Mikro November

A low key release by Ibanez this November - a couple of Gio Mikro basses. I continue to respect Ibanez for remembering us players with limited purchasing powers. We want affordable starter instruments but we want quality as well. The GIOs are meeting both expectations.

Pics: Ibanez

GS Monday

I am grateful for:

1. Having affordable guitars to tinker with. Thusfar, the cheaper stuff I purchased (mostly used) had been giving me greater returns. These are basically the entry-level Ibanez GIOs & Jackson JS models. Over time, I  am able to identify the models which are really worth getting to avoid buyers' remorse. Yes, the entry-level stuff are getting better but majority of the brands are still offering dodgy instruments which are better disguised. 
2. Getting away with DIY. I've not been to any techs here for guitar rectifications except for the electronic works. I leave this to Beez as he's more learned in this department. More importantly, I've done away with the tools for electronic rectifications. 

Today, it's just the Ibanez GS121 for the morning. This guitar (pre-owned) sounds more appealing after the pickups swap & it looks very personalized after a flip-flop re-finish. Along the way, I dabbled with minor repairs after understanding what needed to be done (knowledge is essential). I got away with makeshift tools as well because there are general purpose alternatives that could get things done. It doesn't have to be a Stew Mac option every time because we very well know that the brand name makes it more expensive than the lesser known counterpart which still gets the job done. 

B-pop

This guitar had not been played for a while. Decided to give it a fresh set of strings before playing. String buzzing detected  from 14th - 23rd fret. Darn. 

1. Straightened the neck
2. Checked for unlevelled frets, as seen in the pic above, buzzing only occurred on those marked out areas. That's right, the buzzing was not entirely across each fret but occurred at some parts only
3. Hammered. After some hammering, only three frets required levelling & re-dress. 

Reminder to all those who are addressing fret issues yourselves - hammer first, file subsequently  (if necessary). Also, reminder to self - do not remove the old strings before checking for fret issues first. It's quite a challenge to keep the new strings in place while attending to the problematic frets. 

To be continued... 

Co-exist

These days, I won't hesitate to go with the flow. Started with DiMarzios, played some Indonesian-esque tunes, sounded fantastic in all positions. Then I switched to some metal / heavy riffing which the DiMarzios couldn't really handle even after tweaking the amp's EQ for a bit. So out came the Duncans & everything was good, till I decided to return to those Indonesian-esque group of notes which requires some rounded top end - back to the DiMarzios. No blind loyalty (what's the point, I wasn't commissioned to begin with), go with what works.

Goodbye, October...

Ibanez - DB

Ibanez - Dragon Ball collaboration, might be the final feature for 2026 as it is unusual (from previous observations) for the manufacturer to release stuff in November / December. This is one of the many items released, a Japanese RG.

The fact that it features a block heel joint, it might be a tweaked Genesis RG550, however, it comes with a hard case. 

Pics: Ibanez

Prophecy Victory

The Victory model is now offered in the Epiphone lineup under the Prophecy Series. The body is not as curved as the Gibson version & it features an FR1000 bridge. Not my thing. Hopefully there's a simpler fixed bridge version along the way.

Pic: Epiphone