Night & day

Saturday morning guitar noodling- done.

These 2 may be in the shred/ high gain territory but they can never replace each other. Some thoughts:

Kiesel DC400

It's the heavier among the two, has more inherent bottom end in there. There are more cleans in the pickups as well, very apparent when the volume knob is rolled down. The neck profile- rounder, more pronounced than an average Fender. Also, the narrower neck influences less death & destruction. If you noticed, the guitar's lower cutaway isn't as aligned to the body as the Ibanez's so when played sitting down, the neck is more angled to the floor.

Ibanez RG471

This guitar is about $500 lesser than its American counterpart, it's also lighter. The satin body finish might be attributable to this. Neck profile- not the thinnest Ibanez has to offer but you can feel the difference once you switch from playing this to the DC. As mentioned above, this one has a wider profile so the hand is more at ease when playing riffs which involve more bass notes. The replacement pickups in this one are of my preferences so tone-wise, I prefer what I hear. The lighter overall feel might contribute to a less pronounced bottom end as well but the Seymour Duncan's Screamin' Demon humbucker (bridge) is one endowed with a commanding bottom end.

It's the first weekend of May- wishing you good times with your gear. 😀

Up or down?

There's this unfounded elation that Gibson's bankrupt so everyone's instruments are now worth a fortune. Simple understanding of this- NO.

Let's be clear that the company had filed papers under Chapter 11 of their laws, meaning, there is no liquidation, just a reorganizing of the finances & a temporary change of ownership. In the mean time, they are getting more loans to make sure the core business, which is instrument-making, gets no interruption. It is the revenue from this core business activity that would settle the proceeding once proven that Gibson is indeed a profitable venture only to be brought down by other commercial involvements which are not core to the business. 

The local news (CNA) covered this in their media space & the comments that followed indicated a delusional following. People are assuming that bankruptcy is indeed a termination of the business which is definitely not the case. 

Heavy listing

Have not been swinging by places to get CDs but these are the latest 2 acquisitions:

• Pestilence- Hadeon: Mameli & company are still fronting it after all these years. I thought the band called it quits post-Obsideo because there was an announcement of no-recording commitments after the album release. You should listen to Pestilence because they are the heavy proponents in death metal. While others got away with speed, Pestilence takes their time to propel good music first & foremost.
• Memoriam- The Silent Vigil: I'm really glad the band is putting out stuff like this instead of treading the Bolt Thrower path. We can't really un-hear the BT bits in this one because 50% of the line-up are products of BT & they're pretty proud of the heritage. We don't mind that at all but we need to respect the band for who they are & this release gives us every reason to do so. The bass here has so much presence; it's threatening to define the album.

First fold

It was all over guitardom when I left work for home today- Gibson files for bankruptcy. It's definitely not unexpected but a matter of when. The company is effectively under note holders' management while the business keeps running to try make ends meet- what's left at the end, more like it. Fingers are pointing to the leadership that ran the company aground, many are asking why is he still even there (we know who he is, surely). Strangely, it is to be understood that the company will return to its instrument-making forte while ending the attempts to turn the brand name into a lifestyle label. My question to these people would be why realize this now at the death? Should there be signs of trouble, people at the helm should make it a point to realize why Gibson exists in the first place because it's clearly the simple objective that was lost. It shouldn't take a genius to see that mending messy ends require competency, not audacity.

My thoughts go to the people working the ground for their efforts in giving us quality instruments despite the current grief. These people are putting food on the table for their families, certainly not the smart asses who thought they could waltz the brand name into more commercial success only to discover there's a brick wall in the way. 

Re-string holiday

Nothing like re-string therapy on a holiday. My Ibanez RG471 gets a fresh set of strings & moisturized fretboard. This is one of my guitars sporting a very low action profile with a set of 009s. 

The Screamin' Demon/ '59 pair is really something here. I like how the squawking midrange of the Demon gets offset by the ask body's trebly response. 

The working class

It's a day of rest here. To the working cohort, yours truly included, we are working to make ends meet. Well, that would be the majority of us- family to feed, bills to pay. Where I am, the cost of living is climbing compounded by the fact that more things are affecting the quality of life, buses moving slower, frequent train breakdown, people with poor public etiquette, authorities with elitist mindsets & the lists go on. Looks like we will be working our souls off with very little leeway for leisure. But there exists this tenacious bunch of people in society who would find time to play guitar regardless of the circumstances. Wishing you a deserving day of rest. 😁