Nylon Saturday

Masochistic Saturday - indoors with nylon strings. I definitely need more time to adapt to nylon strings. These things simply roll under my fingers while playing, making me look & sound beyond amateurish. But I deem such torture necessary to become a better player. It's when you dwell beyond your comfort zone, you are compelled to adapt & excel.

Did a re-string before play. I tried the ball-end set, now back to the tie-end method. For nylon strings, I like my action a little higher than what I'm used to when playing the acoustic. It somehow reduced the rolling phenomenon during play.

Mikro goodness

Had some gear time yesterday (because I did not watch the National Day parade) as it was a public holiday. It was bass day. 

I'm still overwhelmed by standard-sized basses so my basses are essentially short-scaled models or a travel version of a popular model. The person who gave me this bass used to sell me his guitar pickups not too long ago. He switched to drums for good so he decided to hand this over to me as a gift. I was obliged to pay him for this but he refused. Before we parted, I gave his son some school pocket money instead which he accepted on his son's behalf.

Folks, a reminder that porous wood dries over time. Here's how a dry & treated (final 2 frets) wood surfaces look like. I will usually let the treated area absorb as much oil as possible & in most cases, it's left overnight. The residue would be wiped away before proceeding to re-string the instrument.

The hardware was thoroughly cleaned but the strap buttons were replaced. One of them was dislodged & it remained inside the bag without the previous owner realizing it. So it dented the body on some areas when the bag was moved around. The other strap button turned green & they both made way for  GOTOH replacements.

Last but not least, a fresh set of strings. Yes, a short scale set was used as indicated on the top right corner of the package but that doesn't look too obvious. Of course, regular bass string sets would work but these strings were made longer to accommodate standard sized basses. The issue would be the tapered length at the string tip; this would occur later on the string length which means you require more winding at the post & that's not a good thing for short scaled basses as the winding would require some overlapping. By the way, this string set was left unopened for more than a year & there's absolutely no tarnish / rust so top marks for D'Addario for doing it right in terms of shelf life preservation. 

Gauge error

This happened last Saturday. After re-stringing, I was wondering why the A string required extra tension during tuning. A closer look revealed that both the wound E & A strings were of the same gauge (.042) *sigh* It's quite obvious from the pic above. Folks, these things do happen every now & then. Don't get too upset, bring it back to the store with the issued receipt. If you kept the strings for a while & the receipt is gone, then simply get a replacement string (like I did). 

Being picky

 

These days, when I play, I do not stick to a particular pick. I will have a few on standby & go with the one that I click with for the rest of the session. 

For instance, I will start with that glittery one (above: Northern Ghost Planchette, glitter edition) as this is my current preference. This will make me play with the least mistakes, it's the most comfortable. 

Then I will switch to the black one (Dunlop Flow 3mm) which is the trickiest to deal with. It's also downright slippery & will glide from string to string rather effortlessly & made me fumble. I will drop the pick the most times when I am dealing with this dark menace. 

Lastly, this clear wonder pick (V-Picks Mummy) is a cheat pick. It's my most enduring reference when all else fail but it's not the one I play the most. It's almost too precious to be played. So between these 3, one will make it till the end while the other two would return to the storage box to rest.

Taylor - XS

With immediate effect, all American Taylor guitars will be equipped with D'Addario's XS coated Phospor Bronxe strings. Not a coated strings fan but in this domain, I prefer D'Addario to Elixir. Mexican models will get the XS come Summer.

Pic: Taylor

The good Rev

This was sent to me last night - Yamaha Revstar RSS20. Was impressed with the overall QC less some tooling marks on the fretboard. I believe this should not have happened, wonder what took place along the way. Action was re-set based on a set of 9.5s & it was easily / quickly done due to the very straight neck. Also, not much re-conditioning fluid was applied to the 'board as well; it still looks good. Will give this one a quick review shortly, do not wish to say too much.

D'Addario - thank you but no thanks

I'm seeing through the last few packs of D'Addario strings & moving on to other string brands. The XLs had been my go-to strings for a long time. Nothing special about them, they are simply good strings for the money without the coating & other cryogenic ploy to warrant desirability. It's all about price. These have gone up by about $2 since I re-visited my interest in them. My income had not increased by this amount in the mean time (it's that pathetic) so looking elsewhere for a viable alternative is the way to go. Come 2023, it will be be subjected to another round of price revision albeit marginal but the message is clear - I have no obligations since there are other choices out there.

Green goodness

This is my shred Tele so to speak. It sports a low action, lower than some of my Ibanez guitars & yes, it's a little buzzy at the upper frets but it's not fret buzz, it's due to the low action.

This was brought out for some attention due to the dead parts you see above. The 3-way selector is so rusty, it won't budge even after using a generous amount of contact cleaner. These are expendables & we shouldn't hold back from replacing them, especially in this dire condition. Same goes for the volume pot you see there. 

And a fresh set of strings to end things on a good note. Next time it's out, it will undergo a cosmetic make-over. That won't be soon. 

XSE

This was announced not too long ago & in less than 10 days, it's already in stock @ Davis GMC. Thank you, for the complementary set & knowing what I like. Will be coming back for more, definitely. 

Clean singles

It's one of those days where I'm not inspired to play but needed to manifest some ideas ringing in my head. Playing time today was a two-episode affair; before & after I re-strung my Strat. Before the re-string, I was really not in the mood because the strings were quite dead to the touch. Might be a case of not wiping down the last time round & letting the strings die in storage. No amount of intense distortion could reconditioned my mind to play something meaningful so the playing stopped.

Strings were quickly removed. Noticed some stained fret surfaces which resisted the polishing fluid. Some erasing took place. Folks, don't be afraid to erase stubborn stains on your frets, the eraser won't eat your frets away, it's very different from using sand paper. Just make sure the grit number is kept to the fine grain. 

Had a pack of D'Addario 9s close by so that was the choice for today. Never under-estimate the power of a fresh set of strings when it comes to inspiration. My post-re-string playing moments were strictly clean tones with a heavy dose of chorus & finger picked all the way. I'm not trying to emulate Ichika or Yvette in this realm of technicality but those playing styles were employed to manifest ideas. I might just need a good clean amp for such playing moments in time to come. Hmm...

From dead end to fulfilment. It had been a good Thursday. 👍

Re-string S7

On some days, I thrive playing a neck that is a little wider. This Ibanez SIR27FD has a wide neck for sure - to accommodate that extra string. Some people asked me how I play chords with a 7-string & I told them it's like playing the 6-string, just ignore that extra string. Wait... you can actually do that? Of course. Whoever said incorporating the 7th string into your chords is a must? If you can do it, then good for you. Otherwise, life goes on beyond the bother of having that 7th string correctly included into your guitar vocab.  Those default DiMarzio PAF 7s are awesome in this guitar, no swap-out necessary. Also, I still play better with marker-less fretboards. Side dots are all I need.

When I walked into the store & saw this guitar, I firmly told myself - no more black guitars. At a closer look, it's actually a glitter black finish so it's not entirely black & that legitimized the purchase. Based on my logic, of course.

Fresh set of D'Addario, my go-to brand. 

Re-string Jr

I'm still enjoying my P90 moments, maybe it's the coming of age. Maybe I've been listening to doom metal  bands for quite a bit & embrace this choice of pickup for that heavy, fuzz tone. This LP Jr is one of my best P90 tones. Then again, all the P90 equipped guitars I own hold their own in terms of tone.

Fresh set of strings - D'Addario EXP 10s. I have no idea if these are still available off the shelf. This pack is one of those forgotten ones hibernating in one of my guitar bags. It might have been there for a year but knowing D'Addario & their stand for quality, the strings remain usable. Outstanding. Note the slight cosmetic make-over, the Jr's truss rod cover was replaced with a blacked-out version to match the pick guard. I'm also not in favour of truss rod covers that display the model name.

Re-string midweek

Re-string midweek: Ibanez S470. Not mine, belongs to an ex-classmate. I really like 22-fretted S-Series, there's just something about it that makes me feel totally at home playing one. D'Addario NYXL 9s for this one. 

Indoor, re-string

Had been an uneventful Sunday. Was mostly indoors save for a quick trip to the provision store for a pack of milk. Had a strong urge to play my SZR today. Gave it a re-string before playing; D'Addario 9.5s. This SZR520 is one of the few Ibanez I own that is totally unmodified. There was a strong urge to replace those default NDR pickups but after dialling up the right amount of distortion / EQ & some adventures with pickup height, I have to say those became likeable.

If the PRS Silver Sky (R) had a more refined finish in terms of the headstock outline, it might end up looking like the SZR (L) after all. Uncanny resemblance as it is.

Pics: Worth Point / Slap Store

Rash

It's Tele Tuesday! Got this out for a re-string & some playing time. I like the tones from the Duncans here (Hot Rails / Hot Tele). Despite being a hot humbucker, the Hot Rails still manifests good twang at lower distortion settings. The neck pickup is one of the clearest sounding in all my Teles, perhaps it's benefitting from the 500K pots. A set of D'Addario 9s, of course.

This is kinda strange; I didn't know a rusty screw would leave a rash mark on the pickguard. It's like the surrounding area was infected by the rust. As you can see, I've replaced it with a new one. In fact, I  replaced all pickguard screws today. Confession: I'm actually not into the sunburst finish but when I saw this on a Tele, I just had to have it. This American Standard Tele is my first ever Fender bought in 1998 when Swee Lee was still located at the rear end of Level 3, Bras Basah Complex. The unit is now occupied by Art Friend's extension space. I simply favour the Tele more than the Strat when it comes to Fender - the reason why I have more Teles in the mean time. 

Red re-string

Indoor Thursday, spent some time with the red RG550. It's the only one left in its original incarnation, no mods.

With that said, I simply had to replace these pickguard screws. Folks, rusty screws are darn difficult to remove. You might round off the top while doing it & that makes it even harder for you. Also, super rusty screws might snap off in the midst of removal so some drilling is required to extract the broken bits. Rusty screws are easy & not costly to deal with so better safe than sorry. If you think leaving your guitar be in its hard case won't cause screws to rust - it doesn't work that way.

A set of D'Addario 9s for this one.  

My D

This is my Ibanez RGD321. Yes, it's the RGD 3-series before they phased it out to make way for the RGD 4-series. The latter features a toggle selector as opposed to this lever type. They did away with the tone knob as well & the fretboard markers are the simple dots. For something that dwells in the lower tuning domain, removing the tone control is a wise move. I can't really think of an application where a boomy sounding guitar would benefit from a tone control that is rolled down; it takes away clarity. 

Just last week, Beez helped me replace the above dead components:

• Capacitor: It was leaking from one of its tip. Maybe it was cut a little too short. Maybe it was punctured while I tried to snip it off the tone pot. Whatever the case might be, it had to go.
• 3-Way selector switch: It worked after I gave it the contact spray treatment but subsequently, it was stuck. You can see the amount of corrosion there on one of the plate surface. We shouldn't bother saving such things.
• Tone pot (push-pull coil split): Despite looking OK, it's actually dead; could not rotate, failed to pull up as well

After everything is in place, it's a fresh set of strings for the RGD. I am a D'Addario fan. I would digress from time to time but always return to the familiar & trusted feel & performance. Why owning an extended scale length guitar (26.5") is a plus for me:

• It allows me to detune the instrument with less set up issues when dealing with a thicker set of strings
• Allows me to be more riff/song-oriented instead of solos
• I play tapped notes better on such guitars
• No lower string action focus - it's the action that gets the job done
• Incorporate more open strings into playing ideas

10.5s

Just a heads up - the D'Addario version of the 10.5 set is now available at Swee Lee but it's not stocked in any of the outlets, you need to purchase them online. If you are playing the Fender offsets (Jaguar/ Mustang/ Duo Sonic) which sport a shorter scale length (24"), check this gauge set out.

New reference

This year, D'Addario has a new coloured ball end reference chart done on their plastic packaging (right). If the one you bought a pack & it's still showing the older version (left), it's a legit pack & not a counterfeit product. 

Return to goodness

Following the coated strings letdown as shared recently (click HERE), I returned to what had been working for me all this while; a good pack of D'Addario strings. Seen here is the 80/20 bronze set, just love the crispy tones from this one. These react especially well with the AW54JR's mahogany, warm & clear tones.  Can't help but relate to it as crispy - keep in mind that a mahogany sound board has more midrange than a spruce-induced top end. Combine this with the 80/20's very bright offerings & you get that wonderful crisp tones. Not quite appealing if you sing & play at the same time.