Green T

My Tele itch continues. Took this one out to play - Fender American Standard Telecaster, the final year of production.

Actually, it's more than just taking it out to play; dead pot + selector. If you look closely, the selector is Mexican. The volume pot is a brass shaft CTS which means nothing when it comes to durability. I have lesser maintenance issues with Japanese pots.

Glad that the string retainer is this rounded version by default. 

A quick re-string & trying something different this time; a set of Thomastik Infeld 9 - 42.

No idea if you can see this clearly at your end but the strings are brass coated. Not cheap, USD18.99 a set so it's really not worth the trouble if no free shipping is offered. I bought this one last Easter when international shipping was free. If you like bright, very defined single note definition, do give them a try. Not for the heavy metal, riff inclined among us as things are generally bright-sounding. When everyone else is too pre-occupied with synthetic/ organic coating for their durable offerings, Thomastik Infeld did theirs with a metal coating so feel-wise, these hold their own. Will get back to you folks on matters pertaining to durability. I had these done last weekend so about a week of playing & sweating over them, everything's good I must say.

Swee Lee Katong: SALE

Happening tomorrow. *checks pocket* *realize it's not pay day (yet)* 🙊

PIC: Swee Lee

YY

This had been a quiet release. You won't even know it's a signature model as no significant quirks were made visible. Folks, this is the Ibanez YY10, Yvette Young's signature release based on the Talman model. The default design is so agreeable that no further mods were needed to accommodate her playing style. Pickups on board are Seymour Duncan's Five Two & that's a Wilkinson bridge there. 

Now that there's an established ambassador, it'd be interesting to see if this series of guitars deserve a re-issue/ re-introduction. 

Thank you

Dear blog readers, thank you for making this happen. At around 1700hrs today, this humble blog had the honour of being visited 3mil times. I'm grateful for all the support & constant return to check stuff out. Admittedly, some of the entries turned personal at times due to sheer frustration from gear indulgence. I have no idea how long more this could go on but rest assured that the passion for all things guitar still burns bright in me. Once again, thank you everyone for your time & belief.

Up (what else)

I'm here to highlight to you price differences of Gibson instruments & harbour no ill-intent towards the reputation of any dealers here. The objective is to provide a buyers' perspective to this nasty thing called procrastination. So OK, some of us are simply not in a position to buy when the price is right; believe me folks, it happened to me countless times. We have kids to feed, house to finance, car to maintain... stuff like that. 

Starting off with the Gibson LP DC Junior Tribute model. The newer version is now $200 dearer. How to tell them apart? The revised model has its input jack relocated to the side.

Designer series - $100 more than before.

This one's a deal-breaker if you ask me - look at that price; the LP Jr is now beyond $2K. We understand that previously, it wasn't an Original Series designate & proved to be one of the most affordable, no-frills Gibson one could own. I got mine for less than $1.4K when it first appeared in the store.

Folks, this would also mean, after-market sellers can now flex more bargaining muscle citing the current price increase as a refusal to bring prices down. But hey, prices are gonna continue to climb & we are virtually powerless in letting this not happen. The real issue for many of us now - our damn pay isn't increasing as much as the prices of things around us. It's gonna stay this way seeing how the economy continues to crawl with the current spread of Corona Virus & all. Testing times ahead.

Aero II

This is actually Episode 2 of 'Available but not updated'. That's right folks, Fender's Aerodyne II Strats (MAde in Japan) are now available in store.

The HSS version is also available. I usually reject black guitars but this one has white binding & in person, it looks attractive. Unlike its predecessors, version II features an alder body & 2-point whammy bridge. The string saddles are also steel so you get that beefy bright top end & it helps during solos.