Let's end June on a positive note. The new look Funan Center is alive & kicking once more. On opening day, 28th June, the vicinity of FC was riddled with congestion, both the human & vehicular kind. The traffic was regulated by specially mobilized AETOS/ CISCO officers. Only legit parties with delivery/ occupancy (tenants mostly) accounts were allowed to enter the building's premises. The rest were resigned to roadside dealings which were bothered by constant honking & the afore-mentioned officers gesturing them to drive on instead of waiting.
I remember the initial FC because Roxy Music was located there. The place, despite its tiled floors, held its rustic charm the way Queensway Shopping Center did before its facelift. After its first facelift, I remember FC for the Taco Bell located at the ground floor, the only fast food establishment I favoured because KFC was passe.
This time, I remember FC for Solar guitars! That's right folks, Solar guitars are now available at FC through Cristofori Music. My apologies for the lack of pics featuring the store itself & Launch Day occurrences. I was running late because my watch stopped- I thought I was early!
Nothing fancy, just the A2.6 in this alien fluorescent lime green. Everything here is the works & I'm giving Solar guitars a definite thumbs up. This won't be my last- still have the baritone (sans Evertune bridge- sorry, not a fan) & singlecut on my list which didn't make the shipment this time round.
My only gripe- the default capacitor. Solar guitars joins Gibson & Fender, among other well known brand names, in skimping on unseen features. Don't get me wrong, this one is perfectly functional but it's a .047uf used for humbuckers. Geez... There's no written literature restricting this pairing but we know how the .047uf beefs up the bottom end of your tonal spectrum so during testing time at the store, the guitar sounded extra boomy & affected lower notes definition. I was bothered by this but somehow, I knew it's something fixable (prior knowledge/ experience helps) so I proceeded with the purchase anyway.
A quick trip to Beez's next door (Excelsior Shopping Center) to get the default cap swapped out & in went the Sprague Orange Drop. It's not about capacitor supremacy but this one's a .22uf which brought back some top end sizzle into the mix but not suppressing clarity in any way. A more comprehensive appraisal to come, promise. 😎
Thank you to Dexter & all at Cristofori music for the absolutely pleasant shopping experience despite the crowd. OK, so I was the first to purchase the SOLAR, they said, but only because I was running late. Cheers, everyone, it had been a happening June.
