550 Sunday

Spent time with my RGs. The 550s you see above are from the same Genesis family but different iterations. The DX has a granadillo fretboard & a set of Seymour Duncans (JB / Hot Strat / Jazz). The Road Flare version sports a maple fretboard & kept in its original form, no mods. 

Are there benefits from swapping out the default pickups to some other brand names? It really depends on the owner - are you happy with the default pickups? The in house Ibanez V/S pickups are alright. They are not bad in any way, still capable of pulling off good rock tones. However, I realize that if too much distortion is dialled into them, they sound honky / nasal. The Seymour Duncans, on the other hand, has more tolerance for distortion, maintaining clarity & note definition. 

We're into the final week of April. That's fast. 

Gibson 2018 (Part 2)

Gibson's Firebird Studio survives another year & offered in a P-90 pickup configuration come 2018. However, the fretboard is now granadillo & please pay USD119 more for this version. Granadillo is a close-grained wood, rather dense, similar to maple in terms of acoustic characteristics. So is this a deserving rosewood substitute? It remains to be seen but comparing the two wood types in terms of likeness is rather futile as they are different. Substitution is not the approach here.

The Explorer also sports a granadillo fretboard for 2018 & price goes up by USD140. The respite here is that it now sports a pair of Bursbuckers. OK, I personally prefer the Burstbuckers compared to the default Series 400 pickups which could sound muddy under high gain. Then again, some of us rely on Gibson for that wooly, woman tone.

Another granadillo victim recipient with Burstbucker pickups as well. Prices- up by USD140.