Scaled down Becker

Kiesel has this scaled down guitar for your considerations before they cease operations for the holidays. If it looks familiar then it's the Jason Becker signature Numbers model but scaled down to 22.2" giving it a very similar dimension to the Jackson Minion model. This pedigree of instruments is more novelty than anything else. Depending on the urgency of the manufacturer, it might stay in tune because we all know too well that an instrument of this nature has a prominent weakness; it is unable to stay in tune. On this note, Jackson's Minion & Ibanez's Mikro models are amongst those that do stay in tune. More importantly, proceeds from this sale would contribute greatly to Jason Becker's medical maintenance which should appeal to us fans more than the instrument per se.

Wishing everyone a good weekend ahead.

Pic: Kiesel

ALS

Besides Jason Becker, I only know one other individual who is strickened by ALS. He is Riz Sunawan, a former news presenter here. It's good to know he'd received some help, together with other local & well-known individuals in the media / entertainment industry here. The immediate impact of living with a serious medical condition is the loss of income. Ironically, the individual would be facing mounting medical bills but where is the money coming from? 

Having been in this situation, I could totally feel for these individuals who are relegated to the fringes of memories with virtually no incoming funds to oversee their medical attention. Have I recovered from this financial plight? Absolutely no. I don't see any positive financial recovery for myself in the near future. It's about living day to day with uncertainty & virtually no savings; what comes in goes out with limited savings prospects. It's a real struggle but we are grateful for what we have now, limitations & all, because we know they are others more miserable than us out there. 

Pics: MND / Grammy

Yin Yang

The latest Jason Becker model iteration from the Kiesel camp - the Yin Yang. It's something that doesn't move too far away from the previous versions but the marked difference here is the 24.75" scale length. You are expected to hear a more boomy bridge pickup performance with this measurement then again, it's really up to your set up. Also, there's a single coil in the neck position instead of a humbucker. There are (currently) no custom options for this model, it's strictly this iteration. Note that only the maple fretboard is  roasted, the neck is not. Some stuff (Bonus points to those who know which JB tunes were replicated for this clip):

Pic: Kiesel YT screengrab

New Becker

The new Jason Becker model by Kiesel (JB100) is quite the departure from what the man himself embraced; no locking hardware, no tail fin headstock design, unmarked fretboards, etc. You wouldn't have guessed it to be a Jason Becker model if it wasn't labelled as such. 😑

Seymour Duncan: Perpetual Burn

This here is the Seymour Duncan Perpetual Burn trembucker, developed with lots of Jason Becker DNA in there. OK, just tone DNA. It's an Alnico 5 at the core, it sounds blistering with drive, very Distortion-like but due to its non-ceramic nature, there's a sweet top end polish. Being an alnico pedigree, the pickup sounds sweet, clean. In summary- the PB can get as hot as it wants to be but it's not forgetting its alnico roots.

Seymour Duncan: Perpetual Burn

Seymour Duncan has officially released the Jason Becker Perpetual Burn pickup. This was an official Duncan-Becker team-up that never got completed due to his worsening ALS condition but a recent project rekindled the interest & here we are today with the said humbucker. It's not an all-out high output unit but something singing that Jason Becker was interested in when he first heard the Duncan JB in action. Despite being showcased in a shred context in the following video, the pickup promises to impress in other musical applications:

Of Becker & Ihsahn

Yesterday's day-out acquisitions:

• Guitar Player magazine: I've stopped buying guitar magzines a long time ago since there were online versions to refer to but with Jason Becker on the cover, it's a must-buy...
• Got my Ihsahn CD as well, was expecting a July collection but sometimes, the good things do come early :-)

Yoyo Becker.

The guitar community recently held a tribute show for the prodigious Jason Becker who is currently strickened with the crippling ALS disease. It's good to see some appreciation for one of the most gifted guitarist of our time granted Jason Becker was revered in the guitar turf; it's not a superstar appeal like the Beatles or Led Zeppelin. I'm always intrigued by his technique & precision. Every time I watch this clip, I remind myself that my abilities are actually a speck of what Jason Becker could do:

Jason Becker's yoyo guitar solo by Guitarf101

In harmony

Another new one from the BOSS people; the Harmonist PS-6. This is not to be confused with its previous incarnation, the HR-2 despite being functionally similar. The '6' suffix there indicates how many evolutions the pedal had been through, being named Super-Shifter in one of its incarnations. 

This pedal duplicates your input in a different key so it gives the illusion that there is another spectre player playing along making the overall output thicker & more expansive. This effect is best heard in Jason Becker's Mabel's Fatal Fable. Here's a demo off the manufacturer's YouTube channel:

Number indicators

You might know Oli Herbert- a very capable player- maybe you know his band; All That Remains. He has a super cool Ibanez Xiphos (custom).

I saw a close-up pic of his fretboard & those number-cum-inlay markers are rather fascinating. But I recall someone with a more outgoing markers & there wasn't any attempt at being discreet either...

... Jason Becker.

Where have I seen that headstock before (Part 2)

Paradise Guitars, a custom-based instrument manufacturer, recently released a Jason Becker tribute model.
But the headstock could have been more original...