Sunset assault

Here's an intriguing new model from Schecter - Sunset Triad. It features a triple coil pickup at the bridge position, Tripocalypse they call it. The neck single coil is the Apocalypse. As the names imply, the guitar is set to stun; metal & beyond, that is. The thing with pickups, despite the manifestations & names, it might not meet your tonal expectations. Example - Seymour Duncan's Screamin' Demon isn't exactly what the name suggested it to be. 

Lest we forget, Fender's MP Marauder had a triple coil pickup in there. It was OK. 

Ibanez's ATK bass had a triple coil pickup in it as well. That Sunset Triad looks cool as heck but if you dislike the bridge pickup, then be informed, finding a replacement would be a needle in the haystack quest.

Pics: Schecter / GAK / MR

The other cowboys are back

Heck, yeah! Darn glad these chaps are back in it. Job for A Cowboy was the few death-core bands, or whatever fashionable label they put on people playing this kind of music, that I respect & enjoy listening to. Nine years of waiting & hoping, folks, we have this first single off their new album. One of my criteria for liking a band / musician is to show mastery in the music. It's not just being technical; we know too well how some technically adept individuals failed to appeal through their music. Leaving this here for the initiated to get to know the band:

Pic: JFAC FB

Erupt-bucker?

Pic: Gibson / Kramer

There's always a gainful return with any Van Halen associations - amplifiers, pedals & guitars, obviously. Looks like Kramer (to a larger extent, Gibson) would want a share of the proverbial Eddie pie. They are working closely with VH's ex-tech, Jim DeCola to manifest brown sounding humbuckers, to put it loosely. The way I see it, bearing the Kramer name is an easy excuse for a VH association as the late man himself embraced Kramer along the way. It's like, Eddie did some Kramer time back then & we should know better because we are Kramer. It's a semi-perilous endeavour because VH never sought after Kramer's expertise back then for his pickup needs, he tinkered & it paid off. 

Anyway, EVH has good pickups to deliver the brown sound. My rather recent experience with the '78 Eruption (Striped Series) can attest to that. Also, Seymour Duncan did well with the '78 humbuckers. Gentle reminder - these are the various manufacturer's interpretation of what makes a good VH-like tone. To say one manufacturer stands out above all else in this engagement is a little myopic.

Review quickie: Squier Classic Vibe '60s Custom Esquier

Pic: Fender

In Fender's history of the solid body, single cutaway, bolt-on electric guitar, the Esquier precedes the Telecaster in service & was only equipped with a bridge pickup. The one appraised here is the Squier version, coming from the Classic Vibe series in the 60s Custom iteration. Classic Vibe means, this one is not an entry-level Squier, in fact, the CV Series pride themselves as a worthy rival to the Mexican Fenders in terms of build & tone. 60s means, the fretboard would be rosewood & has a shallower neck profile compared to the 50s version. For this model, Squier used laurel instead of rosewood, keeping costs down. Finally, Custom means, there's binding on the body (double bound).

Likes:

• very comfortable neck profile, neither too shallow nor too thick, just nice
• overall weight
• responsive tuners / electronics
• good fit & finish for the money

Dislike

• scratchy frets

If you think a one-pickup guitar is the epitome of cost-cutting, then be informed that Leo Fender intended it to be that way at the start. The 3-way selector was there to supplement this intention. This Squier version is simply an iteration of an Esquier, not a faithful re-issue, so please manage your expectations. 

I like everything about this guitar while trying it out, it's simply a good guitar. My only beef here is that some of the frets were not well-polished at the factory, these sound scratchy & will definitely affect the bend-inclined among us. I personally dislike small frets because the strings would touch the fretboard while fretting but these are the tall version so they are not far from a medium jumbo in terms of feel during play. 

The only factor that would prevent you from buying this guitar is the one-pickup feature. Fret not (no pun intended), the 3-way selector is there to keep tone variation in check. The tone control works only in Position 2. The Position 1 tone bypass means you get a very open twang & one of the best that I've come across. Position 3 runs the circuit through a fattening capacitor & it does just that; fatten the tone while keeping the treble down. Don't mind me saying this but that one pickup feature would make it a contender for a non-mover. I won't be surprised if it would be subjected to periodic discounts in the near future. All in all, this is a good guitar, don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

PS: Special thanks to Mr. Failzal (Swee Lee Star Vista) for letting me try this guitar.

Rating: 90%

Squier: Classic Vibe '60s Custom Esquire

Availability: Swee Lee Co. 

List: $649 (bag not included)

POST REVIEW

Pic: Guitar Q

Folks, the initial release of this guitar was way back in 2021. You know how it was back then, yes? The world was trying to crawl itself out of a pandemic. Some things don't make it here due to the frozen shipping activities. There were three colours offered, two did not make it here & the sunburst option just landed here a few weeks ago. So there.

Bernie Marsden: 1951 - 2023

Pic: PCN

Late Friday night / early Saturday morning - the news of Bernie Marsden's passing would surely break the hearts of Whitesnake fans. I'm not a die hard follower but I do have Whitesnake songs on my phone's playlist.  

Pic: Andertons

Not too long ago (pre-2020 if I got it right), PRS did a Marsden signature available in the SE range. The guitar had a 24.5" scale length with only one master tone control at the helm. That would have hinted at how important Marsden was to the PRS camp & we know he had some hits up his sleeve back in his Whitesnake days.

Two of the most prolific Marsden tunes with Whitesnake are Fool for Your Loving / Here I Go Again. Leaving you with the former as a tribute to the late & definitely great, Bernie Marsden.

Patchy tones

Just days ago, I was playing a single coil guitar with a loss of top end in the mix. So the amp was tweaked, pickup height was re-looked at & the guitar's tone control was kept in check. No changes were heard. 

Then I saw something different when I looked down at my pedals; the Ibanez patch cable (left) was used instead of my regular pancake plug one. A quick swap & that did it. Folks, instrument cables, as mythical as it gets, do affect tone. Simple reason - manufacturers used different wire types / thickness / length for their products. Do not dismiss this as the consideration in the diagnosis of your tone.