Heritage @ C&M

Was across the Causeway last weekend. Will usually drop by C&M Music (Plaza Pelangi) if I crossed over alone. 

Interestingly, there was no sale for the Heritage H-150 but it's $70 cheaper across the Causeway. I had nothing in mind, just casual browsing. Asked if they still have the RG565 in stock - negative.

Pic: Heritage

Aged

Bacchus has relic'd models in their lineups. This one here is the TACTICS24 AGED/RSM, available now at Davis GMC ($1,100). The price is a little steep for something equipped with in-house locking tuners & pickups but it's definitely a winner with that roasted maple neck / fretboard + steel frets. Yes, that's a Wilkinson bridge. 

 

Pic: Deviser

Price watch (80)

Would you agree that discontinued stuff are indeed rare but they don't necessarily deserve the price hike? Also, a collectors' piece - according to...? For the record, no RG was ever equipped with a Floyd Rose bridge since they began life in 1987. The RG1450 is indeed a good guitar, worthy of its Prestige label but we won't pay in excess of $2K for one, yes? The default bridge here is the Edge Pro version, why should we pay more for the RG1450 as opposed to a Genesis RG550 (Edge bridge)?

A Chinese copy with boutique humbuckers on board in excess of $500... I'm sure you would buy this guitar for less, regardless of the pickups in there. Also, there would be keen interest for the pickups if there are not resident in this guitar. Just saying.

SL(ES)H

This guy has a penchant for raising guitar prices. Recently, Gibson had a signature ES-335 going for him. These were limited to 50 pieces worldwide & I must say it's a good thing. If the endorsement is prolonged, it will inevitably raise the prices of the other non-signature ES-335s & we know these guitars are not cheap to begin with. Not a fan anyway, so...

Pic: Gibson

Nylon chorus

Once upon a time, I used to dislike guitars with nylon strings with a passion. Here are my reasons:

• Strings feel thick / overwhelming to the touch. I find nylon strings too fat (for want of a better adjective). This caused playing discomfort.
• Strings are slippery. That's right, these don't stay put when fretted, they tend to move, giving me unnecessary vibrato which made me sound out of tune.
• Guitar sounds dull. This is especially true for the plain strings. I can tolerate the wound strings, though.
• Took forever to tune. Nylon strings required next to forever to tune (especially the fresh ones) in view of their elasticity. I needed to tune the guitar every time I stopped playing. Darn.

These were my opinions on any guitars with nylon strings on board. They were just not my thing. Putting things into perspective, back then, when I was still struggling to play the electric guitar, people kept shoving classical guitars into my face which was a double whammy due to the extra fat neck. 

Fast forward 2022 / 2023 - an ex-colleague passed me her daughter's nylon string electro-acoustic guitar for re-stringing & a minor set up (just lowered the action a tad). I had to plug in the guitar to know if the under saddle pickup was working. The amp happened to have on-board chorus & the guitar sounded darn appealing. I messed with the EQ settings & realized those bland sounding plain strings benefitted from some treble boost. That triggered my nylon-string adventure & it had not stopped ever since.

Adjusto price

Fender's Adjusto-matic (Japan) Jazzmaster is now available at Swee Lee ($1,999). This guitar was last mentioned here on September 2023. I was interested in this guitar due to its no-frills bridge but that price is a deal breaker. Something with a simple bridge system / assembly should cost less, yes?

Pic: Fender Japan

Price watch (79)

This LP Special was available before the Heritage - Gibson debacle. It was in the $1.3+/- price range, it came with a bag. 'Rare' & 'collector's item' here are purely the seller's interpretation & opinion of the current situation. Yes, Gibsons are not available at the stores here but these are arguably within reach (Music Bliss @ Malaysia). That $2,760 price tag does not come with a bag, FYI.

South NWL

The lefty version of the AZ2204NW is now available. A little slow to appear but appear nevertheless. There's this debate about any lefty version of any guitar costing a little more, let's see how much this will list for once it gets to the stores here.

Pic: Ibanez

Red Monday

I'm still in love with the 22 fret S540 models. It is perhaps a silent acceptance of adequacy amidst the shortcomings - obviously those 22 frets. I seldom venture up to the 24th fret while playing but often manifest touch harmonics there. This is the reason why the older, 22 fret S-Series are my thing. Gentle reminder - Malmsteen needs only 21 frets to turn heads.

Anyway, this guitar was brought out to play today to also remind myself how good those IBZ USA pickups are. These were manufactured by DiMarzio so the good tone pedigree is there. Not that I'm a fan of the aforementioned brand but I tend to go with what my ears like & these are definitely likeable.

HDX

An absolutely enticing piece (if you are a single pickup geek like yours truly) but it's a USA only release. I like everything about the guitar less the fretboard - richlite. Deal-breaker.

Pic: ESP

Batt

I am indeed the very small percentage of players out there who power pedals with batteries. I will use, at most, two pedals at any one time so investing in a pedal board with isolated power supply is pointless. The GP extra heavy duty battery you see above came with one of the boss pedals I bought some time ago. I put it in my Snakestortion pedal & it lasted for nearly 2 months before going completely dead. 

Good grass

The LP-like Grass Roots singlecut model has been available at Davis GMC for a while. The Grass Roots name is akin to the 'Squier' of the ESP brand. 

Only the initiated would know that Grass Roots has some serious value for money considerations to offer in their instruments, regardless of the series. The above video would shed some light as to why these things are, in my opinion, a little under-rated. 

Pic: ESP Japan 

E-Quest

This is new for May -  Ibanez has gone ebony for its Q52. That's right, the fretboard for this one is ebony & that very woody body top - it's pale moon ebony.

Also available - the 7-string & slanted frets iteration.

Pics: Ibanez

In labour we trust

Reminder to self - this country thrives on bleeding the workers here with taxes & rent. My respect to those who break sweat to fend for themselves.