Finish

At the end of 2022, the only respite for me is my severance from cancer treatment. Some days ago, my blood test results showed that my condition (remission) had stabilized. I decided to stop all treatments (nerve damage related consultations included) altogether. I see a dead end in trying to eradicate all cancer traces when the reality of it is that cancer is genetically triggered more than taking preventive measures to stop it from happening. The more I agree to undergo treatment, the more I consent to being tied down financially to an inconclusive endearment. So that has to stop. It's preventing me from holding down a proper job & the meds are causing havoc to my schedules. There is a real contingency for a relapse to happen but I will deal with that when it comes. 

Good riddance. 

Final haul

Final purchase before the year turns; strings from City Music. Will be looking forward to their new home at Sims Drive. Hopefully, my finances would be stable enough to afford some good rewards at their subsequent YES.

EH: Snake-stortion (2)

The highlight of the Elektrik Head Snake-stortion pedal is its clipping modes. There are 4 on board; LED, Asymmetrical, Symmetrical & Hard. I specifically asked for these to be included because it alters both the intensity & voicing to make tone fiddling more exciting. Also, I do not wish to switch pedals for this to happen, eg. Tube Screamer for symmetrical clipping tones & BOSS SD-1 for the asymmetrical alternative, etc. 

Here's a list of observations, based on my live experience regardless of what each mode is supposed to do theoretically. It's more objective to share with you what I hear rather than offer an interpretation of what each clipping type is doing to the signal:

• LED. Smooth, quick attack. Edgy tones when your treble is excessive. 
• Asymmetrical. Smooth, edgy, slightly fatter, a tad more sustain. I hear less gain influence here. Harmonics are easier to manifest in the LED mode compared to this one. If single note definition is your thing, stick to this mode.
• Symmetrical. Fatter tone, rather prominent. If clarity is important to you, treble needs to be pumped up, otherwise, you will be rooted in the overdriven woman tone territory.
• Hard. Meanest voicing, capable of being fuzzy but I hear a volume drop, not marked but noticeable. 

NOTE: The summary of the MODEs performance is based on both single coil & humbucking guitars used for the tone test. 

Copper pink Friday

I am in no mood to usher in the new year. It's when you have nothing to begin with, the enthusiasm to celebrate any occasion gets suppressed. In any case, I'm not the type to get all hyped up at the turn of the year any way. 

Spent the final weekday of the year at home playing the above guitars - the pink one because it's one of the smoothest bridge humbucking tone I own & the copper one because those are some of the best-sounding distortion-friendly single coils I've come across. Not being an ardent single coil fan, this means a lot to me. What do I have planned for the NYE tomorrow? Nothing much, might be more of the same that happened today.

BSmith

Still in distortion mood. The previous owner of the above-depicted Blacksmith pedal thought this is a heavy metal type but it's not. It's just a distortion unit bordering on the DS-1 performance, maybe a little more foreboding in certain settings. The Blacksmith name & its black presence might imply heavy metal intensity but it's not as biting as it's intended to be. I don't mind giving it a second chance. A distortion unit with a 3-band EQ will always be my thing.

Elemental

These preceded the Noir Series mentioned here not too long ago. The limited edition Elemental Series are equally Japanese & supposedly Japanese exclusive but time will tell.

Despite being inspired by 'earth elements', the instruments are only available in black & white finishes. All instrumentss are humbucking & feature that signature pickguard which look, at best, misplaced. 

Not quite apparent in pictures but bodies are curved tops. Pickups are in-house Modern Modified models. You should have noticed the chrome hardware appointments by now. Also, modern 12" radius all round.

The only bass in this series - Jazz. Folks, do you look forward to humbucking tones when you buy a Fender? Also, those annoying (& ugly) pickguards; if they are not covering something, they shouldn't be there. Then again, sans pickguards, these look like the Modern & Aerodyne models.

Pics: Fender Japan

LT

Was at City Music's YES & got this one since I'm in the mood for distortion. I was wondering if the ISF feature can do its magic to somehow mutate the distortion voicing but of course it cannot. However, it remains on my reference list as a good pedal if you wish to tinker with tone. 

D'Addario - thank you but no thanks

I'm seeing through the last few packs of D'Addario strings & moving on to other string brands. The XLs had been my go-to strings for a long time. Nothing special about them, they are simply good strings for the money without the coating & other cryogenic ploy to warrant desirability. It's all about price. These have gone up by about $2 since I re-visited my interest in them. My income had not increased by this amount in the mean time (it's that pathetic) so looking elsewhere for a viable alternative is the way to go. Come 2023, it will be be subjected to another round of price revision albeit marginal but the message is clear - I have no obligations since there are other choices out there.

EH: Snake-stortion

Folks, may I present to you, the Elektrik Head Snake-stortion, proudly conceived & manifested in Malaysia. It is an unbelievable moment for me to have someone create a pedal to my specs. 

All this while, I'd been living with countless distortion units available in the open market made to the expectations of the manufacturer so getting one is like living with consolation. In the mean time, I'm not after a high gain unit because throughout the years, I believe, distortion intensity is best handled by the amp. Pedals, to me, are supplementary units to sculpting one's tone. So in my guitar-verse, it's a potent combo of amp & pedal, there's no reliance on a single drive / distortion source. 

Throughout the communication, leading to the creation of this pedal, the following were firmed up:

• The type of pedal. I was very specific with the pedal type; it is a multi-voiced distortion, nothing in the metal territory but with options to be more intense than the DS-1.
• Dimensions. About the size of an average MXR / Electro Harmonix pedal, nothing bulky. Should not be too small as it needs to accommodate a battery.
• Features. Nothing excessive, Vol, Tone & Distortion level are enough with a flick switch to access various voicings. Whatever knob types available are fine with me.
• Colour. Whatever's available.

There were no deadlines given, I believe in giving the individual dealing with this project the flexibility to set his own timeline. This will help deter creativity restrictions. All in all, I took over possession of this pedal after three weeks. It was ready earlier but the hand-over meeting was delayed; I'm totally OK with this. I didn't set any deadline to begin with, it's supposed to be an easy-going project, not a contractual assignment. 

A very big thank you to Mr. Khian, the mastermind behind Elektrik Head & brother Eugene for being the intermediary & helping me bring the pedal over from KL. You guys made my day. It was almost an empty December for me. Cold & empty. But it wasn't. 

Ho Ho Ho (2022)

Pic: STFB

It's that time of the year - bonding, feasting, merry-making. Loads of fun & laughter as we approach the year end. It's a second downcast December for me & I look forward to exit this bleak episode soon. You are not really acquainted with reality till you have nothing & life has to go on. 

Wishing everyone a good long weekend, enjoy the holidays ✌

MOMM (34)

Holiday ear fodder.

Allan Holdsworth: Jarasum Internation Jazz Festival 2014

I'll be brief with this one - it's Holdsworth's most sub-par live performance, clearly over-shadowed by his rhythm section. I was wondering why this was the case. A re-listen revealed a clear account - it was a darn cold day. Have you ever tried playing guitar when your fingers get semi-frozen? Don't bother, you can't.

Alluvial: The Deep Longing for Annihilation

I acquired Sarcoma before this one so I knew what to expect. However, this was a vocal-less performance so I was happier after knowing it as such. Wes Hauch is one of metal's most talented & formidable guitarist out there. Intensity & technicality - checked & balanced. 

Re-BBE

Pic: GW

Starting the weekend with a rather welcomed piece of news; BBE has re-introduced the Sonic Stomp & Green Screamer pedals as seen above.

For those of us who are a little unacquainted to the BBE brand name, know that they used to be around once upon a time. These pedals were distributed by the defunct Wood Works store at Excelsior SC (later moved to Peninsula Plaza before shutting down). 

Let's see who would bring this in here because IMO, the current generation of players are ready to be acquainted to the BBE name once more. They have re-manifested the dimensions conforming to typical pedal board size demand & kept the design appealing. Personally, I prefer the graphics-less version but that's just an old man wishing things would revert to what worked without the frills. 

I knew it...

Nothing much, just spending time with the SG Special (2017). Taking it easy. Had been having negative vibes all week (since last Friday; broken items, called-off appointments, failed transactions, cancelled trip, etc.)

I bloody dislike the 490 humbuckers, one of the worst for high gain, almost no clarity in the neck. If you are into that woman tone, maybe these are for you. However, I'm the type who likes to tinker & give a second chance to many things so these lemons deserve another chance.

Took the guitar down to Beez for a complete electronics overhaul. Nothing you see here are from the Gibson end of things; Japanese 3-way toggle, Chinese input jacks & pots & Panasonic Gum Drop capacitors. More importantly, I replicated what worked elsewhere, namely, the A500K pots & .022uf capacitors.

I was right. The pickups sound better with those parts on board. On that note, the pickups sound like how I want them to be; clarity retention at high gain setting & top end definition. A trusted pack of Darco 10s to make my day.

Folks, when you buy a Gibson or any other brand of guitars for that matter, you are buying the manufacturer's set up & what they perceive to be the best manifestation for the instrument. Reality check - you may like the instrument but you detest the tone. If it's within your capacity, swapping out parts could be the answer but it entails extra costs. To level this out, acquire a used instrument so the extra expenditure on your preferred parts / accessories are worth the considerations. Happy ending today.

EH

I have finally taken over possession of this pedal. It's a custom order fulfilled by the Elektrik Head company, proudly made in Malaysia. I'm not Malaysian, of course but I'm darn proud to have the people from the neighbouring country who listened to what I need in terms of tone & tried their very best to interpret what I want to hear. Will reserve further comments till the actual appraisal episode.

Blackened

This was up at their webpage earlier today but the link was dead. At the later part of the day, it's back up once more. These instruments are from the Noir Series, once again, limited to Japan on record but would eventually get here; it's a matter of time. Anything special? Not really, less the blackout treatment. 

If you are wondering what's on the headstock, don't worry, it still says 'Fender' but in red. Locking tuners, alder body, rosewood board & Hybrid II pickups. Of course, no point hoping these will get here before the year turns so you'll be paying more when they are available in the stores. Darn GST hike.

 

Pics: Fender Japan

Stopped

Despite being semi-butchered & brought back to life, this guitar never failed to inspire me in terms of riffing ideas. It's modded to be a simple tool; one pickup, one volume - go!

The latest internal surgery involves the installation of this little ditty; the Tremsetter (1). The industry also refers to it as Tremolo Stabilizer & Arming Adjuster, among others. The idea here is to set it up so that the whammy bridge returns to your preferred position. As such, it is functionally different from the Tremol-No where whammy applications are totally frozen; the bridge stops moving altogether. 

However, being me & having this guitar assigned for no whammy applications, I've decided to screw in the springs entirely as well (2). This effectively means, the bridge is a non-mover. This only works if you use a higher tension set of whammy springs. The absolute advantage - I no longer require the Edge bridge to be wedged during string change, it is now a fixed bridge. What's the point of buying a dual action whammy bridge only to stop it from being one? The point is that I have other guitars with a perfectly functional dual action whammy bridge for whammy applications. Since this one is a 'spare' of sorts, I don't mind it being different from its counterparts.

Blunder Sunday

Sold in one of the stores here. When you see it. 

Animal Saturday

No new guitars, just a new pedal. I'm a fan of Animals Pedals, just too bad these are not coming in here any more. It's just another distortion pedal, totally unnecessary but it's my thing. If you have any others to offload, do let me know.

Marauding Friday

From one offset Fender to another; this time the Marauder. This is the Modern Player version, not to be confused with the original Marauder sporting 3 single coils. I'm not drawn to the shape but the fact that the Modern Player series are absolute value-for-money (made in China). If you still associate quality with the country of manufacture, your opinion on quality in general might be myopic. We've seen awful Gibsons & we know where those are made in. 

Some read my Jaguar entry the other day & thought the rounded string retainer was unsightly. You might prefer this one; it does not feature a protruding base. Made by GOTOH.

I'm slowly playing my other guitars which got lesser play time not that I dislike them but I would reach for the guitar that would best manifest my ideas & mostly it's to appease the dark, foreboding desire  to annihilate pleasantries.

Have a great weekend, everyone. 

Price watch (50)

More listings in the after-market, year-end clearance most probably. Take a look at the above listings, both are American Strats. Judging by the specs, the red one is an American Special & it's listing for nearly $1.6K. The brown one had the seller correctly identify the guitar & the listing price is more reasonable. 

After reading the listing description, we now understand why the price is a little excessive; it has DiMarzios in there plus an upgraded bridge. I find the sale condition here a little disrespectful, the Texas Specials were default pickups to begin with, the fact that it will only be included if the deal goes through implies that you don't deserve them to begin with. Also, please be mindful of 'upgrade' in your listing descriptions. Names like Gibson & Fender, among others, sell better with original parts in the instruments. Upgrade is subjective; it might be a value-add for you, others see it as devaluing the instrument by removing original parts. It's fair to disclose the brand of the replacement parts, if buyers are in the know, they will readily acknowledge the 'upgrade'. In any case, we should NOT compel others that some stuff are upgrades. In any case, between these two, the brown American Special is a more worthy consideration.

Moving on, can you get a value-for-money American Fender with $1.5K in hand? Definitely. This American Pro with Shawbuckers is really a good deal.

Ditto this American Standard.

This is the way not to get your stuff sold. 1) List it with fuzzy photos & not letting others see the brand name on the headstock.

2) Associate it with a more iconic guitar despite the fact that the instrument has zero resemblance with the actual thing that it's supposed to emulate.  3) Lastly, over-price it to give a semblance of value when in reality, it's a novelty item with a you-should-know-better value. 

This episode's recommended item - Epiphone SG Modern (FYI, it's the new headstock design). Do keep a lookout for the newer Epiphone models as these are relatively new in the market so the chances of you buying a used, worn, neglected instrument is rather slim. Unless it's trashed for some reason. 

Feline midweek

 

Single coil midweek but do wish to play a Strat. This is the final purchase from Swee Lee's Sims Drive warehouse sale before it moved to another location. This was actually a forgotten model; nobody knew where the bag & accessories for this guitar were. I went home with this guitar in as-is condition, extra careful in not banging it against anything. The strings looked like they were there since day one. One of them snapped while I was trying to tune the guitar at home.

Before any playing happened, the guitar got a fresh set of GHS, 10.5 set as it's a short-scale instrument (24"). The popular / recommended gauge here is 11s but that's a bit too much for me. 

Have this string retainer lying around at home, so might as well. This isn't the roller type but the rounded one used in American Fenders.

MOMM (33)

Gloomy Tuesday, indoors. Leftover Black Friday purchases are beginning to trickle in. These two are amongst them.

My Bloody Valentine - Isn't Anything

This is a 1988 release. Kevin Shields had already established his eccentric guitar-playing. Nobody cared back then unless you are into the disaffected fringes of music where being popular is unsettling. I'm digging MBV's past to understand how the dissonant, noise-centric guitar music became the core embrace. If you listen closely, the songs here observe a simple structure. The guitar's job was to throw everything off but being attractive & outlandish in defining perhaps contemporary psychedelia. Some acoustic numbers here which are not my thing, the rest are pure MBV.

Vader - Solitude in Madness

My Vader experience began with The Ultimate Incantation. The problem with these bands, the early death metal wave, is that, intensity is everything. Musicianship is optional. If you are able to draw people into your music with mere speed & unease, it adds much to your worthiness because the target audience for this kind of music didn't give a rat's ass when it comes to musicianship. I didn't pay much attention to Vader thereafter. Fast forward 2020 when Covid had just cast its veil unto the world, Solitude in Madness got my attention because the music seems to flip for the better when it comes to value musicianship, not just noise for noise's sake. Peter is the only remaining member of the initial Vader lineup but this album is about having the right people with the right capacity to push quality death metal through. I finally got the chance to purchase this one & it's money well-spent.

Review quickie: Pro Co RAT 2

Pic: Amazon

Pro Co's RAT pedal had been in existence since the late '70s & it's still around today. It seems that this little ditty possesses that unique character to differentiate itself from its close counterparts. It's a distortion but nothing like the DS-1, it's a boosting overdrive but nothing like the Tube Screamer, it's also a menacing fuzz but nothing like any Muff units out there. The allusion to all 3 modes the RAT is capable of pulling off is of course, via various tweaking. Obviously, the RAT is a simple, 3-knob affair with no mode switch to facilitate easy emulation but the distortion range on tap is one of the most dynamic offerings out there. Without further ado:

Likes

• impressive distortion range
• good dimensions, neither too small nor too big + not heavy
• easy, 3-knob offering
• battery option
• price

Dislikes

• FILTER function is not an EQ knob

Please manage expectations when dealing with the RAT. There are many demo videos out there pushing it as an intense distortion unit which it is not. As a stand alone pedal, the RAT is rather mild-mannered. With the distortion maxed out, the RAT is a full fledged fuzz unit, it will definitely disappoint those who are hoping it would bring them into metal territory; it will not. The FILTER function is indeed a low-pass filter. Anything before noon makes it bright-sounding, past noon, things get rather muffled & would only complement fuzzy settings well. The implication is rather clear, past noon, it contributes to harder clippings, hence its fuzzy accentuation.

If you wish to use the RAT as a pre-amp booster, avoid fuzzy settings. Also, the RAT won't blend well with your amp's high gain. During this audition, best results were manifested with the amp's gain at about 11 o'clock. All in all, the RAT won't do much for shredders, single note clarity is just not its thing. However, if you are plying your trade in the doom territory, that's where the RAT excels. It also loves power chords.

Rating: 80%

Availability: Davis GMC (out of stock at time of review) / Hung Brothers

Please refer to the respective dealers for prices.

Bloody pirates

I have absolutely no respect for such incarnations; selling something with a well-known manufacturer's brand name on the headstock but it's actually a mish-mash of your own. The reverse headstock is an outright red flag. Also, the current black Ibanez PIA is equipped with gold hardware & of course, that's not an Edge bridge.

This guy is hustling Sustainer pickups & at the same time, he's willing to copy your favourite guitar to your specs with the Sustainer in it. Whatever it is, you're living off others' legal propriety & to you, it's OK. It's definitely not.

Review quickie: Fender (Japan) Telecaster Jr

The Junior models are supposed to be Japan exclusive but these are available here. 'Junior' here is not a travel version of the Telecaster where everything shrinks. In this case, the instrument itself is only about 94% of its standard incarnation in terms of dimensions. The scale length is also reduced to 24" which is nothing new to Fender as the Jaguar is also sporting the exact scale length & it's a standard-sized guitar. Pickups are in-house Junior Collection Modified Single Coil Pickups.

Likes

• well built, no skimpy fixture
• responsive tuners
• impressive clarity from both pickups
• light
• bone nut (well-cut, no choking)

Dislikes

• light
• pickups lack low end punch
• price

The reduced overall dimensions of this Tele means it's not for everyone, especially those of us who are used to the standard sized version. Note that the instrument's weight & pickup performance contribute to both the hits & misses of this guitar's performance. It's a fantastic extended gigging guitar if weight considerations is your thing. You can virtually strap this on for the entire day without taxing your spine. However, the lack of substantiality in this department turns the guitar into an overtly bright sounding instrument. Even unplugged, you can hear how bright it is when strummed. This is compounded by the bright-sounding pickups. If twang is your thing then this in heavenly. But if you wish for this guitar to cover a bit more musical territory, a swap in pickups might be necessary. That said, the clarity from the default pickups are outstanding. 

Since I own the Jaguar, I'm not affected by the neck's playability of this Tele. In fact, I do not feel marked differences between the two guitars. The body might be the main influence in making you feel the instrument is indeed smaller than its counterparts. 

I must say that the price of this instrument is unreasonable. It's a hair short of $1.5K & it's actually a diminished version of a Telecaster; shouldn't that be abridged by a diminished price tag as well? In view of no special highlight or features of the Junior series (in-house pickups, in-house hardware, no exotic grade wood, etc. ) in general, this is a terrible value-for-money consideration. You are better off getting a Mexican Telecaster if you wish for a no-nonsense Telecaster experience at this price point.

Final rating: 80%

Fender: Junior Collection Telecaster (Japan)

Availability: Swee Lee Co.

Price: $1,499 (bag included)

Jones' Bees

This one had been touted as a 'much anticipated' instrument by cult followers. So the Epiphone Adam Jones LP made its debut a few days ago. It's fair to say the guitar per se is nothing special, it aimed to replicate the Gibson goodness (whatever that means).

The hidden draw is the feature art located at the rear of the body & it will be different every time a new one is released. That's right, there will be six more to come & the collectibility of it all means some of us are bent on buying all seven of these; same guitar, different artwork. I'm neither a keen LP fan nor an Adam Jones follower so these are novelty purchases to me.

Pics: Epiphone

What battery?

Pic: Sweetwater

After listening / watching ample video references, I was ready to get the new Wampler Phenom distortion pedal. This spec sheet is from Sweetwater. 

The Phenom pedal does not accommodate battery application as seen above. Yes, it has ample cavity space for a battery mod but the current build has no battery clip, please take note. I would caution everyone to avoid relying on distributor product details to commit a purchase. In any case, the implication here is that Sweetwater might have just copied & pasted the details instead of making efforts to physically check the pedal itself. I believe laziness would entail disrepute especially when you can easily check once since its something new to the fold. Darn.

Extended midweek

Despite the post title's suggestion, the Wednesday kept its 24hrs in tact; no extension whatsoever. Only this guitar's scale length observes an extension (at the factory) - 26.5" Why do I bother with such guitars? Playing something slightly different opens up avenues for fresh ideas. We notice that working under pressure & out of out comfort zone always brings out out best.

Was at Beez's earlier today to get the volume pot replaced. It's like this guitar's pots are cursed, they always ended up dead at the year end. There's absolutely nothing wrong with it at other times of the year. Anyway, pots observe a finite life span so that was easily attended to. This guitar has always observed a non-standard tuning. I have since strung it up with a set of 11s & tuned it to C#. The action here is slightly higher to accommodate the thicker gauge but nothing excessive, the guitar remains very playable. I have messed with pickup height as well; the Dimebucker sits a little deeper in the cavity than its 59 counterpart, just 1mm difference but it makes the former likeable when distortion is concerned.