Spots

 

This picture is one of a few used to promote the latest Ibanez AZES models. Is it too much trouble to equip an instrument with a good set of strings for such intentions? It's going to reflect your company's goodwill, yes?

Pic: Ibanez IG

Loud Star

Loudness fans, ESP has the 40th Anniversary Random Star for your consideration. The catch - only 25 pieces are available. 

Would have been more exciting if it's red because that's what Takasaki went with back then but I'm sure fanboys would be equally excited with this one. 

Goodbye, September.

Pics: ESP Japan / ESP Twitter

Mini R&S

New stuff from Fender but the acoustic kind. A couple of minis - we have the Redondo here...

... and the Sonoran. The former reflecting a dreadnought body design, the latter  a rounded shoulder outline. It's fair to say that the smaller acoustic guitars have an established following with players who want something comfortable to play with, not necessarily a singing tone. These are adults & young learners alike. We have Ed Sheeran to refer to as a point of understanding. Also, Fender has not been particularly strong & more visible when it comes to portraying such instruments. On that note, it's also fair to say that one would not go to a Fender dealer in search of smaller body acoustics compared to a Martin or Enya dealer. These should be in the $400 bracket when they are available.

 

Pics: Fender

DiMarzio: The Tone Zone (DP-155)

Good day, folks. The pickup you see here is DiMarzio's The Tone Zone (DP155). It's my first DiMarzio, my first branded replacement pickup as well. It was chosen to uplift my Ibanez RG when I was still a newbie in guitardom. The tone coming from my RG needed a boost in the bottom end spectrum. The default tone was sharp sounding so those bottom end chugging did not sound thumping enough no matter how I tweaked the amp & pedals. 

Back then, the gullible me was enticed into purchase by DiMarzio ads in magazines, this one here being one of many. Back in 1991, Mr. Big released Lean Into It & I find Paul Gilbert's lead tones impressive; lots of clarity & a punchy bottom end. No Tone Zone was found at Swee Lee back then, it was a very new release & a lack of online exposure at this point in time meant stores were next to clueless when you mention it. A guitar repair store proximate to Hard Rock cafe (it had since relocated) had an incoming DiMarzio shipment with this pickup so I bought one without too much consideration. It was an impulse buy.

Coming back to the pickup concerned, this is its EQ specification; it's a bottom end thumper but rather reserved when it comes to top end responses. After hearing it in a few guitars, I have the following opinion:

• The TZ performs well in warm-sounding guitars. By this I refer to the instrument's body wood. It just sounds more appealing in mahogany. I played an RG3120 with the TZ on board & it simply sounds superb. Also, I've ever fitted one into a Les Paul before & it sounded outstanding as well. 
• It's got nothing to do with the bridge type. Some players I talked to said the TZ fared better in guitars with Floyd Rose bridges or its equivalent. The one in the Les Paul mentioned previously certainly wasn't equipped with such a bridge & I came across two good-sounding Ibanez S-Series fixed bridge guitars with the TZ as default pickups. So the bridge type is independent of the TZ tone performance.
• The TZ thrives on overdrive. Yup, it's overdrive, not distortion. I'm saying this in context of course. The overdrive here is used to push your already distorted amp's front end & not as a primary drive source. 
• It's meant for the bridge position. Ok this will irk the ones who swear by the TZ in the neck as a positive outcome of a non-conventional embrace. If you are looking for that smooth bottom end in the neck position without muddy-ing out, I feel the Air Norton does a better job. 

So did the TZ I bought for my RG work? No. In fact, I hated my guitar after the make-over. It sounded bad compounded by the fact that the store installed a non-F Spaced version. For goodness sake, it's an  Ibanez equipped with an Edge bridge. That showed how much knowledge these people had back then & they worked in guitar-related establishments. Darn. That TZ was migrated into an Ibanez RX which was a lighter guitar & it fared better there. 

Ho!

A quick tribute to Chris Ho, perhaps the only local radio DJ to have embraced extremity till the end. Early this morning he succumbed to stomach cancer. I remember him for his very outward & non-conformist embrace of music & read about him in Big O magazine all the time. For him to go this far in his treatment, from one cancer patient to another, I must say it had been a good fight. RIP.

Pic: Gold 905

What Gibson?

 

If you have been to Swee Lee's website / online store yesterday (26th Sept 2021), you'd notice that Gibson guitars / basses...

... along with the Epiphones ...

... related accessories included, were all rendered out of stock. I asked a friend to pay the site a visit & he was taken aback because they were there Friday (24th Sept 2021). One friend even saw some stuff still available on Saturday (25th Spet 2021) but couldn't believe these were out of stock on Sunday. It's like someone bought whatever's in stock - everything, B-stocks included. 😑 #whattheheckhappened