Been a while (2)

No surprises here as my new Ibanez is the AZ model. This one's an AZ2402. I prefer the AZ2204 for the single coils but currently, none is offered in a pickguard-less version except the Tom Quayle model & if you know me by now, signature models aren't my thing. 

I see the AZ model as a winner from the start. It's not replacing the RG in terms of popularity & appeal but it treaded into a non-traditional Ibanez path without losing credibility altogether. I'm just hoping that this model would be perpetuated along the way & not suffer the SZ fate where popularity guaranteed nothing. The SZ was put to death despite a strong sales figure but some conspiracy theorists suggested that 1) The SZ made way for the AZ & nobody saw that coming because nobody was in the know 2) The SZ was eating into the RG's market share & that's a worrying thing for Ibanez. The manufacturer is still holding on to patented authority for the RG's neck profile while the SZ has nothing to fall back on to in terms of intellectual property. The legal proponents here know that if you own the idea, you can take it with you & apply it elsewhere out of RG land should things go south with the RG design one day. The Gibson camp is learning it the hard way when it comes to intellectual property & it's made plain for all to see (& learn). 

I have absolutely no intentions to mod this guitar as it appeals to me in every way & that's a rare feat. Even the pink finish here is a winner. Amongst the current available finish, this pink is the least popular & that means the probability of getting an unmolested piece is higher. In fact, that happened. This isn't my first pink, there were two others before it & I'm absolutely ok with pink. Definitely no more black or sunburst for me. Not a fan of flames & quilts either. Thank you, Ibanez for not having the Prestige label on the headstock. 

A fitting end to October 👍

Bats!

This one's been featured on some sites lately. The primary highlight would of course be those bats inlay. There are some extras at the headstock as well.

A closer look at those bats...

And we know who had been there with bats way before this happened. Have a good midweek, everyone.

Been a while

And so it happened. A new Ibanez. These days it's not about keeping up with what's new but getting what is deserving.

Bridge of sighs. Not.

I've been working on this Ibanez Lo-Pro Edge bridge for weeks. It's taking longer than expected  because I thought some of the dead parts you see here were replaceable. Apparently not. Fitting American parts into a Japanese product shouldn't be the plan to start with. There are plenty of replacement parts out there but the issue remains - imperial vs metric.

After many disappointing encounters later, I resorted to just dismantling the parts & giving it a good wipe down & polish. The bridge was covered with dirt & grime mostly. The corroded parts were sanded down & polished. If you are the impatient type, don't even try. There were many small corroded parts that had to be dealt with. Holding them in place while sanding them down was a real challenge.

Contrary to popular belief, these two buddies were the unsung hero in the restoration process. No expensive concoctions were used. Dr. Duck's Axwax is oil-based & did well to dissolve the muck. The Kyser is spirit-based, its job was to remove the oily sensation after cleaning. So there you have it, a clean-up adventure that ended on a good note (no pun intended). 

Let there be lights

Wishing everyone a restful, stress-free long weekend. Of course, don't neglect your guitars 🎸

Pedal power

This isn't the first by EHX. The 44 Magnum & 22 Caliber were ahead of the 5mm. There are many people out there who put less faith in solid state power when it comes to amps but this isn't about pitting tube finesse against the also rans. EHX is giving the players an option in the name of convenience. Watch this to understand why the 5mm might work for you:

Ibanez AZ2204KS

I mentioned this back in August & now it's available here. It's more than $4.5K & only Ibanez fans would fork out that kinda money. We do know that the latest LP Standard is not even $4K & it promises better returns in the after-market rather than this one. Whatever. 

Now is the time

Folks, this entry is responding to a friend's query, "Is it a good time to buy an LP Standard?" We note the current price as stated above for both the 50s/60s version. They are both LP Standards & Gibson pricing them equally is the most sensible thing to do. If one is pricier than the other, there's this implication that one is 'better' or more valuable than the other. That figure there is also a fair amount & here's why:

We take a look at how much the LP Standard would have cost you if you decided to buy one earlier. For the past three years, the prices had been excessive. Even 2016's digits are slightly off the current asking price & it's not worth the trouble namely because the models adhered to the Juszkiewicz's  embrace of chambering out the body. It's not a bad thing altogether but it's not what a Les Paul is all about. Being a Gibson dissident all along, I've learnt to embrace the heftier models over the contemporary interpretations & it's all about the tone. All this thanks to the Traditional model that kept things very close to, you guessed it, tradition. 2017's QC was more misses than hits so let's not go there while 2018's asking price was absurd (& we don't want those coil-split whatever to desecrate the LP ear candy). A year on & your dream Les Paul would save you nearly $1K for other considerations; an amp, some pedals or even a quick holiday to nearby destinations (assuming you're keeping your quickie low key, of course). 

Despite the self-preservation mess Gibson is in right now, you know they did the right thing when it comes to prices & giving players what they want. You have options as well, if you wish to tread the traditional path, you're good. If you decide to stray into the modern path, you won't be totally off course either. It's good both ways. So all ye who art constraining thyself, 2019 is a move ahead when it comes to the LP Standard. I'm waiting for the 'right' one to be here. Soon, hopefully.

Ram's head

The EHX name is rather synonymous with fuzz. It's only natural that one of the leading pioneers in all things fuzzy is keeping up with the times. One of the good things which they are doing right is keeping the fuzz pedal in check. OK so some of it translated to be an iteration of what's already out there but Gibson & Fender are doing it with aplomb & it's a good business plan. There are some things that remain sentimental with the players out there & getting them to re-embrace that is quite easy; tell them it's still relevant & that they should want one. It's the case with the Big Muff Ram's Head iteration. So it's another fuzz pedal but it's a recreation of the manufacturer's coveted achievement. It's so good, David Gilmour swears by it & there's a good chance that today's players don't know who Gilmour is as opposed to BTS. 

Anyway folks, at my end, I'm here to tell you that this might be the shredder's preferred fuzz pedal. The pedal simply sounds good when playing so many notes at breakneck speed is your thing. It doesn't muck your definition out while retaining that signature rounded, fuzzy, top end. Need convincing? Here's something from the EHX people themselves:

Cort's Duality

What's there not to like when it comes to Cort's X700 seen here in light blue burst - ash body with maple top, Seymour Duncan pickups, locking tuners... the works. The only reservations for many of us is that Cort label. Ironically, Cort makes many other popular models, Ibanez is an easy reference. Implication - they make good stuff & others trusted them to make their stuff, an OEM arrangement if you will. The Cort stuff are not getting good coverage here as well simply because the price range coupled with the brand name goodwill get in the way of other brand names in the same price bracket. Whatever it is, I'm thankful Cort has the capacity to make good stuff. 

K-one

The PRS camp is playing it smart in the mean time. Having signalled a one-up in terms of appeal & production standards for their upcoming 2020 SE range, they re-released the SE One to spark things off. This model was made available before & proved quite a hit in the niche camp. I have no idea why  PRS favoured this limited re-release to Europe only. It's like the rest of the world is unworthy of that little piece of landmark event. If these were made in a very small quantity here, I'm sure there would be a 100% take up rate as there are keen fans here. Regrettable move, they way I see it.

Kiesel: AH signature

So it finally happened; I bought a signature model. The Kiesel Alan Holdsworth signature was an easy pick; it is what I want & nothing more. I am sort of compelling myself to tick as many bucket list items as possible while I still have the means to acquire them. No use procrastinating because as we age, priorities change along the way. By the time you read this, the guitar would have undergone minor surgery at Beez's to further appease me. More on the instrument per se at a more appropriate moment.

No regrets forking out money for someone else's guitar specs because Kiesel accord the buyer total freedom in tweaking the details. At the end of it all, I feel that I have paid for my guitar instead of a  plain Holdsworth version; my finish option, my neck wood choice, my pickup details. All's good.

This is the second time I had called off buying a Les Paul in favour of something else. I had saved enough for a 2019 Les Paul Standard because Gibson finally made something sensible at a fair asking price but what's in store is not something that clicked with me. That Les Paul will come some other time but in the mean time, the Kiesel AH is awesome. 

Selling: Amps

Since I have no plug-able acoustics any more, it's time to move on so the Fender Acoustasonic (severely under-played) will be let off for a good price. That Laney LX-35 there belongs to Beez, who is letting it go as well due to unforeseen circumstances. Putting up a good word for him since I've tried the amp & it's definitely worth the asking price.

Fender Acoustasonic 15 (15W practice amp)

• 15W practice unit in 8.5/10 condition
• Self-collect @ CCK mrt stn
• No reservations/ trades
• Queries/ confirmation: subversion.sg@gmail.com
• Price: $100 (final, non-nego)

Item SOLD 😁 7/12/2019

Laney LX-35 (35W combo)

• 35W practice combo in camo finish
• 8/10 condition
• Self-collect @ Beez's workshop (Excelsior Shopping Center)
• Contact: 9-77-326-33
• Price: $100

EHX power

This is the new EHX S8 power supply brick, nothing new, yes? The closest to this one & a very affordable take for us budget dweebs is the Mooer Micro Power (which I used to own). It's good to know EHX is in the running for this kind of accessories because we are literally bound by our distributors who are officially distributing selected brand names. They might not have what we prefer.

Security

Someone's keeping watch over the new guitar till I come home to unbox it.

What a blast! (2)

The ESP camp is also offering a sandblast finish as well for selected instruments & this Snapper is one of them. Is it a case of jumping onto the hype bandwagon? Definitely not, the ESP camp was there before PRS but Fender was there in 2015, sandblasting their instruments away. We see major guitar sites & magazines giving fanfare to certain brand names for a simple reason; they are flying the same (American) flag. Names like ESP get lesser coverage because they are at the other side of the world & things go on in a different language, literally. If you are a true fan, you would keep your eyes peeled for every development, not just the favoured versions.

Naturally

So this finish debuted in the Solar line up. I wouldn't have thought it'd be included at all seeing how the gaudy & elaborate tops were the thing for this brand name. OK so that's one for the to-check list. On that note, we have yet to receive any news on the next batch of Solar guitars coming in. Won't blame you for considering something else for your early Xmas considerations.

PIC: Solar guitars

Curved goodness

The Ibanez RGA121 was my first Ibanez Prestige. It was the first curved top RG offered by Ibanez together with the RGA321 (flame maple top). As I'm not a fan of elaborate flame tops, I opted for this plain version instead.

From this view, we can see how much maple was used for the instrument. At its thickest part, it is 1.5cm thick. The Prestige line was serious (still is) about having a top wood enhancement for all the guitars featuring a cap top.

Same ol' story... wood drying out but conditioning is the answer. 😀

There's a cloudy build up over at the headstock. No amount of polishing seems to cure the situation. Maybe some car-care product might do the trick. The other guitar suffering from this anomaly is my PRS S2 Singlecut.

Ibanez equipped this model with a pair of V pickups at the factory. It did very little to make me happy when it comes to overdrive/ distortion. These are the deserving Seymour Duncan replacements: JB (b) / Jazz (n). The JB will remain prolific when it comes to single note definition under high gain settings. Some players dislike this citing the extra treble as the cause of poor power chord tones but that happens if you ignore the EQ at your amp. The JB was conceived to be as such. If you wish for a pronounced bottom end thickness with the top end definition in check, the Custom is your best bet. The Jazz sounds good in all the guitars I own. Between the 59 & the Jazz, I prefer the latter as it doesn't mud out at higher volume settings. For woman tone lovers (all ye Clapton-era Cream fans), the 59 does a better job.

I'm in the initial stages of testing the new D'Addario XTs out, more comments when the time comes. 

You gotta pick them all

So you gotta have them all? Limited edition collaboration with ESP guitars, have not seen them here yet.

XT

The XT range will be in full force here soon. Trying. 👍

EHX: Hearing is believing

Folks, the EHX camp is into audio gear of late, Seen here are three offering covering contemporary needs. The buds there are in direct competition with Apple but the most interesting are the headphones. These feature a card slot to let you play music directly & offer both wired/ wireless fidelity. Retail prices (expect slight discounts when they are made available in stores): USD29.95 (headphones)/ USD39.95 (wireless sports)/ USD69.95 👍

Overrated

It finally happened - got my Overrated Special. Nothing new, really, just that Way Huge shrunk it down to this size & I prefer it this way. Appraisal soon. 

RIP: Richard Brunelle

Late news; Richard Brunelle just passed away late September. Part of the low key announcement was family members keeping it a hushed affair & we respect that. Growing up listening to Morbid Angel (when cassette tapes were it), Brunelle highlighted the fact that guitarists in the death metal genre were legit players; the ability to play is real. All this in the midst of music media trashing the genre for the musicianship & the vocal delivery especially. Morbid Angel's Altars of Madness merited a Top 10 metal album of the year under Guitar World magazine's annual ranking exercise that year & Blessed Are the Sick moved the band on steadily thereafter. To a great loss in talent - Rest in Peace, Richard Gene Brunelle.

SE 2020

PRS had made public part of their 2020 line up, beginning with the SE range. I will begin by highlighting two of the most worthy selections in this offering. This mean, green monster is the Starla. We know this was in the S2 line up with a Bigsby-esque whammy bridge but things had gotten simpler here with just a tune-o-matic type bridge & lots of charm. If you do not dig the PRS wrap over hard tail, this one's worth the consideration.

The Mira is PRS' taunt on the SG model; a more elegant one quite clearly. This one, however, still sports the wrap over hard tail unit but it's the adjustable version so you will continue to like the instrument's intonation beyond a set of gauge 10 strings simply because they are adjustable. Implication - PRS is serious about offering quality for the money. Some convincing:

Picky

I do not believe in settling down with a particular pick brand. On some days, my trusty, go-to pick would let me down in terms of feel & efficiency. However, I do have a particular liking towards some models offered by the various pick brands out there. I'm pretty much settled with Gravity's 003 model. Seen here is a customized version; 3mm & a set of grip holes in the middle to ensure angry picking stay on course with the pick in tact & definitely not flying out of my hands into oblivion. I also love the coarse, unpolished side bevels which reduces the clicking contact sound of hard picks against the metal string surface. 

I thought so (price rant)

This confirms my take on the Ibanez AZ price; the Scarlet AZ2204 is now available here & the price anomaly (compared to the older, first batch of releases) continues. The distributor can price their instruments as they deem fit, I have no issues with that. To put it bluntly, it's none of my business. The frustration lies with the fact that we are perhaps the only one (if not the absolutely very few) observing price differences with regards to the same models, on grounds of the costlier one being the 'newer' offering observing the slight price hike. The rest of the world take pride in ensuring price consistency. 

Nano lord

The original-sized EHX Operation Overlord pedal was more than twice the size depicted here. I love it for the on-board boost feature. Now that the OO is reduced to this pedal board-friendly Nano version, the boost feature is still in tact but just a button at the top left corner of the pedal. Everything is as menacing as its bigger sibling. 

Low rider

Another re-string weekend. I have since equipped all my extended scale Ibanez with a set of 11s. This is my RGD2120, one of the best in terms of construction & value-for-money. I have no obligations to keep all RGDs in my possession to the same tuning. This one is in D.

The only letdown were the default Ibanez pickups which had been removed & replaced by the Seymour Duncans you see here: 59/Custom (b) / Pearly Gates (n). This pickup was conceived to churn out lesser lower end responses so naturally, we would instal one in a guitar with an already massive low end response such as the typical Les Paul. Having this in the RGD was a bit of a risk because an Ibanez RGD has very little similarities with a Gibson Les Paul. However, this guitar is about belching out lower end frequencies to begin with so my take on the situation here is that it should work well; a bright pickup with a string A5 magnet handling lower tunings. True enough, the TB-16 was up to it with lots of clarity to spare. That SH-PG1N there works wonders for solos if you wish to avoid excessive rounder top end in the neck position.

So that's pretty much how the Sunday went with a glorious distorted bottom end by a guitar that was meant to deliver just that. Not forgetting the Rugby World Cup matches in between.

Here's wishing everyone a good week ahead. 👍

Price-wise

The Fender Acoustasonic Tele represents everything right in a hybrid guitar. It looks good, well-designed & sounds appealing. However, it lists for nearly $3K. 

The Ziricote version was recently released & this one costs more than its siblings. I was interested in one until I saw the price. It isn't astronomical next to a Suhr/ PRS/ Gibson but it's in that price bracket that would make us re-think our decision. 

What a blast! (2)

PRS isn't the only one sandblasting their way to glory. ESP's Snapper Driftwood models go the same way. The chances of them being available here are higher as well.

Dirty special

This amp is available here now. It's not a tube unit, just a straight up 1x12 combo blasting 40W of power. 

These days, an amp of this nature has a very difficult existence. It struggles to fit into a world where tube reverence is still status quo compounded by those very convincing digital units that don't even present themselves as amps. Just pretenders that sound good through computerized processing with fun-level hassle that everyone wants a piece of. The DRS has its place in history, that point in time where good tone matters regardless of tube snobbery but life was much simpler back then. At more than $500, it's a difficult acquisition for many of us especially so when there are more sensible, value-for-money units out there - Marshall, Blackstar & Laney to name just a few.

What a blast

PRS has released a limited run of 750 of these beauties but it's a Euro exclusive. That unique finish you see there is the sandblast treatment where they literally blast fine sand against the ash body wood to eke out unique contour lines. Given those tasty looking stains, they simply look stunning. 

In a heartbeat

Last Sunday was also about my Ibanez SZ520FM. The SZ Series were once Ibanez's best sellers appealing to the general guitar-playing community instead of just the shred dweebs. These were set-neck monsters with great sustain (there were through-body makes in the Prestige line up) & a meatier neck. They were simply good.

If you think Nita Stauss' Jiva model started it all, be informed that the SZ520 was there first albeit a slight variation going into the upper frets area. The heart beat/ cardiac waves are indeed unique & appealing. 

Last Sunday also marked the end of my relationship with Bare Knuckle. I shouldn't compel myself to like pickups that don't appeal to me just because of the hype. I'm in the Duncan camp for sure with occasional distractions only to return to my first love. The Dimebucker works fine for a slightly sharper response when peddling bass notes so the black metal tendencies remain healthy if need be. The neck there is a Pearly Gates with lots of definition during solos; I'm definitely not into the woman tone in any way. That kinda tone only sound pleasant to my ears for clean, jazzy applications. 

On that note (forgive the pun) - hello, October! 😎