Selling: Squier Esquire CV 60s Custom

Good day, folks. Will be unemployed (again) in a few days, letting this go to tide things through.

• Squier: Esquire CV 60s Custom
• Unpadded bag included
• Condition: 9/10
• Pickups replaced with: DiMarzio Twang King
• Queries / confirmation: subversion.sg@gmail.com
• No trades / reservations
• Self-collect: Yew Tee / CCK mrt station
• Price: $500 (final)

Special single

When you don't have funds for new gear, you butcher what you own to make it 'new'. 

Jokes aside, I have planned for this to happen for a while really, just lacking the motivation. I get turned off by the sunburst finish so turning it into a single pickup guitar - which is absolutely my thing - makes it more likeable. Just sharing something interesting here - this guitar is an American Special Stratocaster but it is using a Highway 1 neck. The next time you acquire an American Special guitar / bass & discovers a Highway 1 neck in use, be informed that it's a legit instrument. The American Special is basically a Highway 1 with a glossed over body. 

To be continued... 

Cost of cleaning

Folks, we have always encountered dirty contacts, yes? It's that crackling sound when our cable end got wiggled / rotated while it's still in the input jack. That's the sound of dirt interfering with connectivity. The people at Stedman have the above-depicted cleaning kits for you to use. By the looks of it, things are self-explanatory, you have disposable inserts to reach those inaccessible parts of the input jack, much like inserting cotton buds into the ears to dig out all those nasty ear wax. 

 

Do you believe in this approach to contact cleaning? How many of us make it a conscious effort to actually clean the input jack's contact points? 

After talking to the people around me (immediate feedback), nobody makes it a point to sit down after playing time to probe their instrument's input jacks with cleaning implements. They do spray those nasty areas with contact cleaning fluid every now & then to make sure things are in a playable condition. If the situation requires a dire need of input jack replacement, we would all agree that spending good money to get this done is a wise investment. In any case, the input jack is an expendable component of the instrument.

We would also agree that replacing dead input jacks is a preferred discourse as opposed to buying cleaner refills, yes?

Pics: Stedman

P II: Prices

Fender's Player II instruments are now available at Swee Lee, do note the prices above. As expected, prices are not reflective of the corresponding US listings. This anxiety (of sorts) was mentioned some days ago: CLICK 

Why am I uptight with this? 

• prices are going up, it's a cause for concern. Fender is looking for a reason to justify price hikes, launching a new series of instruments with 'different' features prove to be a good one. We all fall for this.
• price disparity - US vs SG. Need some insights to understand why prices are as such; could a single / dominant factor be it? Can that be curbed so that it's a win-win outcome for both retailers & buyers? If it continues to favour the seller, why should we even support this when there are other instruments out there?
• priced out - beginning players / students continue to be marginalized in this aspect. 

Pic: Fender

Clipped

Thank you & goodbye. I've been using this for a good while; at least 6 years. Purchased from City Music while they were still at Peace Center offering Charvel Desolation models. I find clip on tuners handy especially at the workplace where constant ukulele tuning is required. I've never dropped this tuner & handled it with TLC at all times. Just a couple of days ago, it refused to work despite a new battery in there. 

IR

Being an amp person, this BOSS IR-2 is an unnecessary acquisition. I need a new phone more than a new pedal but the funds went to the latter. I intend to bring this along for external use - 1) In the office where the current amp is a solid state Roland meant for keyboards 2) When trying out guitars in the store, so that my tone would be less wimpy. 

By the way, someone is not too pleased with the pre-breakfast photo shoot session.