Jackson's Summer (2)

Jackson joins the sandblasted camp this Summer. Not a Floyd Rose fan but this one is a looker with a simple but attractive monochrome theme. Duncan JB/59 pairing gets my vote. (DK2 Ash)

Jackson also joins the Evertune camp with this 7-string Dinky. It's fair to say that the Evertune bridge solves tuning headaches for the performing professionals. (DK2 Modern Evertune 7)

Single hit

Letting off steam with a singular objective. Naturally, the RGR08 was my pick. I still have a soft spot for single pickup guitars, regardless of the brand name. The Duncan Nazgul pickup here is perfect for angry moments but it's acquired taste. In addition to being an all out distortion affair - nothing less than the SH-6 - the Nazgul is injected with some grizzly top end.

This is perfectly reflected in the Duncan EQ chart, note the reduced bass response but it does not equal a poor bass performance, just lesser than the average high output humbucker. If your amp is up to it, chances are, you can dial in a good low end as compensation. My take on the Nazgul is that it's a pickup for the metal camp. Nothing smooth/ prog-esque about it, in fact, it sounds grizzly & menacing. It won't quite supplement all your chug fest either. There's a healthy dose of fuzz going on in here if that's your thing but it's nothing grungy, all out metal. Imagine Darkthrone coming out of your amp & laying seige to everything nice. OK enough already. I think you get the picture.

Small SLO

I am an amp person more than a pedal person. This release by Soldano is indeed a welcomed one. If you are into menacing distortion, the SLO-100 is one of the standards to beat. What kept many of us away from it is the size & that excessive wattage. However, joining the PRS SE Hollowbody II Piezo, it's something we are keen to own but not at the asking price. This SLO-30 is listing for USD2.7K, this amount of money could get you a proper 100W amp from a different brand name. It's good to see Soldano joining the smaller make (aka lunchbox) amp to appease the home fans but we are expecting the lunchbox price bracket. 

Special

This is a special one indeed. It was a special order liaised by Davis GMC for me some years ago. The good ESP people were willing to tweak certain features from an existing model to include others from another existing model. It's virtually a hybrid design.

So my request was a simple one; an existing M-Series with a H-S pickup configuration (Seymour Duncan JB/ Classic Stack Plus in this guitar). Since I get to pick my finish of choice, I went with white. Why? Because the preceding models that I acquired before this one were black. This went the opposite way.

The H-S pickup combo was a refreshing change. The ESP people tilted the neck single coil so that all strings are aligned with the pole pieces. Was this a design in any existing ESP model back then? Yes - the Horizon FR 27. Subsequently, Kiko's signature ESP model featured the slanted neck single coil slot as well. That was easy for ESP. 

The white finish was regrettable. All white finish will yellow over time, the parts coming into contact with the hard case interior will yellow faster than other areas (as seen above). It's like that repulsive sweat outline on a white pillow cover so no more white for me. ESP stopped this special order programme a few months after I ordered this one. Bummer. 

Jackson's Summer

In the absence of Summer NAMM 2020, Jackson, along with other manufacturers announced its mid-year line up. This is one of the showstopper (if there was one to begin with); a 27 fret soloist with much glitter to boot. Jackson isn't the first when it comes to extra frets (ESP/ Ibanez were there) but the fact that it dares to debut such a looker in the absence of a real reception speaks volume (forgive the pun) about intent. This isn't a second tier import model & will set you back about USD1.9K if it rocks your boat. That arched top is a nice touch. 

Genesis: Blue (3)

The replacement pickups in this one are DiMarzios:

• Neck: D'Activator
• Mid: HS3
• Bridge: D'Activator

This isn't the first account of D'Activators in my guitar, they were in my Jackson Yellow Dinky (click HERE). I'm largely a Duncan camper but I'm not averse to DiMarzio, especially the D'Activator. These  are easily preferred in terms of extremity & clarity when it comes to tone. The bottom end loving geeks out there wouldn't be in love with this kind of offering; they sound brash & manifest more treble than a typical PAF type humbucker. I'm at home with this kind of tone as it easily addresses my extreme metal needs & additional bottom end could easily be dialled in over at the amp end. If there's any Duncan equivalent, then it would be the JB but the D'Activator is a louder counterpart. I lowered the bridge D'Activator a little bit more than my usual preference & it sounds marvelous. 

Related entries:

Genesis: Blue

Genesis: Blue (2)