Short

I play short scale basses. I struggle the least when doing so. A major headache will take place when it's time to re-string them as the string brand  choices out there are limited. I don't fancy the Ernie Ball brand but it's one of the available options in the shops. If you see any such strings during your shopping spree, do let me know - TIA.

Goodbye, November...

Low

Been playing lots of acoustic lately. Attempted to play the electric today but my brain wasn't in the right gear to even churn out interesting riffs. So out came the bass. Did it help? Not quite. When you spend way too much time on guitars, you still think like a guitar player when playing the bass. Didn't last for even 30min.

Pictured above - my Ibanex Mikro bass & the Blackstar Fly 3 Bass. The idea was to chill on the couch with the amp close by. Maybe when I'm more clear headed, it might happen.

X6

Sire has headless guitars now. This one here, is the X6. There's a 7-string version as well (X6 7-string) in the exact details, just an additional string. If you've played Sire guitars, you'd know they are definitely value-for-money instruments. I'm waiting for something appealing (to me) before going down to the distributor's showroom (yes, we have a Sire distributor here located at Bras Basah complex) to check one out personally. In the mean time, there are no X models in store. Yet.

I'm not a fan of multi-scale guitars unless it's designed like a Strandberg; partial fanned frets. Ibanez did this for the SML721 but looks like it's a passing interest for them; no further developments. This X6 looks like a Strandberg mimic, let's not hide the fact, but it's worth considering.

Pic: Sire

Green Orange

Didn't expect this to be available here but you can get it at Davis GMC ($1,190). This is the limited edition Rocker 15 in green. I didn't see the Rocker 32; it might have been sold off / not available to begin with. I didn't ask the store 😅 For those of us with a British type of drive voicing fixation, the Orange is rather iconic because it offers a hint of fuzz at high gain settings that had become a flagship tone embraced by doom-sters. Those of us who are not into this music genre, you can enjoy some of the creamiest drive tone which would rival a Vox.

Pics: Orange UK

Metro Express

Of course, I've not forgotten about our bassist friends. The Sadowsky MetroExpress basses are now available at Swee Lee. These are affordable models (Chinese) but still in excess of $1K. The 5-string versions are also in store. 

For those of us who are predominantly guitar oriented, it's good to own a bass. This opens up opportunities for us to understand music arrangement (how we fit basslines into the tune) & chord progressions. That's right, I always use the bass to identify chords in songs & then I play those on guitar. It's a little long winded but my mind works that way. 

S-Tuesday

Unemployed, indoors with some time in hand; I'm taking this opportunity to play & look after my gear. Just wanna hear an S-Series in action today so this was the guitar of choice - S1620.

I just love playing solos in the neck position, the Seymour Duncan Distortion is an awesome pickup for this intention. Good definition & won't mud-out under intense distortion. I dislike neck pickups that churn out muddy notes at high gain despite sounding good clean. Many Gibson pickups are as such. A quick re-string & a little set-up (bridge related) before playing.