Wish it was back (Part 3)

Fender's Bronco model drew its inspiration from the Mustang in neck & body. The solitary pickup & unique bridge are economic trimmings as the manufacturer intended this model to serve the student camp. I have never played a Bronco but being a single pickup fan, I find this guitar very desirable. The Squier Duo Sonic I own mimics this guitar in outline & feel but it's a reinterpretation of history, not quite experiencing history itself.

Duncanized: SV5470

The latest Duncanized guitar here: my Ibanez SV5470

The pickups in this guitar:

• Neck: Jazz
• Middle: Quarter Pound Staggered
• Bridge: Full Shred

 The obligatory push-pull coil split switch, of course.

Beez put in lots of effort & care for this guitar in view of its tapered body design. The control cavity is shallow & careful installment had to be observed so as not to short-circuit any contacts. Salute!

Meow!

I was walking home from Beez's earlier today, managed to grab a bag of fish crackers & sat down a while before heading home. A kitten came to me most probably after scenting my fish goodies in hand so we shared some. This cute feline then played with the strap of my guitar bag, biting & scratching like I wasn't even there to raise my eyebrows. 

But I let it had fun- because it makes me happy.

Remove all strings- YES or NO?

You were warned: Do not remove all strings from your guitar, this would damage the neck. So who was it who gave you this warning?

I was often asked if it's safe to remove all strings when one re-strings one's guitar so that there's access to the fingerboard for cleaning- you do clean yours, don't you? Yes, the guitar neck is a tension laden part of your instrument, when it's strung up at the factory, the neck was adjusted to accommodate the string tension. The general concern here is whether the release of this tension (upon un-stringing) would detriment the neck.

Over the years, I observe guitars equipped with a .009/ .010 string set manifest no adversity when subject to a complete string removal. I did so & left some of my guitars stringless for some days in the midst of re-moisturizing the rosewood fingerboard. If you employ a thicker string set, say .012 or thicker, & still stay with standard tuning, you can still remove all strings to access your fingerboard then proceed to re-string as usual. Sight your neck for any warping. You can then rectify any anomalies via truss rod adjustments- that's what it's there for.

Wish it was back (Part 2)

Firehouse will be performing here soon (without Bill Leverty... sad) but every time the ad comes on TV, I'd be reminded of the Yamaha Pacifica 1221 which was one of the finest shred-type guitars I've come across. The Pacificas were hung up for display on the walls of Yamaha Music back then (@ Plaza Singapura), when I was in-store to meet Beez (who was an employee there back then), he would bring one down for me to noodle with till he finished doing my pickup swap. Those were the days when I was too distracted by Ibanez to fully appreciate everything else that came my way, this Pacifica included. The situation today is such that all the Pacificas are removed from the catalogue, less the 112/ 212 versions which are the lowest tier residents in this series. We understand Yamaha has to account for our motorbikes & motorized boat engines, among others, so if there is a shift in focus for the manufacturer, we would understand completely. Sure. Yeah. Right.

Eclipse I DC @ Davis

Remember the ESP Eclipse double cutaway mentioned here not too long ago? Well, it's available @ Davis GMC but the list price wasn't out yet so it didn't entice me enough to give it a go. It sports a non-gloss, satin finish FYI.