Selling: Mooer 008 (SOLD)

One more for the goodbye list. A simple pedal to emulate an American high gain amp voicing. An effective one at that. There will be more to come.

• Mooer 008 (Cali-MK3), amp emulation pedal
• 9/10 condition, box included
• Self-collect: CCK mrt station
• Query/ confirmation: subversion.sg@gmail.com
• No reservations/ trades
• Price: $70 (final)

Item SOLD 👍 (29-2-20)

Typing

So the new Kiesel is a Type X. I was trying to spec out a V220 last year & had a query sent to them in November about some pickups configurations which was attended to but delayed. That was a good delay indeed because the Type X was released on Black Friday with an introductory discount. As I am a boring person with limited interest in an instrument's visual aesthetics, the choices were down to just this plain blue finish with a blank maple fretboard. 

OK so the roasted maple neck was a free add-on. This version looks darker than my Holdsworth version but they are both equally comfortable for my playing style. Counting from Black Friday itself till its official delivery date just last week, this one took a little too long but Jeff Kiesel pre-empted buyers that he was dishing out the discounts first before embarking on any actual production because the NAMM '20 instruments were on the priority list so it was all good.

Since the local currency here weakened against the USD just last weekend, it's gonna be a while before I purchase something from State side again.

Epi jack

Spent last evening addressing poor connectivity in my Old Glory Les Paul. The input jack kept crackling & reducing power to the amp making my distortion sound very wimpy. The contact spray treatment didn't really cure my woes, it went well briefly. So out came the screwdriver to see what's the real bother & saw some oxidation in the input jack tunnel itself. I resorted to physically polishing the affected area & that was the remedy. Everything was back to normal thereafter. 

Taking this opportunity to show you the Epiphone pride extending into the instrument's input jack but I have a feeling that this component won't last the miles. Anyway, we know there are other more durable, lasting options out there so that etched Epiphone label speaks nothing about quality. 

Selling: Ibanez ES-2 (SOLD)

If you've been a constant visitor to these pages, you'd know by now that I'm not a delay fan. I've been keeping this one only because it has one of the best analog delay tone I've come across & has extra features to heighten sonic interest along the way. It's in awesome condition & going for a good price:

• Ibanez: Echo Shifter ES2 (analog delay)
• 9/10 condition, velcro-free, box included
• Self-collect: CCK mrt station
• No reservations/ trades
• Query/ confirmation via e-mail
• Price: $115 (final, non-nego)

Item SOLD: 26th Feb 😎

G vs K

I am currently embracing a renewed belief for Gibson. My recent purchase episodes involved Gibson guitars & that's plain to see. I like them more now than before. There's a certain re-thinking happening at Gibson that's driving their product worthiness up. 

And then Gibson had to go after Kiesel.

That's right, folks. That's a recent development, just days ago & I was fortunate enough to watch/ listen to the breaking news during Jeff Kiesel's live telecast at FB. I have a feeling, the people behind this legal wrangling are not the people who chose to embrace product focus. I reserve further comments till the truth be told. But the way things are going, we won't know the truth; not from Gibson in the mean time.

I feel sorry for the myopic people who chose to re-instate this confrontational stance. In view of Gibson's Flying V & Kiesel's Ultra V, it's plain even for the layperson to see that both guitars are different. On the legal front, the Gibson camp is fighting this case on a semblance basis; they are trying to establish the fact that Kiesel's interpretation is a total cause for confusion with reference to  Gibson's on grounds of absolute similarity. If this argument stands then Jackson's version should be included for validity's sake. On the patent front, Jeff Kiesel had made it clear that the design was conceived in the '80s, a good span of time before Gibson had their version recognized by the law. Folks, in the court of law, some cases get thrown out on factual grounds & it's usually the rookie lawyers who fell for this.

Gibson is also contesting Kiesel's singlecut design (the SC). We know & well remember how that failed when Gibson went after PRS so the futility of this pursuit is rather clear. On that note (no pun intended), Jeff Kiesel once again made it clear that the SC went into production after the Gibson vs PRS debacle bit the dust. 

So there you have it; signs of desperation on the verge of futility. I really wish this didn't happen but hidden agenda suggests a thorn by Gibson's side. It might be something the new boss overlooked or thought he could shake off but proved to be more than a handful now. 

Kiesel: In

This might be my final purchase for 2020. The Swee Lee sale was responsible for sapping my funds away & it was a sizeable amount spent. On another note, this marked another bitter episode with FedEx. 

The instrument did not arrive as scheduled & I took time off/ cancelled a money-making appointment just to receive it. FedEx also failed to understand my query; I wanted to find out if there is a technical detail at their end that flags a change in scheduled delivery. This way, the recipient would, at the very least, reschedule personal appointments to facilitate the delivery of the item concerned. FedEx kept prompting me for details to help me check what went wrong. I'm not interested in what went wrong; it already happened, it could not be undone. I just need to know, if a hiccup happens, how can we be alerted? I see that this is too difficult for them to address.