JB_J 50th

As an ardent follower of all things Seymour Duncan, I am happy to see the 50th Anniversary commemoration of the JB & Jazz pickups. These might not be everyone's cup of tea, especially if you are from the DiMarzio camp. The JB is an in-your-face pickup when paired with the right kind of amp drive / gain. From a personal perspective, it dislikes pedals or any excessive processing. The jazz here hold its own when it comes to clean tones but it's also a closet avenger when it comes to driven tones. Am I buying this commemorative set? There seems to be no news of a trembucker version for the JB, so...

Pic: SD

Cyclone

Spent Sunday morning with something different, but not entirely. Jaguars & Jazzmasters are predominantly Fender's offset darlings, other models get sidelined for being second fiddle or too estranged (eg. Meteora). The model you see here is the Cyclone. The Cyclone was discontinued in 2006 / 2007 & reappeared in the Japanese end of Fender quite recently. I lost track when that happened... The Cyclone sports a 24.75" scale length so it sits in between the Jaguar & the Jazzmaster.

I dislike the M / Wave-type default string retainer; it sits too low on the headstock. Will always make it a point to replace them with this rounded version. Fender experts told me this is necessary to keep the strings in place at the nut when you whammy. Since I don't whammy, it made perfect sense.

Beez installed these SDs yesterday: Scooped (N) / JB (bridge). Anyway, these are excess pickups that I didn't know I own, really. I'm not into white pickups, was wondering why I have this trembucker version lying around. I recall buying the middle Scooped single coil, not the neck model. Still wondering why I have it to begin with.

I have a fresh set of 9 - 42 in this guitar as an experiment. I'm tuned to fourths, getting a feel for the high E / B strings before making further changes. First impressions - it's necessary to have thin strings for this tuning approach for the aforementioned E / B but the rest of the strings feel floppy. Looking forward to try the 9.5 - 44 instead.

Standard Sunday

Sunday with the Standard (S2 Standard 22 satin). This was an unplanned purchase. The S2 Series were given the American treatment rather recently  & it came with a revised price which contradicted the manufacturer's philosophy of making the S2 range affordable price-wise. The model you see here is the pre-revision Standard 22 in a satin finish. The reason you don't see the wing button tuners there. I like PRS for its 25" scale length. That in-between (Fender's 25.5" & Gibson's 24.75") feel & tone makes it different (to me). I'm also quite a sucker for non-gloss finishes especially the neck. This was clearing for a good price at Davis GMC once upon a time so I had to grab it. 

I don't quite fancy the default pickups so these are Seymour Duncans (JB / Jazz). I don't see too many covered JB trembuckers available here so it was grab & go from Davis GMC. The neck pickup is a pre-owned unit which the previous owner did not install into his guitar. It was virtually new. I don't whammy so the bridge sits flushed against the body.

Music @ Angsana

Was at JB today, looking for some bargain work pants. Not that they are unavailable in the domestic shopping centres but the one here appeal to me in terms of the cutting / fitting. Too many slim fit ones at the local stores, I'm more comfortable with straight cut these days.

Saw these in-house musicians at Plaza Angsana. They were located at the rear food court facing the open air car park. If you see them, please give generously, the vocalist is a visual impaired individual who can easily out-sing those semi-pathetic hopefuls you see competing on TV.

White start

I love this guitar despite not playing it often. It's all about the weight - heavy. I can't really handle it after about 20min of play as it would numb my right leg severely. Due to the intensive chemo not too long ago, there were some nerve damages here so lapping this heavy guitar would compound the discomfort. 

I love the deep, heavy tones I could manifest with this guitar. The weight per se & the pickups (Seymour Duncan JB / '59) play an important part in this. It works better with riffs as opposed to solos. I don't need to play fast with this one, & I completely understand why those doom inclined prefer a guitar of this make to fulfil their sonic assault. You won't see this in the stores here these days as ESP has scaled down on its copy designs due to obvious legalities. 

Of course, the obligatory re-string before play - Darco 10s.

Was yesterday

Took time yesterday to hang out at JB. I love this Segget neighbourhood & prefer coming here than spending money on overpriced food & stuff back home. There's a very laid back feel every time I set foot on these grounds; there's no rush, nothing to fulfil just the joy of being here.

Of course, I got to feed my darlings. These cats used to be ultra nervous around human presence but they had certainly identified safe individuals especially the ones with food / treats to spare. You can't just bend down to pet JB cats, they are highly likely to dart off unless you approach them with an intention to feed. There are more cats in this neighbourhood, some cute kittens included. 

Shout out to new followers: Cassandra / Al Milano

The rail way

Finally. Seymour Duncan now offers more pickups in its rail design. Simply put, these are existing models given the pole pieces-less rendering as seen above. The JB & Jazz models are offered individually or as a set (Hot Rodded).

Also available - Nazgul & Sentient (as a set as well).

Prior to this, SD rail models are limited & somewhat costly, the most affordable being the Dimebucker. The Slug, Jupiter & Diablo are custom-based models which retail for more. I bet there would be some peculiar characters who would claim they hear a different tone coming out of these ones due to the absence of pole pieces. 

Pics: Seymour Duncan

Orville

This was a fun partial restoration project completed today. It's an Orville (Japan) Les Paul that weighs a tonne. It had been through a few owners & surprisingly in a good condition (lightly used). 

 

This is pretty much the reason why this guitar is so heavy; there's a sumptuous amount of maple on top of the main mahogany body.

Why did I remove the pickup mounting rings? This is the reason. Folks, for vintage specs instruments, especially the Les Paul variety, the correct mounting ring length is less than 9cm. Guitars with modern, wide necks (eg. Jackson), it's a little longer (9.1cm). Apparently, the incorrect version was installed in this guitar causing material compression as seen above. 

This is how it looks like after the correct mounting ring was purchased & installed. Folks, respect your instruments. It shouldn't be equipped with ill-fitting accessories. In a buy-sell situation, it becomes a reason for others to mitigate prices. It also reflects on you as the owner; why pay more to individuals who don't give a hoot about their belongings especially when there are crucial follow-ups to be done  post-purchase. Anyway, the bridge mounting ring was retained as it was of the correct measurement. My take on the matter - someone over-tightened the neck mounting ring & it cracked. That person bought the incorrect replacement part & couldn't get an exchange for the correct piece. 

Also folks, it is my habit to reinforce the pickup coil tape with a new layer for older pickups. During installation / removal from the guitar, the sides might rub against the mounting ring repeatedly causing some wires to be exposed. In terms of looks, it is more presentable should you decide to sell the pickup away. The Seymour Duncan pickups in this guitar: JB (b) / Jazz (n).

Finally, a fresh set of Darco (10s) strings. Summary of other maintenance procedures not visually documented:

• Replaced tune-o-matic / hard tail bridge. New set of GOTOH parts.
• Replaced tuners / machine heads. Also a new set of GOTOH units. Three out of the six were wobbly & could not hold tuning well. 
• Replaced all rusty & rounded pickup mounting screws.
• Fret polish.
• Cleaned & re-moisturized fretboard. The amount of gunk removed... OMG.
• Thorough wipe down & polish of body, neck & headstock.

Red

I played this one yesterday. In conjunction with CNY, I grabbed the nearest red guitar & this was it. Didn't play the single coil much (Duncan Hot Strat), just the JB & Jazz all the way through. It's true that some guitars with their individual quirks & tone, would influence what you play. So this one, compounded by my heavy rotation of Atheist albums for the last couple of days, saw some tech-death moments which have not been my playing staple lately. Unlike the other metal sub-genre, all these tech-y stuff requires purposeful playing & very little peddling unlike black metal, for instance. Also, speed is optional. If you listen to Pestilence, it's mid-tempo for the most part.

Hope everyone is still revelling in the CNY celebrations with loved ones.

Revival Thursday

Not too long ago, this guitar was unplayable. It's been looked into & the following tweaks were done...

The primary fault was the chronic fret buzz. It seems that someone tried to file the frets down to get rid of this but was unsuccessful. There were black marker stains on many frets. It's the typical (& correct) approach of identifying problematic frets & marking them down for filing. The stains would be gone when the filing's done but in this case residue black stains were not taken care off.

A closer look revealed a need for proper neck tilt. I managed to shim the neck (hence the visible maple bit you see above) to raise the rest level as well as rectify the tilt angle. The neck was also bowed & that was easily attended to via a quick truss rod tweak. Action was re-set for a set of 9 - 42 but there's residue string buzz. Culprit - popped out frets. These were hammered in. Only 2 frets underwent minimal filing. I wonder what happened to this guitar along the way & the way it was re-set up disappointed me because it was still unplayable but put up for sale. Tsk, tsk, tsk...

The default Ibanez Quantum pickups meant nothing to me. Seymour Duncan JB / Jazz are the replacements. The gold pole pieces - inexpensive tweak to match the hardware livery of the guitar. Adds zilch to tone, of course.

The 5-way selector is the circuit board type to supplement the coil split option. The terminals are well-labelled but you need to follow the replacement pickup manufacturer's colour code which might be different from the Ibanez pickup colour code (seen above).

This gap between the saddles might be minimal but it caused string misalignment (against the pickup pole pieces). Noticed the other saddles are seated properly without gaps in between? Well, so much for QC.

Also replaced - tuners. The default ones were locking version but it added weight to the headstock & the neck dive was intolerable. Easy fix, yes?

Thumbs up: Cort G300 Pro

Spent a week with this Cort G300 Pro. Not my guitar, belongs to the guitarist of local band, Urban Sensation. This was sent to me for re-string & set up. This has to be one of the best value-for-money guitar in the mean time. That roasted maple neck & Seymour Duncan (JB / Jazz) combo are easily the highlight of this guitar. Not forgetting stainless steel frets & tusq nut, all for a sub-$800 price tag. The action of this guitar had to be re-set for a set of 10s. My only beef with this one is that the bridge curvature was not conforming to the fretboard radius. In fact, action for some strings were uneven. 

The G300 Pro is actually an offset design that invites a robust application for virtually any music genre. 

The neck profile, according to the manufacturer, is a palm-friendly V but after a week of handling, to me, it's very C-esque. Whatever the case, it's one of the most comfortable necks out there for sure.

Pics: Cort

Headless endeavour

 

Spent time with these two today; light stuff since yesterday's episode involved a very heavy guitar. I didn't realize that both are in the same colour family, fixed bridge & sporting a 5-way pickup selector. FYI, the Ibanez is the lighter between the two. Also, despite the fretboard hue difference, both are maple fretboards. 

The Kiesel - This Vader needer some getting used to. It's not the headless detail but that lacquered neck. I'm in no way a fan of glossed out necks but I endured many Les Pauls to appreciate their tone signatures so this one shouldn't be given a different treatment. No mods for this one less an Orange cap in the tone circuit.

The Ibanez - Let me be upfront with this one - it's  B-Stock. Perhaps one day I will get into the flawed details but not in this episode, definitely. I was OK with the default Ibanez single coils in this guitar but the humbucker was something else. Decided to overhaul the entire pickup line up. Very happy with the ergonomics, even the rounder neck profile is a hit with me. If it's within my means this year, would wanna try the 7-string version. Current pickups (Seymour Duncan): JB / Hot Stack x2

20min

Sunday. Brief respite from work. Guitar time - yes! But this Edwards is the heaviest guitar I own. I played it for only 20min before switching to something else. When it rests on the lap, it will restrict blood circulation almost immediately. I enjoy playing this guitar for its sustain & the JB in there (bridge) is one of the best distortion tone I could conjure. 

Edit: My medical condition, as it is blood-related, actually accentuated the numbness. For the record, I still suffer from poor blood circulation owing to the cancer & medication side effects.

Covered goodness

I only have good things to say about the Seymour Duncan JB & '59. However, I don't fancy gold covers but on that note, these covers did something to tone. I'm not about to unleash dichotomy here by saying pickup covers are doing some magic when it comes to tone but the JB, being one of the raunchiest humbucker when it comes to midrange performance, somehow sounds very smooth here. The '59 also has its vintage livery a little souped up when it comes to contemporary overdriven tones. I do not wish to look too much into those covers doing their thing but rest in the knowledge that there might be other possible contributors to this difference I hear in the mean time. 

The red special

Brought this one out to play for Tele Tuesday. It's not exactly a Tele but it's definitely a Tuesday. This one is on the heftier side of things & lately, I've been avoiding the heftier ones; they are beginning to affect my blood circulation. When I bought this way back when it was priced to clear, it actually cost less than its Mexican counterpart today. That's how crazy prices are in the mean time. I've stopped checking out certain guitars from a certain brand name as the products are becoming unreasonably priced without a matching mark up in quality.

I would refer to this combo as my cheat code; a proven, good-sounding pickup + the pick that makes me play with the least mistakes. The pickup in question is the Seymour Duncan JB (TB-4) & the pick - Norther Ghost Plectrums Planchette model. 

Re-moisturized

It's GibSUNDAY & time spent with the SG. Nothing much, just a re-string before play.

This is worth sharing - this SGJ has a satin finished body. Over time, the finish will thin out, especially over the areas of contact with the hand / arm. Note the dry areas above, it's even drier than the fretboard. I have never oiled / re-moisturized this body because it's simply not required till today, of course - after 6 years. If this is left unattended, the dry parts will flake off.

So whatever was applied onto the fretboard got applied over the dry areas & it looks like nothing happened to begin with. Fresh set of D'Addario 10s & it's riff assault Sunday. Actually only about an hour of play. The Seymour Duncan humbuckers you see here: JB (b) / Pearly Gates Plus (n). Wonderful pickups for the guitar. The JB sounds like a seasoned PAF, unlike its bright attack profile.

Sykes

If you know John Sykes, you're most probably a Whitesnake fan or you've been checking out the band's history. John Sykes is most often seen with his preferred Les Paul, a '70s black custom he continued using during his Thin Lizzy stint. That era saw him modding the guitar to feature chrome / silver-esque parts that became his signature feature. 

Edwards did a take on the afore-mentioned Gibson. Specs are close to the original instrument less some good tweaks; ebony fretboard, Seymour Duncan JB/59 pickups, among others. This guitar, the E-LP130CD-JS to be precise, is a good mid-priced Japanese-made instrument. I wouldn't say it's a Gibson LP Custom on a budget, that would be disrespecting this instrument of notable pedigree. It's a good Japanese singlecut guitar in terms of build, great playability with a substantial neck feel & that tried & trusted Seymour Duncan tone. It won't sound vintage-esque for sure but great tones are definitely available on tap. It's available on/off at Davis GMC, if you are interested, it's currently in stock (List: $1,450). I've been keeping track of this guitar for a while in terms of price fluctuations & must say that it's been stable from the start; it never crossed the current listing & did go for a little less in one of the previous shipments. 

Pics: Davis GMC / JS

SG Stealth

The Gibson SG Standard is perhaps a guitar to be left as it is. Any mods & the re-sale value would dip. Because this guitar is mine, it will manifest a form suitable for my needs & aesthetic pleasure regardless of what lies ahead in terms of  value. I do not buy instruments to be shackled by such expectations & the general conjecture of what an SG Standard should be. As you can see from the initial details above, it's now in stealth mode.

The original full face pickguard had been blacked out. It's not a replacement pickguard, it's the original with the side's 3-ply given a paint job; one of the easiest thing to do in this case. Also, the pickups are now Seymour Duncan JB / Jazz pairing. It's the custom floor black cover version. Screws were given the noir touch as well.

One more time - the hard case is supposed to protect the instrument against the elements but it's another disheartening episode of distrust; metal reacting with the interior lining resulting in pitting & corrosion. This hardware made way for a worthy replacement; the Faber ABR-1 style tune-o-matic bridge. If you are interested, Faber parts are available at TYMC.

In line with the stealth theme, reflector knobs & cream toggle switch cap were removed & replaced with black ones. I've grown too accustomed to the knobs' function & moved away from having them labelled volume & tone. Over time, we should be conditioned to know what these do instead of resorting to visual reliance. 

Finally, the obligatory black truss rod cover & a fresh set of GHS 10.5s to propel doomed thoughts. This guitar is detuned half a step & will not be a reference for nice songs for a long time to come.

Singles attack

Had been spending time with these two for the last few days or so. Why? Single focus + Seymour Duncan tone. Both guitars sport only one pickup to give maximum attention to playing. Also, I like to hear these pickups in action when aggressive music is the order of the day - JB (blue) / Custom Custom (copper). Coincidentally, these two represent a re-finish adventure that turned out real well. For both guitars, the bodies were originally white. Whatever the distractions, I still return to my preferred Seymour Duncan tone.

Re-string + goodbye

A very difficult decision but it had to happen - said goodbye to my Edwards E-LPC to raise funds for my chemo bills (due next week). In terms of tone impression within the singlecut domain, this guitar is a beast, especially after the pickup swap (gold covered Duncan JB / Jazz). The E-LPC came with in house EH pickups which, in my opinion, are above average but lacks the punch when it comes to distortion. As for me, it's all about distortion. It was handed over to a friend who is a Les Paul enthusiast; a deserving transfer of ownership, I must say. Gave it a quick re-string - D'Arco 10s - before the farewell.