Tokai bag

 This is what you get when you purchase a Japanese Tokai guitar. This bag looks well-designed. 

Ample padding all round (strap included) to make it a very comfortable bag to handle. If you have handled a Kohlman bag before, this is an iteration of that bag with additional trimmings to make it feel / look exquisite.

Neck cradle & ample side cushioning. Notice the black layered areas - these are the spots where the instrument's hardware comes into contact with the fabric. This layer prevents lining adhesive from bleeding onto the hardware over time & causing some nasty reactions, namely that sticky feel.

I'm giving this bag plus points for this design - can you see the zipper material here? Of course not. It's been covered by fabric.

If you undo the zipper & flip it over like this, then you could see the actual zipper material. Why is this important? It means that on rainy days, that fabric 'blanket' protects the zipper from water & prevents rust.

Victory FR

Gibson wants you to know that its Victory model is now available with a Floyd Rose bridge (& locking nut). Will this iteration be able to compete against the super-shredder type guitars by Jackson, ESP, Ibanez et al? The way I see it, it's still rooting for the Gibson heritage - glossed neck, heavy, absence of single coils... Other brands won't be intimidated, to say the least.

Pic: GMusic

Neo-Classic

Something new by Charvel - the Neo-Classic San Dimas Style 1 SD1 HH. That's definitely a mouthful & we have people dissing the lengthy Ibanez model number citations. What's the big deal with these guitars? They are made in the USA.

If you are interested, please be informed that it features the block heel neck joint which they don't mind doing due to the Fender association plus the fact that Ibanez is doing it for the Genensis models & this doesn't impede sales.

The other mouthful - Neo-Classic San Dimas SD1HH HT, which is of course, the fixed bridge version. Pickups for both versions are Seymour Duncan JB / '59. Do also note the absence of a tone knob.

Pics: Charvel

Broken F

This is a major concern in the mean time; Fender putting other manufacturers to legal task for infringing its Stratocaster body design copyright. I'm reading this with interest as an individual who used to be in the legal fraternity here once upon a time. It was a brief stint but an eye-opening experience. I refrained from commenting because my legal knowledge is strictly based on domestic understanding & more importantly, I'm not a lawyer. 

Fender claimed there are enterprises out there infringing the Stratocaster body design copyright. In my opinion, this is the glaring fundamental legal failure that should put Fender's efforts to nought. With reference to intellectual property rights, a design cannot be copyrighted. Copyright protects authorship (Osborn, 1993). Leo Fender invented the Stratocaster body shape & by virtue of this understanding (its capability of industrial application, Osborn 1993), it would move into the patent domain. Until Fender is able to show a definitive legal ownership / registration of the Stratocaster body, it has no case to begin with.

Another important point to note here is the default judgment obtained by Fender (Regional Court of Dusseldorf, March 2026). This judgment type merely acknowledges the complainant's points of contention in view of the respondent's failure to appear in court. There were no damages awarded or entailment rights conferred to the complainant so Fender has absolutely no authority to tell others what to do with potentially offensive inventory (stop production, destroy inventory, pay compensation, etc.). Also, I am not aware of cross jurisdiction in this case; can a judgment in a German court be used as a basis to initiate legal action in the USA? 

Shag's guitar

Dimmu's Shagrath has a signature ESP guitar. He's not known for his guitar playing in Dimmu but he plays guitar with this other outfit, Chrome Division. I sometimes wonder why individuals who are not known for their guitar playing actually gets a signature model. To be fair, Shagrath plays quite a bit in CD but people like Bruno Mars (Fender) & Taylor Swift (Taylor)? Gee...

Pic: ESP

Indoor Saturday

Someone recently said that I like wood-looking guitars. He's actually referring to those unfinished guitars of mine, exposing the bare wood grain. This was of course, a default finish from the factory. I happened to play one such guitar today, the RGA32 you see above.

This was the original batch of non-Japanese RGA models; notice the absence of cutaway chamfering unlike the models of today. This guitar also had a default set of active pickups which I didn't fancy so they made way for a pair of Seymour Duncans: Distortion (b) / P-Rails (N).

Someone actually handled this guitar while I was at Beez's some time back. He said Ibanez necks are supposed to be thin which this one is not. Well, if you are not familiar with the Ibanez line-ups, there are various neck profiles for the various models offered. Ibanez got associated with think necks when the JEMs debuted, followed by the RG550, which retained the neck profile. Along the way, Ibanez did not limit thin necks to all the guitars on offer but they stuck to the Wizard name which became synonymous with thin necks. The really thin necks are the Super Wizard of the 1980s. The Wizard III profile which are equipped in many mid-priced models are definitely not thin. My RGA32 has a Wizard II version which is 21mm at the 12th fret as opposed to the Super Wizard's 19mm at the same fret.

Whatever the case, I'm not obsessed with thin-necked Ibanez guitars. I'm OK with any neck profiles as long as they facilitate my playing style. Re-string day today, a fresh set of Olympia 9s for my RGA32. 

Under cover

Sharing some stuff here since I received quite a few queries pertaining to pickup covers / cover installation. Do note that the pickups in question here are passive Seymour Duncan Nazgul & Sentient humbuckers.

Are pickup covers necessary? No they are not. Pickups work fine with or without covers.

Do the covers (regardless of the materials) impede performance? Thusfar, there have been no records / documentations to show a significant difference in performance between covered & non-covered pickups. The pickup's magnetic field are strong enough to penetrate the cover materials. If there was ever an anomaly that significantly affected output / performance, companies like Gibson for instance, would have given up covering their pickups a long time ago. 

What are the supplementary steps to be taken after covering pickups? If you are covering your pickups like how the manufacturers are doing it, wax potting would help prevent microphonic occurrences. If you are doing it for novelty reasons (like yours truly), it's a mere covering of the bobbins & pole pieces; drop in & ready to go.

Will a typical pickup cover fit into any humbucker? From my personal experience, this is the case with the flapless version (refer to the top-most pic of this post). As for the flap version (depicted above), the length is not universal. Wider pickups, eg. Seymour Duncan Trembuckers, would manifest minor fitting issues. FYI - SD Tembuckers feature a longer bobbin vs a DiMarzio F-Spaced pickup. DiMarzio keeps the bobbin length the same for both standard & F-spaced versions, only the pole pieces spacing are different.

What are the advantages of covering pickups if this doesn't affect performance? 1) Covered pickups are protected from the player's sweat or other external moisture interference. This way, the pole pieces won't rust / oxidize easily. 2) Covers also protect the pickups from pick scratches. Some of us tend to scratch the coil tape as well (the brute players especially) so the covers protect the tape & coil wires. If you intend to sell off the pickups in time to come, covered pickups would look more presentable once the covers are removed (obviously, duh...). 3) If you are bored or experience a surge in artistic assimilation, you can doodle on the covers with paint markers or simply paste stickers on them.

How much? Plastic covers are $3 each (average price), metal versions typically lists for $5 each or more.

Bottom line - covered pickups are neither inferior nor superior to their uncovered counterparts. It's a cheap, reversible, fun mod.

Dad's bass

Was at my Dad's this morning to check out his bass. He had been complaining to me about the tuners which were dysfunctional. My step-mum told me the situation had caused unnecessary anxiety. By the way, this is an Ibanez PCB54E.

It turned out that two of the tuners were dysfunctional. One was dead & quite impossible to turn. The other was the opposite; it was too loose & had a little play that failed to retain tuning. I bought a fresh set of tuners & replaced all four. Done.

Also, my Dad bought a standard scale replacement string set which were unsuitable for this instrument (too long). A little reading up revealed that the medium scale version was required. Easy fix - purchased from Swee Lee. 

My Dad used to play in a wedding band. He would ply his trade at the community centers here & was more active during his younger days. He gave up the solid body bass & opted for something much lighter in view of his senior years (he's in his 70s). He's currently undergoing UTI treatment & spends his days at home so this bass keeps him happy. I totally understand this need to be pre-occupied & not think of one's ailment so this is the least I could do for him. 

Purple S

Did another quick re-finish since the weather was good with eventual downpours in the evening. Nothing fancy, just my Ibanez S521. I will continue to hunt for used fixed bridge S-Series because I prefer it to the RG, really. I wouldn't pass the chance to acquire the older 22-fretted version if a good one comes my way but understand the fact that these are usually equipped with a whammy bridge.

As usual, Beez handled the electronics with ease. I tend to replace the default 5-way selector to a 3-way because these days, I do not fancy the split coil option.

That's right, I'm still pre-occupied with the metallic flake finish. Also, those pickups are passive humbuckers given the cover treatment. This guitar was strung with a set of DR 10s & tuned a half step down. It's designated for heavy tunes as the pickups on board are (Seymour Duncan) the Nazgul / Sentient pairing.

The return of pink

I just found out that Ibanez is returning the pink AZ2402 (together with the pastel blue version) to its catalog. Have no idea if pink is trending now or if there was a recent lobby for this colour to be re-introduced to prevent international unrest. I don't know.

I bought the pink AZ back in 2019. Didn't think too much about the colour, it's just something I don't own. I prefer a pink guitar without the picture of a Japanese mouthless cat character to hype it up. IYKYK.

Rock Lady

OK... didn't know this was actually a collaboration of sorts between PRS & Japanese Anime. Whatever the chemistry between the two parties, this one looks appealing due to its simplicity. That pink finish might not be everybody's thing but that didn't stop people from acquiring a certain Squier guitar with a Japanese mouthless cat character. Hoping this one wouldn't list for too much because it looks very objective & attractive. I'm even mentally prepared to forgive those two mini flick switches.

Pic: PRS

GS270 (6)

Done & good to go. Reminder - this is an Ibanez GS270, a GIO Series guitar made not to look like one. This is my third GIO given this kind of treatment.

Was at Beez's yesterday to get the electronics done.

Nothing fancy, a pair of Artec rail-type high output humbuckers. The middle single coil is the default pickup which was given a black metal cover.

Not too pleased with the replacement truss rod cover as it sports cloudy build ups but glad it was available.

A fresh set of Olympia strings. 

Was this re-finish necessary? No. It was a fun engagement for sick people like me to pass the time. I enjoyed seeing my efforts come to fruition & was not bound by any standards. I'm not a pro guitar tech who makes a living out of this. I also don't believe in sending my guitar for a pro paint job because it's costly. Thanks for reading / following. 

GS270 (5)

I'm particular with the drying of paint / lacquer. I discovered that putting it out in the sun gets the job done very well. If paint / lacquer does not cure properly, it will turn sticky & react with the guitar bag's / case's interior & it would mean re-finishing the body once more. Grateful that the weather had been scorching hot days ago & the drying turned out well.

To be concluded...

MORK @ SOLAR

Mork's Thomas Eriksen & Alex Bruun are now in the SOLAR camp. Heck, yeah!

Prism mini

After some deliberations & watching many review videos before sleep, I went with Laney's Prism mini ($185 @ Davis GMC). More updates soon.

New saddles

I dislike vintage-type bent saddles. As depicted above, that's how much grip space each saddle has if you need to raise the action. When you shim the neck pocket, the corresponding necessary adjustment would be raising the action to accommodate the new tilt angle. Bent saddles are just unsuitable for this rectification.

Also, the width of those bent saddles are 10mm each. These are not commonly sold at the shops. Most saddles are meant for the super-Strat type string spacing, these are 10.5mm each. The moment I saw these 10mm saddles available online, I knew they would accommodate my needs.

Price watch (107)

Ibanez fans would know, the RG7320EX is a 7-string model. This here is not a 7-string & the details look sus. One more time - let's not waste our time & money dealing with someone who doesn't know what s/he is selling.

GS270 (4)

Decal arrived today. I've stopped using the water-slide version. It's messy & fragile, certainly not for a novice like me. This here is the rub-on transfer version. Material is thicker than the water-slide version & dried up a lot faster.

The set of tuners there is the ARM brand. Virtually unknown & very affordable. I've realized that if you go for the cheaper set, more often than not, they would turn out dodgy. However, if you opt for something cheap but branded, regardless of the brand's obscurity, they would turn out better. I didn't know the ARM brand existed before this episode.

To be continued...

CY returns

The CY makes a return to Edwards' line-up this June with a simpler look.

Once upon a time, the CY was one of the upper-most tier instrument in the Edwards catalog. It had more than 24 frets, excessive binding, Seymour Duncan pickups, gold hardware... the works. The current version is a rather restrained look but equally inviting. The pickups are Seymour Duncan Rails: JB / Vintage / Jazz. 

Good to know that the neck-through-body construction was retained for the current incarnation. Despite the trimmings, expect to pay about $2K if it's made available here.

Pics: ESP

GS270 (3)

Body is ready for a re-finish. I did not remove the existing finish entirely. The idea here is to scratch the surface so that the new coat of paint would stick. That's it. That existing coat there prevents me from having to pore-fill the bare wood before a re-finish would take place. Of course, it's very unprofessional but very befitting for a novice like me. My objective had always been as long as it works. 

These are the trem post holes. I had stuffed them with foam, yes that one that came with the pickup packaging, very spongey. This prevents paint from entering the holes & mess up the screw threads. Also, the cavities in this body had been lined with paper. It's been scorching hot lately so it's a good time to be spray-painting .

To be continued...

CORT @ 10% off

A little late in knowing that CORT guitars are currently on 10% discount (@Swee Lee till 12 June). Cort KX models are direct competitors to Schecter's Omen & Ibanez SZ models once. While Ibanez discontinued the SZs, Schecter's Omen are getting more inaccessible to many beginners. CORT kept prices down & this KX100 is a very affordable bolt-on version currently listing for $296.10.

This GS200SE ($269.10) is one of the better affordable / entry-level instruments out there. Pickups are above-average to me & those single coils are surprisingly good considering I plugged it into a solid state amp. I'd rather you check this out than a Squier.

Do not doubt CORT's craftsmanship, they make guitars for Ibanez & PRS (among others).

Pics: CORT

Jacks

The input jack on the right suffered from intermittent connection. It couldn't click properly once a cable was connected. Notice its shorter main prong; this is typical of '80s guitars. The replacement jack (left, HOSCO brand, available @ Davis GMC) is a Japanese product & it sports a significantly longer main prong to ensure a secured connection each time. For those of us who are still reluctant to replace the default components of our guitars, we should keep in mind the fact that along the way, product design improved & we should embrace improvement as opposed to blind infatuation.

SL June savings

Some mid-year enticements for those of us whose pockets are a little more filled up than the others.

I have no idea if people are still buying pedals these days but I've had personal experiences with this EHX trio which are currently subjected to the June savings.

• Nano Big Muff Pi. A good start for those of us who are intrigued by the fuzz unit. Nothing special, just an above average fuzz unit to get things going. It goes well with a Tube Screamer unit or something of this nature, for some creamy tones this side of Eric Johnson. 
• Soul Food. Touted as the Klon on a budget not too long ago, this one performs well regardless of the association. Something treble-ish but pleasant, that's how I hear it.
• Crayon 69. This one's off radar but I enjoy using it as an OD-3 alternative. It has that wee bit top end push that you might like if you play in a band setting. 

The opinions shared above are mine. My personal experience with thee pedals might not conform to the manufacturer's perspective considering I am distortion-inclined, invest excessively to sound heavy & dabble in fusion-esque settings for solos.

Pics: SL

Pac Man

Once again, Fender never fails to entice us with novelty. This Player II Telecaster would perform equally well without the Pac Man graphics. Then again, should we be buying Fenders in view of what it's doing to others?

Pic: Fender

GS270 (2)

I really hate dealing with stuck screws. I needed to remove the truss rod cover to re-finish the headstock to match the body. Knowing this guitar had been set aside, unplayed, untouched, I was expecting this to happen. I avoided drilling them out. I removed the truss rod cover instead, sacrificing it along the way. The dead screws were left exposed & it could be easily removed using a pair of pliers. I was fortunate  the screws did not turn malleable & snap.

To be continued...