PIII HH

Ending September with the knowledge that Ibanez is currently so in love with the Genesis 540PIII that this HH version featuring a throwback pickguard is one of the September 2026 highlights. Are you enticed?

Pic: Ibanez

Rotos for Kala

Needed some time away from guitars so it's a good time spent with the ukulele today.

Trying these Rotosound set. These are non-ball ends so some tying up is required. Nothing different from dealing with classical guitars. Immediate impression - strings give off a good volume projection. These are loud. 

But I'm not too agreeable with blue strings against a dark fretboard. That's about it. Nothing averse in terms of quality & performance, just that some of our vision (due to old age) are affected / easily fatigued by certain colour schemes. 

Fan-fretted ice

This was one of the surprises this month, least expected as well. So who are the players looking / lobbying for a 7-string, fan fretted Iceman? I hardly see the regular / standard Iceman being played around so this iteration is a baffling manifestation more than an intriguing September release. The ICMS721, they called it.

Least we forget, the fan fretted 7-strings coupled with a pair of oversized Fluences was already done recently, yes? So this part of the instrument wasn't exclusive to the ICMS721. I don't see the Alpha camp giving up theirs in favour of the ICMS721 in the mean time, The way I see it, the Alpha has the upper hand when playing standing up. Ibanez has the statistics to back their manufacturing up, yes?

Pics: Ibanez

HSII: H-137

Nice to see Heritage has this Standard II H-137 out. I just love simple guitars for some of the music I play; less fiddling, more playing. There are only two finishes offered in the mean time, this one & a black version. It's already available at Swee Lee ($2,599). Hoping to see some other colours along the way. FYI, Gibson did a humbucking version of its LP Jr 😅

Pic: Heritage

Historia

SOLAR guitars had just released these baddies; classic-looking models despite the contemporary outlines called the Historia Series. Looks darn cool but I'm about done with such burst-type finishes in any iterations. Also, the pickups here are in-house brands but the ceramic magnets make them darn suitable for high gain applications.

Pic: SOLAR

Silence

This is the seemingly new, limited edition, American Pro Classic Strat that looks like the previous Strat you saw at your dealers'. The highlight here is the Fender Silent System which, according to the manufacturer's promo clip, includes a dummy coil to eliminate the single coil hum & it's battery-free. Have we heard of this tech before? The answer is rather obvious.

Pic: Fender

EnEpi

I must work incredibly harder because if Epiphone can accord a signature model to this guy (Jay / Enhyphen)...

Pic: Epiphone

Defenders

So this just happened - PRS announced a collaboration with Land Rover to release the SE Defender models. So finally we have... : 1) Matching headstock 2) Black pickguard.

I'm looking at this beyond the colour play or even the black 'guard inclusion. This is PRS telling the world that the Silver Sky label now is a worthy name to perpetuate other ideas instead of offering guitardom with the ultimate Strat alternative exclusively. It's like the Les Paul name perpetuating Gibson's extension of ideas; Les Paul Standard, Les Paul, Studio, Les Paul Deluxe, etc. Hopefully, the PRS camp would extend this beyond a limited edition offering.

Pic: PRS

Kelly 27

Just seen this after browsing the Jackson homepage to look for short scale basses. 27 fret Kelly with an HS pickup combo, single volume knob, Duncans... nice. But not into the gold hardware & the fact that it's a signature (Brandon Ellis) model.

Pic: Jackson

New Jiva

While I appreciate Nita Strauss peddling the S-type Ibanez & not letting the RG occupy the spotlight too much, I'm wondering if there is any strong demand for the JIVA in the mean time. No details / numbers to back me up in the mean time but I'm very sure it's not happening here. Regardless of the circumstances, Ibanez has a new (non-Japanese) JIVA10R out this September but offers nothing new in terms of pickups; still the DiMarzio Pandemonium humbuckers with a True Velvet single coil in the middle.

Pic: Ibanez

Domestic cyclone

Pre-lunch indulgence, a Cyclone episode. I bought this one because: 1) It's neither a Strat / Tele 2) It sports a 24.75" scale length sitting between the Jazzmaster (25.5") & Jaguar (24") 3) It was listed for a clear-out. 

A set of 10s to accommodate the afore-mentioned scale length.

The pickups in this guitar (Seymour Duncan): JB (bridge) / SSL-1 (neck). Was actually at Beez's yesterday to sort out the out-of-phase situation when both pickups were selected (middle position of the toggle switch). I need to rotate the selector toggle so if flicks up / down instead of the current left / right.

Johnston V

A new Schecter for Nick Johnston to perhaps properly blend into the Mastodon persona. Currently, this USA V-1 is out of reach for most of us, listing for USD6.5K. Perhaps a more affordable iteration would be made available along the way like they did for his Strat-type models.

Pic: Schecter

PN

The new Ibanez RG565R in pink neon is now available at Swee Lee: $1,549. No price hike (yet) as well. Waiting for the candy apple version to make it here as well.

Pic: Ibanez

W & G

The Ibanez RG550 in white / grey are now in stock at Swee Lee: $1,549. No price hikes (yet). 

Pics: Ibanez

5111

Didn't realize this was already in the manufacturer's catalog. The ibanez RG5111 is a no-frills guitar; single pickup, single knob & non-locking appointments. My kind of guitar but I'm not into the colour & the Fluence humbucker. If the pickup is the major concern then you are better off with any single humbucking Ibanez, need not be a Prestige.

Pic: Ibanez

Starhill

Before I left KL, I managed to drop by Gibson Guitar Avenue at this rather classy mall called Starhill. This was the direct translation for Bukit (Hill) Bintang (Star), which is the heartbeat of KL to say the least. I sincerely feel that the distinguished label, prevented the store from being a typical guitar hangout that is inviting & doubles up as a gear watering hole for many gear buffs regardless of their background.

I felt like I had stepped into a Louis Vuitton boutique, under constant camera surveillance & had to be content with what's available. I was hoping they would have the Victory in stock but was informed that it would only be brought in upon a confirmed purchase order; it's one of those models that would not sell readily. So playing it safe is still the order of the day. But the guys at the helm were very friendly, engaging & accommodating. 

I wish guitar stores today are not tied down by the brands they distribute in terms of presentation; the guitars in GGA are like expensive wall decors, with glass panels which are more preventive rather than inviting. Would want to drop by Music Bliss on the next trip.

Elev8 what?

Gibson is now making pickups with Alnico 8 magnets. It's called the ELEV8. On the flip side, there are no markings / etchings / labels to say it's a Gibson pickup. Let's say, someone's selling you one in the after-market, how would you know it's a Gibson pickup? That someone could have bought a nameless cheapo from Ali Express for all you know & passing it off as an ELEV8. The unthinkable would be Gibson buying these from Ali Express & installing them into Gibson guitars & getting away with it. Let's all clap for Gibson 👏

Pics: Gibson

Black Metal

ESP released these LTDs calling them the Black Metal Series. These are only two from the lineup of six guitars. Variations apply, do visit the manufacturer's homepage to know more.

I actually find this Black Metal label rather contentious. We do know (my assumption) Black Metal is a music genre as well, yes? So by inviting this distraction, players might be thinking these guitars are for this music genre exclusively. Yes, the Seymour Duncan Mortal Coil pickups in these guitars are the perfect supplement for hard, heavy music but not exclusively. Reb Beach has EMGs in his guitars but he's not a metal guy. 

If that colour scheme looks familiar, it's actually the reverse of what SOLAR is doing with their Assassin models. 

And everyone was inspired by BC Rich, yes? 😅

Pics: ESP / SOLAR / GC

H-Slinky

Had been playing this set for about a week. Not really an EB fan, just wanted to try this gauge to see if it accommodates my perfect fourth tuning. Verdict - swapping the .011 out for a .010.

Buskers @ KL (2)

Second night of checking street buskers in the Bt Bintang area (KL). These musicians were just outside Plaza Sungei Wang, that building in the background is Lot 10. They were mainly playing pop, ballads & radio-friendly hits. Sizeable crowd gathered to watch. Just glad it wasn't a weekend night.

Ibanez September 2026 (2): Satch's

Very clean looking JS2470 for September's release. I love the Radius-type body but unwilling to spend money on a signature model. Don't see anything special with this one.

If we look at the flip side,we'd note the rather sumptuous amount of bubinga for the neck.

In fact, they left the headstock unlaminated to show the stripe.

Pics: Ibanez

Product safety recall: Ibanez P20 bass amp

This requires your urgent attention. If you own the Prometheus Series of bass amps, please take note that the P20 model had been re-called for safety issues.

Kindly refer to the schedule above for details. 

Pics: Ibanez

 

Humbucking Jr

As usual, a little late to the Gibson developments. Not motivated to check Gibsons out since the dealer here only inventorize selected models. This humbucking LP Jr is definitely my thing; single humbucker, hard tail, solid colour... I'm definitely one of those estranged ones who dislike gaudy tops so don't talk to me about flames & quilts; not interested. Another turn off - burst finishes in any iterations. 

Pic: Gibson

Buskers @ KL

Was in KL. Always made it a point to check the night-ivities especially the music related ones. The good thing about a weekday appearance is that, there were significantly less people walking around. These group of street musicians were mainly playing rock songs, the Malay numbers which were a hit in the 1980s. Judging by the responses of those watching, they enjoyed the nostalgia. The guitarist snapped a string along the way & that's when I left.

Diabolus in Musica

Seymour Duncan's El Diablo humbucker has a single appeal; it feeds on distortion, the more the better. Is it worth buying? Well, considering it's made with a very narrow objective in mind & it's a custom shop model, the immediate answer here is no. However, if you've been through several high output pickups & love distortion more than anything else, the El Diablo would offer a good variation to a certain extent. Unlike the Dimebucker, this one has more bottom end on board but do not raise it too close to the strings as notes get muffled at high gain/ high distortion settings. That's right, it suffers from poor single note separation. I had to lower mine more than the default Ibanez pickup height recommendation. Thereafter, the El Diablo is a beast as the name implies.

The El Diablo is paired up with a Hot Stack & the latter simply could not match the beast in terms of output & distortion.  Anyway, I require less aggression & more clarity in the neck to prevent my tapped notes from sounding like trash. Thanks to Davis GMC for their continuous commitment when it comes to having Custom Shop / Custom Floor models available every once in a while. 

Singles

Nothing excessive, just single pickups for the weekend. Had been listening to a lot of The Dellinger Escape Plan so I don't need extra pickups for inspiration. That Charvel is lighter than the Strat, awesome tone for distortion applications.

Ibanez September 2026: Gold leaf

We all know this was inevitable; Ibanez doing iterations for one of their iconic / flagship models. Gold leaf (yes real gold) was added to this one with gold hardware completing the overall looks. We all darn know as well, this adds nothing to tone & playability. The collector dweebs among us will of course race to the stores to grab this for their wall decor. 

It seems that the promo shot for this guitar featured Vai showing his bandaid. Sincerely hope this was part of the plan. Otherwise, we have specific AIs out there to edit this out. Kids in school could do it, no excuse for a big corp like Ibanez to plead ignorance unless they assigned this editing task to the vulnerable, dementia prone senior folks out there. IYKYK.

Anyway, the only Gold Leaf that left an impact on me were the cigarettes my late granny used to smoke back in the day. She would send us to the village store to buy a pack when we were there for sleepovers. We were duly rewarded for this of course, extra reward for those who dared to purchase a pack for her at night because our grandparents used to live just next to the Chinese cemetery.

Pics: Ibanez / HSG

Radio ga ga

How many of us are still listening to the radio these days? What about the kids today - are they listening to the radio?

Listening to the radio is a lost art. Nobody cares or is simply  motivated to listen to the radio anymore. Those driving might be last true radio devotees. Music aside, they need traffic updates, live ones, and the radio gives them these crucial bits. While you're waiting for that to happen, there's music to keep you occupied.

Kids have next to no patience with such engagements. They are the generation of people who disengage by choice if they are not attended to or their needs are not met. So the way to sieve out those more intelligent kids out there today are to note the listening ones.

Music-wise, it's the joy of discovering awesome tunes for the generation of radio listeners. Back then, there were no technology available to search for one's preferred music. Print media were available to hype up the bands but there's no clue what kind of music these people embrace. Take Slaughter for example. You would associate the name's latent fury to Slayer, yes? But it turned out, Slaughter was more hair metal than its name suggests. By the way, that's how I discovered Slaughter.

These days, there's hardly any effort to discover music. Chances are, music was shoved into the media users' faces more than anything else. They exist as background music for IG / TT clips, commissioned music for games or forwarded to one's socials by an acquaintance. Anyway, this isn't about the radio becoming more archaic, it's about the newer generation of people being individuals who don't listen.

Signatures

This happens to all products not just guitars - endorsements. Seen here are the Lzzy Hale Explorer & Billie Joe Armstrong LP Jr signature models. These are good instruments per se, the endorsers' association simply added a commercial pull more than anything else. 

How many pro artists prefer the Epiphone name to Gibson? Meaning, they swear by Epiphone & disregard the immortal Gibson label for personal reasons. Yes, there are indeed such individuals. A very clear example would be Matt Heafy (Trivium). Why does this happen? There are some things done by the Epiphone camp which are more cost effective, not so if it's done by Gibson. The LH Explorer here is a clear ezample. Gibson giving the instrument that thick glitter overcoat would cost more than Epiphone handling it. Lest we forget, the idea of having Epiphone on the headstock is to sell. You won't believe the commitment of diehard fans in obtaining their idol-related possessions, merch, etc.

Pics: Epiphone

Victory baritone

The Victory adventure continues, this time, the Gibson camp gave it a baritone iteration (28"). We all know a Les Paul baritone won't be much of a hit because it won't sell. How about a baritone SG? That would make the neck dive worse & it won't sell either. Gibson is smart to have the Victory as leverage for contemporary ideas. It's arguably very un-Gibson, shape-wise, in the catalog & leans more into the modern double cutaway design that modern players can relate to; Jackson, Fender, Ibanez et al sport a similar outline.

Pic: Gibson