Of bridges

The Fender American Pro Jaguar & Jazzmaster received a feature refinement in 2017 with the addition of a 'new' bridge which isn't new. Seen above is the aforementioned bridge which is clearly visible at the manufacturer's website.

The hardware in question is actually the Mustang bridge which retrofits into the Jaguar/ Jazzmaster  readily due to identical measurements.

As you can see, the original Jaguar bridge (right)  features saddles which do not have a dedicated string slot unlike the Mustang's (left). Players with a dedicated bending technique often face the frustration of having their strings dislodged & causing unwanted tuning issues during play. This is a DIY 'upgrade' if you wish to avoid such contentions, simply purchase the Mustang bridge (available at TYMC by the way) & do a swap over. Done. 

Jag-la

Was at Beez's yesterday to get this pair of Teslas into my Fender MP Jaguar. The default pickups were above-average clean but not that enticing when it comes to overdrive. By the way, Teslas are going for 25% off at SV Guitars this sale season.

Did a capacitor replacement as well- it's a Montreux Retrovibe this time.

Last but not least, a quick re-string with the no-frills D'Addario XL set of 10s. Thank you Davis GMC for keeping prices reasonable! 

I'm very happy with this guitar not that it bears the Fender name, in fact, it means nothing at all. I'm fortunate to have come across a mahogany-P-90 pairing which is more meaningful to me. The bolt-on construction means there's more snap than what a Gibson could have offered in terms of tone, with the same combo. The Modern Player series were deemed a pathetic attempt by purists in selling the Fender name. This camp prefers to own a high end Squier than forking out money for any basement dwelling Fender model. But a deeper reading would reveal the fact that those people who handled the afore-mentioned glorified Squiers were indeed the ones handling the Modern Player series. 

B-stock @ Swee Lee

Do note that the B-Stock items at Swee Lee are now indicated online. These are perfectly functional instruments with cosmetic blemishes. They are also subject to the usual warranty covering standard items. As seen here, prices are also slightly discounted.

This practice isn't special by any means but the stores here are not observing it as a standard process to see off products which are subjected to acceptable wear & tear due to handling (display items subject to customers' trying, chemical reaction due to temperature changes, etc.). This is usual practice for major US stores because they know better than letting such items rot at the shelves & affecting sales.

Not original

Someone's selling fakes in the after-market & labelling them as CUSTOM ORIGINALS. The last time I checked, these are Chinese knock-offs which you can buy direct so why bother going through a third party. My take is this- even if you are selling turd in the after-market, it's really up to you. However, do not label them as some glorified products with a possibility of misrepresentation because you're treading legal grounds there & the repercussions might be severe.

PS: According to the seller, guitars feature genuine parts so they aren't fakes but bit part assemblies. From what are documented visually, these parts contain doubtful features. Seller seems firm in representing these items and do not see how transactions could be disputed under certain disclosure. I'm not asking you to believe but exercise caution/ discretion when dealing with such stuff.

Worthy anger

Alrighty! Let's start the mid-year with a good appraisal.

Seen above in white, is the BOSS-JHS collaboration featuring the Blues Driver & Angry Charlie respectively. There are several modes on offer including stand-alone applications of either modules. Of course, we look forward to hear how the cascading modules fare & they did not disappoint. The Driver-into-Charlie arrangement was the raunchier voicing. In fact's it's a grizzly distortion affair with some fuzzy overtones in  the mix. The Charlie-into-Driver arrangement is a more tamed affair in terms of the top end response, basically what one would hear when cascading a distortion unit to a mild drive affair but there's more grit to be heard here because the Blues Driver per se isn't a true Tube Screamer type of voicing in action, it's leaning towards the Bluesbreaker side rather obviously. Things get very pleasant in parallel mode, capable of manifesting a very smooth drive tone for legato runs. I only hear good tones coming from this mode with my home set-up probably due to the fact that I'm using my preferred gear. 

Because I have a take-no-prisoner attitude when it comes to drive responses, seen above, the inclusion of Seymour Duncan's Killing Floor booster unit bringing everything up to a rather extreme setting. After some tries, placing the booster before the AD yielded a more musical response rather having it after the AD. At the latter setting, things get muffled once volume is turned up. 

Sale @ SV Guitars

Good start to June 😁 Happening at SV Guitars now.