ASAT Saturday

Enough of humbucking tones for this week, time for some single coil action. Glad I grabbed this before City Music moved out of Peace Center & the G&L brand calling it a day: Fullerton Deluxe ASAT Classic. I didn't realize those are brass saddles till I did a re-string 😅

I still have a few Rotos in the house & a set went into this guitar. Those MFD pickups are wicked in driven settings. I have no idea if this was meant to be as such because we normally grab a Tele-esque guitar for crystalline cleans. I'm not much a of a clean player anyway.

Premium S

I realized this is the only Premium Ibanez model that I currently own. Used to own a Premium RG once but that was sold off more than five years ago. The Premiums were / are not a hit with me, I prefer paying for a standard instead. This S970 is rather heavy due to the ZR bridge there which is also not my thing. There'a a cult following for this bridge with ardent fans calling for its return. Nope, not for me. 

Rotosound pinks before things got going.

SD in this one:

• Jazz (n): One of my go-to neck pickup because it sounds good in both clean & driven modes
• Q-Pound (m): I had to push this one quite deep into the cavity to level its volume against the neck / bridge counterpart. Despite its high output nature, it sounds darn good clean. Never dismiss any pickup's reputation just because the manufacturer touted it to be of a certain character.
• '59 Custom: This one's rather fat-sounding despite its truncated bottom end. 

B-pop (2)

Had a good time with the RG1451 for the last few days or so. Maybe it's the psychology of playing a fixed bridge guitar; I feel more accomplished. 😅

I have no excuses for not liking my tone as I have Seymour Duncans in this guitar: Jazz (n) /Classic Stack (m) / JB (b). I don't use the middle pickup much but it got some play time nevertheless.

Every time I thought I ran out of Ernie Ball strings, I discovered I still had a final set waiting to be used. I dated my strings upon purchase & this was from an August '26 acquisition.

Ibanez - DB (2)

This Tube Screamer is a part of the Ibanez - Dragon Ball collaboration that happened recently (Oct '26). Yes, it's just a standard TS-808 with the DB aesthetics. If you missed it, that's the unique star LED on the pedal.

Pic: Ibanez

Mikro November

A low key release by Ibanez this November - a couple of Gio Mikro basses. I continue to respect Ibanez for remembering us players with limited purchasing powers. We want affordable starter instruments but we want quality as well. The GIOs are meeting both expectations.

Pics: Ibanez

GS Monday

I am grateful for:

1. Having affordable guitars to tinker with. Thusfar, the cheaper stuff I purchased (mostly used) had been giving me greater returns. These are basically the entry-level Ibanez GIOs & Jackson JS models. Over time, I  am able to identify the models which are really worth getting to avoid buyers' remorse. Yes, the entry-level stuff are getting better but majority of the brands are still offering dodgy instruments which are better disguised. 
2. Getting away with DIY. I've not been to any techs here for guitar rectifications except for the electronic works. I leave this to Beez as he's more learned in this department. More importantly, I've done away with the tools for electronic rectifications. 

Today, it's just the Ibanez GS121 for the morning. This guitar (pre-owned) sounds more appealing after the pickups swap & it looks very personalized after a flip-flop re-finish. Along the way, I dabbled with minor repairs after understanding what needed to be done (knowledge is essential). I got away with makeshift tools as well because there are general purpose alternatives that could get things done. It doesn't have to be a Stew Mac option every time because we very well know that the brand name makes it more expensive than the lesser known counterpart which still gets the job done.