Way

 

Ending June with this hilarious feature from one of Jackson's official social media pages - just look at which way those strings were wound round the posts. 

Pic: Jacksonfb

Price watch (36)

Wow... a custom built Kramer going for under $1K. I'm unaware Kramer has a custom order division currently for us to spec our dream guitars. The Pacer C II that I know of was manufactured in the late 1980s, it was discontinued in 1989. Kramer was bankrupt in 1990. It is currently under the ownership of Gibson & the Epiphone arm of the business is handling production. Then again, 'custom' here is loosely used & probably refers to self-assembled guitars with the liberty of having well-known brands at the headstock. 

There are currently no serial numbers to be found at the rear of the headstock / neck bolt plate.

I certainly have issues coming to terms with details highlighting costly replacement parts, which are proving to be an implied bargain, as the highlight of any sale as opposed to an assurance of authenticity.

On the other hand, there is another Pacer C II listed for much more.

Unlike its counterpart, there is a serial number on the neck bolt plate & the Kramer logo there is more convincing. On that note, if you know of any other Pacer Custom II with a maple fretboard & a reversed headstock, please link me to it; I wouldn't want to disrepute anyone out there with misinformation. So friends, if you are interested in the blue version, please exercise some caution before parting with good money.

The red special

Brought this one out to play for Tele Tuesday. It's not exactly a Tele but it's definitely a Tuesday. This one is on the heftier side of things & lately, I've been avoiding the heftier ones; they are beginning to affect my blood circulation. When I bought this way back when it was priced to clear, it actually cost less than its Mexican counterpart today. That's how crazy prices are in the mean time. I've stopped checking out certain guitars from a certain brand name as the products are becoming unreasonably priced without a matching mark up in quality.

I would refer to this combo as my cheat code; a proven, good-sounding pickup + the pick that makes me play with the least mistakes. The pickup in question is the Seymour Duncan JB (TB-4) & the pick - Norther Ghost Plectrums Planchette model. 

Re-string: ARIA Pro II TA-TR1

This came in for a re-string & set up yesterday - Aria Pro II TA TR1. This has to be one of the best value for money instrument that is much overlooked. While we drift with Epiphone when it comes to affordable semi-acoustic guitars, the TA TR1 is the standard to beat in this price bracket. It's simply well made. My only beef here is the nut - it's not glued to the wood. When you remove all strings at once, dropping out from the instrument is inevitable. The unplugged tone is bright, quite expected from a smaller bodied semi with a satin finish. With that said, it responded well to EQ tweaks at the amp, going from raunchy, punk tones to warm, rounded-top-end jazz staples, the TA TR1 hold its own when it comes to tone. To top it all off, it comes with a very well made Mojo bag. Available at Davis GMC (List: $650).

Summer NAMM 2022: Gold

Not to be left our this Summer NAMM, something from the Satch camp - behold, the JS2GD. Everything here is gold less the rosewood fretboard & some hardware / electronic appointments. Three things to note: HSS pickup combo, three pickup switches & back to 22 frets. Then again, it's effectively an HHH combo as those single coil sized pickups are humbucking. Three pickup switches will give a very interesting tone adventure if you don't mind them being fiddly; dealing with three switches might be a deal-breaker for some of us. Just happy to see the JS still being relevant to the Ibanez camp. They should really re-intro the Radius model for those of us who do not fancy the Satch association.

One more thing, it's Joe Satriani or Satch, not Joe Satch. 

Price watch (35)

Ibanez S1675 in as-is condition with a removable Roland synth pickup.

Ibanez S540 which is undoubtedly a Prestige level instrument in its heyday but currently with chrome GOTOH tuners, chrome locking nut assembly, replacement GOTOH Floyd Rose type locking bridge (yes, in chrome finish as well) & covered Seymour Duncan humbuckers. Which one would you choose?

The S540 is a wonderful guitar but giving it a personal makeover might extinguish genuine interest in the instrument. In this particular case, putting an option to offer in addition to an asking price (which doubles as a price floor) might do the guitar some good. Why? The S-Series is not an active interest amongst the Ibanez enthusiasts, the RG is preferred. Currently, the RG is backed by a revival; the Genesis models are popular choices & of outstanding value-for-money. If you own any older Japanese  RGs, you can definitely ride on this demand trend. Remember, I'm not the price police, you have no obligations to agree, just some food for thought. 

Discontinued

Edwards has discontinued this Explorer-esque model this Summer, the E-EX-125D.

This one's gone as well - the E-FV-125D. Both are non-gloss models featuring active pickups. There seems to be no newer models as replacements in the catalog. 

Pics: ESP Japan

Van 78

Trying not to play any RGs this week so this one got the limelight - S1620. In addition to a re-string...

 .... it received a pair of Seymour Duncan 78s. Too tempted by these, just have to try 😅

To be continued...

Review quickie: Seymour Duncan - Green Magic

Seymour Duncan's Green Magic humbucker is new for 2022. It's conceived in the image of Peter Green's pickups in one of his Les Pauls.  As such, if you are in the market for some high output pickups maybe... 😑

The GM is a moderately hot bridge pickup & if you choose the neck version, it's more moderate than hot. The magnets here are Alnico 2 & it's voiced to be a scooped sounding performer. There are currently three versions available, black, zebra & covered. 

Likes:

• clarity
• warmth (neck)
• adaptable to intense distortion

Dislike

• price

The GM is a great pickup if you choose to embrace warmth & clarity over all other distractions. The neck pickup can easily be a go-to jazz humbucker if a tad of overdrive is your thing; think John Scofield. The bridge is a little edgy despite the scooped EQ as documented by the manufacturer so some tweaking of the treble at your amp is necessary if classic rock & blues are your music staple. Does it replicate the Peter Green magic? I can't answer this for sure because I don't know the definitive Peter Green tone, I'm not a fan & not looking forward to find out either. I'm treating the GM as it is. But the pleasant surprise here is its ability to handle gobs of distortion well. I can easily replicate Dissection's Reinkaos era tones here, no problem but then again, this is not the manufacturer's initial intention. 

Please be informed that the GM used to be a custom shop offering & it's now made available as a regular production model. I have no idea if it went through some custom floor treatment before hitting the shelves because the retail price for one ($180) is a little higher than the other standard models; 59, Pearly Gates, A2 Pro, etc. Be informed that if you choose a calibrated set, the neck's pickup magnet is already reversed to give you the out-of-phase tone. 

Rating: 90%

Availability: Davis GMC

Prices:

• Single: $180 (uncovered) / $215 (covered)
• Set: $325 (uncovered) / $365 (covered)

Pics: Seymour Duncan

Classic tones

These are DiMarzio Air Classic (DP191) humbuckers. I had reservations about them initially because of the 'classic' tag there. So what are these humbuckers capable of?

To be continued...

Air tech

I've not touched this one for a while so it got a re-string last night & some playing time. I got this during one of Yamaha's sale event where I could actually be there early before everything got snapped up. This was the last piece in store & it's dinged at the bass side of the fretboard edge. I like everything about this guitar less the pickup selector switch which is a rotary knob there. You need at least two fingers to turn it & gets very challenging when you are holding a pick at the same time. Also, I've stopped using a battery for this guitar as all it does is power the pickup selector light which I can do without. 

This is a super light guitar due to the layered body construction that houses air, mostly. AIR here refers to Yamaha's patented Alternative Internal Resonance. Supposedly, it lets the body vibrate via metal tubes that are fixed under the bridge. I'm trying to reconcile the fact that body resonance is an awesome acoustic feature against the pickups' inability to pick this up (pun intended). Whatever design engineering is involved here, the RGX A2 has a good semi-acoustic voicing that sounds more solid than the average semi. 

I'm also glad to have TESLA pickups in there instead of the default pickups as these are higher output units, more responsive to distortion. Seriously, I wish Yamaha would adopt this design tech into their Pacifica models.

Baby boom

 

I wasn't aware there's a mahogany top version of the Baby Taylor. I'm pretty much done with travel-sized acoustics as these sound boxy especially after trying the Martin LX1s. I'm definitely a fan of the playability but the tone could be more appealing. Even the Ed Sheeren version of the LX is wrong when it comes to the price-to-performance consideration. 

And then this BT2 came in for a re-string. The owner bought this guitar during the lockdown period, thinking she could pick up some playing skills but the interest died along the way. The guitar was left unplayed for more than a year. She wanted to put this up for sale & I thought I could give it some TLC before it finds a new owner. The tone from this one is just impressive. Yes, it still sounds a little wanting but more defined & organic than the LX1 I tried. The other more notable difference - volume. This is another non-braced back Taylor model that sounds huge & impressive in this aspect. The clarity that goes with it is definitely a plus. 

Lil thunder

My further attempt to rectify my playing - Ibanez TM320. This guitar has a different neck profile than the other Ibanez guitars I own & that might psychologically make me play properly. The neck carve here is rounded, very Fender-esque. 

However, the presence of a certain pickup might influence playing psychology as well. This here is the Lil '59 (Seymour Duncan) & it generates lots of lethal punches with distortion dialled in. So I ended up playing more riff than solos. In the end, playing this guitar doesn't really address my current playing issue 😅 At least it makes me a little happier today. 

Price watch (34)

This is an Ibanez SA260, it's been signed by the Polyphia guys. New at the store, it's listed for $449.  You're actually paying for the signatures, yes? 

There's nothing wrong with this guitar, just wanna highlight the price trend. The American Performer is the most affordable, no frills American made guitar in Fender's catalog. The current list price for one is $1,999. It used to be $1,700 before prices went crazy lately. The fact that a pre-owned unit is now listing for almost its previous list price shows you how things are in the mean time. Implication - people are not losing much money for the ones they bought before the price hike, if they intend to deal in the after-market.

Good end

Ending the day on a good note despite not being a good day.

Good because I received a surprise Fathers' Day gift from the Mrs. I've been looking for Drakkar Noir to relive some throwback moments; DK was my first real deodorant when I was in my teens. Along the way, DK became standard issue for SIA stewards, I was informed. Whatever the case, I just wanted a smaller manifestation. A pleasant surprise indeed.

Not good because I had been indoors battling my post-chemo skin condition which was a little overwhelming yesterday. Played some guitar today but kept making mistakes. It's like the fingers were not as ready as they used to be, not as flexible, not as quick. Age catching up. Maybe.

Gibson?

Hey, everyone. Just wanna say thanks to those who have participated in the Gibson poll (left shoulder). At this point in time, I wish to have a general sensing of how everyone feels about having Gibson available in the stores here. Are we still looking up to this brand name or is it time to acknowledge the fact that there are other worthy guitars out there for the money? I'm leaving it active till end of June for those of you who have not polled. Once again - thanks for your time.

Solar sustain

SOLAR guitars are in the Sustainiac game. Selected models now feature a Sustainiac Stealth Pro in the neck position. So for those of us who would be looking forward to some extended wailing, this is a good thing, yes?

Pic: SOLAR

Summer NAMM 2022: PIA

In my opinion, this is an undeserving inclusion in the Ibanez Summer NAMM release list; it's not new, just a new colour. Vai's PIA is now offered in a blue powder finish. How exciting, yes? Hmph.

I prefer Tom Quayle's TQMS1's celeste blue which was also on the same release list.

Also new this 2022, the AZ2204N in mint green which has a shade of blue in there. In fact, I see more blue than green in this one.

EDIT

Someone alerted me that the previous guitar on this list of blues, is not an AZES but an AZ. Then it occured to me that the AZES has its own blue guitar - the AZES40

And another someone mentioned that Tom Quayle's guitar is not the only other blue signature model on this list, Jake Bowen's latest is blue.

Have no idea if there's a blue revival going on at the Ibanez camp but even their latest, stunning GIO model is... blue (GRX120SP)

Whatever the case may be, leaving this here - some people with Ibanez guitars singing something with 'blue' in there. 

Pics: Ibanez

Magic?

Finally had the Seymour Duncan Green Magic installed in my LPJ. Among the three new SD pickups released lately (78 & High Voltage being the others), this pair was the least exciting to me; it's modelled after Peter Green's humbuckers, catered for blues rock more than anything else. But are they?

To be continued... 

Desktop Mustang

 

PRS, Gibson & Fender were absent from Summer NAMM 2022. They'd be foolish not to introduce something new this time round not as a commercial obligation but as a virtual shoutout to let guitardom know they have plans of their own. True enough, Fender released the Mustang LT40S (to debut in stores this August), perhaps as part of the plan.

This is a desktop utility amp, one which can interact with your computer to further tweak features. I must say Fender is quite late to the game. BOSS & Positive Grid, among others, were there & did stuff which had successfully gained fans along the way.  This lists for USD229.99 so it's not that appealing, price-wise, if all you need is just an amp for desktop practice.

Pics: Guitar

Review quickie: Behringer HM300

If you're not familiar with this series of Behringer pedals, these are plastic stompboxes with a fiddly battery cover which is also the pedal's on-off lever. It is exactly how the BOSS pedal works just that Behringer chooses plastic & this brings the cost significantly down - the HM300 is not even $30.

Likes

• price
• functional
• fairly good tones
• responsive EQ

Dislikes

• fiddly battery cover
• fragile parts
• underwhelming distortion

It's no secret that the HM300 is an attempt to emulate BOSS' Heavy Metal (HM-2). The control features are exactly the same less the colour feature - pink. It even says Heavy Metal on the label & delivers an intense serving of distortion. On matters pertaining to distortion, the range on offer is rather restrained, contradictory to the Heavy Metal promise but come to think of it, that's how the HM-2 is; rather underwhelming till it's maxed out on all fronts. On that note, the HM-300's EQ is, in this standard of offering, is above expectations. It adds to volume & inevitably distortion & offer good sensitivity. You can go from a deep, treble-deficient voicing to that famed semi-hissing chainsaw bark with ease. I find this pedal rather exceptional paired with a boost or a light overdrive unit acting as a push. If you have a high output humbucker pushing the distortion through, that would be a plus.

Re-visiting the factors that plague this series of pedals, the HM300 is light & gets jerked around easily if not secured onto a pedalboard. The battery cover is also fiddly, you need something hard & pointed to click it open; the two button release hinges are not accessible to human fingers - not an issue if you choose to run this on PSU. 

Rating: 70%

Behringer: HM300

• Availability: Swee Lee Co.
• List: $24.90 (online purchase only)

Claren

Wanna start this Tuesday morning by giving a deserving shout out to the good folks at Claren Guitars who reached out to me on their product launch. I'm not much of an acoustic guy but these guitars are deserving considerations & by choosing them, you are doing your bit to keep the domestic brand names going. It's a very difficult business climate when it comes to acoustic guitars here because there is stiff competition from the more established brand names out there - Takamine, Taylor & Martin, among others.  

20% off all models in the mean time so take your pick. Do drop by their web store for more info: CLARENGUITARS. 

MOMM (23)

Back to the technical stuff. Been listening to Animals As Leaders, this is their 5th release, Parrhesia. Actually, I had been listening to this for a while already, took a break from listening to tech guitar playing & now back to it. These days, when it comes to AAL, I'm paying more attention to the drums, mostly. Matt Garstka is a beast. His approach to rhythm & fitting ideas into songs is phenomenal. I'm also listening more to what Javier Reyes is doing as a fellow guitarist in the band knowing the highlight would fall on Tosin Abasi for his unique slap guitar approach which I believe is only useful if one plays something with thick strings for those low, distorted notes. I'm actually not into this kind of playing. Anyway, Parrhesia is typical AAL, metal vibe al round but disassociating themselves from being one per se. I feel that this release has a certain brush of heaviness to the music which was missing in the previous release as illustrated by the first two tracks (Conflict Cartography / Monomyth). Also present in this release, extensive dreamscape passages (Asahi being the prominent of them all) fit for artistic use more than pleasing the instrumentalists.

Price watch (33)

This is an Ibanez JIVA10. Brand new, it's $1,799 & comes with a set of DiMarzio Pandemonium pickups. Seller will include the default pickups in the deal. From a seller's perspective, the BK pickups here are upgrades worth more than the default pickups. Upgrade here is subjective. If the potential buyer agrees to that notion then a deal might happen. Beyond that, selling a used guitar (no matter how well taken care of) with an asking price too close to the initial asking price (new), is a difficult proposition, especially when it's an Ibanez which is not made in Japan.

Les Paul tribute

 Pic: NPR

Two days ago, June 9th, was the late Les Paul's birthday. I had wanted to mention it here then but it slipped my mind. Whatever opinion you have on him or the guitar, it is significant in guitar history. The man himself was a visionary, very much like Leo Fender. He had a certain set of ideals which worked out contrary to the popular opinions of naysayers. 

Like Les Paul, I like my Les Paul guitar to be of a certain spec. I started out disliking the LP because it went against my ideals - glossed neck, limited upper fret access & poor body ergonomics are chief culprits. Along the way, I discovered some fringe Les Paul models which offered a compromise & taught me to adapt. The LPJ you see above is an example. Body ergonomics are still wanting but it's spec'd towards my tolerance. Along the way, I appreciate the LP for its tone more than anythings else. 

From within my domain of musical interest, there are notable players whose impactful music are delivered by the Les Paul guitar. First & foremost, Mayhem's Euronymous - De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas was the LP through & through. We know how this album changed the world of aggressive music.

Towards the end of his time, Jon Nodtveidt (Dissection) put his LP Custom to marked use & it redefined heaviness as documented in Reinkaos. 

And there are others. The Les Paul is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to that deep, distorted aural assault. Perhaps the Les Paul experience will be fragments of our musical past if things continue as it is when it comes to the Gibson distribution here. 

Summer NAMM 2022: Bowen

Signature series are the highlight this Summer NAMM for Ibanez & this here is the JBM9999. It's in standard scale length despite the 27 frets there, ebony fretboard & Jake Bowen's own signature pickups. The Gibraltar Elite bridge there has a strong hint of Hipshot but as it is with Ibanez, this is perhaps the manufacturer's interpretation of the said bridge. 

If a blue guitar with 27 frets is a familiar concept to you, perhaps you're aware that Kiko used to have an ESP version. It even sports a similar rail type single coil-sized humbucker. Ironically, Kiko is now with Ibanez & had moved away from this guitar design. 

Pic: Ibanez / audiofanzine