IRON MAIDEN - The Final Frontier World Tour 2011 Part 2

More from The Final Frontier World Tour 2011

Photos by Amos Wong & Aloysius Lim

Nyko's Metal Pedal

New Add on's for The Guitar Hero Drumkit
Definitely a better pedal than the stock ones. Durable and better sensitivity.

On another note, rumor has it that Activision will seize further production of the Guitar Hero series of games due to high cost of licensing impacted by changes in the music industry. That's kinda sad cause The guitar hero franchise bridged the younger generation to bands they have never heard before. It certainly taught my kids a thing or two about the great rock bands from the yester-years.

IRON MAIDEN - The Final Frontier World Tour 2011

Iron Maiden is in town for a ONE night performance at the Singapore indoor stadium.

Here are some pics from their arrival in Singapore.
These are what real rockstars are made off.

Flight 666 Ed Force One is in Town!

Pictures Courtesy of LAMC Productions

Fender Classic Player Baja Telecaster

I have been laying off the GAS list for a while now with work in main priority. I finally gave myself a well deserved reward after all the work i have been putting into my career and family. I picked up this piece pre-owned. I bagged her on a very good deal. Much less than a MIJ Tele that i had originally set my sights on. She's in excellent condition. No scuffs and bruises whatsoever. Just a little tarnish on the hardware which was easily polished up with some "Mr Brasso".

There's this thing about Tele's that keeps me drawing back to them like a bad rash. The Baja Telecaster is a Mexican made model that was designed by Fender Custom Shop Master Builder Christoper Fleming who is also responsible for building instruments for many artists including: John 5, Billy Gibbons, David Gilmour, John Mayer, Pete Townshend, Joe Walsh and Ron Wood.

This isn't your typical Mexican made model. This Baja Telecaster is something else that is worth a mention. It's build quality is excellent and choice of materials used for the build is simply better than some of the CIJ's , MIJ's and even MIA's that i have handled.

Video Courtesy of Gregs Guitars

With a mixture of vintage and modern features, The Baja Telecaster is an extremely versatile instrument. The voicings from the Custom Shop Broadcaster and Twisted Tele pups make a great match. The S-1 switch gives the Baja Tele it's uniqueness and offers players additional voicing options to toy with.

Another unique feature of the Baja Tele is it's Soft V neck which is slightly chunky yet extremely comfortable unlike the necks found on vintage styled 52's which is rather big for my liking. You won't find many Soft V shaped necks on teles and that would be one of the main draws on me picking this Tele.

Specifications: Model: Fender Classic Player Baja Telecaster Body Wood: Ash Finish: Thin polyester Colour: Desert Sand. Also available in Vintage Blonde with a black pickguard. Neck & Fingerboard:1-Piece Maple Finish: Gloss Polyurethane Radius: 9.5" Scale Length: 25.5" No. of Frets: 21 Medium Jumbo Neck Profile: Soft "V" Nut: Bone String Tree: Round Width at Nut:1.625" (41.2 mm) Pickups:1 Custom Shop Twisted Tele (Neck), 1 Custom Shop Broadcaster (Bridge)Pickup Switching:4-Position Blade Switch: Position 1. Bridge Position 2. Bridge and Neck (Parallel) Position 3. Neck Position 4. Neck and Bridge (Series) S-1 Switch: Phase switch Controls: Master Volume, Master Tone Hardware Plating: Chrome  Machine Heads: Ping Vintage Style, slotted Pickguard:1-Ply Parchment Bridge:Vintage Style 3-Saddle String-Through-Body Bridge Saddles Brass Strap buttons

Just a word of caution. 

If this guitar ever drops while it's strapped on during a show .....

Never mind the guitar, Beware a broken foot!

This guitar is extremely hard built and weighs like a rock!

Rating: 9/10

Guitar Hero Warriors of Rock Band Set

Happy New Year!

I haven't been posting for quite a while. The Guitar Junkie has now been moved to blogger so here's a new post to kick off the new year.

To curb that inner kid in me. I just had to get this with an excuse that my kids wanted a go at it. Kinda pricey for plastic equipment but loads of fun. I did not get the set for the guitar but it was more for the drum set. An additional Nyco pedal is on the way for double pedal mayhem. 

Yamaha Arius YDP S31

I'm not all guitars you know.

I'm a bit of everything.

No strings attached.

Alert! Stolen Suhr Pedals

A Suhr Riot (S/N: 2268, Magenta) & Shiba (S/N:987, Electric Blue) were stolen on 14/12/2010 from Woodworkz. Our Singapore Police Force is investigating. If anyone out there stumbles upon these 2 particular serial numbered units, please alert the good folks at woodworkz.

SLASH Asia Tour 2010

If you have been living under your little sisters bed and don't know by now, Slash is coming to town!

Ask any rock guitarist out there about a Les Paul and slash’s name will come into mind. The living rock guitar icon will be making his way to town for a one night concert at the Fort Canning park on August 2nd 2010. His posse will include the vocal talent of Myles Kennedy of Alterbridge fame and Coheed And Cambria. Slash and his posse will be dishing out new songs from slash’s new album along with some good old G&R hits according to sources and this is going to be a heck of a wild show!

I remember those G&R days, Slash made guitar playing so darn cool. That big curly afro, a cancer stick up his lip looking buzzed out and playing those killer riffs with so much aw and mojo. Everyone wanted a Gibson Les Paul Standard Gold Top after watching slash walk out of the church to shred his guitar solo in the November Rain MTV. It was just too damn cool! Way back then, the Singapore government banned the Metallica and Guns & Roses world tour in Singapore with fears of violent public reactions during the concert. I guess those days are over and things are starting to open up here in sunny Singapore.

Now here’s your chance to catch this rock guitar icon in the flesh! Mark my words, Slash will be a legend in his own right in time to come. Do not miss this rare opportunity!

With the concert in mind, the good folks at LAMC Productions and Visa, will be holding an Air Guitar Contest from 9 – 28 July, where contestants simply have to submit a 30-second video clip of their air guitar performance covering any Slash song to win. The winner of the contest will win for themselves some great prizes which includes tickets to the show, a Jim Dunlop Crybaby Slash Wah, an autographed Epiphone Les Paul (What?! it’s not a Gibson?) and a chance to meet the rock icon himself in the flesh who will autograph your axe. take some pictures and maybe even share a joint with you. Just kidding on the last part.

Click on the picture above to join the contest!

Please Log on to http/lamcproductions.com/ for more info on the concert and contest details!

Hurry! Get your tickets now!

Since we are on the topic of Slash, Check out this Gibson Slash Appetite For Destruction Les Paul!

G.A.S .........

Guitar is Available at Davis Guitar

Price: Arm, Leg, Kidney and Maybe Your Wife.

Retro Ibanez RG

Just completed the mods to give my Ibanez 350MYE a face lift.

Ibanez RG350MYE

Dimarzio Breed pups

Redone and Rewired all the electronics.

My conclusion after this project is that colored parts are hard to find locally. If all else fails, Ebay is the answer....

Ibanez RG350M YE

This just in from the good folks at BGW Guitars! Excellent service as always. Thanks Brendon!

• Basswood body

• Maple Wizard II neck

• Maple fingerboard

• 24 jumbo frets

• Black dot inlays

• INF3 humbucker neck pickup

• INF4 humbucker bridge pickup

• INFS3 single middle pickup

• Edge III tremolo

• Black hardware

Recently i have been gasing for a RG. Many non modern guitars have passed through me or maybe i just wanted to feel young again. It crossed my mind to purchase a higher end MIJ Ibanez models but ended up choosing this affordable MII piece instead. Before commiting to a purchase, I googled for info on this guitar and some sites claim that these RG350MYE's are limited edition but i'm seriously not too sure about that claim.

The big selling point for me here is the maple fretboard and neon yellow finish. I wanted something that screams big hairy 80's and found this as the perfect candidate without having to dry my pockets for that moment of G.A.S that might fade overnight.

Ibanez have a huge array of RG's and i have to admit that it can get rather complicated if one does not keep track. There is just too many RG models in the market! Most RG's come with a basswood body. Many will cry "cheap wood" or "soft wood" but basswood bodies does have it's own advantages it more ways than one.

Factory Setup

Straight out from the factory setup with the standard 9's, It was not bad and the electronics were wired quite well. Action and setup were pretty decent and playable straight from the box.

The Indonesian QC Department

According to the QC hang tag. My RG350 was inspected by Salim & Haris. I closely scrutinized the make of the guitar and i was not too impressed at all with the QC. The back of the neck was not sanded down well (fixed with some ultra fine sanding), The painjob was scratchy at the heel of the neck where the 4 bolts go. Besides these factors, The make was pretty decent. No major manufactuing flaws were found.

The Edge III Bridge

Many owners have complained about the Edge III bridge. Most users mentioned that the Edge III would not stay in tune, it causes string breakage and it's unstable. I only have one thing to say about that... SETUP YOUR GUITAR CORRECTLY!!! I do not have any problems with my Edge III but if one is to compare it to a Edge Pro then do fork out the extra moola for those upgrades. As the saying goes in hokkien " Want Cheap, Want Fresh, Want Big Titties ". You pay for what you get. And the Edge III is not a bad bridge if setup correctly and that applies to all guitars.

Tone

The pickups are rather ok for a stock set of pups. I have heard worst stock pups but these infinity pups are on the ok side for stock pups. This is one department that this RG can do better.

What's Inside?

I took the guitar apart to have orange caps installed and also to check for any cold joints that needed my attention. The stock wiring was done neatly. No complaints there but i think i will see an upgrade to better quality electronics in this guitar. I was surprised to find that the cavities have been insulated with shielding paint. Not bad... This is something the guys at Fender need to add to their to do list in production.

Summary

This guitar does have it's pro's and con's and players who intend to buy the RG350 series can also think about saving up some money for upgrades to make this guitar a killer possesion. If you are into 80's big hair nostalgia and don't mind forking out some extra money to have the pups swapped, This is one good rekindled trip down memory lane that got murdered by teenage pop music.

New electronics, Neon pink dimarzio pups & neon green plastic knobs will be in the works sometime soon.

Rock n Roll!

More detailed pics can be found in the "Guitar Porn Gallery"