Swee Lee @ Star Vista (3)

Swee Lee's Star Vista show room still offers the range of studio monitors & audio speaker from its previous display (and more).

Not forgetting the ukuleles...

Jacksons, Gibsons & Epiphones...

Fenders & Squiers...

A range of semis...

And some yummy acoustics.

Price watch (10)

This is a Fender Modern Player Tele Plus listed for sale in the after-market. The corroded parts are indicated as seen above (among other areas).

The seller considers this as slight corrosion based on his interpretation, of course. I'm not instigating you to agree but I don't think this is a worthy 9/10 rating, the picture speaks for itself. The inevitable replacement of these parts will happen & that's costs entailment on the buyer's part which should be factored in prior to purchase. It's listed for $450, you could have bought it new for $599 (if it's still in stock). The way I see it, seller should consider any offerings in the $300-$350 range. Being sentimental & citing it as a Fender won't do any good in view of the condition it's in.

GIbson 2018: SG Jr 60s

This is perhaps the only Gibson I look forward to come 2018. The SG Jr had been simple guitars from the start with a focus on tone. I believe Gibson should keep a line of such guitars in active production. Some of us do not subscribe to flash, we want substance & of late, the manufacturer's handling of it manifests doubt. With that said, the fretboard here is (baked) maple. Not a good thing when you advocate your product in the image of a 60s specification. A good thing because it would not be under the CITES scrutiny.

Give away (3) DONE

ALRIGHTY! It's time for another give away. I'm grateful to TYMC for sponsoring the recently appraised Kohlman cable. This is a 2m version featuring straight + angled (L-shaped) plug combo. As you can see here, it's still fresh from the store. All you need to do get this for free (that's right, I'll even mail it to you) is:

• e-mail me a blank entry with the subject title: Let's try Kohlman
• wait for my reply to declare you as the winner, do not disclose any personal details while you're at it
• no time limit as per Give away (2), I urge you to try your luck. 😁

Belated congrats to Fahmi, Ferrain Gan (Cleartone strings) & Dylan (Joyo noise gate) for winning the previous give aways. Thanks to everyone who participated, I appreciate your support. More give aways to come till I say that's it. Serious, no joke.

PS: Thanks, everyone, for participating. We have a winner 😀

The living dead

This is the Joyo Bantamp series amp head that went home with me, specifically it's the ZOMBIE version. Since I'm quite the high gain devotee when it comes to drive, the Zombie was a simple decision. This is how it measures up against a 1x12 Marshall cab (so sorry for the cropped manifestation) & despite not seeing the entire picture, its small built is emphasized here. I'm not doing an appraisal in the mean time so I won't get into details, just saying that the tone at higher volume settings is immense. While this picture was being taken, I had some Take That songs streamed into the Zombie via bluetooth to test its volume performance. Specifically, there was an intention to crank it up so the song choices were in view of impending domestic resistance. More to come since I've not tested the clean channel performance with pedals. 

Have a good week ahead, it's the final days of November. 😙

Kohlman cable @ TYMC

It's about time I do this so here goes... 😁

The Kohlman brand of instrument cables is an in-house name for TYMC. These are currently offered in 3m/ 4.5m/ 6m lengths featuring Amphenol plugs which are shrink wrapped at both ends. The cable itself features OFC material with a rubber inner jacket doubled with plastic braiding you see here unlike other off-the-shelf models where rubber-based material serves to be the final, outer-most covering. 

In use, the cable offers a full-bodied midrange performance with lots of clarity. This would be a good discourse for both humbucking & single coil pickup guitars where tonal details are the order of the day. One of my test set up featured a bottom-heavy tone courtesy of a bottom heavy cab & an EQ setting devoid of much top end response. This really brought out the sparkle from the cable & prevented a mud-out experience at high volume performance. The entire cable length proved to be quite tug resistant & crackle free during a tough love session where it was stepped on & used as a proto-whip (do not try this with yours).

Some contentions:

1. In use with entry-level guitars with cheap default pickups, the cable manifested excessive treble responses
2. The plastic outer-most 'braided' jacket is a little stiff & hampers flexibility at times

Why go with Kohlman & not other boutique brand names which are readily available at the stores here? The good people at TYMC promised a customizable length should you need this to be looked into for performance considerations. Also, you can negotiate the type of plugs you prefer; straight at both ends or straight plus an L-type at one end (SG players, you'd appreciate this consideration. The Kohlman is also durable to begin with & it's blessed with proper shielding so your signals don't pick up radio waves during play. That's right, this is what manufacturers out there do not tell you when it comes to their 'mid-range' instrument cables. Despite manifesting them as somewhat durable & no frills, they pick up external signals readily, meaning, the cable itself is like a radio antenna once you plug in. All in all, the Kohlman currently stands a tier above the fundamental standards offered out there so spending money on one is a wise move. 

Rating: 8/10

Availability: TYMC

List: Prices according to prescribed length, please call TYMC for further queries

Swee Lee @ Star Vista (2)

Swee Lee's Star Vista branch had moved to a new location just a couple of doors down the same floor unit. The new shop area now covers three store units overlooking the building's main atrium.

The product range on offer now covers lifestyle merchandise in addition to musical instruments.

Other items include footwear & bags. 

There's also a cafe at the corner for you to coffee-up your shopping. On this note, Swee Lee's Bukit Timah branch (near Newton hawker center) has ceased operations & all business matters previously administered by the Bukit Timah branch are now integrated into the Star Vista outlet. This store will be officially opened on Monday, 27th November 2017.

Jackson: Soloist SLX

Just a brief appraisal of this Jackson SLX I came across at Swee Lee days ago. This is one of the newer models in store, a zebra wood finish Soloist with Duncan Designed humbuckers & the (dreaded) Floyd Rose Special bridge. The overall tone of this instrument is geared towards distortion & it did not disappoint; the DD pickups did their job well. Not too keen with the clean tones though but there are other Jacksons in store to see that through. That zebra wood top is a laminated piece (basswood body) but we can't deny the more appealing aesthetics with it in place. The firm winner here is the SLX's neck. It's that shred neck profile but not too thin (nothing Ibanez Super Wizard) but definitely more inviting (& more comfortable, dare I say) than the Ibanez Standard RG necks. 

PS: Thank you Meng, for the invite 👍

Rating: 7/10

Availability: Swee Lee

List: $929

Swee Lee @ Star Vista

Whatever happened to the Swee Lee branch at Star Vista? Stay tuned... 😐

City Music year-end sale 2017

It's here 😁

JEM up

This, ladies & gentlemen, is something you've seen before. It's the Ibanez JEM Jr.

Due to its colour 'upgrade', you'd think it's something new. Nothing else changed less the aesthetic feature as mentioned so this is how you propel the lesser models; you make it look like its other higher performance siblings & suddenly, you'd tell yourself you don't actually mind buying one. If you are a Vai fan, perhaps this entry level model with the colour make-over might be a worthy adventure. For the rest of us who know what the bridge & pickups have to offer in terms of performance, we believe in other models.

Back: Mustang

Fender fans will recall the American Special Mustang guitars which were offered not too long ago. They had been discontinued.

But their recent announcement mentions a return & we thank Fender for this. When Fender re-introduced the offset models in the 2017 line up, only the Jazzmaster & Jaguar made it into the Pro series. The Mustang & Duo Sonic were designated into the Standard (Mexico) make but they remain to be good guitars for the money. Hopefully, the AS Mustang would signal a firm production line for the model. 

Tumnus deluxe

OK, something to look forward to in terms of pedals. That small push button at the right- it's an option button for you to use it in either a buffered or true bypass mode. 👍

Crushing sale

This should  be on your considerations list if you are shopping for a new practice amp 👌

New horizon @ Grassroots

It's been quiet at the Edwards front. A major revision is in progress. In the mean time, the Grassroots division had announced these good looking Horizon models but we know how the Grassroots brand won't be readily available in the international market. Oh, well...

Give away (2)

Good Sunday evening my friends. This is my next give away, kindly sponsored by SV Guitars in conjunction with my 10th blog-versary come 2018 (Thanks, Mike & co!). I have a feeling that the noise gate is one pedal that has lower priorities in everybody's to-get list. We have our drive, distortion & delay being major distractions in our effects line up. So here it is, a spanking new Joyo JF-31 Noise Gate pedal:

• E-mail me with the tittle: Bring the noise (gate)! to stand a chance in acquiring the JF-31 depicted above (box included). No contents please, just a blank entry will do
• Do not disclose any personal details until you receive a reply mail stating you as the winner. Winner will self-collect this pedal
• No time limit this time, come try your luck 😁

SE South

PRS had stated time & again they won't make left-handed guitars but this proved otherwise- the SE Custom 24. This instrument will be available soon so it's good news to you lefties especially so when the manufacturer had brought up the standards for their SE models come 2018.

SA updates

Another Ibanez update- the revised SA360 is now offered in an ash body + binding.

There's also a mahogany version with a flamed maple top. Nice. 👍

Shorter yams

The Yamaha camp is also offering a 3/4 version of two popular acoustic models. The APX600 above...

... and the CPX600. Is it an in thing now to be owning smaller built guitars? Are we turning into dwarves or something? Of course, not! Manufacturers now realize that there is a market for such instruments & they are not a compromised manifestations of the standard sized version. Players out there embrace comfort & fit as opposed to compelling themselves to big, obnoxious instruments. 

Duncan @ 35GA

Seymour Duncan promo/disct is back @ 35 Guitar Avenue. 

550's return

This must be the best news for the year- the Ibanez RG550 is making a come back in 2018. There are no official statements over at the Ibanez homepage (yet) but dealers are already conforming the delivery of these hotties by December 2017.

What I think:

1. It's a bout time. If you are a hardcore Ibanez fan, the RG550 is that landmark guitar after the manufacturer decided the JEM might be out of reach for many enthusiasts. This isn't a major comeback as the RG550 was re-introduced in the Prestige Genesis selections in 2013 (CLICK) & as an anniversary model in 2007. 
2. Really glad the headstock doesn't say Prestige. In any case, the current RG655 is indeed the RG550 with a Prestige label. This would effectively mean, the RG550 will displace the RG655 in its tier as they are both the same guitars with a slight difference in representation. However, the manufacturer might market the RG550 as a higher tier model despite the numerics. Let's see what changes will take place in the 2018 Ibanez catalog. 
3. Prices- let's take a look at the following:

These were the RG550 prices when they were offered as the Genesis re-intro models. A mind boggling sub-$1K price tag, yes? Do note the instruments did not come with a hard case. Can we expect such prices in 2018? A firm negative. They are already listing for USD1.5K so if the RG550 ends up here next year (highly likely), be prepared to pay double (may be more) what you see above.

On that note, if you are trying to clear yours (like the one above), regardless of the year of manufacture or status, you'd do well to make it happen ASAP. Come next year, we can very well get an off-the-shelf model, a crispy new RG550.

Single fury

Had some playing time before dinner, so 🎸

Anyway, the usual convention- single coils are just 👎 for aggressive music, yes? Generally, that's the attitude towards anything not a humbucker & low output when it comes to distortion. However, you have to consider the other components in your line-up. After years of playing, I believe the amp plays a big part in sounding heavy/ aggressive, at least for someone who's not effects reliant like me. If you own an amp tailored for a certain delivery, say a MESA Boogie for heavy stuff, chances are, all your guitars could be made to sound heavy through it. The degree of that outcome varies, of course. For instance, if you plug in your semi-hollow guitar into the aforementioned MESA amp, it will sound heavy but it may sound less appealing compared to a solid body instrument. 

The pickups you see above are Seymour Duncan's SSL-1 (n) & SSL-5 (b). These are not aggressive pickups by any means despite the latter being more appealing for rock-esque music but they sound aggressive through my Blackstar HT Metal. So clearly the amp is hard at work here & not the pickups per se. This does not mean you can fit any pickups into your guitar just because your amp owns your tone, you have to be selective to make the entire tone consideration work your way. 

Kiesel to the metal

This was the set up yesterday. I had the opportunity to let loose for about 15min so it happened. Strictly no soloing or extended legato passages, just apocalyptic metal riffing from start to end. The Kiesel pickups here are quite devoid of FAT. There are low frequency servings in there but you need to keep your EQ checked for excessive hairy top end. It happened just by cranking the amp up- way more treble than I expected. It might also be the fact that the smaller amp driver contributed to the treble poke, I didn't rule this out. One thing for sure, these are my kind of metal mayhem pickups. Not for Gibson humbucker lovers, definitely.

Ed sus Strat

Radiohead campers will know who Ed O'Brien is & Fender had collaborated with him for the guitar you see above. A Strat (duh!) with a Fernandes Sustainer pickup. Do check prices if you are interested because if it's less costly to buy a similar Strat & have an after market Sustainer in there- you know what to do.

Kiesel: DC

The new Kiesel is a humble DC (DC400H) devoid of flash & strictly functional. The plan was to try a ready made model to see if what the manufacturer has to offer is as appealing (to me) as my other Kiesel (Vader 6). This guitar, upon listing, was rather unpopular; it was spec'd to be very working grade with no particular visual attraction & stayed put till the Veteran's Day price cut took place. I had one other model in mind which 'disappeared' shortly after the Halloween discount went into effect- the price of hesitation. However, I'm kinda glad I went with this one because it proved to be 'different'. The usual custom shop QC is all over this guitar despite being very simple & down to earth. Kiesel is still the standard to beat if you intend to spend good money on some very high standards of production without that over-priced feeling. 

So this adventure very well proved that I could definitely get along with a ready spec'd guitar from Kiesel & not revel too much in their custom spec'd ones as being the superior discourse. I've told myself to never spend hard earned money on any more black guitars but this happened. At the back of my mind I know it's not about the colour, it's about believing what the brand name has to offer in terms of quality, first & foremost. Worth every single cent. This is my second Kiesel & it won't be my last (the next one to be a little different, of course). 

Second

Oh, hi! We're letting this acclimatize before unboxing. See you soon 👍

Little Joy(o)

We're in the midst of unboxing this- will get back to you in due time 👌

Unreal glow

Hello guitar dweebs- how's lunch coming along?

This here is my Peavey Piranha amp head seen from the back. The excessive glow here isn't tube attributable, there are actually extra LEDs in the circuit that lit up when the amp is in use. Why is this the case? Manufacturer tube amps sometimes lack the glow especially the models featuring only pre-amp tubes. Newbies & other ignorant players don't understand the fact that pre-amp tubes don't need a large amount of current to pass through them in order for them to function. We tend to expect a light bulb standard glow from our amp tubes which is a little misplaced. Those tubes in pedals- some of those hardly lit up as well. So no light = not working, yes? That's the misconception right there. 

Ibanez: AE205JR

Another AE model by Ibanez but it's a 3/4 version of their popular cutaway model. No compromise on the top, it's solid spruce. In action:

SALE: 11-11 special @ Sound Alchemy

Things are heating up, here's another enticement from Sound Alchemy.

PIC: Sound Alchemy FB

New: Ibanez SA160

Along with the newly spec'd pine fretboard, Ibanez now features an ash body for the SA160.

SV November Sale

One of the year end enticements has started @ SV Guitars... 😀

PRS SE 2018

PRS has just announced its 2018 line up for the SE range. They look the works & seems like the manufacturer is offering good value for money for all models. Interesting 2 from this release would be the multi-foil (multi coloured) finish you see there at the right most of this pic. The other would be the SVN seven-string baritone (left most). Seven-string models by PRS had not been a hit throughout the years, we'll see where this is going come next year. Prices are going up as we speak, many SE models had crossed the $1K mark last September so for many of us, we'd scout for the older batches sporting the older prices before considering these 2018 ones.

PIC: PRS

Green signature

The dude from August Burns Red has a signature model. Basically an RGA given the green treatment. It's not a Japanese make so hopefully, it'll be available here/ everywhere in time to come. I still dislike EMGs.