S-Saturday

Nothing much today, staying indoors, had been having bouts of vertigo. This usually happens when they review my meds & prescribed an alternative medicine to reduce the dosage or address some concerns (nerve related). Anyway, the guitar of choice on this tipsy Saturday - S621. This guitar is tuned to fourths so that less thinking is required as I move across the fretboard. The downside - need to re-think my chords but I seldom play chords, maybe a few times a year at most. Hope your Saturday was more exciting than mine.

Shimming adventure continues

Friday, indoors... re-string therapy was inevitable. I enjoy playing this Ibanez S621 but this morning, it felt a wee bit off maybe because I seldom travel up the neck to the upper frets which I did excessively today. 

Yes, the pocket there required shimming & it was done twice. As evident in the pic above, I had to add another layer of shimming material to get the action right. That non-aligned layer placement was intentional so that I know how many layers / how thick the shim is. 

A set of Olympia 9s for today's episode. Things are so much better after this re-set up of sorts. As mentioned previously, sometimes, this is necessary due to different factors. This S621 is an example of my preferred S-Series specs. These days, I don't whammy much so I prefer fixed bridge models. Also, a dual humbucking pickup configuration is my thing but I find a single coil in the neck position more likeable for solos. This S621 had the 5-way selector replaced with a 3-way version.

Wishing everyone a good weekend ahead. 👋

Nobody touches my guitar! (2)

There is an overlooked QC issue at the Indonesian plant because this S621QM (2015) proves just that. Its predecessor, the S521 (2014) had a slanted string travel from the nut to the machine head. I avoided those as soon as I saw them. The S521 are still sold at Swee Lee (left overs). There are no such issues with the S621.

I'm not a fan of the default Quantum pickups. Once upon a time, the Quantums were manufactured by DiMarzio & equipped in the S-Series of the past. The in-house Quantums today are a far cry from those. They might be acceptable for some of us but for me personally, they had to go. Replacement pickups - DiMarzio Air Classic (DP191). The name sounds so demure but it's capable of manifesting some of the best distorted tones. The magnet on board is an Alnico 5 but the overall technology ensures a reduced string pull & lots of bottom end girth. Speaking of bottom end, the bass output here is kept low so if you employ a boosted bass response at the amp end, it sounds very commanding.

My embrace of the lesser string brand continues, a set of Olympia 9s are in this one. It's not about the brand name but the actual quality & performance that counts.

Nobody touches my guitar!

Nobody touches my guitar unless you don't mind getting whacked with corn.

To be continued...

No go

Dear Ibanez S621QM, you were on my to-get list for this year...

... but since you cost more than the S570BK, you've been struck off my list.

You, S621QM, are a fixed bridge guitar, you should be listing less than your whammy bridge counterpart, the S570BK. What's that? You said you are a 6XX series guitar which is a tier above the 5XX series model? In that case dear S621QM, why is this not reflected in online listings or are you saying it's a peculiar case here? 😶