Jaguar picking

Had some playing time last weekend, the Jaguar was it. Looking forward to swap the pickups out in time to come. They are definitely alright but they aren't meeting my needs.

Put the Iron Age Bellona pick to some slower passages, mostly legato applications. When one employs such a playing technique, one would appreciate the gliding quality of one's pick so material plays a big part here. 

Goodbye October... ✋

A $2K what?

Would you pay $2K...

... for this?! 😕

Fools at the store

This was an incident at the local guitar store earlier today. It involved the Jackson JS22-7 you see above...

... and  a Gruv Gear Fret Wrap.

The guitar in question was sent to the store for a re-string. The owner's Mother (as accounted by the son), alleged that the store mishandled the instrument while doing so & scratched the fretboard area proximate to the nut. There was also damage done to the Fret Wrap after it was removed for the re-string to happen. The Fret Wrap manifested signs of fraying. 

The store personnel did not contest what took place. From start to end, efforts were made to address & compensate the alleged damages. While this was taking place the Mother referred to the responsible party as 'stupid' & wasn't happy with the services rendered which was understood to be $10. She claimed that her son could do a better job at it. She was also unhappy that the store started operations only at 1.00pm & reprimanded the personnels there accordingly.

As I was in the store & witnessed the incident, I would like to share some perspectives. 

1. Scratch probability

Ladies & gentlemen, we note the JS22-7 sports a non-locking nut. The chances of a hard implement scratching the fretboard area between the first fret & the nut is very low. The re-string process involves a direct placement of string material onto the nut slots. No insertion or pull-through is required. Should there be stray string material coming into contact with the fretboard, it would  unlikely be a sharp or pointed tip. As someone who appraises instrument for its QC, I note dry ends & glue marks resident in the aforementioned vicinity. The markings could have been inherent before the re-string took place & obscured by the strings themselves. Strings that come into contact with the fretboard could also scratch & dent the surface area, depending on the intensity of the player's fingering, the amount of vibrato action that took place & the frequency of such activities taking place during play.

2. Fret Wrap fraying

Fret Wrap (FW) is a string dampening/muting device. Upon fastening round the guitar neck, the fabric comes into contact with both the wood & metal elements of the instrument. Users remove the FW to tune the instrument at times & removal is mandatory for a re-string to take place. Players sometimes slide the FW across the guitar neck repeatedly (watch Greg Howe do it in many of his video clips) to increase the level of effectiveness with regards to proximate tension changes in attempts to increase muting efficiency. As an FW user myself (since 2015 when Sound Alchemy first brought it in), repeated removal & constant sliding did not result in any damage whatsoever. The chances of the implement's fabric being frayed by the guitar's neck is remote.

3. Time of operation

Please check the operation schedule of stores here before dismissing them as late or for that matter (it's just an internet check away), offering any form of opinion in terms of punctuality. If you are early, it does not equal to others being late. If you are early & have to wait for a business entity to start operations, take pride in your personal time etiquette. People queue at the doctor's all the time, they don't complain about the clinic not being mindful of their waiting considerations. Should this be any different with other businesses? 

4. Know what you are dealing with

I've noted time & again, parents trying to mitigate the circumstances on behalf of their offsprings only to utter rubbish in the presence of so many people. In this case for instance, if you don't know the mechanics of a guitar re-string & what a Fret Wrap is to begin with, watch what you are saying. It is definitely OK to represent your kids according to the circumstances especially when the law states that they are too young to represent themselves in a commercial transaction. You don't go to the car garage & tell the mechanic off for scratching your bolts & nuts when a flat tyre is being replaced, do you?

5. We are educated (aren't we?)

I still hear this low level engagement taking place when tempers flare. I understand the lack of control in bouts of anger but we do not stoop so low by engaging in name-calling & verbal disrespect in this regard. If issues need to be addressed, we stick to the matter so that an outcome could be reached. No amount of name-calling could settle disputes. In fact, it will further ferment the situation. If you continue to do so, nuisance & harassment are just two ambits of the law that could be used against you. If you wish to be escorted out of the premises in handcuffs in front of your kids, the choice is yours.

The store did well to address the matter accordingly & reimbursements took place with pleasant wishes- respect! However, I've lost respect for the family that chose to create a ruckus hoping things would get solved this way. Young man, if you are reading this, I hope you could re-think what took place & maybe ask yourself, if your Mother claimed you could do a better job, why send it to the store to begin with? I'm sounding like a broken record here but I urge guitar owners to educate yourselves in dealing with basic guitar maintenance. If you can't do it yourself, at least know how it's done so that disputes like this could be avoided. If you don't trust others to service or maintain your instruments on your behalf, then ask your Mother to do it.

Halloween @ Davis

Seasonal discount for online purchases @ Davis GMC as stated above: CLICK ☠

5150III EL34

The EVH 5150 III EL34 goes into the 50W version. There are now stacked control knobs in there for some dedicated control & not shared outlets. Hope it's offered in the lunch box make. We can wait. 

Pale ferro?

This is pau ferro. It's a current alternative (among others) for instruments sporting rosewood parts.

So which part of this instrument's fretboard is pau ferro? 🙈

Simulation radar

Another interesting release from the Chinese front- Mooer's Radar.

This is (to me) an awesome release because it helps turn one's effects line up into a self-sufficient workstation especially for people whose lives depend on recording. The line-out/ headphone feature means you need not invest in an amp to get things going. In action:

For 2018

Ibanez has finally declared the cryptic model seen with Lee Wraithe & Martin Miller (among others) is indeed a proto for 2018 (to be revealed at NAMM). Waiting.

Iron picking

The Iron Age label deals with guitar accessories, guitar picks are just a fraction of their offerings. The model you see here is the Bellona from their Imperial series.

This, by far, is my preferred pick specs; shorter but wider. Also, 4mm thickness is the way to go for angry riffs & furious solos. The material here, according to the manufacturer, is a durable plastic designated for pistol grip & it's easy to the touch, not prone to slippage. This is further fortified with a grooved center design with glow-in-the-dark outer rim. Unlike other manufacturers, the pointed tip here remains true to claim without any subtle rounding off so it's precision picking from start to end. The Bellona is definitely a worthy discovery for me for a simple reason- it was spec'd to my liking to begin with. 👍

Two things before we end off: 1. It's pricey (USD22 each- ouch!) 2. The material isn't as durable as I'd like it to be. If you look carefully at the pick, it's already a little worn & that's only after a day's worth of black metal meddling which was under an hour. Do not despair my friends, Iron Age has other intriguing picks featuring wood, stone & metal for your considerations & this is definitely not my final Iron Age adventure (being a pick nut & all).

Rating: 89%

Visit the Iron Age web page for more picks & other cool accessories: CLICK HERE

To boost or not to boost

Seymour Duncan featured my pic of their boost pedal just a couple of weeks ago & there was a smart ass comment stating a high gain amp like the EVH 5150 was in need of no such assistance.

True. High gain, angry amps voiced to crush proceedings don't need further gain supplements but we need to understand the method of employment. If one curbed gain levels to the lower quarter to capture crunch voicings (not high gain drive), then the employment of a clean boost in the signal would manifest higher saturation. This means, the signal becomes a little more pick sensitive and harmonics are easier to trigger. That's how boost pedals come into the picture & it's not about the amp requiring a supplementary pedal to begin with. Sometimes we tend to juxtapose our ideals unto others' setup without thinking of differentiated applications. Knowing what others use is half the picture, knowing how they use it is the crucial other half.

RIP: Martin Ain

RIP: Martin Ain (1967 - 2017), bassist of Celtic Frost. The metal camp knows the role of CF in metaldom. Enough said.

Small timers

Following the Mooer D-15 entry, a reader wrote in asking me if there is a comparable unit that I'd recommend since he's interested in a lug-friendly amp head & that the D-15's availability is unconfirmed (in the mean time). 

Mooer's D-15 (A) is a digital unit & its strength lies in the clarity heard from the demo clip supplemented in that blog post. There isn't any quite like it in the stores here in the mean time but in terms of dimensions, Peavey's Piranha 6505 (B) is a worthy contender, so is Vox's MV series (C). The idea of a small, portable amp head isn't new. In fact, I used to own a Crate Power Block (D) which was a no nonsense solidstate unit (discontinued in 2010/ 2011). 

Tank tone

This dashboard looking thing is an amp head- Mooer D15. Since it's Despite running on being a digital format, no additional power amp is required since it's a full functioning amp. In short, you can lug it in your bag to the next gig- yes, it's that small (as seen in the video). The term 'digital' doesn't sit too well with amp purists in general but if you fancy some good tones (maybe a good dose of metal), this is worth checking out. We have a Mooer dealer here but it's no telling if it's gonna make it to the store at all. If you sell amps, you'd understand how darn difficult it is to just sell a head without an accompanying speaker cab. I've chosen this clip to highlight its tonal capability, OK maybe for you metal dweebs out there, it'd be a pleasant surprise:

Appreciation

Unbelievable. It's now beyond 2.75mil hits. OK, some of those were from me as I continue to review   posts during bus rides to/from work. But I sure didn't re-visit this blog 2mil times just to make the numbers! Nevertheless, I'm grateful for the readership (which took some personal turns along the way) & look forward to your continued support. Just coming by to read the stuff here means a great deal to me & I value your interest. Once again- thank you for making this happen!

PS: Give-away coming soon 🎸

Cracked purple

The Ibanez Iceman cometh but it's a Paul Stanley (PS2CM) version with the much celebrated cracked mirror finish. So now it's offered in a purple manifestation with Seymour Duncan pickups: '59/C5

The pretenders

Had some playing time this morning as it's a public holiday 🎉

Let's not kid ourselves in seeing something original here. Bacchus & Aria Pro are clearly riding on Fender's shadows. What's the point of spending good money on such copies? My take:

1. Budget alternatives. There are now countless copies out there, even boutique names are taking pride in doing so. The funny thing is, some of us drown ourselves in snob appeal with our boutique copies but we are quick to judge if our peers strum the budget versions. There are players out there who had the Fender experience (played one in store, borrowed a friend's, etc.) & wouldn't want to spend too much on the brand name. They just want that bolt-on chemistry plus some passable twanging moments & can live with other concessions. As the general audience out there simply can't tell the tonal difference between a Fender & its countless imitators, why the heck not. Ditto recording moments- is the whole world there to witness you record your musical glory with a Fender? They are too busy, too lost in their own moments to care.
2. Back-up. Especially for those of us who are playing a Fender as our No.1, having a reliable back-up will save us from tripping into the pits of hellish embarrassment. It might even prevent us from getting fired. These days, there are above-average Strat/Tele-type models to choose from. You need not tread the Squier path if you think they are not up to it for you. Take some time to browse the stores, disregard the brand name & be objective. I'd personally recommend the LTD models.
3. Inspiration. A little ironic but we sometimes get inspired by the stuff we overlook. I sometimes make it a point to have these imitators on standby when I play my Fenders just to have a moment of difference. We are at times blinded by arrogance in acknowledging the fact that our lesser brand names are the ones that share our intimate moments & perpetuate inspiration rather than that over-priced excess. 

Whatever the case may be, these budget alternatives have their place in the grand scheme of things, we tend to dismiss them prematurely before knowing what's unfolding next. 

Guitars in pic: Bacchus BST-1/ Aria 615 Frontier

Deepavali 2017

Midweek break- a deserving breather for the hectic week. There are a few more days to go till the weekend, anticipating a frenzied week ahead. In the mean time, here's wishing those celebrating Deepavali a worthy triumph of light over darkness. For the rest of us, have a good break, do wind down with family & friends. 

Into another

Stacking or cascading, whatever you call it, it's the employment of two pedals in clipping your signals. In this instance, I'm putting the harsher distortion first (immediately after the guitar) followed by the overdrive. The effect of leading the harsher pedal into the milder unit is that of smoothening. It brings grizzly responses down to a more acceptable territory in terms of presentation. Tones become more acceptable to non-guitar audience for that matter. Which pedal setting should be marked higher is up to your liking. The clear outcome here is that you cannot resign in saying the overdrive subdued your overall intensity because this is exactly the intention. Do note the increase in background noise/ hissing when employing two or more pedal simultaneously which will be compounded by your single coil pickups' humming. The cure- noise gate, which will be mentioned in a later episode.

Another 3

Here're 3 more for my listening pleasure. Actually, there are more than 3 here; Ride & Teenage Fanclub are compilations while Blondie is a greatest hits + new album package. 

RIDE

I used to have Going Blank Again & Tarantula in cassette tape format. The clear favourite is GBA, of course. The band was at the level best in terms of composition with varied song structures in the album, even a semi-instrumental take- not bad at all. 

TEENAGE FANCLUB

Similarly, Bandwagonesque, Thirteen & Grand Prix were in cassette tapes. I didn't buy Songs From Northern Britain & Howdy! but managed to borrow them from friends. I returned them all in good order (unlike some people).

BLONDIE

I grew up with Blondie playing on the radio. It was mostly on BBC back then, a fuzzy reception which blurred the lyrics mostly. As much as the catchy songs on offer, the guitars were played from a different approach. Chris Stein wasn't into technical impressions & there's a little more going on in terms of accompaniment & melodic fills. This Greatest Hits to me, at this day & age, is important. I'm not reliving the past but making sure the songs I like back then are now more accessible & readily available for my listening pleasure. 

Metal assault Sunday

Sunday morning metal assault ✊

Had some playing time in the morning (& nobody's home) so it's as metal as it gets. Had been re-listening to the early Emperor, Marduk & Satyricon stuff so the urge to generate some metal music was strong. The Charvel there is one of my favourite in terms of neck feel. The finish has everything to do with it, it's almost bare wood. The last time I came across such a very thin finish was playing a Yamaha Mike Stern model. The EMGs in there were as metal as it gets- no compromise! Moving on to the second half of the playing time, it's the Kiesel this time. The immediate difference is the fretboard radius. The very flat profile here should be essential for those of you churning out very fast metal riffs.  It's minimum stretching of the fingers so less lethargy in the way. Sunday morning had been good. 

Dirty goodness

This is the current talk here- Friedman's Dirty Shirley pedal. For you to like this pedal, you need to have a liking for a Marshall-like voicing with added saturation. Sounds like the brown sound formula but not quite the drive response. The DS does not saturate like a pedal, it climbs up the gain range by manifesting an amp's sensitivity response. It sizzles at maximum gain setting & remains demure at the lower range with touch sensitivity. The PRESENCE knob & TIGHT flick switch add to character. I'm of the opinion that the former might appeal to the black metal community in turning one's signal grizzly without sounding too polished & prog, along the lines of Dark Throne & company. Like a typical Marshall response, the treble end can be excessive even with the knob dialled up to only the half-way mark.

Like its BE-OD counterpart, the power input jack is still attached to the circuit board. This was the main aggravation highlighted by the pedal community when the BE-OD debuted. It's not a functionality issue but a durability issue.  The white knob you see to the left is the pedal's gain trim knob so there's more to it in terms of drive than what the external controls have to offer.

When the BE-OD entered the pedal market in 2016, I walked away with disinterest. It's purely a tonal stand & I saw no point in saying something here. I really didn't like what I heard back then, a boutique level pedal sounding passable with a real potential of being awful. There's this miserable upper midrange honk that threatens to sound mono & killing enthusiasm. The DS pedal on the other hand, brought over its amplifier manifestation so if you've come across the amp & absolutely like what it has to offer, there's much of those character in the pedal. The only thing lacking is some tube warmth so do check your midrange control to prevent a harsh attack for all high gain applications. 

Ouija goodness(?)

Do you have USD12K to spare? If you do, this Kirk Hammett ESP is yours.

How much money are you willing to fork out for an instrument? Will an extravagant price tag guarantee you an out-of-this-world guitar experience? 😕

Leaving Gibson

This is Bill Kelliher. Bill is the guitar half of Mastodon. Bill used to play Gibson guitars.

This is Bill once more. He had since moved on with ESP guitars. The switch was rather bitter.

That's right folks, until recently, this episode was kept under wraps. Besides being news fodder (who wouldn't wanna read about a big name guitar thrashing by some frustrated metal dude, yes?), it's a reality check. When you are talking about custom shop dealings, it has to be deserving. If you cannot adhere to specific instructions by an endorser, then you just have to drop it. Your custom shop is simply one churning out custom jobs for your own interest, not that of the endorsers. 

According to Bill, Gibson couldn't even avoid doing a chambered body for his instrument. It seems that someone in there is bent on pushing their craftsmanship philosophy unto others even if it means offending them on a personal note. I believe that if there is an endorsement going on, the key to longevity is listening. Moving on to ESP, these people are wonderful listeners. Their foothold in the US market recently should give a wake up call to the other players in the industry. It's really upsetting to know a big name like Gibson couldn't get the fundamentals right when it comes to professional dealings. Gibson is not just a brand name, it's one of the benchmarks in guitar craftsmanship. It's sad to know that something is hinting at the manufacturer going askew.

Left JEM

So the southpaws have not been forgotten.

Lefty JEMs (30th Anniversary edition) in these two finishes offered by Ibanez. Despite being an Ibanez fan, I have never been attracted to the JEMs. Yes, RGs wouldn't be around if the JEM were not there to begin with but I'd rather go with a super fine RG than forking out money for a JEM.

Megafarm

The Mrs. dug up some stuff in the house & found my old literature text book, Animal Farm. She said she wanted to bring it to work to show & share with the kids some textual references before screening the movie.

She had a little request though, could she remove the cover distraction to show the actual book cover?  He, he... Back then, I used to paste pictures of my fav bands on books for immediate identification. There were like more than 30 of us in class reading the same literature text, getting things mixed up was easy. This was how I exercised immediate recognition. On that note, When Marty Friedman made the Megadeth line up, I held the band in higher regards with reference to Rust in Peace, of course. This was way better than what a certain black album had in store for me (which was released a year after). 

Closing Carvin

Carvin Audio is closing down. Please do not confuse Carvin Audio with the Kiesel line of instruments which is still in business. The amplifier & pro audio factory is the subject concerned. They way I see it, this had been in the works since the Kiesel re-branding of their guitars. With this secured & seeing no takers coming along to take up the amp/audio side of manufacturing, it's easier to close down than continue waiting. The above screen capture is from their FB page. 

Schecter NJs

If you are waiting for these to happen, then they are here- Schecter's Nick Johnston models. Prices- please call Davis GMC for updates: 63375092

Grand D

Once more, nothing ground-breaking here, just the TC Electronic Grand Magus distortion pedal. I've been using my DS-1 for distortion-related stuff lately. In terms of intensity, it's not as intense as the name suggests which isn't a bad thing. I find such organic responses to be more useful when pushing an amp's dirty channel rather than having a terribly angry distortion pedal which would serve to be a one-trick pony. The Grand Magus here isn't that intense, it still doesn't cross into the metal territorty. It's not a super saturated, Wampler Pinnacle-esque type either. It's a grizzly bear which isn't too angry when put to use, just angry. It's neither costly nor skimpy when it comes to the available voicings. 

Thermo-chameleon

This is a Custom assembled Fender Tele put together for Joey Morinelli (Joywave). Nothing really special save for that finish that changes colour according to temperature fluctuations. Some convincing here: CLICK

SALE @ Sound Alchemy

Happening at Sound Alchemy till 31/10/2017. Do refer to their web page for updated sale prices: CLICK

Not coming here as well

Regional exclusive (USA), the Ibanez RGA has a reverse headstock version going. It's predictably called the RGAR42. That maple fretboard there- I think you know what's going on as this instrument isn't manufactured in the USA. Looks good, no doubt but that bridge there should be avoided if you are factoring reliability into your purchase considerations. 

That zinc-ing feeling

D'Angelico was already known for the zinc coated steel strings back in 1938. Come the 1960s, the manufacturing plant was shut down so all was lost in terms of benchmark; nobody quite manufactured strings that sounded good. This was revived recently seeing a collaboration with D'Addario. So it's a D'Angelico design being paired up with D'Addario's coating technology. Hope these will make it here, of course. 

Clean ensemble

Had been busy with this last weekend. Nothing boutique, not quite a breakthrough unit at this point in time either. The reason why I bought the BOSS CE-5 is to reap the benefits of EQ manipulations. Of course, things are a little limited with a 2-band offering but the difference is there. 

I was thinking that this pedal is capable of thickening the tone somewhat while manifesting chorus goodness but not quite. The best way to thicken one's tone is to have more than an amp going in a single sitting- the more, the thicker. If you are living in the digital realm, doubling your recorded parts will definitely give that thicker wall of sound. No guarantee of keeping this one in constant reference. 

Active power

Spent some time with the EMGs last night. These are the only EMGs I can tolerate; the 57/66. I find active pickups very synthetic sounding. Some of us like this very boosted output, others simply prefer no battery influence in the guitar's electronics. 

Speaking of batteries, I was wondering why the 57/66 sounded half-baked, they were singing like single coils, in fact. There was this strange twang living in them which would be very enjoyable should I be in the mood for non-humbucking pickups. A hunch told me it was the power source. True enough, the EMG battery was on the verge of dying. So my friends, if you hear your active pickups sounding a little crispy & veering towards the clean end, the battery is the likely culprit. 

PS: Hello October 😄