PCs

When I bring my LPJ out to play, I usually have given up on the Gibson tone for the day / moment & looking for a saving grace. The LPJ is a gloss-free model & it will always sound more appealing to me when its other glossed out siblings failed to please tone-wise.  

But folks, this LPJ is special because it has a pair of Seymour Duncan Phat Cat pickups; single coils in a humbucker housing. This is the second guitar in my possession to sport a pair of PCs & they sound killer. I'm impressed with the distortion aspects of these pickups; they simply sound good & will out perform humbuckers meant for overdrive / distortion excellence, no kidding.

This is the EQ break down of the PCs from the manufacturer's website. It has a little bit of kick in terms of treble & might possibly be the reason for them sounding good. The general expectation here is that, anything with excessive treble will sound repulsive & serrated, almost next to being useless. All this remains to be perceptive, you need to hear the tone in real time application. These pickups sound appealing despite the manufacturer's caution of a zestful treble response. Phat Cats, no regrets!

EQ pic: Seymour Duncan

Selling: Pickups

Have these spare pickups to clear, have been lying around for a while with the intended use for them either changed or abandoned entirely. 

• Gibson 500T ($130). Zebra finish, it's a T so it's a bridge model. High output with clarity, unlike the rest of the Gibson 'buckers which might sound wimpy when it come to high gain stuff. Condition: 8.5/10
• Seymour Duncan '59 ($99). Nickel cover, single conductor, for neck position. Totally unused, protective plastic film still in tact, full wore length. For vintage outings & some immaculate cleans. Condition: 10/10
• Seymour Duncan Phat Cat ($70). This is a single coil, P90-esque pickup but in a standard humbucker housing. Single conductor, neck position. Condition: 8/10
• Seymour Duncan P-Rails ($70) SOLD. Also for the neck position, 4-conductor. Condition: 8/10

• Self-collect @ CCK / Yew Tee mrt station
• No reservations / trades
• Query / confirmation: subversion.sg@gmail.com
• Prices are final - thank you for your understanding

Modern re-string

Had been spending time with my offsets lately, this one got the most play time.

This isn't an upgrade but just testing to see the benefits of a less resistant set of string saddles. Yes, these helped. Yes, these promote a comfortable hand placement on the bridge. Yes, the strings stayed in place due to the notch / slit. FYI, the Chinese Modern Player JM was equipped with a tune-o-matic type bridge, not the traditional Fender offset version. This is the wrong bridge type if you often whammy, if you don't then it's good. Nothing expensive, this roller version is a Chinese product that works. 

I also like the Seymour Duncan Phat Cats in this guitar. I thought these would be closer to the P-90s in its strict translation but they sound humbucker-esque instead, very suitable for heavy, distorted stuff.

GHS 9s for this one. Old packaging means it's a leftover pack with the freshness still in tact. I believe this was from a June 2020 purchase. 

Horizon FR

Still in ESP mood 😎

This is not my first ESP but my first featuring a Floyd Rose bridge. I bought this to put the bridge head-to-head against Ibanez's Edge model. If this is your first reference when it comes to Floyd Rose-Edge bridges, know that the latter is not a Floyd Rose but a derivative which is heavily drawn from the former. In fact, Ibanez had to license its Edge models for use in the guitars & the licensing note was imprinted on the bridge itself. 

I had a tiff with someone not too long ago when I told him that the Edge is not a Floyd Rose model. He insisted that it is because it says LICENSED UNDER FLOYD ROSE PATENT. It took quite an effort to educate some people what a license is. If you insist the Edge is a Floyd Rose, think about this - why does Floyd Rose require a license to use its own product? Moral of the story - don't expend too much effort educating those who chose to live in their own world. This is a byproduct of cultured technicalities; the Floyd Rose name is so synonymous with this bridge type, it is used as a noun instead of a name. The same goes for Pampers (disposable diapers) & Dettol (antiseptic washing agent) among others. 

I believe Ibanez has the upper edge (forgive the pun) in this technology (slight but significant) but I dislike both for the cumbersome implements. Beginner guitarists should steer clear of this bridge type. Those with limited patience should do likewise. Enough said.

Seymour Duncan's JB (b) & Phat Cat (n) - what a combo! I had initial reservations about putting a single coil in the neck of this instrument since it's utilized for high octane rock & beyond but the PC is under-rated when it comes to such applications. I wish it comes in black cover as an option.

This model would today become the E-II Standard series & the 'ESP' label there would disappear. A proud proclamation would be, "Hey man, I finally saved enough $$$ to buy as ESP." Because if you tell your bros you're buying an E-II, it would need further explanation, the authority reference is lost. If one buys a Rolex or Porshe, no further explanation is necessary. This guitar will be a decade old this year & it's still shiny & dependable as heck! 

ESP/LTD: 2020 (4)

More stuff from the LTD camp. The Snapper Deluxe models are also having new members & this SN-1000 is one of them. The highlight here is of course its sand-blasted finish & it features the Duncan Pegasus/Sentient pickup combo as well. I'm not a big fan of the Snappers, I prefer the STs. The Snapper's headstock is trying too hard not to infringe a certain other guitar of this nature but implying idea exhaustion. Nevertheless, all the Snappers that I've tried at the stores are above expectations, even the non-Deluxe models.

I know there are limited followings when it comes to semis but the PS is much overlooked when it comes to tone. This new one especially, is equipped with a pair of Duncan Phat Cats. These are essentially P-90-ish but not quite conforming to the P-90 blueprint so the tine there is unique. I have them in my Chinese Jazzmaster & they simply rule! The SN-1000 is another Deluxe model that seems to be punching above its weight. It has to. It's nothing less than a Deluxe model.

Mira: Slight facelift

New pickups in my PRS S2 Mira: Phat Cat (n)/ Custom (b). Still keeping things 100% Seymour Duncan here. 

This is the uncompromising Beez standard when it comes to wiring: 1) Exposed wires are tubed up (that blue coat you see there) 2)  Extended wire length is kept in check (by strapping things up).

These screws are compatible with pick guards & rear cavity covers. Unlike the default screws (round heads), they are flat heads. The thing with flat heads is, you have to prevent it from being over-sunken into the hole. If that happens, it will crack your pick guard. They are definitely way more affordable than those sold at guitar stores; for 80c, you get 14 screws. The ones at guitar stores- $6 for 10 pieces; that's daylight robbery. Remember my dead, rusty screws? These are the deserving replacements. 

The other thing to note is that these generic screws come in a chrome finish only. I have no issues coating them black with paint markers for selected guitars. If you refer to the first picture of this post, you'd see them all blackened. 

A set of D'Addario 9.5s for the Mira.

Good as ever. This was done last Sunday before things get busy over the festive period. 

Phat Jazz

And yet another re-string adventure before the year ends. This is my Fender Modern Player HH  Jazzmaster. There are not many fans of this series namely due to its Chinese pedigree. The MP series were all made in China & they are not fakes. I'm reiterating this because there are people of a certain age group with firm Fender inclinations thinking these are copied instruments. The fact that they are from China, it somehow concurred the belief. Well, the MP series were handled by the Chinese Squier team. These are nothing but tastefully twisted upper end Squiers rebranded as Fenders. The MP instruments were the first most affordable Fenders & they were very good value for money instruments. 

The MP HH Jazzmasters came in two finishes, this is the other one featuring a rosewood fretboard. I chose the maple fretboard version simply because the Jazzmasters are traditionally made with rosewood fretboards, the maple version was rare. Today, you can get the other maple fretboard Jazzmaster from the American Professional series. 

I have swapped out the Tesla Plasma X-1 pickups for these Seymour Duncan Phat Cats. The difference was stark. This decision came about because I'm about done with trying to convince myself in getting the American Professional Jazzmaster with a price tag exceeding $2K. It was on my 2018 list but in view of the price & after trying it in person at the store, it was a definite NO. As consolation, I decided to make this MP version more Jazzmaster-ish by having single coils in there instead of humbuckers. I must say that the Phat Cats are all but under-appreciated when it comes to high octane overdrive & all-out shred stuff. Having these in this guitar- no regrets!

The other subtle change  here are these Strat-esque control knobs.

Of course, a fresh set of D'Addario 9s to get things going. 

Customizing

Master Beez, hard at work as usual. Giving his 100% & nothing less but meticulous workmanship.

Beez worked on this guitar:

• Neck: Seymour Duncan Phat Cat
• Bridge: Seymour Duncan Custom Shop Super V

Tone report to come :-)

Phat Horizon

Was at BEEZ's today to have the neck pickup of my new ESP Horizon FR-II installed. This is how things are in the pickups cavities- very neat & tidy, even the shielding paint had been applied evenly.

Ditto the controls cavity; everything prim & proper in there. I'm very happy that ESP made a point to have Orange Drop caps in the Horizons- it's a statement of quality. I don't see the point of naming my guitars after girls, I just have stickers pasted on them, strategically, of course.

The Horizon FR-II features a push-push coil split pickup switch.

The current pickups in there:

• Neck: Duncan Phat Cat
• Bridge: Duncan JB trembucker

 I have the JB-'59 combo in my ESP Phoenix II so the neck '59 here made way for the Phat Cat. It's now a single coil + humbucker pickup guitar, would it be any lesser than it's previous H-H feature? Definitely not, it's what I want to hear from this guitar & I got want I wanted; a brighter, less boomy tone in the neck pickup position.

Thanks BEEZ, for the splendid job, as always.

PS: Vanessa, if you are reading this, nice meeting you today.

Alternative Cat

Beez called me midweek to say the (Sprague) Orange Drop caps are back in stock. So out came my Ibanez RGR321EX for a pre-installation inspection- I usually check the pots' working condition before bringing it over to Beez's. But I couldn't even turn either knobs after plugging the guitar in. Culprits: Deteriorated pots as seen above...

Master Beez did a quick, full-rewiring of the electronics. These fresh components were installed:

1. Orange Drop cap
2. 3-way switch
3. Output jack
4. Volume + Tone pots

I also had Beez install a push-pull switch for...

... the new pair of Seymour Duncan pickups in my RGR321:

1. Bridge: Alternative 8
2. Neck: Phat Cat

As this guitar sports a single-hum pickup combo as such, the push-pull switch in only functional for the bridge pickup.

My 'fresh' RGR321... just stopped playing it, by the way.