Premium S

I realized this is the only Premium Ibanez model that I currently own. Used to own a Premium RG once but that was sold off more than five years ago. The Premiums were / are not a hit with me, I prefer paying for a standard instead. This S970 is rather heavy due to the ZR bridge there which is also not my thing. There'a a cult following for this bridge with ardent fans calling for its return. Nope, not for me. 

Rotosound pinks before things got going.

SD in this one:

• Jazz (n): One of my go-to neck pickup because it sounds good in both clean & driven modes
• Q-Pound (m): I had to push this one quite deep into the cavity to level its volume against the neck / bridge counterpart. Despite its high output nature, it sounds darn good clean. Never dismiss any pickup's reputation just because the manufacturer touted it to be of a certain character.
• '59 Custom: This one's rather fat-sounding despite its truncated bottom end. 

B-pop (2)

Had a good time with the RG1451 for the last few days or so. Maybe it's the psychology of playing a fixed bridge guitar; I feel more accomplished. 😅

I have no excuses for not liking my tone as I have Seymour Duncans in this guitar: Jazz (n) /Classic Stack (m) / JB (b). I don't use the middle pickup much but it got some play time nevertheless.

Every time I thought I ran out of Ernie Ball strings, I discovered I still had a final set waiting to be used. I dated my strings upon purchase & this was from an August '26 acquisition.

Ibanez - DB (2)

This Tube Screamer is a part of the Ibanez - Dragon Ball collaboration that happened recently (Oct '26). Yes, it's just a standard TS-808 with the DB aesthetics. If you missed it, that's the unique star LED on the pedal.

Pic: Ibanez

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...