Masterclass: Polyphia

Just spreading the word; these guys will be back here for another noodling session. If you missed the last one & would like to atone for your waywardness, keep the details here in mind.

More delays

If you've been trawling the net lately, this is news indeed. BOSS' delay units, the current DD-3 & DD-7 have been superseded by these; the DD-3T & DD-8 respectively. Don't worry folks, no crazy departure from the former units we all love & rely on. The DD-3T simply adds a tap tempo to proceedings. The DD-8 on the other hand, has a loop feature on board & a touch of reverb, among others. I'm not a big delay fan, in fact I don't have any plugged into my practice line up at home. However, I enjoy digital delay more than the analog version. I'm not a  fan of how things decay into oblivion nicely & warmly, I prefer an exact repeat to fade. That's just me I guess. In the mean time, from BOSS' official channel:

Vela Saturday

Spent the whole day with this one. Yes, it's from the less celebrated S2 range which gets the flak for not being entirely American. I was fully aware of that when buying the S2 models. In fact, I deem them as definite value-for-money instruments & the number grew. The Vela here was touted as the manufacturer's offset model & just by looking at it, it was done subtly. Whatever the case was, I sounded impressive at the store so it was worth spending money on.

I've always liked the locking tuners despite the top access being a hassle. It's something that works effectively without putting the entire neck totally out of balance. The nut slots in this one are some of the best coming from the S2 line.

The reason I brought this out was to try this set of strings. The new Signature series & whatever 'signature' there implies, these are good, definitely above average strings. They are neither too flabby nor too stiff, the tension is just right for a slightly thicker gauge set. 

The only thing about the S2 that bothered me was the default bridge pickup. Np, it wasn't useless but it couldn't get a good metal type of tone going. After a few effects pedals & amps, I concluded that it wasn't meant to serve a distortion-inclined master; a good AC/DC affair at best. I understand where the Vela is coming from, it is supposed to be a tone monster serving a dose of honky tonk in some pickup settings/ selections so without hesitation, the default humbucker made way for a Seymour Duncan C5 & that was an instant hit. The C5 gave the instrument some added bottom end to offset the inherent brightness coming from those brass saddles. It also avoided an intrusive top end (unlike a JB/ Distortion/ Dimebucker) so bringing this guitar into metaldom is a pleasant affair.

Got Mojo

Three weeks later, they were in the mailbox. Another tone adventure awaits but not in the mean time.

Vintera

The first batch of Fender Vintera Series of instruments are now available at Swee Lee.

I was never a big fan of the Mexican Fenders, just a little interested in the offset models not too long ago but that episode had come to pass. Not really looking forward to invest in one of these either but they got good appraisals by most reviewers. The Vintera prices are very close to the American Performers & I definitely won't pay that much for a Mexican model. It's just me.

Giveaway: Darco strings (Done)

If you are interested in trying out a set of Darco 10 - 52, you know what to do 😎

26/9/2019: Done. Thanks for your interest, do look out for more giveaways to come.