Mojo

I believe this is one of my better playing, better sounding guitar. This S470 used to be black but it's now this green-ish gold. I'm still on the lookout for 22-fretted S-Series & I know these can't be had new today. There are a few in the after-market but I'm not agreeable with the fret life of those despite going for good asking prices.

Just a minor revision this time - the bridge pickup is now a DiMarzio Mo' Joe (together with the Area '61 (m) & PAF 36th (n) - these make an unlikely attractive combo for me). Why bother? 1) The DiMarzio was clearing for a good price at SV Guitar 2) The Air Norton that used to be in there is more impressive in clean settings compared to an overdriven application.

I'm totally aware that the Mo' Joe was designed for Joe Satriani but I'm more attracted to what it has to offer EQ-wise. As seen above, it has a strong midrange response which is my staple; blame the extreme metal streak in me & my need to hear very harsh, intense midrange for that intent. Verdict - the Mo' Joe sounds crunchy at high distortion settings, extremely suitable for players in search of that doom-esque grizzle. However, as correctly implied by the EQ settings above, the spike in midrange isn't excessive. If you wish for that bass note chugging to see you through, it got you covered but do not expect a thick, PAF type palm muted motes.Bonus - it has an awesome split tone, very Strat-ish in a modern way. 

Happy failure but the end

I terribly disliked the default pickups in my Ibanez SIX6FDFM (Iron Label Series, discontinued). Since I have the time & a little extra in the piggy to get this right (always grateful for His providence), I bought Duncans. It's partly my fault for not checking first but I have no issues with my other S-Series in my possession so this was a calculated assumption & one that I got wrong.

Could it be the exclusive case of the direct-mount type? Well, the Prestige S5470 way back in 2010 did not manifest this issue. I own one & that's the reason why I'm sure there won't be issues with the current generation of S-models & again I'm proven wrong.

To prevent further disappointment, I just made do with a pair of DiMarzios. I respect the brand & have no particular dissent towards any of the products, it's just that for a direct guitar-to-amp set up, I get better results with Seymour Duncan & it's my go-to brand. Seen here: PAF 36th Anniversary (n) + Super 3 (b). On that note, DiMarzios are going for good discounts at SV Guitars, do check them out.

I bought this guitar because it's the first reverse headstock S-Series in standard production. It's now discontinued & superseded by the S61AL featuring active Fishman Fluence pickups which I tested & disliked. I think I'm the passive aggressive type. 😁

Despite the eye-catching front finish, it's actually a regular S-Series as seen here; the rear finish is as standard as it gets.

Here's the full pic for everyone's reference. It's one of the lightest Ibanez guitars out there but made annoying by the locking tuners (default) which makes it neck heavy. But I still love this guitar.

On that note, I'm staying away from Ibanez in the mean time until they make something enticing in the AZ range (22 frets, no pickguard, not a signature) to my liking. If you've been following my entries, I've not bought any new Ibanez guitars for quite a while & are clearing some of them (RGs mostly) for good prices. They are just not my thing any more. 

Hello, July! 😎

Pic:Ibanezrules

Selling: DiMarzio PAF 36th Anniversary (F-spaced)

Okie dokie! Clearing my DiMarzio 36th Anniversary PAF humbucker (F-spaced) for $69 (final).

The PAF 36th fuses the best attributes of a vintage-voiced PAF & adding some contemporary interpretations along the way. It sounds very close to a PAF Pro in terms of drive/distortion application but the overall tone is a smoother affair. It's pick sensitive, meaning: If you do lots of guitar volume manipulations & trigger drive by picking hard, this pickup is recommended. All queries welcomed. Hope to clear this before 31st Jan. Thank you for reading!

EDIT: Pickup SOLD, 29th Jan 7.43pm. Thanks to all who replied.

Ibanez: SA1260... the deviation

It's another pickups overhaul, this time my Ibanez SA1260 received some significant make-over. The default pickups were retired for good & as you can see here, the cavities are some of the neatest the manufacturer has to offer.

No whammy applications with this guitar so 5-springs in there, as usual.

The reason why this post is tagged as a 'deviation' is evident in the pic above; I chose to have a Mallory capacitor instead of the usual Orange Drop routine. I was doing some spring cleaning for the last few days or so & discovered I had a Mallory stashed away in one of my guitar bags. The numeric on it had faded & I thought it should be used as soon as possible before some further deterioration takes place. I also had the volume & tone pots replaced; despite the guitar being very new, the pots were stiff. All these done at BEEZ's.

Finally, a fresh set of GHS .009s in the guitar & my preferred action set up. Played this guitar after watching CSI last night for quite some time. The other reason why this is a 'deviation'- DiMarzio pickups in here. Despite being a hardcore Seymour Duncan fan, I digress occasionally as a check of sorts; I don't mind having other brand name pickups in some of my guitars as a tonal reference. The newbies here are:

• Neck: DiMarzio Area '67
• Middle: DiMarzio Area '67
• Bridge: DiMarzio PAF 36th Anniversary

Anniversary PAF

Really, I didn't have the primary intentions to buy stuff from the Swee Lee (Katong) sale but I was in the neighbourhood for some satay. Thought I just swing by to witness the occurences.

Saw the above pickup & bought it. Itching to try another (DiMarzio) PAF humbucker since it did wonders the last time I tried it (in my Ibanez RG560). The Anniversary PAF is a low-power humbucker but featuring an Alnico 5 magnet- that's an interesting start isn't it?