Boxer bass

Fender's Boxer series of guitars & basses were released back in January. These P-Basses are now in stock at Swee Lee, listing for $1,729 (bag included).

Just a reminder that the Boxers are made in Japan. Also keep in mind that they are not new, just a regurgitation of the '80s offerings. For $1,879 folks, you can get an American Performer bass but it's not down to Japan vs America here, it's what fits your bill.

Pics: Fender Japan

Good roast (3)

I was informed that the Bacchus Roasted Maple neck BST-2-RSM/M are also in stock at Davis GMC. These are still listing for $325 each & comes with a bag. The neck feel might just win you over more than anything else.

Pic: Bacchus International

Advanced

The Ibanez AAD (Advanced Acoustic) series are now in stock at Swee Lee. 

Just a reminder of the body size of the AADs. If you are already struggling to handle a standard / full size acoustic (like yours truly), this might to be a little challenging. However, keep in mind the fuller sounding resonance of bigger bodied acoustics. Also, the plug-in AADs feature two pickups; magnetic & contact types. Magnetic - unlike under-saddle ones, this picks up the string vibrations directly so it would not sound nasal. Also, it works better with effects pedals. Contact - picks up knocks & taps on the body for days when we decide to be percussive. Alright, we end off with some prices:

Pics: Ibanez

Selling: Jackson DK2T

It's gonna be an emotional farewell - saying goodbye to my Jackson DK2T (made in Japan). It's the final guitar I bought from the Swee Lee Katong branch at Katong Shopping Center before the store moved to I12 Katong which had also shut down. The Seymour Duncan pickups are default from the factory & it's one of my guitars with a mean straight-to-amp tone. Thanks for understanding that my price is final, everything goes to my chemo bills in the mean time & it's gonna be tougher in time to come as I will be on no-pay medical leave. 

• Jackson: DK2T made in Japan (generic bag included, minimum padding)
• Default pickups: Seymour Duncan JB (b) / Jazz (n)
• Mods: 1) Push-pull coil split tone pot 2) Russian K40Y-9 tone capacitor
• Self-collect: CCK / Yew Tee mrt station
• No reservations / trades
• Confirmation / queries: subversion.sg@gmail.com
• Price: $800 (final)

Red Sunday

Started playing early today, ended when breakfast arrived. Guitar of choice - Ibanez RG550DX. The guitar itself was not the reason I played, the Duncan JB was. I feel it's the best representative to understand how pick material / thickness contributes to tone. What's so special about the JB? It has a spiked midrange which many people shun but in the right guitar, with right set up, it sounds incredible. In this case, the JB manifested tone difference each time I switch picks. Back to the topic in hand, I ended up using my 4mm Gravity pick for the rest of the playing time. 

Folks, pick material & thickness do contribute to tone; it's a matter of hearing it. My take on the matter:

• Thickness: Thicker picks give off a deeper tone, more bottom end so to speak. Awesome for those peddling bass notes, the riff mongers among us. 
• Pick material: This is my way of testing - drop the pick onto a hard floor. If it sounds crispy, it tends to manifest more top end. If it sounds a little muted, the opposite is true. The crispy sounding picks (especially acrylic) will please the solo-inclined players, assuring them of clarity. Those choosing the neck pickup for solos will appreciate this boost.

My Gravity 4mm pick you see above is an acrylic pick. At the time of playing, I was focusing on riff ideas more than solos. Its thick form assured good bottom end but its acrylic pedigree means clarity will be present & reducing the chances of muddy tones being heard. Personally, I like my riffs to ring clear as well especially when I tend to play real fast with too many notes per beat. Oh, managed to swap out those black control knobs & selector lever tip to red ones. 😅

Re-string Saturday: Martin SC-13E

Gloomy weather + sick + no money = Stay home. An indoor weekend made a little exciting by the presence of this Martin SC-13E. Not mine though, belongs to an ex-colleague who bought it at the City Music sale yesterday.

It's a showroom piece & the strings were dead. The guitar sounds awful when I tested it for its electronics. I happened to have this SIT set & managed to inject life back into this rather awesome guitar. Folks, if you wish for some crispy tones from your acoustic guitar, do give this Golden Bronze set a try. 

Next to receive some attention were the frets. These look well played (L) & after a quick polish (R), they look shiny & attractive once more.

Last but not least - wood care. The air-conditioned showroom might have dried the wooden parts of this guitar, especially the unfinished & open pore areas. An example would be the bridge; note the dryness (top) & its re-conditioned look (bottom). Folks, dry wood will flake off or even crack if unattended to. The dry fretboard was taken care of as well but it's not as dry as the bridge.

Here are the exciting bits:

• A: The neck sports a shallow C profile, in fact, it feels like some modern Fender electric guitar more than an acoustic where things tend to be beefy in this department. The special feature here is the flattened upper fret / heel area so it appeals to those shredders very easily. In fact, Martin refers to it as a heel-less joint. Very convincing.
• B: Sculptured cutaway bit to encourage more upper fret access especially when the guitar features a cutaway. This guitar is almost heel-less due to the fact that it's a bolt-on construction as seen here.
• C: The guitar also includes a neck tilt adjustment access. A bolt-on construction allows this to happen just like the solid body counterparts.

If you missed it, the SC-13E is an offset design. The understanding of 'offset' here refers to the waist curvatures which are not located at the exact opposite of each other as highlighted above; they are a little misplaced. Of course, the well known offset design we can always understand are the Fender instruments; Jaguar, Jazzmaster, et al.

Selling: VOX MV50 Clean combo (SOLD)

Letting this go, hardly played: VOX MV50 amp head + BC108 cab combo. Coming to terms with who I am - I don't thrive on clean tones. Power adapter + speaker cable included. Bottle included as size reference only. Chemo funding continues, so price is final - thanks for understanding.

• VOX: MV50 Clean amplifier head + BC108 speaker cab
• Condition: 9/10
• Selling as a set only. Power adapter + speaker cable included
• Self-collect: CCK / Yew Tee mrt station
• No trades / reservations
• Confirmation / Queries: subversion.sg@gmail.com
• Price: $190 (final)

Selling: Bacchus WJB-mini (SOLD)

Emotional farewell - letting my Bacchus WJB Mini go. If you've been following my post-discharge activities (or the lack of it), you would know that this bass puts me at ease when it comes to managing numb fingertips & poor blood circulation. It's a short scale bass, please note; 29.5" in scale length. Comes with the bag you see here. Tough times ahead, will only get tougher. Chemo funding continues... 😔

• Bacchus: WJB Mini (bag included)
• Short scale bass (29.5" scale length)
• Condition: 9/10
• No trades / reservations
• Queries / confirmation: subversion.sg@gmail.com
• Self-collect: CCK / Yew Tee mrt station
• Price: $190 (final)

TY @ Laz

Just a heads up - you can now purchase TYMC products at Lazada. Why is this a big deal? You know how it is with these online shopping thing, yes? There will be discount vouchers offered periodically so it's like a sale of sorts.

PIC: TYMCFB

CM Founder's Day Sale

Just so you know what will take place this weekend (Fri - Sun). Display items going for good prices.

PIC: City Music 

Safety alert: LINE 6 Relay

Some safety-related issues with the LINE 6 Relay products. Please read the full report here: CLICK. Hope there are no casualties here pertaining to the situation. Safety first, folks. 

Pic: LINE6

 

Good roast (2)

These are just re-stocked at Davis GMC, (Tel: 6-337-5-092) the Bacchus BTE-2-RSM/M (List: $325). Yes, no hiding it's a Tele-like guitar but it features a roasted maple neck-fingerboard.

Some of us are simply into the feel of things & a roasted neck material contributes to this rather markedly. There were the Strat-type versions in store last year (CLICK) & those lasted for about a month only before being sold out completely. I would recommend these instruments (Bacchus Universe Series) for their value-for-money considerations. They are simply well-built guitars with above-average feel due to the roasted neck considerations. Lots of goodness for an entry-level price tag. A hidden gem, really.

PICS: Bacchus International

Discontinued: Ibanez MS

I keep forgetting to update this - Marco Sfogli has left the Ibanez camp (now in the Charvel / Jackson camp) so his signature models are discontinued WEF 2021. If you are interested in the AZ version ($3,499), it's still available. The Sfogli model features DiMarzio pickups instead of the default Duncans & does not include the dyna-MIX switch. Even the Premium model, the one preceding the AZ, is still available ($1,649). 

Sad news to me because Mr. Sfogli is one talented player but he would do well with his other endorsements for sure. The AZ version lasted for about a year & might hint at something deeper than merely switching camps. Still wondering why there's still a Korn model in Ibanez's catalog & all the people who are dedicated to playing, left the brand. It's about the $$$, yes?

Pics: PMT

My D

This is my Ibanez RGD321. Yes, it's the RGD 3-series before they phased it out to make way for the RGD 4-series. The latter features a toggle selector as opposed to this lever type. They did away with the tone knob as well & the fretboard markers are the simple dots. For something that dwells in the lower tuning domain, removing the tone control is a wise move. I can't really think of an application where a boomy sounding guitar would benefit from a tone control that is rolled down; it takes away clarity. 

Just last week, Beez helped me replace the above dead components:

• Capacitor: It was leaking from one of its tip. Maybe it was cut a little too short. Maybe it was punctured while I tried to snip it off the tone pot. Whatever the case might be, it had to go.
• 3-Way selector switch: It worked after I gave it the contact spray treatment but subsequently, it was stuck. You can see the amount of corrosion there on one of the plate surface. We shouldn't bother saving such things.
• Tone pot (push-pull coil split): Despite looking OK, it's actually dead; could not rotate, failed to pull up as well

After everything is in place, it's a fresh set of strings for the RGD. I am a D'Addario fan. I would digress from time to time but always return to the familiar & trusted feel & performance. Why owning an extended scale length guitar (26.5") is a plus for me:

• It allows me to detune the instrument with less set up issues when dealing with a thicker set of strings
• Allows me to be more riff/song-oriented instead of solos
• I play tapped notes better on such guitars
• No lower string action focus - it's the action that gets the job done
• Incorporate more open strings into playing ideas

Ibanez RG565: Post-review

Someone emailed me asking if the new RG565 neck (L) is stronger than the original 90s version (R). Neck constructions differ across manufacturers, it depends on their manufacturing philosophy. As opposed to strength being the concern here, we are actually referring to durability. The current 565 neck is a maple-walnut 5-piece construction. The original features an all maple construction. Before I proceed, let's be clear that we are looking at how many wood types were used to make the neck, it's not about how many pieces of wood actually make up the neck.

By having walnut in the current 565 construction, it means that within the neck composition itself, the two types of wood will react differently to temperature changes & shock, among other considerations. The implication here is that, should the maple react adversely under a set of trying conditions, the walnut will not follow suit. This is the clear advantage; the two wood types re-inforcing each other's well being so to speak. This will not happen if the neck composition only consists of one wood type. There is no counter-checking by another wood type to reduce or negate adversity altogether. 

I've talked to fellow guitar enthusiasts who clearly do not understand this construction approach. They will choose a single wood affair saying it's nicer. Nothing wrong with this opinion if looks mean everything to you, not durability. The other queer comment is, the fact that one wood type requires a reinforcement by another, it shows that the dominant wood type is problematic to begin with, the reason the other is used to stabilize the situation. If this is the case, manufacturers lack wisdom in choosing that dominant wood type back at the factory & we wonder why they choose to start with a problem as it would translate to recovery costs along the way.

Have a good Saturday, folks. Stay virus-free 😎

Pics: Ibanez

Ray

Pssst... There's this Music Man Stingray 4 bass at Davis GMC that you should check out (... & check out that price too!). It's not in this burst finish though, it's a limited run gold-esque colour & it won't be around for long. It's Friday & people are planning to grab something worthy over the weekend. 

Pic: Audiofanzine

Price watch (17)

When everything is on the rise, the PRS Silver Sky is currently down to a sub-$3K price tag. These used to be listed for $3.2K & if you are price-watching for a while, you'll know why this is the case. Just a reminder that the Silver Sky is available at both Swee Lee & Davis GMC.

Not quite 70s

Gibson has officially released a 'new' model yesterday - the Les Paul Deluxe 70s re-issue. This was leaked somewhere in cyberspace towards the close of 2020 so it's no surprise then that it's in regular production now. There's a re-curring theme here if you noticed, Gibson seems to favour the '70s' tag in the mean time. Last year they did the Flying V version & this year, the LP - both missing the 70s details to qualify them as true re-issues. The immediate visual 'wrong' here is the headstock; 70s LP models sport the wider version & this one is as Standard as it gets. They got the headstock of the Flying V version wrong last year so... 🙄 There are also the absence of the thumb bleeder indicators for the control knobs & the sandwiched body construction, among others. Whatever, Gibson.

Gibson priced this 70s model to match the current 50s / 60s LP Standards so rightfully, when it gets here, it should cost as much as the 50s / 60s models listed domestically (TBC). It spells bad news for the 2015 model which is currently listing for more & we know the 2015 specs, yes? It makes selling any 2015 Gibson very difficult, even in the after-market. I'm not advocating for a clearance price for the 2015 to happen because as it is, they are indeed (selected colours) clearing for a good price (Hot deals: $2,561.30 currently out of stock / B-Stock: $3,366.28). 

I see the re-emergence of the LP Deluxe, in any iteration, as a positive move by Gibson. The mini humbucker is a good alternative to the standard humbucker & P90 voicings. If there's any good in this revival, it's the pickups. Ardent fans find this 70s version a little worrying because it's not an accurate take on a bona fide 70s model. Looks like Gibson took the best details of the LP Deluxe in its respective era (namely late 60s - mid-70s) & came up with this mishmash which turned out pleasant to say the least. We are watching you, Gibson. Your deceptive ways are glaring (but forgivable). 

Pics: Gibson

Acoustasonic JM

This was basically in all my guitar-related news feeds yesterday - Fender's new Acoustasonic in Jazzmaster form. The fact that the Acoustasonic is now offered in a third iteration implies a certain degree of popularity which is making the manufacturer happy $$$. In any case, the JM version is the first to offer a humbucker & it's a Tim Shaw product so it adds significance to tone belief. It is also equipped with an internal body sensor pickup that captures all your taps & knocks on the body making it a good percussive segue in addition to being a normal guitar. The irony here is that, players prefer to hear the hollow resonance of the acoustic body when it is given this treatment compared to this not-so-solid / not-so-hollow design.

I noted the missed opportunity for the Acoustasonic to truly fly the Jazzmaster flag as that headstock design (L) is quite off the mark compared to the traditional Jazzmaster outilne (R). In fact, that headstock is more Strat-ish & we note the iteration before the Jazzmaster was the Stratocaster version.

I am still not interested in any of the Acoustasonic models not that it isn't a genius hybrid combining the best of both acoustic & solid body voicings but to begin with, the price is excessive. The instrument is also a niche appeal, you would not ditch every acoustic & solid body instruments you own just to embrace this hybrid design. I'm leaving you with this clip of Ola's off tangent belief of what the Acoustasonic JM should be. Have a good midweek, everyone.

Pics: Fender International

Alkaline

I am perhaps the very few players left in guitardom to be powering pedals with batteries. The GP 9V you see here came with one of the pedals I bought, can't remember which one it was. Due to its alkaline nature, it managed to keep my Korg Pitchblack tuner alive for nearly 3 months (just a few days short). I do not power up other pedals with an alkaline unit less the ones which are not power-sapping, an example of which is this pedal tuner. Alkaline batteries sustain a pedal on lower power over time so they do affect tone for drive / distortion pedals mostly. If you hear these fuzzing out on you despite the battery indicator looking rather bright; it's the battery.

Review: Ibanez RG565 (Genesis)

Once again, the Ibanez Genesis series take us through nostalgia with the RG565. The guitar is currently offered in two very striking finishes; the Fluorescent Orange (seen above) & Emerald Green which had been deemed to be blue by many eyes. The Genesis range is still deprived of any complementary bag or hard case despite being a Japanese model. Deserving nostalgia or commercial regurgitation? Let’s dive into some details.

 

Construction / fit / finish

I’ll give it to you straight – the RG565 is a typical Japanese guitar that exudes quality despite not being in the higher tier of the Japanese craftsmanship. This is all intentional of course as part of the plan was to keep prices down hence the absence of a bag / case & the use of in-house pickups. The rest of the guitar’s attributes are simply a class act; very well finished body & headstock, frets which are firmly in place & a quality maple neck with no shrinkage at appraisal time. If you trawl cyberspace, one of the primary blemishes of the RG565, documented by a certain review video, is fret sprouting & none manifested here. Thanks largely to our climate, of course, no extreme temperatures to influence adverse wood reaction. 

 

I must also give credit to the hardware. The nameless tuners are quality products & these might be manufactured by Gotoh because they feel & perform like Gotohs; responsive & getting the job done without issues. The Edge bridge looks the works as well, again, these might be overseen by Gotoh for all we know. Don’t take my word for it but it’s a versed guess as Gotohs appear in many Ibanez instruments even in selected non-Japanese models. There is only a minor blemish; the blade type, single coil-sized neck pickup displayed a scratched rail surface. It goes from one end to the other & I feel it’s worth mentioning considering this is a brand new instrument. Other than this, everything is good & issue-free.

 

Rating: 89%

 

Playability

Let’s not hide the fact that the RG565, in its heyday, was a shred-type extraordinaire. The skinny neck is a fine testimony to that appeal & the fact that this review model shows no issues in construction / fitting, it is easily the best highlight of the guitar. The typical RG body has no excessive aerodynamics (less the belly cut & elbow relief) to complement playability; it’s just there making you feel comfortable while you are busy speeding or getting angry. There are no design updates to the RG565, everything that worked from Day 1 was brought over but do note the slight difference in neck construction. The current neck details feature a 5-piece (maple – walnut) attachment, voluted at the angled headstock-neck area. The original construction was a single piece maple unit which saw a quarter-sawn iteration subsequently & volute-free for both versions. Down the road, our encounters with Fender guitars (& its variants) had taught us how to deal with upper fret access when it comes to blocky heel joints. Rightfully, the one featured here should not be an issue. The irony of it all; this block joint was the staple of shredders back then. To top it all off, there’s plenty of picking room due to the absence of a middle pickup & a less intrusive, single coil-sized neck humbucker.

 

Rating: 95%

 

Tone

Some Ibanez campers will take issue with the fact that the original HB2 – SB1 pickups were not brought over to the current version. The current V8 – Infinity R humbuckers were chosen instead. A personal encounter with the V8 in other RGs over the years had me in some reservations when it comes to distortion applications. The V8 is not a high output humbucker that will go into beast mode in such situations but it handles driven settings pretty well. I would say that the sonic properties here are that of a medium output, contemporary PAF-type pickup without an excessively polished top end. The neck pickup manifests an angrier overall voicing (it sounds hotter than the bridge pickup to me) & has good single note definition for solos. It also fares better in clean mode than its rather gagged bridge counterpart. I had the opportunity to run it through chorus & reverb – above average tones, definitely. To sum up the tone performance, be reminded that the guitar is equipped with a 5-way selector. Positions 2 & 4 feature a parallel neck pickup performance & split coil tones (both pickups) respectively. If you think it’s all humbucking with this one then it’s definitely not the case. Due to its in-house quality, the compounded pickup performance may not be appealing to many of us compared to our preferred brands (DiMarzio, Seymour Duncan, et al) but junk pickups these are not. Oh, that treble bleed feature at the volume pot is definitely an awesome consideration. 

 

Rating: 90%

 

Conclusion

Being a big fan of Ibanez & highly anticipating this guitar’s availability, I must say the RG565 is a good throwback to all things shred & high gain. The instrument’s different neck construction here adds strength to that all familiar lure for speed. On that note, plus the different pickups on board this time round, the RG565 is not a true re-issue but a deserving close reproduction; very close indeed. This is an ace instrument if you are treading the distortion path as cleans are clearly not its forte. It is for high octane rock and beyond; the further you venture into the unknown, the better.

 

Overall rating: 90%

PS: Thank you store manager, Faizal & the great Swee Lee Star Vista team for letting me try the guitar for appraisal. You guys are great.

Likes

·      Neck profile is true to the original

·      Excellent fit & fitting

·      Treble bleed feature

·      5-way selector to exploit single coil / tapped output tones

 

Dislikes 

·      In-house pickups

·      Bag not included

·      Scratched neck pickup

Ibanez RG565 (Genesis)
Availability: Swee Lee Co. 

List: $1,399

Whitey

PRS released the SE P20E Parlor guitar in white. It is limited to 3, 500 units worldwide so you have to catch one quickly once it's available. 

Pic: PRS Guitars

Price watch (16)

Once upon a time, I was interested in the the blue version. After some procrastination, it was out of stock. I have no idea if it was back in stock along the way but in the mean time, it's out of stock. However, the black one was part of the new batch that made it here recently & behold - it's now $100 more. Bummer.

Small threat

This is new at Davis GMC - Friedman's Loud Box (List: $299). There's no hiding it's actually a British type overdrive that replicates the actual Smallbox amp voicings. Some would argue that it will never be a direct interpretation of the said amp as it is a pedal, not an amp. That's a valid perspective but equally valid is the acknowledgement that replication here is not about reproduction - the pedal is mimicking the actual amp in its own way, not the amp circuit's preamp + power amp way. In fact, this is the philosophy of all pedals in use; getting the amp tone without being one. 

One of the very few people who managed to capture the Smallbox at its best is Pete Thorn.

I'm including this one here for the perspective of those of us who prefer our tones heavy.

Pic: Friedman Amp

Price watch (15)

Just days ago, I did an RG565 vs RG550 price comparison (click HERE to recap) citing how the former is $100 more than the latter without any significant upgrades / branded components inclusion. Note the recent development seen above - the RG550 is now sporting the same price as the RG565. Disclaimer: 1) I have no idea if this RG550 is part of the new shipment that costs more & that the new batch of RG550s indeed cost more this time round. This is largely confidential, only the distributors would know 2) Costs increase at the manufacturer's end so this is finally borne unto us.

Just sharing - The RG550 Genesis was $899 way back in 2017 so it's a $500 difference in the spate of about 5 years. Are prices going to go down in time to come? We kinda know the answer to this. Bummer.

Anyway, here's the consolation if you are keen in buying something in the likeness of the RG550 (do forgive the non-matching headstock-body finish) - the GRG250M (List: $419).

Pics: Swee Lee / MW Academy

550?

This Ibanez is listed in the after-market as an RG550R ($950). I have issues with it being a 550.

The guitar sports a Made-in-Japan serial number & at best, it's only validating the neck being a genuine article. The issue here lies with the body. Firstly, it sports a Lo-TRS bridge. The RG550 folks, since Day 1, is not equipped with a lower series bridge. Yes, there are indeed Japanese models sporting a lower series bridge but it's never the RG550. The other detail here is the bridge cavity. Let us assume that the original owner had swapped out the Edge / Lo-Pro Edge bridge for the Lo-TRS for some good money but take a closer look at the cavity outline (left pic). It is actually conforming to the Lo-TRS outline (that slanted flap edge). The original RG550 Edge is not designed as such (right pic). Implication - this is highly likely not an RG550 body.

If you know where this is listed, please do not confront the seller by any means. Flag him out if you have to (alert the host) but my take on this - the seller got this guitar as it is, used & the original owner did not fully disclose what actually happened to the guitar. I wouldn't pay $950 for this, a definite no.

Dark board

Owing to its rather popular nature, the Ibanez SRM (medium-scaled) is now offered in a darker fretboard version - jatoba. However, only a white finish is offered in the meantime. Have not tried this one, only the maple 'board version. Recommended for players who wanna take a break from playing standard-scaled basses but do not wish for something too compromised in terms of size. (Available now @ Swee Lee - $399)

Pic: Ibanez

Selling: Hofner Shorty (SOLD)

Yes, it's that time of the month again where I have to fund my chemo bills / expenditure. Letting the Hofner Shorty go. Barely played, 5mth old as at time of listing. The only mod done here - that high output, rail-type humbucker.

Come with the bag, strap & cable you see above. My price is final, thank you for understanding. ✌🏽

• Selling: Hofner Shorty
• Condition: 9.5/10 (comes with bag & accessories you see above)
• Scale length: 25" / Overall length: 33.5"
• Mod: High output, rail-type humbucker
• No reservations / trades
• Self-collect: CCK / Yew Tee mrt station
• Query / confirmation: subversion.sg@gmail.com
• Price: $150 (final)

SE SS?

Interesting leak by Black Smith showing the possible existence of the PRS SE Silver Sky. There were suggestions / speculations last year that the Silver Sky might see an SE iteration. So when this was 'accidentally' surfaced just a week ago it just deepened the belief. Looking at that body outline, the SE version is lacking in accuracy at the treble side cutaway. Don't be surprised if the headstock ends up looking like the standard PRS design instead of the current reversed version. Anyway, if you are interested, Black Smith strings are available at Cristofori Music School.

Pic: GW

RIP: Lars Goran Petrov

Read about the sad passing of Lars Goran Petrov (Entombed) yesterday. He was battling cancer. Cancer is a critical illness & its turn for the worse, despite intense medication, is real. From one cancer patient to another - it's been a good fight, my good man. Rest well.

Pic: Loudwire

P&G

New from the Ibanez camp this month - a pair of Ibanez acoustics, pink & green Talmans to be more specific.

Pleasant hues here but these are still not solid top models. I used to own one & feel that it's a very transitional offering if one is solid body inclined & wish to get acquainted to the acoustic. However, the unplugged volume could have been better in view of those cutaways that would understandably affect body resonance. The plus point is definitely the neck profile, slim & fast.