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.

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. 

Beez @ basement

Dear friends, be informed that Beez is now located at B1-21, same building - Excelsior Shopping Center.

Pic: Beez

Ibanez: GS121 (3)

The first thing that was done to the GS121 was a body top treatment, specifically, it's a re-finish. The original top was satin black which had a few scratches in some areas that scratch removers could not handle. That's right folks, you simply can't use liquid  scratch removers (plenty available at petrol kiosks) on satin surfaces. Not quite apparent but the new finish is a flip-flop blue / green / purple. I only did two layers this time & allowed drying to take place overnight. I also placed it in direct sunlight to help the curing process & applied polish cream. If this step is omitted, chances are, the finished top would be sticky & would stick to your bag surface. My make-shift spray 'booth', as you can see above, are merely used boxes conveniently salvaged from the recycling bin downstairs. 

The default fixed bridge (left) had dead saddles; they were mouldy & the action adjustment screws were rusty & impossible to turn. I ordered a replacement unit but the screw holes were all misaligned & were smaller (right). The default bridge was given a good clean up & the saddles from the replacement units were transferred over. Apparently, the replacement unit was meant for Standard Ibanez models, not the GIO ones.

I took the opportunity to re-finish the headstock as well, to match the body. The original decal was easily removed as it was a screened transfer. The surface was sanded & sprayed over, again, only two layers were done. The replacement decal you see here is the adhesive type. I prefer this over the water transfer version as it is more resistant to lacquer & devoid of that Fender-ish ghostly outline. After proper drying, the headstock was given a layer of lacquer finish to seal the decal onto the surface. As you've noticed, I removed the nut to facilitate this process. It was easily re-glued once everything was done. I hope the pics above give you an idea of what a flip flop finish is; notice the colour shift from purple (top) to green (bottom).

Beez did the final touches for me; a pair of Artec pickups together with a 3-way pickup selector. The default pots were left alone as they were still in excellent condition. 

That's it folks, a make over coverage of an unglam guitar. We cannot rule out the fact that something great can happen to something uncelebrated if the right things are done to it. I'm showing you that you don't need a luthier level know-how (myself especially) to actually execute a simple tinkering. Be prepared to accept the fact that some spares might not conform to your needs because replacement units are often not produced by the original manufacturer & measurements could be off. Wishing you all a great weekend & a successful mod adventure if you're at it.

Previous episode: CLICK

Purple Sunday

Just got the wiring for this sorted out. On the way home, finally met the guitar GOAT 😅

It's like this - The replacement pickups for this guitar are DiMarzios. This guitar features Ibanez's dyna-MIX10 switching system. DiMarzio pickups have to be wired in another way, not conforming to Ibanez's colour code. In this case, DiMarzio's Fusion Edge humbuckers actually follow the Ibanez color code. So there. We were made to figure out an unnecessary permutation of wirings only to realize that the original combo is the correct one to begin with.

Destroying Sunday

Sudden urge to hear this one in action. This doesn't get played too often due to how heavy it is. Anyway, the push-pull tone pot stopped working & the volume knob crackled despite repeatedly being blasted by contact spray. That means... 

... it's off to Beez's to get things looked into. 30min worth of servicing & it's all good to go. Beez advised me to get all three pots replaced instead of just the dysfunctional pair. Wise words indeed.

Of course, a quick re-string before action started. 

While travelling with this guitar (using a bag, not that hard case), I could feel the weight of it pushing down my knees. I took time to stop, re-generate of sorts, before moving on. Folks, it's been a few years of my chemo meds & it's affecting me / my body more than I realized. Would not exclude the possibility of needing a walking aid in time to come.

 Wishing you a good week ahead & free from cancer & its side effects.

--------------------------------------------

PS: Thank you, Lee Eng Kim Muhd Hakim, for your kind contributions.

SC Sunday

Was at Beez's yesterday to get this done - dead tone pot (bridge PU). It's been a while since I played this guitar so the different feel got me hooked & I played for an hour. The thing about PRS in general; it's not an instrument that attracts a certain player profile. In fact, everyone who clicked with a PRS would like it for what it is regardless of the genre of music it's used for.

Melody chopper

I love this guitar (& the rest that I own, of course). It's like built to my specs; no frills, all action. However, it came default with a single coil pickup which I respect but do not favour. I am on high gain mode 90% the time & the single coil hum is something I can do without.

Addressing the issue is not just putting in a single coil sized humbucker in there because the pickguard slot accommodates vintage specs so if it's a covered pickup, it won't fit. That's the reason you see the cover of this DiMarzio Chopper removed before it could be fitted into the pickguard. Before that could happen, the exposed part of the pickup was taped up to prevent the penetration of dirt & moisture. Also, it took quite a while to remove the cover as it was sealed with silicon, I believe. If you just yank it off, the fragile base (that green portion you see there) might crack. Use a hair dryer (heat) to dislodge the silicon & pry open the cover slowly.

Then off to Beez's for the necessary surgery & installation.

Re-string & it's good to go. Wishing everyone a good weekend ahead.

Revived: Ibanez S320

Completed this revival today: Ibanez S320. I managed to sell off one of my headless guitars & used the funds to get this for the same amount. I bought it because it's the older S-Series sporting 22 frets. I just have a thing for S-Series with lesser frets especially this model where the fretboard is almost blank save for those dots at the 12th fret.

The body used to be black. This black stain was applied by the previous owner after sanding down the entire guitar to bare wood. I'm not too keen with black so it was re-sprayed to that blue you see in the first pic. It was not professionally done, of course. I didn't apply wood filler to level the surface so some unstained open pores could be seen. Three layers of blue was applied with a final lacquer overcoat.

Only the top surface was stained, the rear remains natural. As seen here, some black spots from the original finish still remain. I couldn't be bothered much as it's not visible from the front. 

When I received the guitar, the neck was attended to first. The fretboard was downright dirty with an awful accumulation of dirt. Evidently, this was never cleaned. The headstock was also very dusty with a missing truss rod cover. That was attended to rather easily. The owner had replacement locking pads & bolts which looked very new so these were left in as-is condition. The tuners were removed & headstock polished.

I have replacement RATIO tuners installed. The original set had one crooked peg with another missing a washer.

The original pickups had to go as well; they were scratched & the pole pieces were very rusty. I have these unused DiMarzio Humbucker from Hell lying around; they are the deserving replacements. I also have plastic covers installed so they look like active units from a distant but this was not the reason why they were there. I just wanted to make sure the pickups are well protected from sweat & dirt. If you are interested, you can get these covers at TY Music Center, less than $6 for a pair.

Of course, Beez did his magic for the electronics. A500K Alpha pots are used, together with a GOTOH 3-Way selector. The original input jack was retained as it's still in good condition. 

To be concluded...

Evolutionized

 SG Special... nothing really special. Felt like playing an SG today so this was it.

Was at Beez's earlier; my first trip for 2023. I prefer going on a weekday, not too keen being in the City Hall area on Sundays, too many people out & about. Majority of these people are workers on their day off. Hanging out, getting in the way. I prefer not to make up the numbers.

Got these installed - DiMarzio Evolution. To be continued... 

Revived

You read about this RG565 here: CLICK. This was brought down to Beez yesterday. I kept thinking about it, it bothered me.

Beez took a look at the wiring & managed to diagnose the issue in like 5min. Since the guitar works when both pickups are activated, it means the pickups are good, no issues with those. Next, since the neck position is not working, he reversed the wiring; the bridge pickup is now in selector position 3, where the neck option used to be. Still no sound in position 3. Implication - the wiring at that position needed looking into. Beez just replaced the wire there & it's good to go. 

Pickups in this guitar: DiMarzio Super Distortion (b) / Half Track (n)

Beez's new place

Managed to drop by Beez's yesterday. Please be informed that he's now at #02-03, Excelsior Shopping Center just in front of the escalator. He's also on the same level as the Singapore Drum Shop, partially seen in the pic above.

Tribute (Part 4)

If you see Beez in action here, it means that my instrument is in good hands.

Nothing much, just a pair of oranges to oversee the tone performance. Also, not the prettiest of sights but when I took over this guitar, the electronics are in good working order. That's nine years of issue-free existence. 

Here it is once more, looking good in picture but actually a little worn & yellow like the pages of an old book. There's actually a deeper reason why I went all out to buy this knowing too well that I don't need another Gibson, let alone another guitar. Still a little dazed as to how well it plays & those P-90s there, they will stay put. 

Related episodes: Tribute (Part 3) / Tribute (Part 2) / Tribute (Part 1)

Antigua (4)

This is my first set of DiMarzio pickups in a Fender. That's right, I have no DiMarzios in any of my Fenders since the start but this is my embrace for good tones regardless of the brand name. I have my Seymour Duncan inclinations but every now & then, some others would make my like list. Anyway, the pickups you see above are DiMarzio True Velvet single coils for Telecaster.

I have never tried this duo before & had initial reservations due to the wide difference in output between the neck & bridge counterpart. I am dealing with a hot bridge response but a polite, vintage-like response from the neck. What made me proceed was the EQ; these are exactly what I wish for in this guitar in the mean time. The default neck single coil suffers from a very weak midrange & has a nasal overall voicing that threatens to thin out any time. The boost in midrange here is what I was looking for. The default bridge pickup on the other hand sounded too darn honky but someone reminded me of the Tele's true nature; a honky, twangy guitar unlike the girth of a Strat. Despite being a metal fan & thriving on a commanding dose of bottom end, I opted for more treble instead. It's the D'Activator approach in a single coil format so to speak. 

Once again, the services of Master Beez was rendered to make the swap happen. After about a week of True Velvet-ing, I must say that it was a deserving switch. More importantly, it serves my embrace for gobs of distortion with clarity & surprises on two fronts: 1) The bridge pickup was not  treble excessive at all despite the anticipations. It all boils down to my amp settings & I believe the EVH 5150 has a good working low end to begin with so no major upset there. 2) The neck pickup did not wimp out in terms of output, it barks & roars as fiercely so the true measure of a pickup performance, in this case, is its actual adaptation to the player's set up. I'm a happy camper.

Selling: Amps

Since I have no plug-able acoustics any more, it's time to move on so the Fender Acoustasonic (severely under-played) will be let off for a good price. That Laney LX-35 there belongs to Beez, who is letting it go as well due to unforeseen circumstances. Putting up a good word for him since I've tried the amp & it's definitely worth the asking price.

Fender Acoustasonic 15 (15W practice amp)

• 15W practice unit in 8.5/10 condition
• Self-collect @ CCK mrt stn
• No reservations/ trades
• Queries/ confirmation: subversion.sg@gmail.com
• Price: $100 (final, non-nego)

Item SOLD 😁 7/12/2019

Laney LX-35 (35W combo)

• 35W practice combo in camo finish
• 8/10 condition
• Self-collect @ Beez's workshop (Excelsior Shopping Center)
• Contact: 9-77-326-33
• Price: $100

Revived (again)

OK, nothing new, corroded parts. Dumped.

As usual, Beez to the rescue.

This isn't the first time all those parts went dead. If memory serves me right, it's the 5th instalment & it's time to look into the matter. I have no idea how moisture seeped through, it might be the case of the guitar body itself not being totally dry & increasing humidity levels in the cavity. That small sachet you see there is a desiccant derivative keeping moisture in check in food packets, as functional as silica gel. I sincerely hope it'll address this issue.

The guitar in question is my Ibanez RGD321. 

The weekend (2)

Dead pot, dead 3-way selector... was at Beez's after lunch.

Seen here, Beez dissecting my Tele. Replacement parts were the ones featured here: CLICK Need to remind myself that just because it says Fender on the pack doesn't mean parts are guaranteed to fit. Beez did some widening to make sure American parts fit into a Japanese guitar. Damn, Fender!

Always good to have something dead brought back to life so the rest of pre-dinner time was my Tele time. Have a great week ahead, everyone.