Blue eve

Had been playing the blue one this New Year's Eve - wet weather since morning. Indoors & feeling blue. The simple genius of Kiesel is manifested in this Type X; it's more manageable in terms of handling. Make it smaller & headless - simple formula. 

That's right, blue selector tip & volume knob for this one. That see-through blue pick is a Northern Ghost Cloud model. Notice it has lots of grip space which tapers to a pointed tip. Darn good for super fast riffing as it helps you move quickly across strings. I have a thing for picks because they contribute to playing efficiency. I urge you to explore the different picks available out there, especially those not offered by the stores here. These are relatively affordable investments to fine tune your playing finesse. 

To those celebrating & counting down to the new year - stay safe. Cheers, everyone!

Laser vampire

It's not in my nature to constantly check American web stores for Ibanez stuff. Sweetwater has an exclusive deal for the RG565, the finishes you see here are exclusive to them. I have a feeling these will be made into standard offerings come 2022 seeing how popular this model is. Also, we might see additions to the Genesis range unless the J-Line models take over as international offerings.

Highway re-string

Gloomy weather, bogged down indoors so it's re-string therapy: Fender H1 Strat. FYI, this is the first gen Highway 1 Strat sporting the traditional headstock. A little later, it sports the big, 70s version before evolving into the American Special. Looks rather pristine, yes? This pic was taken after a wipe down.

Before that happened, this was how the body looked like. I am repeatedly betrayed by the hard case. If you touched the stained surface, it felt sticky. One more time - the lining's adhesive had seeped through over time & caused this to happen.

The strap button at the horn end was affected & the rust travelled into the thread. No point salvaging these.

I am happy with Dunlop buttons & this Strat deserves a fresh pair.

Today's string of choice - GHS 9s

G bag

Do I need another Gibson bag? No, I don't. 

Doing my bit to help out a fellow cancer patient. I thought I had it bad but his chemo turned his fingers & feet black. This is another timely reminder for me to be grateful for everything, even in the face of adversity. Folks, unlike Gibson hard cases, the bag is generic & it fits both LPs & SGs. According to the manufacturer's website, this is the Premium soft case. Let's see if it will do its job down the road.

What...?

I think this is rather obvious even if you are a novice when it comes to Gibson stuff. From this headstock alone: 1) Wrong headstock outline 2) Wrong split diamond inlay 3) Wrong tuners 4) Wrong truss rod cover label (bound headstock for a Standard?). 

Had prompted the seller to be more upfront with the listing- no reply. Expected. All the best to the buyer who will be paying good money for something that might be possibly worse than a Chinese knock off. Buyers - you need to make more effort in knowing what you are buying. It's the cyber age, plenty of stuff out there to help you out with this. Seller - please be more upfront with your stuff, if you can't, then don't sell, it's not worth the (legal) trouble. If you are acting on someone's behalf, do re-think.

I'm not the after-market police, but I do not wish for a fellow guitar enthusiast to be duped especially this easily. There are dishonest people out there, the least we can do is to look out for one another.

Discharge throwback

27th December is a significant date for me as I was discharged from the hospital this day, a year ago. One of the doctors quoted an earlier discharge date & I made preparations for that but it turned out to be a false alarm. I suspected so because the nurses were not aware of it. So my advice to doctors - do not give false hopes to patients. Give them confirmed assurances, not something to perk them up significantly & them having their hopes smashed to pieces because you peddle cheap talk. So I stayed in the hospital for another 14 days till 27th December. Forgiven but not forgotten.

The first guitar I played that day was my Silver Sky. I wanted to hear something calm & soothing with minimal OD & this guitar is more than capable of churning out all that. However, the playing time was cut short because I couldn't feel my fingertips & the skin of my hands & feet were generally bad; they were exfoliating. It got worse a few days after that & I was in no condition to play anything, let alone handle the toothbrush & cutlery properly. So it was time spent with the cat on days thereafter, just lying down & staring into space, quite the duplicate of my hospitalization days but this time it's at home.

My message to you as family members or caregivers of cancer patients - the road to recovery might be tougher as the mental bother sets in; thinking of what one has to forgo due to one's medical plight. Support them as much as you can. Sometimes they need to be left alone, dwelling into thoughts & internal conflicts. For my case, it was dealing with the loss of income & having bills to pay & mouths to feed. 

Final week of 2021, folks. Stay safe. 👍

5 for 2

Ibanez likes to equip their dual humbucking guitars with a 5-way selector. An example is depicted above.

This is what the selector does to the guitar. You get the standard function in position 1, 3 & 5. In position 2, only one coil from each humbucker is activated & combined, a typical application if you are familiar with the Telecaster. In position 4, the neck humbucker is in parallel mode, this means, you get a slightly different output coming from the pickup, resulting in a different tone. That's right, it's still in humbucking mode, not a single coil & you can't get the single coil twang from this option.

The switching option above refers to the RG565. Some of us are reliant on only positions 1, 3 & 5. We don't venture into single coil / tapped output tones with a guitar like an RG because we know this would sound better in other guitars. Also, positions 2 & 4 get in the way & might lead to confusion during quick flicks - are we already in positions 1 / 5 or did we land on 2 / 4 instead?

To be continued...

Pics: Ibanez Japan

Living on the Edge

I think this is long overdue so it's about time I share it here. For those of you who asked me how I determine the correct tilt angle of the Ibanez Edge bridge, do refer to the rectangular block at the side of the bridge flap. In this case it's the bass side. As you can see above, after tuning up, the bridge is a little slack & if left unattended, it would mean you have lesser cavity space for an upward whammy action. From this picture, we can see that the block was not sitting parallel to the body surface. If the guitar is already in tune, you need to adjust the spring tension at the rear to balance things up & re-tune the instrument. This may take several attempts.

Once you got that settled, the block is now parallel to the body surface & that's the optimum position as seen here. Easy peazy, lemon squeazy as the kids would say in school.

Season's greetings 2021

I'm so looking forward to this holiday. No, I don't celebrate Xmas but it's a holiday at home. Last Xmas I was alone at the hospital with chemicals pumped into my system; a miserable chemo Xmas, bed-ridden with nothing to look forward to. I didn't switch the TV on, just letting time pass by. Miserable.

So this year, there's a reason to be happy because it's not a chemo Xmas, I'm at home, watching my favourite holiday movies, having family & the cat around; simple reasons to be grateful for. It's when you look back & realize you have overcome some major events in your life & given time & the chance to move on; it's the perfect gift. 

Happy holidays, everyone. Stay safe & let's be grateful for any type of gifts that come our way. Some things are meant for us, regardless if we are expecting it or not. They happened for a reason. 

Selling: Epiphone hard case (SOLD)

Holiday eve listing. Have an Epiphone hard case to let go since it ended its duty today.

Condition: 8/10. Fits Explorer I think you can see my Explorer outline there. 😅 Due to my medical condition, I can only deal at Bt Batok mrt station; thanks for understanding.

• Selling: Epiphone hard case (8/10 condition)
• Fits: Explorer type shape
• Deal at Bukit Batok MRT station
• No reservations / trades
• Query / confirmation: subversion.sg@gmail.com
• Price: $70

EDIT: Folks, this case fits the Explorer shape the best, please note. Price revised.

Worthy 10s

Time zips by & it's already Xmas eve. 

If you are out looking for that final moment present (for yourself maybe), then I'd say you check out the LTD 10 models available at Davis GMC now. And yes, they are are open today & on Xmas day.

Seen above (T-B): Eclipse 10 / Viper 10 / MH 10. That MH is awesome with that curved top & the best upper fret reach among the 3. LTD 10 series - Available at Davis GMC, $290 (list).

On that note - have a great holiday eve, stay safe, everyone!

Pics: Sound Service

EBMM @ SG

 

Breaking news - EBMM will be available at Swee Lee come 2022. More details to come.

Pic: EBMM

'61 SG

Epiphone has released this SG called the '61 Les Paul SG Standard. The LP name is there because back then, the SG took over the monicker after the LP was discontinued.

And there's a white version as well. Is it a worthy '61 reincarnation? Not quite but they did include Gibson humbuckers, CTS pots, Mallory caps & a gorgeous hard case. Also, the neck is a one piece unit, not that it's 'better' but it's something not done elsewhere.

OK... we don't have an Epiphone dealer here. Hmph.

Eiffel

Yes, it's a guitar.  It's an ESP. Three humbuckers, that's right. Seymour Duncan, mind you. Will they do an Esplanade bass, maybe? 

Pic: ESP Japan

Selling: EHX Operation Overlord overdrive

The clearance continues. I usually don't clear much gear, I treasure what I own but times are a changin' & I'll update in due course. The Operation Overlord  OD here is a 2-in-1 pedal, it has a booster function on board for a little more kick.  I barely played this one so it's in near mint condition. Thanks for reading, folks!

• Selling: EHX Operation Overlord overdrive pedal
• Included: Box & power adapter
• Condition: 9/10 
• Self-collect: CCK /Yew Tee MRT station
• Query / confirmation: subversion.sg@gmail.com
• Price: $150 (final)

Special arrangements

It's doom Tuesday & time well spent with the Epiphone SG Special. Yes, I'm not averse to the Epiphone brand name, just that not many appeal to me. 

As you can see there, this guitar came default with B500K pots (as indicated); all four of them. This is perhaps why they sound a little restrained when it comes to clarity. To me, single coil pickups go well with 250K pots & the P90 is a single coil pickup. 

Brought this down to Beez's today to have A250K pots in there. As the default pots were CTS ones, I made it a point to get CTS replacement pots as well. Also, the capacitors are a pair of HOSCO .047uf ones, unlike the .22uf that came with the B500K pots. CTS pots are available at TYMC, Hosco capacitors are available at Davis GMC.

While I'm at it, a pair of Wilkinson P90s are the new pickups here. These are easily available through Amazon & they are very affordable.

A fresh set of Darcos 10s for today's doom adventure - available at City Music. 

Unlocked

These are the locking Gotoh tuners that came default in my Ibanez SIX6FDFM. They did the job well.

I have removed them & got these instead; same Gotoh brand, just the non-locking version.

I am a fan of locking tuners, regardless of the brand / manifestation but they have to serve a practical purpose. The ones in this guitar have no issues but they add significant weight to the neck / headstock & neck dive was inevitable. This affects playing & leads to mistakes. The Ibanez S-Series is a lightweight guitar & very resonant, adding unnecessary weight to the neck / headstock just kills the essence of this instrument. By the way, if you wish to replace tuners on a reverse headstock, just go with the set meant for a lefty.  

Selling: Ibanez SZ520FM (SOLD)

Another one on the let-go list: Ibanez SZ520. Ibanez hard case /  bag included, you choose. Please note, this guitar sports a 25.1" scale length.

• Ibanez SZ520FM (hard case / bag included)
• Condition: 8.5/10
• Pickups: DiMarzio / IBZ
• Tone capacitor: Orange drop 
• No reservations / trades
• Self-collect: Yew Tee MRT station
• Query / confirmation: subversion.sg@gmail.com
• Price: $550 (final)

Item SOLD to a nice fellow metalhead 🤘🏼 (19/3/2022)

Re-string Saturday

Still in the mood for some Ibanez. Let me tell you why I like this guitar - it's darn light. It's less than 3.5kg. This is my SIX6FDFM, one of the Iron Label models before they discontinued this colour, gave it a grey make over & a pair of Fluence humbuckers. Not my thing. The other thing that I fancy here is the blank fretboard. This is the first S-Series I own that sports a revere headstock.

A fresh set of GHS 9s before playing started. 

Silver rose

If you are waiting for some rosewood 'board Silver Sky models to come in, then be informed that Davis GMC has 2 in store.

The tungsten finish you see above & the polar blue which looks more blue than what you see here. 

Selling: EMG Marty Friedman (SOLD)

Another abandoned project so these EMGs are better off with a new owner. It's the Marty Friedman set, do note that these are PASSIVE pickups. Comes with everything you see above, all in tact, 10/10 condition.

• Selling - EMG Marty Friedman (passive)
• Selling as a set only, 10/10 condition, totally unused
• Self-collect @ CCK /Yew Tee mrt station
• Confirmation / query: subversion.sg@gmail.com
• Price: $170 (final)

Re-string Thursday

Spent the last few days with the modded RG550. This is perhaps one of my better guitars when it comes to riffing ideas, most of the Mayhem & Emperor stuff were figured out using this one. The lone ranger pickup there is a DiMarzio D'Activator X. Sounds brutal with distortion & that's all that matters. You need a certain tool for a specific job & it is worth the time & effort to dedicate an instrument to fulfil that specific need. Gave it a re-string on the third day of playing, a set of Darco 9s. Darco strings are on sale now @ City Music's YES. 

Chap @ SL

Chapman guitars are now available at Swee Lee. The one you see above is the gorgeous ML3 Modern in Red Sea finish (List: $799). Currently, only selected ML1 & ML3 models are available. More to come.

Pic: Chapmanguitars

Rust in Vs

Gibson finally released the Mustaine Flying V EXP guitars. These are 25.5" in scale length, slightly longer than the average Gibson & sports an ebony 'board. Pickups are Mustaine's Duncan Thrash Factors.

Two finishes in the mean time - natural & grey. Here's the catch; it's offered in limited quantities in this initial launch stage & you have to call them up for price quotes & order. So the cost of buying this guitar begins with an expensive phone call to Gibson. Whatever, Gibson.

Pics: Yahoo Sports

Super Sub

Re-string Monday, folks. The EBMM SUB1 got some playing time today. I keep this guitar in a hard case & the strings just rusted like I dipped them into sea water or something. Its a serious case of metal against hard case fur. The old strings felt sticky & it could only mean that there's some reaction between the strings & the adhesive that seeped through the fur lining. I wiped those strings before keeping it so the rust could not have been caused by organic hand fluid. 

Whatever the case, GHS to the rescue. I would have preferred D'Addarios but Davis GMC ran out of 9s in the mean time. 

My DiMarzio Super 3 humbucker rests here in the mean time. I features black pole pieces so these blend in nicely with the overall black demeanour of the instrument as seen in the first pic. I did not intend for this one to be an all black, stealth mode type but it happened. I still feel sore that EBMM had chosen to discontinue the SUB series of instruments as they are definitely vale-for-money instruments. The SUB label is now a Sterling affair & if that was an attempt to cascade the vibe into the Sterling range, it sorely missed the point.

The Super 3 is a high output, midrange heavy pickup. Its brand of chugging features some gristle that metal dudes will embrace. The pickup was set lower into the body to prevent wolf tones from manifesting as I always put my distortion on overdose. If there's an equivalent to this in the Seymour Duncan camp then it has to be the Full Shred. 

EQ pic: DiMarzio

She-Low

 

I have a thing for acoustic guitars with smaller bodies. These are more suitable for small-framed individuals. The level of comfort when handling such instruments affects playing feasibility which in turn dictates how much mistakes you make. I'm not saying these are better guitars but more suitable for certain player profiles. 

The Sheeran Series by Lowden guitars are such scaled-down instruments. If you are into the acoustic end of all things guitar, you'd know the Lowden name is a formidable quality & tone reference. There's no Lowden there on the headstock but these are indeed Lowden instruments & they are mid-priced, to say the least. If you are interested in them, they are in stock at Swee Lee:

• W01 Cedar / Walnut: $1,149
• W02 Sitka Spruce / Indian Rosewood: $1,449
• W03 Cedar / Indian Rosewood: $1,549
• W04 Sitka Spruce / Figured Walnut: $1,599

Keep in mind that the guitar sports a 24" scale length, bag is included.

This move means the Sheeran name will be removed from its Martin counterpart which had been ongoing since 2013. The Sheeran model is not a direct replacement of the said Martin, which is effectively a travel guitar. This one is an inch longer in scale length & has wider dimensions while still being in the scaled down domain.