Red Monday

I'm still in love with the 22 fret S540 models. It is perhaps a silent acceptance of adequacy amidst the shortcomings - obviously those 22 frets. I seldom venture up to the 24th fret while playing but often manifest touch harmonics there. This is the reason why the older, 22 fret S-Series are my thing. Gentle reminder - Malmsteen needs only 21 frets to turn heads.

Anyway, this guitar was brought out to play today to also remind myself how good those IBZ USA pickups are. These were manufactured by DiMarzio so the good tone pedigree is there. Not that I'm a fan of the aforementioned brand but I tend to go with what my ears like & these are definitely likeable.

Red revival (2)

I had second thoughts about these pickups but these are the fabled DiMarzio IBZUSA trio. This means very little to me as I'm not a DiMarzio fan, I will only embrace the ones that give me what I want to hear.  Also, I have no budget for replacement pickups in the mean time so they were given a thorough cleaning & left in tact. The volume & tone pots were replaced as those were dead. After Beez re-wired them, they sounded alright. In fact, they sounded good to me, the midrange & top end responded with good clarity & not rounded off like many DiMarzios out there. However, after a few days of playing, the split tones were not heard when selector position 4 was engaged. Darn. 

So back to Beez for a diagnosis. Both humbuckers were functional in split mode at position 2 but not 4. Conclusion - the 5-way selector was dysfunctional. What a relief. Replacing a 5-way selector is definitely more financially viable than getting new pickups. So as you can see above, a new GOTOH YM-50 took over proceedings (shiny new terminals) & the pickups were back in business. Yes, I only had an oversized Orange Drop cap to spare for this guitar & it was put to use as depicted above as well. Folks, the thinner S-Series body could not accommodate the Strat-type 5-way selector; the curved & extended terminal would extend beyond the cavity, the reason a GOTOH was used instead. Also new - input jack. The older one was still functional but it crackled way too much, Beez advised a replacement now would be a good idea instead of returning subsequently to get it done; it's a matter of time.

To be concluded... 

Red revival

Alright folks, this is something I got from the after-market; an Ibanez S540. The ex-owner is an old-timer who gave good mileage to this guitar for sure. We had a good chat. He told me he bought it in 1994 but S540 fans would know that '94 was the year, Ibanez had the Quantum (Q) humbuckers in the S540 so this one is definitely a pre-'94 as it featured a set of DiMarzio IBZ USA pickups.

Let me share with you how much I got it for. It was listed for $700. Upon personal inspection, there were many dings, scratches & the gash you see above was the deal-breaker for me. However, this was located at the rear of the elbow relief of the body so it's invisible from the audience view point. These were all undeclared in the listing so folks, if you are dealing with a well-used instrument which looks fine in listing photos, you are the wiser if you take time & see the instrument in person. Sometimes, the seller might deem it unnecessary to declare because it's a well-used instrument anyway but the buyer needs to know & it will inevitably be the decision-making factor. Together with the worn out frets, I managed to talk the price down to $600.

In the listing photos, the rear of the guitar cavity, where the whammy springs reside, was uncovered. Then I realized the bridge in this guitar was not the Lo-Pro Edge it was supposed to feature - darn! A cheap Chinese product was in place. As such, the trem block was not catered to match the thinner body depth of the S-Series, the reason it could not be closed & left exposed. I thanked the seller for his time & was about to walk away when he asked me how much a replacement bridge would cost - at least $200 was my answer. He told me he really had no use for this guitar any more & wanted to let it go to the first person showing real interest, so the price was further marked down to $400. Final question before I make my decision - are the electronics working? He could not assure me so the price was further marked down to $350. It sounded like I had squeezed dry a senior citizen of his prized possession but as you will see in further episodes here, despite its Japanese pedigree & DiMarzio manufactured pickups, it's not worthy of its $700 asking price. The guitar was purchased for $350 & I wasn't sure if it's a steal or daylight robbery. 

To be continued...