floyd Rose is itself a brand name, it is not referring to the component's technical capacity. However, we conveniently refer to 'Floyd Rose' as a bridge type instead because many of us find it a chore to explain what this hardware is capable of. The product reputation is such that the brand name itself comprehensively explains what it does.

There are many guitars out there equipped with a dual action bridge ala Floyd Rose but they are by no means a product of the brand name. Ibanez's bridges in many of their guitars feature a Floyd Rose derivative which equal the former in function & features, if not furthering the details of the original. The Edge model (pre-2003, currently discont'd except for selected models), depicted above, is a very close spin-off which allegedly exceeded the Floyd Rose version in selected attainments.

I am not trying to polarize players into believing in brand name superiority, but let's be careful when we tell others we are off-loading a guitar with a Floyd Rose bridge when what's in store is a copy/ derivative unit instead. This may be trivial to many of us until the situation takes a legal turn...

Em... vibrato or tremolo?

We often hear people referring to the Floyd-type bridge as a 'tremolo' unit which is incorrect. The floating nature of this bridge type allows notes to be raised & lowered, creating that warbling effect. The raising & lowering of notes (in succession), in music, is known as a vibrato- tremolo is the raising & lowering of volume...




The person responsible for this confusion is Leo Fender, who labelled his new Stratocaster guitar, equipped with a new bridge (new in 1954, of course- that infamous headstock label: WITH SYNCHRONIZED TREMOLO). Ironically, his Vibrolux amp (in 1956) with a built-in tremolo was labeled as a vibrato effect.

So now you know...