Euro satin

OK... PRS CE 24... Standard... in limited edition satin release (125 units only... sigh). Like I've said before, it's always the good stuff being elsewhere & not here. These are Euro exclusive FYI. I have a difficulty understanding how big the Euro market is for such peculiar but desirable models. Hmm...

PIC: Music Radar

3P

It's pick-hopping day featuring the trio seen above (L-R):

• DAW Man - Shred Line glitter edition (limited run) 2.5mm
• Gravity - 003 Custom 2mm
• V-Picks - Mummy special edition 3mm 

When I play guitar, it's my ritual to have more than one pick out. I'd switch between picks during play out of necessity; some playing styles are better done with a certain pick & that's a fact, yes? You can't do grinding black metal with a 0.5mm nylon pick. It's madness. Anyway, these 3 have been giving me the best results based on the intentions. The DW is my most efficient shredder. It's not acrylic & gives off the least clicking sound making individual notes sound true. However it's the least effective when it comes to grip & won't be ideal for fast & intense riffing. The Gravity 003 is the in between-er. I usually have it done in 3mm but this time it's a 2mm. Gravity uses acrylic & the picking tones are sharp & to my ears, riffs could sound super crunchy at times instead of being deep & doom-laden. Despite this quirky response, I love it for single coil tones. Finally, the V-Picks Mummy is a special edition 3mm version (factory default - 2.75mm) & has 2 grip lines as opposed to the usual 3. This is my preferred pick form, outline & feature. I'm too used to this one after quitting the Dunlop Stubby. Despite being equally acrylic, the Mummy has a less sharp response & it gives off a balanced tone for both solos & riffs. It's my go-to pick. 

Folks, if you think guitar picks do not contribute to tone then you need to re-think this belief. A simple but extreme reference is to hear your guitar tones using a rubber & acrylic pick; it's a day & night difference. It's about the material more than the thickness but the latter does play a part as I have discovered after customizing different pick thickness of the same model (thank you, Gavity custom shop). My take on this is to try as many different picks as possible & note the ones you like.

Pulse

Shout out to the DWE camp - they emailed me about two weeks ago pertaining to the release of this Pulse pedal which is a rotating speaker emulator. If you've been browsing this blog diligently, you'd know that I own the DWE Diktator overdrive which is easily one of my most engaging unit in terms of drive saturation. The Pulse pedal is not available at Davis (yet) so there's no chance of trying this out in person but here's the next best thing:

Also, more details here: PULSE @ DWE

Swinging in

If you are into estranged outlines as seen here, this Fender Swinger is now in stock at Swee Lee (List: $1,329). Just keep in mind that it's a 24" scale instrument; rather disturbing that it's strung up with a set of 9s from the factory.

Order 66 (2)

No surprises here as the first mod to the Sixty-Six are the string guides. No, the default version is not inferior by a good measure but I prefer smoother string travel for Fender instruments.

Antigua (4)

This is my first set of DiMarzio pickups in a Fender. That's right, I have no DiMarzios in any of my Fenders since the start but this is my embrace for good tones regardless of the brand name. I have my Seymour Duncan inclinations but every now & then, some others would make my like list. Anyway, the pickups you see above are DiMarzio True Velvet single coils for Telecaster.

I have never tried this duo before & had initial reservations due to the wide difference in output between the neck & bridge counterpart. I am dealing with a hot bridge response but a polite, vintage-like response from the neck. What made me proceed was the EQ; these are exactly what I wish for in this guitar in the mean time. The default neck single coil suffers from a very weak midrange & has a nasal overall voicing that threatens to thin out any time. The boost in midrange here is what I was looking for. The default bridge pickup on the other hand sounded too darn honky but someone reminded me of the Tele's true nature; a honky, twangy guitar unlike the girth of a Strat. Despite being a metal fan & thriving on a commanding dose of bottom end, I opted for more treble instead. It's the D'Activator approach in a single coil format so to speak. 

Once again, the services of Master Beez was rendered to make the swap happen. After about a week of True Velvet-ing, I must say that it was a deserving switch. More importantly, it serves my embrace for gobs of distortion with clarity & surprises on two fronts: 1) The bridge pickup was not  treble excessive at all despite the anticipations. It all boils down to my amp settings & I believe the EVH 5150 has a good working low end to begin with so no major upset there. 2) The neck pickup did not wimp out in terms of output, it barks & roars as fiercely so the true measure of a pickup performance, in this case, is its actual adaptation to the player's set up. I'm a happy camper.