Genesis: Blue (3)

The replacement pickups in this one are DiMarzios:

• Neck: D'Activator
• Mid: HS3
• Bridge: D'Activator

This isn't the first account of D'Activators in my guitar, they were in my Jackson Yellow Dinky (click HERE). I'm largely a Duncan camper but I'm not averse to DiMarzio, especially the D'Activator. These  are easily preferred in terms of extremity & clarity when it comes to tone. The bottom end loving geeks out there wouldn't be in love with this kind of offering; they sound brash & manifest more treble than a typical PAF type humbucker. I'm at home with this kind of tone as it easily addresses my extreme metal needs & additional bottom end could easily be dialled in over at the amp end. If there's any Duncan equivalent, then it would be the JB but the D'Activator is a louder counterpart. I lowered the bridge D'Activator a little bit more than my usual preference & it sounds marvelous. 

Related entries:

Genesis: Blue

Genesis: Blue (2)

Genesis: Blue

On the final day of the Swee Lee Katong closing down sale, this was the final guitar I managed to grab. Nothing special, just the Ibanez RG550DX, the follow up to the successful RG550 in the Genesis series. This version was less popular among the RG550 die-hards due to its non-maple fretboard & shark tooth inlay. These, to me, are not earth shattering differences. More importantly, it's going for a bargain. 

Flawed gold

The account for my mismanaged gear expenditure last month must include this guitar. This is a Gibson LP Deluxe, the only one in the entire Swee Lee inventory in gold top finish. When the second swing of the Swee Lee Katong sale kicked in, the 40% discount was too good to pass so it went home with me after an unusual bout of second thoughts. Why was this the case? The instrument in question was a flawed piece not due to careless human handling but prolonged storage. No further discounts were offered, it's a take-it-or-leave-it decision for an as-is unit. I simply couldn't let this one go. More details to come.

Happy March, everyone. Once again, stay vigilant & virus-free. 😎

Final 40

You read that right, folks. The final sale discount as stated above before Swee Lee Katong calls it off for good. Last day of sale: Sunday, 16th Feb 2020.

If you are in the market for a good, no-frills Les Paul, I'd recommend this LP Studio which is still available as at time of posting. After discount, it's slightly more than $1.4K & that's value for money considering how much Studios go for these days (blame it on the manufacturer, not the dealer). 

End of (sale) days

We're into the final two days of Swee Lee's Katong branch sale. If you are planning to grab a worthy Ibanez, the ones in this end of the display are worth checking out; I cannot say likewise for the other Ibanez models in store. The condition of this lot is very good, close to an out of-the-box experience. 

Out of the eight, I've personally tried five of them & my highest accolade goes to the Andy Timmons model (Premium) for being both good playing & good sounding. It's slightly more than $1K after discount & I deem this value for money. I'm not an active pickup fan but that Luke Hoskin signature is really something tone-wise. The Fluence pickups are really good for metal stuff & high octane rock - about $1.3K after discount. 

Happy weekend in advance, everyone. Please stay vigilant & virus-free.