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

SIT - refreshed

Ending August in the knowledge that SIT strings are still alive & kicking, with a revamped look - premium packaging they call it. Also, the packaging had been improved to promote a longer lifespan.

Pic: SIT

RGV

I have a feeling someone at Ibanez messed up when it comes to the August releases. We see more instruments being announced at the month's tail end. This RGV250 is an example. Currently, this is the most affordable Standard RG just before it drops into the GIO range. Nothing fantastic, just a simple RG with a poplar body & a purpleheart fretboard. The T102 bridge is a non-locking unit so it's less hassle when it comes to re-stringing. 

Pic: Ibanez

M-Vave

New beat-making distraction. Value for money 👍

Sleepy instruments

Do you listen to Sleep Token? Well, these instruments were made for them. Charvel's Pro-Mod San Dimas Bass V with a reverse headstock & fanned frets to add to the band's occult procession. That twelfth fret question mark inlay could have been avoided & (just my opinion). It kind of threw the cryptic element off almost invoking parody.

This Jackson Pro-Plus Monarch is a baritone with Fluences on board for some relentless metal tone but that's not the staple in Sleep Token's music. If you are intrigued by secrecy & craving for attention through impactful music, listen to Ghost instead. By the way, I just love the pale moon ebony fretboard. 

Pic: Jackson/ Charvel 

Glitter

I mentioned these guitar at the start of August - Grass Roots G-M-II-FX. Before August turns, these guitars are offered in metallic flake finishes, this blue version is one of them. I would rather spend money getting this kind of entry level instruments as opposed to the Squiers & Ibanez GIOs. Agree?

Pic: ESP Japan

Post-purchase

Now that you've acquired your dream guitar, what do you need to own to keep your needs in check? Or are you that type of person who would only purchase stuff on a needs-only basis?

First & foremost, you need an amplifier. However, the philosophy of amplification today had been displaced by amp simulators residing in the computer. Simply put, it pretends to be an amp so that when you plug into a computer, it receives your signals & processes it to make it sound like you are playing through an amp. I'm not compelling you to get an amp & tread the purist path because the simulators today are darn good imitators. The latency issues had been dealt with along the way & this, in my opinion, makes amp simulators more respectable. Let's move on.

The items on this list are neither definitive nor final.

Essential

• Tuner. Everybody needs a tuner unless you have perfect pitch. If you play acoustics without any electronics on board (a tuner is a common feature), a clip-on tuner is compulsory acquisition. The electric players are better off with pedal tuners (just my opinion) unless they are pro players who need to prance around on stage most of the time, away from their pedalboards. I've tried app-based tuners; not too bad but it gets distracted easily by extraneous noise. 
• Cable. Never be content with that complementary cable that came with your guitar. The ones that came with my Ibanez some time ago ended up being radio antennae. I heard a phantom Michael Jackson singing through my amp once, so there. Invest in a good cable which are very affordable today unlike in the 1990s when I started out. Preferably, get one with replaceable plugs & OFC wires. To me, a good cable makes or breaks your interest in playing.
• Picks. Try different picks along the way. Try different pick materials, thickness & shapes. These are the pick factors that would define your picking hand movements & eventually your playing precision. I started out with thin picks because those were given to me, I didn't know there were other picks out there which were life-changing (they still are). Also, what works for others might not work for you. Till today, I'm still trying out picks.

Good to have

• Strap. Even if you are a bedroom guitarist, you should at least try playing standing up. There's a marked difference in playing position & posture when you play standing up with the guitar strapped on, the main factor being the fretting hand curvature. I discovered that the standing position frees the hand from excessive stress (that impedes movements) simply because the guitar, in its strapped position, forces the player to straighten the forearm.
• Guitar stand. Do not lean your guitar against the wall, cupboard, table edge, etc. because the chances of it toppling over & breaking is very high. Also, not all guitars can be placed flat on the floor due to its angled headstock (eg. Epiphone, Gibson). If you have to leave your guitar out till the next playing time, get a good guitar stand, otherwise, keep it away in its case / bag.
• Polish cloth. Please, please... wipe down after play. If you don't believe in polishing, just give it a wipe down. This removes moisture & grime off your instruments. You won't appreciate this routine until your guitar's bridge is corroded beyond cleaning or your guitar's electronics get messed up entailing in repair costs. If you do not believe in buying a dedicated instrument polish cloth, use an old t-shirt which works equally fine but it needs to be cotton, no compromise.
• Polish fluid. The job of this fluid is actually to remove grime / oil off your instrument, a good shine is a bonus. This often goes unnoticed till its accumulated significantly on your instrument making it look really repulsive. At the very least, it will affect your instrument's resale value if you are considering selling it off.

Pics: Swee Lee / Dunlop / GC

A Beast to Praise

This is only the band's second live album, the first was back in 2004. I'm buying this to actually hear what's going on with the guitars. The studio albums couldn't manifest a clear difference between the two guitarists, usually live albums would shed some light on this situation. I learnt this after listening to Slayer's Decade of Aggression. I'm definitely a fan of the music but DF's studio albums suggest that they don't need two guitarists in the band because I struggled to hear any differences along the way.

Pic: knottfest

Chimey

I have always enjoyed clean tones with an acoustic plugged in. Recently, a nylon string alternative was preferred. I don't strum chords too often (can't remember the last time I did), I tend to stick to arpeggiating three notes with an overload of chimey modulation dialled in. I have no obligations to follow what others are doing for cleans, I'm mostly on heavy distortion anyway. This LANEY Prism mini has such good clean tones on board. 

79s Thinline

This is a good release (to me) by the Japanese end of Fender. Ash body, 3-bolt attachment, CuNiFe pickups, the works. That's right, the thing with limited edition Japanese stuff is always the probability of it not making its way here.

Pic: Fende Japan

ICWH

So Ibanez is doing things a little differently this August, releasing this new model in the middle of the month instead of doing so at the start of the month. This here is ICWH727; Iceman Wes Hauch 7-string. A signature 7-string model - meaning - it would manifest a niche appeal. It's beyond reach for most of us so I won't state the price here. Do you even know Wes Hauch?

Pic: Ibanez

Dry

This had been a Squier P-bass which was a display unit at the store. After the strings were removed, we can all agree that the fretboard had dried up along the way & it's in need of moisturization. I'm of the opinion that, the fretboards of instruments on display are subjected to more drying than its sealed up counterparts. Reason being - indoor air-conditioning. It's not an anomaly by any means; all porous fretboards undergo drying along the way, we need to give some TLC by applying some fretboard oil or re-moisturizing fluid along the way.

BT @ DGMC

Just a price update - The Orange Baby Terror is now in stock @ Davis GMC ($299). Reminder - this is an amp head, you'll need speakers to make it work. Also, it's solid state technology.

Pic: TGM

Price watch (108)

Just look at these ridiculous listings. Once again, I'm sure everyone would agree that upgrade is a subjective term when tagged onto musical instruments. Our concept of an upgrade might be different from what others understood it to be. Inflating a Squier in view of such upgrades is a push factor as opposed to attracting potential buyers. $800 for an upgraded Mustang? Look harder & you'd find Fender (not Squier) Mustangs listing for less.

That $2K Mustang reeks of ignorance & possibly desperation. The details of the listing did not disclose the 'revamp'. It's 'hardly use in good condition' but it's 'not for fussy buyer'. We have other listings to consider which are neither confusing nor contradictory, yes?

Japan-inspired

Fender calls this the Japan-Inspired series. I have absolutely no idea what those terms are supposed to conjure; is there a unique Japanese inspiration out there going into these guitars exclusively? After reading the specs, I did not see any such inspirational inputs that went into these guitars leading to the term used to describe this series. Whatever, Fender.

Pic: Fender Japan

Kala U (4)

Kala made it a point to round off the edges of the Wave Baritone ukulele for maximum playing comfort. I look forward to see more of such ergonomic design considerations from the manufacturer. I have no idea if such simple consideration would entail some significant costs in production. The outcome here implied a simple procedure but I'm not a luthier so I have no idea what processes were involved.  

It's a wrap

There are 1001 reasons out there as to why people do a wrap over for their tune-o-matic + hard tail bridge assembly. Some cited added sustain & tension issues for doing so - good for them. My personal reason is depicted above; the wrap over method prevents the strings from coming into contact with the tune-o-matic bridge because the break angle is less acute. If strings come into contact with that tune-o-matic bit, there would be some funky buzzing happening which would highly likely annoy you. So, there.

In brief: Ibanez 540PIII

This 540PIII should have been the re-intro of the moment save for the neck width detraction. I see where Ibanez is coming from in terms of production economy; the 540PIII neck sports a generic Genesis Series reverse headstock neck to avoid the need for manufacturing a period accurate 540PIII neck. Nevertheless, another good one for the catalog.

LIKES

• fast neck
• upper fret access
• strap-on balance
• overall fit and finish

DISLIKES

• bridge pickup
• discomfort (sitting down)
• Chrome input jack while other hardware are black

Because the Genesis Series guitars are Japanese but not in the same reverence as its Prestige / J-Custom counterparts, there is actually no point for the manufacturer to replicate the 45mm nut width for nostalgia's sake. It would mean other cost entailments, the least of which would be the inclusion of a wider top lock unit to accommodate this width difference. There's already a reverse headstock neck in the Genesis production line - the RG565 / RG565R - Ibanez simply used this one for the 540PII. The current generation of Ibanez enthusiasts wouldn't mind but the purists would scream heresy. 

The 540PIII is a warped body version of an RG, that's how I see it. Warped in a good way, definitely. In fact it's visually pleasant. The not so pleasant part would be the body outline inducing some discomfort while playing sitting down. It's that lower curvature proximate to the electronic controls; this bit here got trimmed to compensate the extended treble side cutaway. However, things get interesting if you play this one strapped on; it's suddenly one of the most comfortable body shape you've come across. Adding on to the fast neck, do take note of the more generous upper fret access. The 540PIII's block heel joins the neck at the 21st fret as opposed to the RG's 17th. 

Last but not least, if you are the type who prefer keeping the default pickups in tact, that bridge humbucker, to me, is merely a get-by unit; neither special nor a dud. The neck counterpart on the other hand is above expectations especially for distortion applications. 

Final rating: 89%

Ibanez 540PIII

• available at Swee Lee ($1,749)
• bag not included

Pic: Ibanez

SJ

I'm not putting this here because of the need to celebrate another Fender product. In the wake of recent developments, celebrating anything Fender should be the least of our concern. Anyway, the Paranormal Squier instruments had been around for a while. It's arguably the very few avenues Fender could be more liberal in its feature permutations & this one is a perfect example. In the catalog, this bass is referred to as the Paranormal Thinline P-Bass SJ. The SJ here refers to the pickup configuration which features a single coil (neck) & a Jazz type counterpart (bridge). This, of course, isn't standard feature in Fender products but since its a Squier, they are more willing to try things out. 

Yes, Fender did the Alternate Reality range which are now fragments of our imagination while these  Paranormals continue to intrigue, six years & counting.

King's power

Confession - I had no patience when it comes to the older King Crimson releases. I couldn't pin it down to a particular dislike but I simply couldn't click with any of those albums. Then I came across The Power to Believe. This happened in 2003, where I was too busy checking out the dark arts of Norwegian & Swedish acts mostly. Yes, I'm a big fan of instrumentals & despite not being fully instrumental, the KC materials simply didn't appeal. What made The Power stand out from the rest of its predecessors? Heavy guitars. That's right, the band actually incorporated a more aggressive overdriven / distorted tones in this final studio adventure & it's ace to say the least. Sad that KC won't further the prog wave any more but I rest in the knowledge that something's brewing post-KC.

SPB

After days of adjustments / re-adjustments, this Squier P-Bass is ready to be returned to its owner. I usually take more time to re-string & set up a bass due to the neck issues. Once the neck is relieved of string tension, it will bow. After re-stringing, it will auto-straighten itself in accordance with the fresh string tension. At times, the neck will return to its correct nature but that's a very rare feat. This is unlike re-stringing a guitar where the neck is not physically vulnerable to changes in tension due to its shorter length. 

After talking to the owner before the re-string / setup started, I convinced him to try a set of flatwounds in view of his preference for a warmer overall tone. Also, this is his chance to experience how smooth & skin friendly flatwound strings are. Diligent wiping after play means the strings would last longer than an average wound set. On that note, check out the discounts for Rotosound strings at Swee Lee.

In brief: Kala Waterfall baritone ukulele (solid mahogany)

I am documenting this appraisal from a guitar player's perspective because I am a guitar player & this is a guitar blog after all. I purchased this ukulele for a simple reason - it features a guitar tuning (top 4 strings of the guitar: E / B / G / D) therefore I need not re-think my playing while handling one.

LIKES

• solid build
• smooth tuners
• ergonomic body edge design
• truss rod included
• warm tones

DISLIKES

• some evidence of patchy fretboard stains
• dark inlays against a dark fretboard

The thing about baritone ukulele is that, the size is almost that of a travel guitar so handling one is a familiar affair when you are a guitar player first & foremost. KALA is indeed one of the leading ukulele brands & the quality on show here is above expectations. I'm just a wee bit annoyed by the patchy stains on the fretboard which are more visible from a playing perspective. Also, I hope the manufacturer re-thinks the application of inlays which are too close, colour-wise, to the fretboard hue. The tones coming from this one are warm & favours the fingerpickers more so than the strummers; thanks to the all solid mahogany body for the most part. I particularly like the rounded body edges which make playing very pleasant compounded by the satin finish so that sticky feeling when your sweating arms & hands are in contact with the instrument is a highly unlikely affair. 

Also, coming from the guitar camp, I wish the frets are a little beefier to supplement quick single note runs during solos but then again, this is a ukulele to begin with, extended solos belong to the electric guitar so quit whining.

Special mention goes to the good people at Ukulele Movement for the very non-intrusive shopping experience.

Final rating: 89%

KALA Wave Series Baritone all solid (mahogany) ukulele

• List: $479
• Availability: Ukulele Movement
• Bag included

Pics: KALA