Defenders

So this just happened - PRS announced a collaboration with Land Rover to release the SE Defender models. So finally we have... : 1) Matching headstock 2) Black pickguard.

I'm looking at this beyond the colour play or even the black 'guard inclusion. This is PRS telling the world that the Silver Sky label now is a worthy name to perpetuate other ideas instead of offering guitardom with the ultimate Strat alternative exclusively. It's like the Les Paul name perpetuating Gibson's extension of ideas; Les Paul Standard, Les Paul, Studio, Les Paul Deluxe, etc. Hopefully, the PRS camp would extend this beyond a limited edition offering.

Pic: PRS

Kelly 27

Just seen this after browsing the Jackson homepage to look for short scale basses. 27 fret Kelly with an HS pickup combo, single volume knob, Duncans... nice. But not into the gold hardware & the fact that it's a signature (Brandon Ellis) model.

Pic: Jackson

New Jiva

While I appreciate Nita Strauss peddling the S-type Ibanez & not letting the RG occupy the spotlight too much, I'm wondering if there is any strong demand for the JIVA in the mean time. No details / numbers to back me up in the mean time but I'm very sure it's not happening here. Regardless of the circumstances, Ibanez has a new (non-Japanese) JIVA10R out this September but offers nothing new in terms of pickups; still the DiMarzio Pandemonium humbuckers with a True Velvet single coil in the middle.

Pic: Ibanez

Domestic cyclone

Pre-lunch indulgence, a Cyclone episode. I bought this one because: 1) It's neither a Strat / Tele 2) It sports a 24.75" scale length sitting between the Jazzmaster (25.5") & Jaguar (24") 3) It was listed for a clear-out. 

A set of 10s to accommodate the afore-mentioned scale length.

The pickups in this guitar (Seymour Duncan): JB (bridge) / SSL-1 (neck). Was actually at Beez's yesterday to sort out the out-of-phase situation when both pickups were selected (middle position of the toggle switch). I need to rotate the selector toggle so if flicks up / down instead of the current left / right.

Johnston V

A new Schecter for Nick Johnston to perhaps properly blend into the Mastodon persona. Currently, this USA V-1 is out of reach for most of us, listing for USD6.5K. Perhaps a more affordable iteration would be made available along the way like they did for his Strat-type models.

Pic: Schecter

PN

The new Ibanez RG565R in pink neon is now available at Swee Lee: $1,549. No price hike (yet) as well. Waiting for the candy apple version to make it here as well.

Pic: Ibanez