Got Heritage?

If you believe in the goodness of Heritage Guitars, you are a firm believer of... em... heritage 😝 The H-150 here is the benchmark for those who are looking for a Gibson alternative but refuse to embrace   derivatives. Well, the H-150 is technically a derivative but one which is overseen by the Gibson people- the ones who refuse to move away from the Kalamazoo plant. OK so these are available st Swee Lee in the mean time (List: $2,999).

Aerodyne

Fender Aerodyne models (Japan) are nothing new. The ones featuring a more featured top (like this FM example), bound bod & the standard scale length (25.5") are the later incarnations which should appeal to Fender fans. More importantly, they are now available at See Lee so this adds to the list of growing Fender Japan models available here if the Americans are not your thing. (List: $1,249).

F/ TB-spaced

The objective of this entry is to prevent myself from preaching the F-Space/ Trembucker string spacing without a visual reference. This is an issue when it comes to Ibanez guitars featuring a non-whammy bridge. The guitar in question here is my Ibanez RG521, that fixed bridge there is a Gibraltar 2. The measurement as seen above, from E to E, has a clear reference to the need for an F-spaced (DiMarzio)/ Trembucker (Seymour Duncan) pickup model. The general observance here is that anything exceeding 5.2cm +/- warrants this consideration. No such provisions for the neck pickup, do take note.

Double blues

These two, they are worlds apart. The Ibanez RG is the epitome of everything fast & furious. The Gibson LP Jr DC wants you to take your time, feel every playing moment. Had an interesting time playing both in a single sitting.

The RG has a flatter - wider neck profile, trying to slow down on this one isn't easy. It's possible but psychologically, the brain kept telling the fingers to play fast & make it worth the while because this kinda neck profile was meant for this kind of playing. The hand is also postured differently, making the most of the available space for playing many notes. The Gibson neck will fight any attempts to be reckless with individual notes. The rounder - narrower neck profile also means that flattening out one's fingers while playing to achieve a marked playing speed is rather futile. The hand would turn lethargic quite easily. A simple understanding on the matter- the curved thumb (influenced by the round neck profile) does not complement the straightening of the other fretting fingers. 

So these guitars, given their technical profile, are they exclusive for a certain playing style? Yes & no. Yes because their individual neck profile complements a certain playing style. No because many of us would learn to adapt to the instrument's quirks to make things work. 😎

Wishing you a great midweek. 

Light

Fender recently released this lightweight ash Strat in its American Pro series. Also available are the Tele & J-Bass version. 

This brings back to mind the Lite Ash Strat (Korea) circa 2003-4 which I tried at the stores & liked. I would would have bought it save for that headstock outline. From the pictures here alone, you'd see that the latter has a peculiar trimmed curvature which was the regular design of the Strats from the late 1980s. I wonder if that was really the case- Fender re-using those neck excess for the Lite Ash models. 

Ramadan 2019

Wishing all Muslim readers, friends & family a blessed Ramadan- let's give our all.