AI... not really

We end June in the knowledge that AI is ironically not intelligent enough to understand what you want. Even after giving specific instructions (detailed prompts in AI speak), it's unable to manifest desired outcomes. I wanted an Ibanez RG550 in a yellow finish & one of the outcomes was close (the left most image) but still not good enough. The models out there need to be trained on guitar images which, I believe, is not the immediate interest of these model builders.

Flower power '25

Fender Japan is doing a Summer 2025 revival of the Blue Flower finish. The party pooper in this line up is, of course, the Acoustasonic Tele because it did not exist back in the day. Bodies are alder for the Strat & Tele, do note. Frets are the vintage profile which might be a turn off for contemporary players but once you get used to it, it's as playable as what ever frets you are playing in the mean time. I like the fact that the Tele & Strat stay true to the fret numbers - 21.

Pics: Fender Japan

Chleo

This is the new Herman Li signature by PRS, it's called Chleo. They took a while to get this going because the proto which went on the road with Herman Li broke as a result of rough handling. Rough here refers to the act of kicking the guitar while it's still strapped on. There are plenty of clips going round showing that structural failure but I'm not here to highlight comic relief.

As you can see, Chleo is essentially a re-interpretation of the Ibanez Egen. It's tapered at the sides to mimic the S-Series proprietary design but required some swelling to accommodate the pickup selector & input jack. That's hinting at how thin the body is. Pickups here are Fluence & it sports a Gotoh bridge. It exceeds $6K & currently on a limited run. 

Pics: PRS

New Year greetings

Blessed new year greetings to all Muslim blog readers. Stay true to faith & everything will fall in place. To the rest of us - have good weekend ahead. 

Price watch (96)

I am an advocate for affordable strings. I don't embrace those semi-trash cheap strings sold online; they sound bad, feel awful & don't last till our next paycheck. Olympia makes good, affordable strings & I've been using them a lot lately. Please avoid buying from Cristofori music as they are selling them for the prices depicted above. You can purchase them from Music Theme / Ranking Sports for $1 less. I do not wish to call out guitar stores out there like this but some stores are much disconnected from the buy/sell climate because they have primary services that assure self-preservation; selling instruments is just a side hustle.

2204

Spending the midweek with my AZ2204. Ibanez did a smart thing by moving away from the shred-esque neck profile with the AZ Series. The AZ necks are nothing like the ones in the RG / S-Series. It's not trying to mimic any competitors' proprietary care either but some are hinting at the Suhr / Fender elements which, in my opinion, are dismissively convenient. Despite this different neck profile, I am still able to do my thing so that speaks a lot about the AZ holding its own in terms of playability appeal.

Would like to thank all my gear for keeping me occupied throughout the uncertain days of unemployment. Nothing beats the anxiety of not knowing where / when your next paycheck comes from. It would mean desperate times for some of us but it comes with consequences.

Charvel Evertune

Looks like Charvel has joined the Evertune camp with this Pro MOD Plus So-Cal Style 1HH Evertune E. As it is, at least for the local players / musicians here, we are doing OK with non-Evertune equipped guitars. Yes, the Evertune systems has some plus points when it comes to tuning stability (especially for pro live performances) but there are some set-up technicalities to deal with before being ready to play. Personally, I don't have a need for my instruments to manifest such tuning stability so there's no desire to own one.

Pic: Charvel

Away

I love spending time in Malacca; the laid back feel, the food & the riverside night-ivities. I've been here countless times but keep coming back for more.

One of the dining places we went to showcased some in-house music & I got a chance to chat with the musicians pertaining to gear & stuff. They were kind enough to let me document their gear. This is the guitar set-up. All songs were played on acoustic guitar, even if the original numbers have distorted electric guitars in them (eg. Bon Jovi / Scorpions).

The bassist had a bare-bones set up; just the bass into the mixer; the reason you only see a D/I box here. By the way, there were no instrument amplifiers used, both of them were hooked into the PA system & they sounded good throughout.

Snaking through

Not too long ago, it's VH (CLICK). Today, it's Whitesnake. Don't see too many people who are keen to  manifest their rock affiliations on their rides. 

Pink Saturday

Another indoor Saturday but I'm not complaining. Spent time with my AZ2402. I remember being asked if I would want a non-pink finish, it's available on Swee Lee's inventory back then but I prefer this pink one. It was a conscious choice, of course. I went with something off beat, focusing on tone & playability more than visual appeal. You'd read in countless Ibanez / guitar forums everywhere of how 'true' Ibanez fans express displeasure by virtue of a non-DiMarzio pickup in the early stages of the AZ Series production. The default Seymour Duncan Hyperion are fantastic pickups. Just because one is a DiMarzio fan, one need not castigate these pickups for their inability to fulfil one's tonal requirements. It's like dissing the electric car just because you drive a petrol driven vehicle. Choices are aplenty out there, if something doesn't float your boat, exercise your choices.

Strings were oxidized when I took it out of the case. The .009 snapped & I'm still trying to figure out why this happened since the nut & bridge saddles were devoid of sharp contacts. I'm not going back to Ernie Ball, of course. I still have bonus point with Swee Lee, just using them up before they expire. I still prefer D'Addario but I'm not buying them due to price issues. 

Hard drive

Another good one by JHS - the Hard Drive distortion. I'm definitely a fan if such voicings; a hard hitting distortion without crossing into the metal domain. For the metal end of things, I usually leave this to the amp. The pedal's job is to spice things up, the spicier, the better.

To be continued...

 

Violet

This is a wonderful pedal. It's the JHS Violet, the signature overdrive of Lari Basilio. It was mirrored after the Morning Glory pedal with an added twist. It's my kind of pedal.

To be continued...

Dishonest

I'm leaving this here & it's obvious as to what took place. If you think you can trust certain entities / individuals online, do re-think. Also, it's good to document unboxing activities to help you mitigate the circumstances. Take care, everyone. Hope your mid-week is not as rotten as mine.

Price watch (95): BFG edition

Pic: Sweetwater

Greetings, folks. This is not another issue for contention but an attempt to understand the after-market climate & it's price related. I'm sure you've come across the Gibson Les Paul BFG before. It's that bare-bones LP which received a generous number of plaudits & disdain, depending on which camp you are from. The LP BFG used to be available at Swee Lee & listed for $1.5K +/- before further iterations were made available along the way with the accompanying price variations. 

I cam across a couple of BFG listings in the after-market recently which offered food for thought when it comes to pricing discontinued products. The first listing depicted above shows a $1K asking price. I personally find this a fair proposition as the guitar is in a well-played condition & it comes with a hard case of similar condition.

The other listing is a little confusing (it depicted other BFG models) & the asking price is way more. There is no way to assess if this figure is a deserving asking price for the guitar as no actual pictures were included (maybe seller can provide to you personally upon request). 

How much does a BFG go for these days? The politically correct answer is - it depends on demand & supply forces. Do we peg the price according to after-market listings which are not from this country (I currently know of one store here listing their pre-owned products using this formula)? No because the demand-supply conditions are different there compared to local circumstances which I believe is fair application here. So it all boils down to value perception; the seller lists the guitar for that amount which he thinks is deserving. We need not agree to the amount because our perception of value is different as a buyer. 

Of course, there's this arguably false consideration that all discontinued products should command a hefty price tag due to its scarcity. Then again, we need to return to the demand-supply understanding; the final price of the guitar is what had been agreed by both the buyer (demand) & seller (supply) & not a virtual strict adherence to scarcity.  

Exclusive kiss

Looks like Ibanez made a pact with Sweetwater for an RG565R in a vampire kiss (VK) finish. The VK finish is currently offered for the maple 'board RG565. Let's see if this goes into regular production.

Pic: SW

Pyro Azul

This is downright attractive - AB1.6 in this blue-ish pyro azul finish. Apparently, it's not that new. It had been in the catalog but with a different bridge (FR1000). This time, a GOTOH bridge supersedes the previous iteration. It costs a little more as well as it's finished in Spain.

Pic: SOLAR guitars

Rails details

I'm installing this into one of my Ibanez guitars. The pickup in question is a Seymour Duncan  JB Rails model. Just sharing some details here... Firstly, the mounting screw flaps are now rounded as depicted above. Duncan fans are aware that majority of the flaps are the square type so it requires a good rounding off if the pickup is to be fitted into Ibanez guitars. Of course, not all Ibanez guitars were manufactured to accommodate the rounded flaps exclusively but majority are as such. Secondly, the brand name had been blackened out to appeal to those who dislike the screened label in white.

Thirdly, there are no brand engravings on the baseplate. Makes the pickup look cheap but that's blatant cost cutting right there. 

Re-shimmed

This guitar is currently tuned to fourths. I'm getting used to this arrangement & liking the fact that not much positional shifts are involved to move quickly across the neck. However, the action past the 14th fret or so is horrible. So it left me with no choice...

... but to re-shim the pocket. Just a reminder to us all, we sometimes need to re-visit the tinkering done to our instruments. Things might not work at the first instance. This isn't a failure indicator, it simply means that if a certain tinkering works for one guitar, it doesn't mean it will work for another. Don't give up, ok? (Guitar: Ibanez GS121)

Krisiun @ SG

If you like your death metal fast & furious, do check Krisiun out. Also, the riffs & solos are a little technical so there's something in store for everyone. Happening in about 2 month's time.

Pic: Street Noise SG

Keepin' it alive

Just very happy to see the younger generation being interested in music & keeping the passion alive. In this day & age, youths out there are too immersed into social media & thinking that's the benchmark of personal ability. If you stop to take pics of performing individuals out there, please offer some contributions, even if it means giving up loose change; it means a lot to them. 

E Arrow

The Arrow model is now offered as an Edwards iteration. This E-Arrow-1H as the name implies, is a single humbucker vesion. Specifically, it's a Fishman Fluence Modern to handle all sorts of distortion antics.

Pic: ESP Japan

Mid-year promo @ SL

Swee Lee is having a mid-year promo on selected items. No idea how many of us out there are still in the market for the Ibanez AZ but be informed that it's on 20% off (AZ2203, AZ2204, AZS2209 included). I find this enticing considering the list price of an AZ is a whisker away from $3K.

For a more utilitarian option, the RG470DX / RG450DX are also on sale - $559 after discount.

Pics: Ibanez

Mc 56

This is the new PRS McCarty SC56, a 40th Anniversary commemorative unit & the company's recognition & respect for Ted McCarty. It's a limited edition piece so it may / may not be available here & it's gonna cost a premium.

Do note that the body is chambered at selected spots to address the weight issue.

Pics: PRS

Eidul Adha

Eid greetings to all Muslim readers. Another sombre holiday at my end. Obligatory visit to the parents' & chilling out with my gear at home. Wishing everyone a good break & an equally good week ahead.

Ibanez: June (2)

A Japan only release in the mean time - the Ibanez RG8571. Hoping to see more fixed bridge units in the upper tier range. 

That bridge there looks like a Hipshot but it's an Ibanez Gibraltar Elite model. I still see it as a Hipshot variation, nothing too different.

Pics: Ibanez Japan

Volante (2)

I don't know why I missed this out the last time - Kramer's new Volante model is also offered in a single-action whammy bridge. The neck single coil there is an in-house Triton model which is hum cancelling. Once again, I'm calling out the local Kramer dealer here for the lack of enthusiasm & deserving goodwill. It's good that we have a local Kramer dealer here but things are just not happening in terms of availability.

Pic: Kramer

Snapper 20th

ESP is commemorating the 20th anniversary of its Snapper design. Looks awesome, yes? The ESP at the headstock there means you'd be paying a premium for one.

There's the Edwards version if you're interested. Equally appealing (Japanese) but at a lower price point. The fact that these are anniversary models means they are limited in production & has a 50/50 chance of making it to the local distributor. 

Pics: ESP

Ibanez: June 2025

The only new model this June from the Ibanez camp: RG8520. Understandably so because come Summer, all the outstanding NAMM models would be released. This is a J-Custom so all the elite appointments are in there. I still can't come to terms with the TOL inlay, it messes up my fretboard navigation. 

Pic: Ibanez

White start

I love this guitar despite not playing it often. It's all about the weight - heavy. I can't really handle it after about 20min of play as it would numb my right leg severely. Due to the intensive chemo not too long ago, there were some nerve damages here so lapping this heavy guitar would compound the discomfort. 

I love the deep, heavy tones I could manifest with this guitar. The weight per se & the pickups (Seymour Duncan JB / '59) play an important part in this. It works better with riffs as opposed to solos. I don't need to play fast with this one, & I completely understand why those doom inclined prefer a guitar of this make to fulfil their sonic assault. You won't see this in the stores here these days as ESP has scaled down on its copy designs due to obvious legalities. 

Of course, the obligatory re-string before play - Darco 10s.

Used, May '25

Starting June positively. Sending this over to the recycling bin. That's how many strings I've used since September 2024. You now understand why I find it necessary to see things through with budget strings that are, at the very least, not repulsive. Wishing everyone a good start to the mid-year.