Emi 6

Abasi Guitars had the Tele-esque Larada going back in 2019. Now, they have the Strat-esque Emi 6 for triple single coil lovers. I find this design more palatable due to the double cutaway design but personally, that headstock outline is a deal-breaker. You might like it, of course.

Pic: Abasi Concepts

Cradle Rock

I'm a big Seymour Duncan fan but I don't see Joe Bonamassa' signature Cradle Rock single coils as a dedicated release. I pretty sure everyone would agree that he's associated with the Les Paul more than any other guitars. OK so maybe there's a Strat resurgence that he's a part of which escaped everyone's attention; then I have myself to blame for not keeping up. 

Pic: UG

Review quickie: Ibanez AZ2203N

Ibanez had been generating rightful anxiety in the Strat camp since the inception of the AZ Series. The design departed from the traditional shredder image (RG et al), treading precariously on that oh so familiar Strat curves. This 2023, it's outright aggravation with the AZ2203; a shameless triple single coil take with no intentions of conflict management, it seems.

Likes:

• comfortable design
• neck profile
• pickups
• blend control
• quality hardware
• steel frets

Dislikes:

• blend control
• volume control - too near the  bridge pickup
• price

Conclusion

It's a Strat take by a non-Strat-inclined brand name & in my opinion, it's an outstanding manifestation. If you wish to look away from the Fender offerings when it comes to single coil considerations, this is it. Also, the design ergonomics ensure a non-Fender feel while still treading the Fender territory. The Seymour Duncan Fortuna continues to excel in providing the player with both traditional & contemporary tones. Please be reminded that this is an N version of the AZ, meaning - no cavity under the bridge to facilitate a floating set up. Of course, you can still float it by over-pronating the bridge ala SRV. 'Floating' is never a bridge type, it's how you set the bridge up. The absolute plus here is that neck profile, facilitating ease of movement without necessitating a thinner take.

The blend control cuts both ways; it either serves you or annoy you. I am someone who prefers a definite configuration so the blend function duplicating pickups setting in positions 2 & 4 is unnecessary & pointless. Ibanez, hopefully in time to come, should make this an option by turning it into a push-pull switch. Those of us who want a blend function at times, have a choice to activate it. There will be a maple fretboard version in the near future right, Ibanez?

Rating: 90%

Ibanez AZ2203N

• $2,699 (list)
• hard case included
• Available at Swee Lee Co.

Pic: Ibanez International

Seconds

Not in the best of moods. Did what I had to do, came home & played guitar. Just thankful that these are my benevolent distractions, always there to see me through, making sure nothing untoward happens to me. Just want to hear some single coils in action today but not from a Fender so I had the above guitars out.

AZES31

I like everything about this guitar; the fixed bridge, the default single coils & even the rosewood 'board. I usually prefer maple for single coils. That slightly shorter scale length - wonderful. This is one of those single coil guitars that actually likes to be distorted. I have a 095 set in this one, no plans to change string gauge any time soon.

Silver Sky SE

I spent some time tinkering with the action of this one, before settling with a slightly higher version from the rest of my guitars. Not much higher actually, just a wee bit to make it right for speedy moments. There won't be any guitar that would not induce me to play fast but playing fast is not what I do all the time. The single coils in this one sound much more appealing in clean mode compared to the AZES. They don't sound as thick in distortion mode though, they are what I refer to as crunchers - lesser distortion, more volume for optimum performance. 

Both the AZES & SSSE exist with expectations to fulfil the performance of their bigger brothers, the AZ & Silver Sky respectively. This is a difficult feat considering the compromised features they were conceived with. Then again, we are not objective if we buy these guitars with such expectations. It's a myopic assessment of what these instruments are all about. They hold their own in their respective price brackets & should not be seen exclusively as they budget alternatives of their greater manifestations. 

In any case, both manufacturers made a wise commercial move with these instruments. Ibanez - in view of how popular the AZ Series are in the mean time with the endorsement of next gen guitar mavericks to back up reputation, do note that the AZES models are not given the GIO label, despite residing in a GIO price range. Ibanez retain the class appeal of the AZ by letting the budget interpretation reside in its own domain referred to as the AZES. The Silver Sky SE had to happen, considering the SE models are bringing in the money for PRS across the board, not just the Silver Sky version. PRS did the right thing by making each & every SE model good contenders of playability & tone by paying attention to quality all round. As such, they remain as hot sellers despite not really being that accessible in terms of price, for beginners especially. 

Review quickie: PRS SE Silver Sky

Intro

This is the SE version of John Mayer's Silver Sky model, made in Indonesia at a lower list price. It's not a direct duplicate of the USA version, differences being:

• bigger truss rod cover
• plastic tuners
• 8.5" fretboard radius
• SE version pickups
• non-American electronics
• covered rear cavity
• poplar body

This guitar was officially released in 2022, given quite a fanfare by John Mayer himself, despite being an SE. Currently, only the rosewood fretboard version is available & it comes with an SE bag.

 Likes

• overall build quality - near flawless, darn!
• tone - as versatile as the USA model, very usable tone in all pickup positions
• playability - despite a difference in fretboard radius, from the core model, it's comfortable as heck!
• well cut nut slots

Dislikes

• dry fretboard
• tuners - inconsistent performance

Conclusion

Despite being an SE, this version of the Silver Sky holds its own in terms of tone & playability. This might be the reason the PRS camp went all out to launch it, they know it stands for quality more than anything else, SE or otherwise. If you remove the pickguard & take a look at the pickups, it has a bar magnet at the rear, typical of budget, in-house units which are more likely to be high output & semi-useless clean. Not for this guitar, though. Whatever inner variation it sports, these pickups are above expectations in my books. Bonus for distortion freaks like me - they sound equally awesome in high gain / drive mode.

That 1" difference in fretboard radius is negligible especially so for dweebs like me who seldom chord. The tuners are budget grade & its performance exposed only after being put to action. In fact, 2 of them are stiff. I wouldn't worry about the dry spots on the fretboard (only at the 3rd & 5th fret area), might be due to temperature fluctuations & of course, at this price point, it might be of a lower grade but definitely not a dud feature. All in all, the Silver Sky SE is not a second fiddle to the USA version. Despite the lower price point,  this is a quality guitar worth checking out if you are a single coil fan regardless of your John Mayer inclinations. 

Overall rating: 90%

Availability: Davis GMC / Swee Lee. Please refer the respective distributor's website for prices.

Pic: Sweetwater

Dark singles

Raining + no money = Stay home, play guitar. The Strat lasted for 10min. Not a Strat day for me, kept making mistakes, movements across strings were awful. The AZES - 30min. I am just glad I have different guitars in the house when this kinda situation happens. On some days, for some unfathomable reasons, I just can't play a certain guitar but in other days, that same guitar is great. Today, the Strat was just not it but I want to hear single coils in action so the AZES more than made up for things.

Dark here refers to the dark fretboard. I have a thing for maple fretboards when it comes to single coils but there are days the darker rosewood has more tonal appeal. The AZES31 on the other hand has a jatoba fretboard but still exudes the warm midrange. 

Clean singles

It's one of those days where I'm not inspired to play but needed to manifest some ideas ringing in my head. Playing time today was a two-episode affair; before & after I re-strung my Strat. Before the re-string, I was really not in the mood because the strings were quite dead to the touch. Might be a case of not wiping down the last time round & letting the strings die in storage. No amount of intense distortion could reconditioned my mind to play something meaningful so the playing stopped.

Strings were quickly removed. Noticed some stained fret surfaces which resisted the polishing fluid. Some erasing took place. Folks, don't be afraid to erase stubborn stains on your frets, the eraser won't eat your frets away, it's very different from using sand paper. Just make sure the grit number is kept to the fine grain. 

Had a pack of D'Addario 9s close by so that was the choice for today. Never under-estimate the power of a fresh set of strings when it comes to inspiration. My post-re-string playing moments were strictly clean tones with a heavy dose of chorus & finger picked all the way. I'm not trying to emulate Ichika or Yvette in this realm of technicality but those playing styles were employed to manifest ideas. I might just need a good clean amp for such playing moments in time to come. Hmm...

From dead end to fulfilment. It had been a good Thursday. 👍

Strat-ifying

Have not played this one in quite a while. I consider this to be one of my best single coil tone guitar & it's not a Fender: Edwards E-SE-100M/LT.

The headstock edges of this guitar are especially rounded, more rounded than a typical Fender. Reminds me of a seasoned instrument. Felt pieces were added to the strap buttons as these were not included from the factory. Edwards uses the ESP embossed string saddles, a reminder of the instrument's pedigree.

These are the key components of what makes me happy when playing this guitar; Seymour Duncan's SSL-1 (n/m) + SSL-3 (b). They are default from the factory & simply sound fantastic. I still can't nail down why these work perfectly well here. It might be attributable to some key considerations, namely the action settings as well as the weight of the instrument. 

The second tone control of this instrument is also a blend switch. When activated, the bridge & neck single coils are activated so at selector position 3, all three single coils are in use. Interesting feature but I seldom use it for rhythm work, just solos. 

I will always acknowledge good strings, regardless of the brand name. SIT's PG Pure Nickel are good stuff, available at Davis GMC.

Tele sonic

This happened last weekend. I actually prefer a dual single coil feature in a guitar which is not a Strat. In the Fender range, there are a few selections, the Telecaster being the most celebrated amongst them. The rest are in Fender's offset range. 

The Tele offers that unmistakable twang that's a winner for country music applications more than anything else. And then there are prolific Tele champions that removed the instrument from that country  exclusive domain - Albert Collins & Danny Gatton, two of the best Tele purveyors who had sadly left us. Personally, I don't pay too much attention to the Tele twang, I set mine up for high gain stuff but keeping the pickups strictly single coil. My American Standard Telecaster is the only one with a humbucker in the bridge (Seymour Duncan Hot Rails) & I do not intend for it to leave its residence as I hear a wonderful, scratchy bridge tone, the kind of abrasive distortion that's very suitable for black & doom metal. 

Moving on to the offsets, I used to dislike them for their shorter scale length until I heard a friend's Jazz master in action. Two things: 1) Those Jazzmaster single coils are really something 2) The Jazzmaster is a 25.5" guitar so it didn't put me off like its other offset counterparts. It triggered me to listen to Dinosaur Jr & I must say that the Jazzmaster pickups are some of the best when it comes to high octane fuzz applications. Then Sonic Youth & My Bloody Valentine got onto my listening pleasure as well & I moved on positively from there. Along the way, I became more agreeable with the other offsets after swallowing some pride & invested in a Mustang. It's all about familiarity & tweaking some details that suits my quirks. 

Good page

Managed to play this one. One of the best out there in terms of a Strat variation.

Playing didn't take place before a quick re-string. I'm still waiting for a Tele-stryle to be available for the picking. There's one in store right now but after a thorough handling, it's not quite up there in terms of fitting despite sounding awesome. What I like about this John Page Ashburn:

• Outstanding default pickups- these are JP's own Bloodline model & they made the cut for both clean & driven. Nick Johnston would have been proud of them; it's that kind of tone, definitely.
• Superb tuners + nut slots- Tuners are simply above average in terms of response plus the fact that the nut slots were well cut at the factory, I'm giving them a thumbs up for sure.
• Controls- There are only 2 for Vol/ Tone. As such, there's room for the volume to be away from the bridge pickup & this addresses that common Strat issue. 
• Neck profile- It's a definite C-carve but it's slightly thicker than a contemporary American Fender. For a C-profile, I prefer it this way as it helps keep the thumb comfortable at all positions. For a D-profile, I get along better with a thinner carve because the thumb isn't arching during play so if it's thick, it's stressing out the rest of the fretting fingers- dunno if you realize this happening to you.

Sweet singles

OK this is definitely consolation. Days ago I was whining about some dead end single coil tones but putting things in perspective, I just needed some high output single coils to make my day. Thankfully, I have those in the house but not in a Strat. Seen above, a pair of hot Mojo Tone Knockout pickups. Paired with a booster unit & my go-to pick, it was a good Sunday. On days like this, I'm just grateful I have what I want, it's just a swap away so no excuses.

Not today

Had some playing time before dinner. Itching to hear single coils in action but couldn't dial up a good driven tone from the Strat. Simply awful & nasal. The humbucking guitar was nearby so that saved the day. It's times like this that I just wanna smash something. 

Some mojo

This was scheduled for a Monday delivery but at 5pm just now, the courier chap was at the door asking for my signature. Read up, heard clips, inclined to try. So here goes 👌

SL at SL

If you wish for a decent second fiddle & had been following the LP SL fanfare, then be informed that it's now available at Swee Lee for $149 (List). No, it's not gonna give you a thick LP tone with that signature sustain obviously due to the neck-body construction as well as the pickups in use. I'm actually looking forward to try one. 

Single fury

Had some playing time before dinner, so 🎸

Anyway, the usual convention- single coils are just 👎 for aggressive music, yes? Generally, that's the attitude towards anything not a humbucker & low output when it comes to distortion. However, you have to consider the other components in your line-up. After years of playing, I believe the amp plays a big part in sounding heavy/ aggressive, at least for someone who's not effects reliant like me. If you own an amp tailored for a certain delivery, say a MESA Boogie for heavy stuff, chances are, all your guitars could be made to sound heavy through it. The degree of that outcome varies, of course. For instance, if you plug in your semi-hollow guitar into the aforementioned MESA amp, it will sound heavy but it may sound less appealing compared to a solid body instrument. 

The pickups you see above are Seymour Duncan's SSL-1 (n) & SSL-5 (b). These are not aggressive pickups by any means despite the latter being more appealing for rock-esque music but they sound aggressive through my Blackstar HT Metal. So clearly the amp is hard at work here & not the pickups per se. This does not mean you can fit any pickups into your guitar just because your amp owns your tone, you have to be selective to make the entire tone consideration work your way. 

JCM twang

Guitar geeks out there would know what it means to pair a Fender with a Marshall amp for some good cleans. Hendrix did it to good effect. That was a Strat with a non-fiery Marshall, of course. Following my 'discovery' of how a JCM800 clean proved to be more appealing than I thought it would be, plugging in my Tele into this set up was a clear winner. The Tele honk as they call it (playing both pickups via the middle position selector option), opened up some enjoyable finger picking ideas which I dwelled on today from start to end. Once again, some tools were meant to address a certain approach & it's a matter of stepping back to embrace the stuff beyond one's comfort zone. 

OK, maybe I'm getting old & prefer those distortion-free tones instead. 🙉

Lush (2)

More lush tones last night as I ended the day with my Edwards (E-ST-90ALR) seen here. The pickups on board are not Seymour Duncans & I can hear the difference between this guitar & my Strat played the day before. Maybe it's not about the brand name but how they were wound at the factory; these pickups are in-house models with no special trimmings to enhance the sonic responses of this guitar. As such, the cleans coming out from this one was rather harsh. I might just add an EQ pedal in the set up next time.

Singles club- May reprise

Good morning guitar dweebs & tone chasers alike, how's the holiday thusfar? The single coil adventure continues with my Edwards & Schecter. It's a spillover from last Sunday, actually. I had no desire to hear any humbuckers in action. I suffer from this on a cyclical basis, it takes on a different theme each time. Anyway, single coils have taught me to appreciate the top end. Yes, that treble bit we don't quite like to hear when churning out heavy metal type riffs. Single coils also taught me to appreciate cleans better. I'm not a clean fan, I need drive/high gain to play like I always do. Lately, I prefer single coils for tapped stuff as well, especially the neck pickup. Lastly, lower drive settings sound more forgivable with single coils; pedals like the Ibanez Tubescreamer & JHS Morning Glory sounds wonderful with single coils. 

The cat & the son of beast

Ah, yes. My Fender Jaguar received the EVH 5150 III LBX treatment as well. I currently love this guitar for its shorter scale length; makes fast playing even faster but investing in this instrument purely on that account is delusional. Why? Simple reason- you can play fast with any guitar, it's a matter of familiarity & adaptation. Malmsteen does that with his Strat (25.5"), ever seen Dweezil Zappa shred with a Gibson SG (24.75")? 

A good amp will make a puny guitar sound outstanding. In this case, the Jaguar isn't puny by any measure of consideration. The LBX was able to make those single coils there sound ferocious because its an amp for this specific assignment & it's proving its worth. However, the amp isn't transformational; it doesn't change the nature of those single coils radically. They remain to be a preferred choice for clean settings more than anything else. The harmonic content for instance, isn't as rich or sensitive. Also, lower notes don't sound thumping enough for heavy metal; single coils would remain as such, they don't cross over into humbucker territory just because they receive some sonic supplements while in use. 

Sweet driving

I think I've been spending too much time with the John Page guitar. When I played my Edwards, there's this sudden jump in tone 'goodness'. However, my ears are actually attuned to Seymour Duncan pickups. I hear more clarity, I hear more top end definition, I hear a great chemistry with mild drive. I'm actually hearing what I wanted to hear & those are found in the Seymour Duncans. OK so the Seymour Duncans win. I'm re-thinking some options. Hmmm...

This Edwards Strat-type guitar looks rather tormenting when it comes to playability & orientation but  I'm adapting well to it except for volume changes & pickup selection- my right hand tend to move down in search of knobs & selector. I'm loving this one, regardless of the quirky manifestation.