American Standard Telecaster 2000

i just picked this up yesterday. It is pre owned. Excellent condition for a guitar that has been around since 2000. It features a alder body, maple neck, maple fretboard. From the serial dating, This piece is probably made in 2000 at the Corona California factory. I'm not sure what these pickups are but my sources tell me that these are the stock pickups. I will have to take those pickups out to check on their item number to find it origins

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I love the finish on this one. Some say it's a 2 tone sunburst. Some say it's tobacco burst. Well whatever... Whichever it is, It's certainly beautiful with the grains showing through the finish. It's one of those G.A.S factor for me to pick this up without thinking too much about how i'm going to suffer through the month with the amount i have spent on this beauty. Counting down the days until my next payroll arrives so life will be back to normal,

This piece also features a 5 saddle bridge but personally, i still prefer the vintage 3 saddle setup. The electronics feature a delta tone control and a 3 way switch.

I personally love the sound of telecasters. This one sounds towards the warmer side. It's got a very punchy tone and the cleans are amazing. When driven, The string through bridge helps to boost the sustain. It's certainly a leap of difference from my previous CIJ TL71 which had a rather snappy tone that breaks up in tone and produces that "quack" of a tone when the guitar is picked hard.

With the tone knob turned down. Switch on the neck pickup and it produces a warm and jazzy tone with punch. The Bridge pickup just oozes with the TWANG factor with the tone knob in full position.

This is one very versatile guitar. The only dislike i about this guitar is the lack of a broken in feel on the edge of the fretboard. Unlike the 2008 American standard. This 2000 model feels less comfortable . I guess i just need some getting used to with the different types of neck i play daily.

I hope this guitar will be a good investment for me in the future.

9 years and counting till this "Teletubby" is labeled as Vinatge ....

I Rate This Guitar: 9.8 / 10

1980's Silver Sparkle Burny Les Paul Custom

Just picked this up pre owned. It's a mid 1980's Burny Les Paul Custom in sparkle gold. It.s 95% Stock. It's original color is in sparkle silver but through time and aging, it has tunred to a nice sparkle gold. It's hard to tell the make and details on a vintage burny. There isn't much information to be googled. Still trying to discover the roots of this guitar.

I took her apart to have her re-furbished after more than 2 decades. There was a lot of dirt and grime on the fretboard. Some deep conditioning with Jim Dunlop's deep treatment oil made the difference. I used Jim Dunlop guitar wax polish to clean off the Oxidation on the hardware as well. I noticed that the pickups are the legendary VH-1's. There's still a sticker on the back of each pickup with that label. Seeing those sticker labels really made my day.

This plays very well. I played it through a VOX 100VT with a Digitech Hardwire CM2 and Boss CS3. Very thick punchy tone with walls of warmth and sustain. The VH-1's sound very PAFish but the pickups can induce hum very easily with high gain. I haven't played this hard and long for a long time. It's inspiring when you pick up something that feels good and sounds great. This one is a keeper.

Original Color should have been a sparkle silver. thanks to a previous sticker of some sort on the back of the guitar, I can see the effect of a beatifully aged guitar. Changed from silver to GOLD...

Love it! Just eye candy. This is not a les paul custom you see everyday with a sparkle vintage finish.

Ibanez Artcore AF75TDGIV

Specs: Ibanez Artcore AF75TDGIV

Neck Material:	Mahogany
Neck Type:	AF Artcore set-in
Body:	Maple top/back/sides
Frets:	Large frets
Fingerboard:	Bound Rosewood
Inlay:	Pearl block inlay
Bridge:	ART2 with VBF70 Vintage Vibrato
NeckPU:	GFS Vintage Filtertrons
BridgePU:	GFS Vinatge Filtertrons
HW Color:	GD
Finishes:	BK, IV

Scale/Length		628mm/24.75"
a:	Width at Nut	43mm
b:	Width Last Fret	58.5mm
c:	Thickness 1st Fret	20mm
d:	Thickness 12th Fret	26.5mm
Radius		305mm

After playing with this piece for a while now, here's my take on the Ibanez Artcore AF75TDGIV. My first impressions are of course it's beautiful looks. That was my main draw in picking up this poor man's alternative to a Gretsch. The Stock ceramic ACH 1 & 2 pickups were not too impressive but the overall build quality of the guitar was very good. When unplugged, It plays very well in terms of tone on it's own. Loud & crisp tone for a full hollow bodied guitar. Maybe the maple tops on the top, back & sides could be a contributing factor for the sweet acoustic tone.

The pickups have since been revamped with a set of GFS Vintage Filtertrons. I had to order these direct from guitar fetish at below $150 including shipping cost for a set of 2 pickups. That's relatively cheap in my opinion. I had my guitar tech install the pickups with orange capacitors & a coil split along the way. It's not an easy feat to install a set of pickups on a hollow bodied guitar so i left it to the pros on this job.

After the entire upgrade, the tone of the guitar when plugged into my VOX 100VT was dramatically improved. The new pickups made a very big difference in tone compared to the stock pickups. There is that certain growl to the tone with the bridge pickups and the neck pickup produces a very warm and bassy jazz tone. There were no traces of muddiness in tone. The orange capacitors may be doing its job to brighten the tone. When pushed into coil split mode which is installed on the volume knob of the bridge, The coils produces a very bright and clean tone which is great for blues.

I guess anyone who has played a bigsby styled tremolo guitar will somehow worry about the tuning stability when the bigsy tremolo is used. I am quite impressed that the ART2 VBF70 Vintage Vibrato held it's tuning very well. I had got no issues with tuning instability when using the bigsby tremolo. But obviously, these bigsby bars are not meant for huge Steve Vai type dive bombs. They are made for what they are. Vibrato's ....

As with most hollow bodied guitars, When pushed into high overdrive or high distortion it will most definately have some form of feedback. You will need to make some adjustments to your playing style or maybe even adding a noise gate to try to cancel unwanted feedback noise. But most definately, the sustain level is sweet and lovely if the right amount of control is applied.

I have yet to see an identical piece locally. I don't think Swee lee has brought this piece in with this ivory finish onto our shores. Maybe not yet as this finish was only introduced in 2008. This one is a keeper for me. the Ibanez Artcore series is under rated and i think more players will start to see their worth down the road. I would definately recommend the artcore's if you have plans to get a hollow bodied guitar at an affordable price.


Pros:

• Very affordable price for a hollow body jazz box. Great Value!
• Beautiful
• Great tone when on it's own
• Loud on it's own acoustically
• Maple tops on all sides
• Great build
• It's an Ibanez!

Cons:

• Stock pickups sounded cold & lifeless
• Hard case not included

Rating: 9/10

Coated Strings

Firstly, Merry Christmas to one and all!

Since it's the Xmas season, I decided to put on some new strings for my guitars. I have been a regular user of the 9's-42's for quite some time now and i have decided to give the 10's - 46's a shot. I needed some getting use to as i do find the 9's - 42's rather soft and comfortable but lacks in tone. I'll gradually move up the gauges as i do find the 10's to 46's rather comfortable now.

With that aside, I frequent the Cleartone brand of strings. It is coated and does not rust that easily. I cannot simple stand the feel of rusted strings and not to mention the hassle of string changing as well. That was my main reason why i have shifted to coated strings. Some say that the Cleartones lack in tone but they do last a good 3 to 5 months if cleaned after playing. I agree with the duration of the life span of the strings but i do not have an issue with the tone. I do find the tone rather good for a coated sting. It's not sticky and plays well too. A pack of these retail at $19.60.

So last weekend i went down to DAVIS and got myself a set of Aurora strings. These strings are coated as well but it has a variety of colors to it as well. I'm not much for having colored strings but i decided to give it a shot because they were much cheaper at $16.90. I bought 2 packs of 10's - 46's in gold. I had a set fitted to my Fender Strat. Everything went well with 5 of the strings until the High E string felt rather strange when i tuned it. It just would not stay in tune! No matter how i turned it, It would drop a full step. I'm tuning on standard tuning and I repeated this many times until the string snapped. upon closer inspection on what went wrong, I noticed that the string did not actually snap. Instead, the ball end of the string unwinded itself and came off. This kinda pissed me off so i took the High E from the other set to have it replaced. And the same thing happened again! Now I'm thinking that there's a problem with my bridge that is causing this to happen.

I removed the entire set of Aurora strings and fitted my strat with a set of CLEARTONE 10's - 46's. The installation was flawless like it always did. There was nothing wrong with my tuner, ears, technique and guitar bridge. So here's a little advise, STAY AWAY FROM THE AURORA'S! IF YOU HAVE TO, DO IT WITH CAUTION. With a price tag of $16.90 a pack, dumbass manufacturing faults like this should not happen. Maybe i was just unlucky to pick 2 rotten apples from the barrel but i don't think i will take a chance on a pack of strings that is packed with a price tag of $16.90 with a chance of malfunction again. Not to mention the poor unprofessional packaging it had.

There's a saying in hokkien " Hor Kua Bo Hor Chiak "

VOX Valvetronix AD100VT

100 watts of power at my disposal with 2 x 12' celestion speakers through a metal grill. It's a hybrid valve + solid state amp. Your neighbors will hate you for getting this amp. Crank it up and this sucker can really be loud.Among the many amps that i have owned, this one is the most versatile in terms or built in pre amps and effects. It produces some very nice cleans and killer OD's. It has a little bit of everything for the different player at heart.

Pre Amps
01. Boutique Clean - modeled on: Dumble 100w head (clean channel). My favorite clean channel.
02. Black 2x12 - modeled after a Fender 'Blackface' Twin Reverb amp.
03. Tweed 4x10 - modeled on: 1959 Fender 4x10 Bassman. This preset is a must when i'm playing my Telecaster.
04. AC15 - modeled on: Channel 2 of a 1962 Vox AC15.
05. AC30TB - modeled on: Vox AC30 'Top-boost'.
06. UK '70s - modeled on: 1971 Marshall 50w Plexi Head
07. UK '80s - modeled on: 1983 100w Marshall JCM800 head.
8. UK Modern - modeled on: Marshall JCM2000 DSL100 head (High gain channel).
09. Nu-Metal - modeled on: 100w Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier head. Rectifier like tones.
10. US Hi-Gain - modeled on: Soldano SLO100 Head (hi-gain channel). Fat Distortion
11. Boutique OD - modeled on: Dumble Overdrive Special 100w head. Use this with a stratocaster and with some tweaking, You'll come close to getting some John Mayerish tones.

I got this at City Music at a promo price of $580+. That's cheap for a 100 watter with great pre amps and effects. The VOX foot switch can be bought separately which i find very useful for changing presets. I seriously think this amp has some good vibes to it. If you are looking for that vintage tone, This amp is definitely for you. The modern high gains can sound pretty grainy and cold. i would recommend stomp pedals for those kind of settings rather than the pre amps.

The amp comes with a built in tweakable noise gate and some effects as well. There's nothing too spectacular about the effects. 11 digital FX; auto wah, compressor, compressor + phaser, compressor + chorus, chorus + delay, chorus + reverb, flanger + reverb, tremolo + reverb, rotary + reverb, delay and reverb. I don't really care much about the FX's. The only ones i really use is the reverb and occasionally the delay. The ability to tweak the output voltage is great. That way, you can adjust the appropriate voltage needed to push the valves without busting your ear drums.

Pro's

• Cheap for a 100 watter that has a name like VOX
• Good looks
• Nice vintage tones
• Versatile for most genres of music
• 11 pre amps
• 11 FX's
• Ability to add external speakers and cabs
• Ability to adjust the voltage of the amp
• Noise gate

Con's

• Headphone option is no good. It dosent justify the tones and makes them sound cold and sterile
• High gain on ceratin pre amps are too grainy
• Damn heavy. Some built in wheels could come in handy for the travelling musician

It's Finally Here! My First Jazzbox...

This just dropped in today. I have been waiting for this for almost 2 whole weeks. There were some shipping issues but they were finally ironed out. It's finally here!

I'm still finding faults with this one. That's a normal thing for me to do when a new piece pops into my collection. Beautiful Jazzboxes usually don't come cheap but this is definitely in a different price league. Build quality and tone wise, I'll have to shred on this for a while to feel and hear it extensively to find out what's the deal in this stunning yet affordable guitar.

Fender American Standard Stratocaster 2008

I have had many strats in the past but have never owned an American made fender. The hype of the fender franchise was the new American standard. Some swear by it while others will feel other wise. Well, i held back long enough and went out to get myself a brand new piece. I picked the blizzard pearl finish on a maple fretboard and neck. I got this piece from Swee Lee at a promotional price of $1500 nett. *Thanks Jai* My first impressions of this guitar was the Fender SKB Hard case. Frankly, I still prefer the vintage tweed cases as it gives the guitar in it a vintage classy sleek look. But this new molded SKB case sure looks like it can be run over by a truck and the guitar in it will still be in tune. (Try at your own risk!)

I am impressed by the initial factory setup of the guitar. It's was 98% perfect. I only needed a slight intonation on the B string and everything else was set up right. The tone is wonderful. On positions 1, 3 & 5 you can achieve the classic nasel strat tones with quack and twang. On positions 2 & 4 are the glassy strat tones. The delta tone circuit was a nice surprise to me as this is the first time i am using a delta tone system which gives some extra boost to the bridge and middle pickup when the tone knob is set to full on the bridge.

I guess that's why American made fenders are the hype all this while. I'm sure many would oppose and would say the difference in quality is very subtle between the CIJ's, MIJ's and even the MIM's except for the higher price listed for the MIA's. I refuse to debate this apple or orange myth. It's a matter of personal preference and the players touch which makes it different.

Pros:

• Smooth neck
• Glossed fretboard
• Action
• Classic strat tone
• Delta tone circuit
• Hand rolled edges on the neck
• Tuning stability
• Very versatile
• Comfortable

Cons:

• SKB molded hard case
• Limited finishes

I now understand why the American Fenders cost more and it's every much worth my every cent spent.

Rating: 9.5/10

Fender 1971 Telecaster Reissue CIJ TL71

Since i started playing the guitar, The one model of guitar that i really had no form of love for was the telecaster. I just did not find the look of a telecaster appealing whatsoever. They were these ugly looking guitars with limited pickup options. I have always thought that telecasters were only made for country music and that was it.

Pictures Courtesy From hub4thailand

I stumbled on a chance to pick up a telecaster out of curiosity, I have owned many different kinds of guitars but never a telecaster. I picked up this pre owned piece from Jeff or better known as hub4thailand. The entire guitar was stock. made out of an ash body and a one piece maple oval neck. The pickups are the TL-Current. These were the so called lower end of pickups that Fender japan were putting in their vintage series Teles. Rumor has it that these series of guitars have stopped productions and have been discontinued by Fender japan.

My hate for the Teles changed when i brought this back home. I was so impressed with the Tele as i realized how versatile it is. The tone is simply amazing. There was so much twang and bite to the tone for a guitar with only 1 single coil and a lipstick pickup. I especially loved the neck lipstick pickup. It produced such a warm and quacky tone that's especially beautiful for playing the blues. The neck felt comfortable enough even though there was too much gloss on the back of the neck. The overall construction is great. Fender japan is known for their excellence in building beautiful reissue replica's of their vintage reissue series and some say that the Japanese give the Fender custom shop models a run for their money in terms of build quality hence these guitars are only meant for the Japanese market.

My perception of the telecaster has changed. I simply love the tone of the telecaster. I still find these guitars not the best lookers around but they certainly make up in tone and feel. I have changed the pick guard to a mirror one. Not too sure if it's for better or for worse but I'll probably swap them back to stock once i get bored of the John5 telecaster look.

Pro's:

• Affordable
• Great Tone
• Discontinued Model
• Light Weight
• Very Versatile
• Comfortable neck

Con's:

• TL-Current Pickups (Could have been better with some high quality pickups)
• Too Much Gloss On The Back Of The Neck

Rating: 8.5/10

Limited Edition Ibanez S Series S540LTD

My main gig axe for the past 10+ years. I got this piece from Swee Lee while they had a retail branch at Takashimaya. Got this at a bargain staff price of just $900 after pulling some strings * Thanks Barry *. Suggested retail price tag for this piece was $1900. She's made in japan and is a limited edition model. It's probably worth more in the market now as the japan made ibanez's were known for excellence in quality back then. She has a custom made inlay on the 21st fret, Shark tooth inlays with a very slim body and neck. It has one of the slimmest necks i have ever played. The comfort level while carrying this on stage is excellent. I have tried my very best to keep her in stock condition but i had to change some of the hardware as some of the parts were beginning to rust and oxidize due to the blood, sweat and tears i have put into her through 10+ years of gigs, jams and recording sessions. I kept the original parts for old times sake. This guitar took quite a beating but survived every minute of it. It's definitely a road worthy axe that had come a long way. My sentimental values for this one.

She is now officially RETIRED from my hands

Fender 1972 Reissue Stratocaster CIJ ST72-US

I picked up this pre owned piece from blackwood guitars at $800. I was captivated by the 70's era big headstock and vintage white finish (cream). Although i did not know what the actual specs were, I was told by the guys at the shop that this piece had Texas specials pups in it which led me to think that this piece had an alder body. Which is the vintage premium. Sometimes it's very hard to tell when it comes down to strats. You won't really know for sure untill you take the guitar apart for a closer look. Obviously, i don't think any guitar shop will allow you to do that before buying. I took a gamble and bought it anyway. It really looked awesome!

I brought this piece to my guitar tech to have it checked only to find out that i have lost the gamble. This piece is not the vintage premium that i thought it was. The body is made of basswood and had US vintage pups in them. Tsk Tsk Tsk ... Cheated? I would not like to think that i was as i kinda figured that this piece was being sold on consignment by the owner. Maybe even the guys at the shop didn't even know the true specs of this guitar. Or did they? Anyway. It don't matter. We all learn from our mistakes.

I got mixed emotions with this guitar. After having this guitar setup, The overall feel just didn't do it for me. Doing hard vibrato's on both E strings actually made the string slip off the fretboard from the 12th fret up. Maybe it's just me with my tendency to be a hard player but i was not comfortable with it. Tone wise, I didn't really get that snappy twang out of the basswood body and US vintage pups. It lacked the voice of a real strat that i have longed for.

All in all, This is not a bad piece to have. It's definitely eye candy when you walk into a room with it. Vintage white finish, Large 70's headstock, Bullet truss rod, 3 point 70's back plate makes it that much of a piece that's meant to be hanged on the wall rather than played. Maybe i was just unlucky to pick this particular one.

The guitar that don't feel right are the guitars that are just not meant to be...

Pro's:

• Beautiful vintage white finish


• 70's Large Haeadstock


• Bullet truss rod


• Backplate


• 
  
  Lightweight


• Cosmetics are excellent!

Con's:

• Lack of twang and quack


• String slippage from the 12th fret onwards.


• Too much gloss on the back of the neck. Sticky feel

Ratings: 6/10