Snake Vader

This is a spin-off from yesterday's guitar-tivities. OK so it's another Snake-stortion episode. Had been playing the pedal with single coils so it's a humbucking adventure now. As you can see from the dial, it's hard clipping all the way. The guitar sounds good in other clipping modes but not 'metal' enough, whatever that means. I've never been thoroughly happy with a pedal, the EH Snake-stortion is quite a rare feat in this sense. Thusfar, tone had been kept in the treble register with all pickups. It's like the pedal is happy to let your hear added clarity without thinning out the overall tone.

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

Warped. Not.

This happened over time, it wasn't an immediate reaction- the Kiesel Vader neck you see here, warped. If you have come across the standard Vader neck, you know how substantial it is in terms of thickness & on this note per se, it's an unlikely candidate for a neck warp. But be informed that the guitar neck's susceptibility to warping is not about how thick it is. It's about the manufacturer's reinforcements in dealing with temperature changes. At the end of last night, the neck was all straight again, all thanks to the truss rod; some quick turns & it's cured. I must say that Kiesel equipped this guitar with a very reactive truss rod & the headless access at the neck end made it a breezy rectification episode.

Distorting Vader

Managed to squeeze in some playing time last night despite being exhausted. Nothing spectacular, just legato runs. It's equally a chromatic fingering exercise. Anyway, just stating the fact that some of our favourite go-to pedals simply don't work well with some guitars. The Kiesel Vader here sounds more inviting with distortion than overdrive. So thank goodness for variety- it's good to at least have a reference unit (chorus/ delay/ flanger/ etc.) even if you know it's not your thing. There is no sure formula when it comes to tone.  Just make sure you are open to alternatives. 😁

Greens

The green grass guitars of home. These were the most played guitars last week, coincidentally, they are green.

BC Rich needs to bring back their tried & trusted models. The current lineup seems to feature only selected, sell-able models. Missing in the offerings are the Iron Bird & the Gunslinger.  The Gunslinger is the manufacturer's best bet in addressing the shred market. Even the affordable manifestation as seen here is worthy. This one in particular has a very likeable weight making it formidable in the lower frequencies. Of course, a menacing pickup helps. The neck profile however isn't a shred cup of tea; it's a rounded C as opposed to the more preferable, flatter D but if you are a true to the bone shredder, this won't get in the way.

The Kiesel Vader isn't a shred unit per se. The fatter neck there might be a put off for many shred purists. However, this is how a headless guitar weight is compensated; more beef in the neck. I find it a challenge playing sitting down. I need to stretch a little farther to be 'normal'. But played strapped on, I love how the thicker neck complements those who don their instruments a little higher up the chest than the average Joe. I keep forgetting how a blank fretboard liberates the mind when it comes to chromatics. The Vader simply rocks. 👊

Happy working mid-week, everyone. 😁

Kiesel: Vader 6

This guitar was supposed to be my birthday present. Unfortunately, it didn't make it on my birthday due to procrastination. That's right, I deliberated late last year hoping the exchange rate would turn favourable but the opposite happened & I called the order off. 

I had been eyeing the Kiesel range in June 2016 after the local dealer here cleared away their Carvin stock since Kiesel would be taking direct orders online, eliminating any third party costs which would eventually be borne unto the buyers- thank you Kiesel! 👍 Prior to this, I was set to purchase  an offset Fender model, one from the American Pro range, which was also called off after seeing the prices compounded by some other complications that took place along the way (I do not wish to re-visit that episode). Along the way, Dhalif Ali invited me to try his Vader 7 & it somehow re-kindled my interest in all things Kiesel.

At that point in time, I had a month to go till my birthday so I keyed in the custom order but Kiesel don't rush their production, they don't wish to despite the circumstances; it affects quality & I was OK with it. Production was completed a week ago & final payment was made. I'm still playing this guitar & giving it thorough tests before putting up a deserving appraisal. This colour was intentional as it's the colour of that Fender I wished to purchase which also features a maple fretboard. Salt into the wound, you could say that 💣

I'm rather averse to buying guitars online. I need to play one in person before parting with good money. I need to be personally assured because guitars could be harbouring defects & the onus is on buyers to make sure they don't buy lemons. But we don't brush aside names like Kiesel in this consideration. They are guitar people & they make it their business to deliver their best, especially the fulfilment of specific instructions by the customers. These aren't regular production guitars, mind you. 

As this was my initial dealing with Kiesel, being adventurous was not it in any way. I kept things simple & objective. I'm not a sucker for eye-catching flame tops so a solid finish was chosen. I prefer no fretboard inlays & that was made clear here. That's about it, everything else was recommended specs & things turned out brilliant. They had a $100 promo back then for added specs & I took that opportunity to include stainless steel frets. On this note, I'm dead serious when I expressed intentions to veer online for my guitar needs. Things are made more feasible these days with the advent of technology, the rest involves an element of trust. If you choose to stick strictly to what's available in the stores, you are limiting your choices & that could be costly. Let's see now, if I have opted for that Fender, I would have needed to fork out $700 more as opposed to what I paid for this Kiesel Vader 6. Lesser money for a custom shop affair- why not?