Pedal store- down (stairs)

Here's a message from Davis GMC- their pedal store located at Level 1 had shifted to the basement. Where is it exactly now? It's just in front of their guitar store so if you wish to visit both stores, it's merely crossing the corridor to the other side :-)

Ibanez: FR420 (4)

As mentioned previously, I'm not obliged to like whatever the manufacturer has to offer in my Ibanez FR420...

... so out went the default CAP humbuckers. The pickups you see here:

• Bridge: Screamin' Demon
• Neck: Distortion

I'm working on a simple formula; the Demon worked well in an ash body guitar so it should work well here unless something potent gets in the way. The Distortion neck is my favourite pickup for lots of distortion & clarity, it's not about an immaculate, warm, clean tone. Totally happy with this combo :-)

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.

Galli-good

In order for discovery to happen, we must be willing to let go. Gallistrings is one of my preferred, lesser known brands since I moved away from Ernie Ball & friends. In addition to a moisture absorbing envelope, the manufacturer had a final plastic seal to preserve the freshness. I've not come across a bad pack of Gallistrings before so that speaks a lot about QC. Gallistrings feel like someone took a pack of DR & maintain the rigidity but added a nice feel to it. In terms of longevity, they definitely last longer than D'Addarios. The .009 set you see here costs $6.90 at SV Guitars. Gallistrings feel nothing like Ernie Ball, D'Addario or Gibsons. If you are familiar with those brand names, you know where I'm going with this.

Loving the machine

You know what makes a good player? Playing in time. But I'm through with the cold, calculated tick-tocks & beeps of a metronome. I have since moved on to a drum machine. Seen here is my Zoom RT123, the most fundamental drum machine Zoom has to offer. A long time ago, I used to jam with friends but it was the era of anti-guitar, otherwise known as grunge (it got me puzzled, those blokes were anti-guitar but they still have guitars in the band- darn). You know what people like to do when they jam? They do covers. I don't. So there we have it, the meeting of direct opposites, the chemistry just wasn't happening. Friends prefer Nirvana & Stone Temple Pilot numbers, they would throw in Black Sabbath & Iron Maiden occasionally but I was heavily into Emperor, Marduk, Mayhem, Satyricon, Darkthrone, Morbid Angel, Deicide, Death & I don't even wanna play like my heroes, I just listen to them for inspiration. I don't like & don't wanna play other people's music, I wanna create my own; it's about learning & application but people don't value learning, they wanna go with the flow so I flowed the other way. I stopped playing with people, I play with machines & I couldn't be happier.

I don't see my RT123 being plugged in too much lately because all the drum stuff are playing in my head, they are there, I don't need to hear its extension through an amp. However, the challenge has always been to vary the tempo & play my stuff in different timing, this is an important ingredient to learning & everyone who is musically inclined should devote time to get acquainted with time. So two days ago, my RT123 was dusted & plugged into a small practice amp just to get my timing thing going once again. We should strive to make every playing experience a learning experience.

Face-off: DiMarzio vs Seymour Duncan

I've been playing these 2 guitars a lot lately:

• Left: Ibanez S470- Dimarzios: Air Norton (B)/ Area '61(M)/ PAF (N)
• Right: Ibanez S420- Seymour Duncan: Pearly Gates (B/N)

Ibanez dweebs prefer DiMarzios because majority of the endorsers embrace this pickup brand- Vai, Satch, Gilbert, Timmons, et al. Estranged individuals like me, had an initial rotten episode with DiMarzio so I went with the competitor's brand & I had to say that I was lucky- I bought the pickup that suited my needs so it was no turning back.

So it boils down to this- which pickup brand do I prefer? Simple answer: Both.

These pickups have something different to offer. DiMarzio has this peculiar adaptation to effects & other signal processors; the   more you add to them, they don't seem to be undone by gain overdose. Seymour Duncan has this signature bite that you'd hear if you plug straight through to your amp. Once you get hooked, it's the only thing you'd want to hear. I'm living with both tone options, there are no rules saying I should stay true to only one brand name. It's about liking what I hear coming out from the amp regardless of what were used to make that happen.