New look (final)

My long-waited Squier has finally returned. Well, it has the 'Loki Regnarok" words and the logo, which I made myself one it.. This is one of the neat work done by Aaron, the person who I had entrusted my guitar to. My favourite would be the logo, it is very very neat!

 The inlays were bought from Music Ensemble. I'd mentioned this in the previous post, too. I'd also gotten ready a fresh set of GHS Coated Guitar Boomers. This set of string is one of the cheap coated strings from SV Guitars but the feel of this strings are still there.

I'd been playing it for the whole of today, giving my Fernandes a rest for a change. Miss the neck of a strat. =), which is thicker than my Fernandes and Ibanez

Boss GT-10

I'd managed to try KJ's Boss GT-10 which he had traded for his Epiphone Les Paul Standard Top Plus with some guy in soft.com.sg. Well, these are my personal comment on this multi-effects.

It is very big. Got the length of about 2 x 30 cm long ruler and width of one 30 cm ruler long. Hope this helps you to visualise it. As for weight, it is very heavy. 4.9 kg heavy. For those who go to gym, type imagine yourself carrying a 10 lbs dumbbell and that's how heavy it is.

Now about its function. I only managed to understand most of its basic functions. Well, basically, there are banks. In each 'bank', there are 4 effects, which can be chosen with the numbered foot switches as seen above. Well, there are rather a lot of combinations, and in order to know them all well will take time. Some example of the combinations are chorus, clean, delay and distortion in one bank. Well, you can also create your own bank and make a combination of 4 effects as well.

For those who think multi-effects are better than compact, this is the equipment they should get.

Strymon back in stock

Stymon pedals, which some of its pedals were out of stock before, are now back in stock at SV guitars. Apparently, SV is the only dealer of these pedals. Frankly speaking, I'd never tried them before but I won't mind to give it a try though. =)

To the Extremes

I had finally bought an distortion pedal after trying out much of distortion pedals. Well, it is the ModTone Extreme Metal Distortion. I had been telling Mike at Standard Value that I will, one day, come and buy it. Finally, I'd done as I'd wanted and as I'd said.

As on about this effect, I had mentioned it previously on a post. Click >>here<< to read~

Sorry for not updating properly, I'd been rather busy though my exams are long over.

Carried away

I m supposed to write about the new distortion I'd bought yesterday, but got carried away while trying it.. that I was oblivious of the time. Will write it tomorrow.

Anyway, just wanna share this video. This band is remarkably unique.

Inspiration

I saw this in the local music forum, posted by one of the member. Found this rather inspiring so I decided to share it here.

Crunchy, Grungy

Need a distortion pedal with large tonal spectrum than normal distortion pedal? Need more crunchy tone than a DS-1.

Digitech Grunge Distortion can fulfill all these needs.

Grunge has a special feature from other distortion pedal. Most distortion pedals, like BOSS DS-1 or ModTone Speedbox Distortion, only have one 'Tone' knob. However, Grunge is equipped with a Low and High instead which gives the user a larger tonal spectrum. It only requires the user's creativity to produce various tone from this Grunge. The DigiTech Website provides a few of its presets though. It is also provided in the manual booklet you get from buying this, too.

Grunge, when in comparison to DS-1, has more crunchy sound, the first impression I got from it when I first listen to it at its website. This would be a suitable pedal for anyone who seek for a distortion power of DS-1 but with more crunch and colour. I personally find DS-1 very raw but empty.

Grunge can be bought at Swee Lee, the sole DigiTech distributor. It costs around S$107. If you are looking for a cheaper deal and willing to wait for 2 weeks, you may also check on eBay. However, eBay has its own limitation; you can't see the pedal's condition beforehand.

Updates

Arron, who I had entrusted my guitar to help me make a decal, had finally finished it. I'll only get it back by next Friday or earlier as he said he needed to brush up some of the parts. Take a look at the quality of work he'd done for my guitar!

I also have another photo of his work as well. Not on my guitar but somebody else's SG.

If you want to get one for yourself, add him in his FACEBOOK GROUP.

Again.. New Inlays

Once again, I went down to Music Ensemble to get another set of inlays for my Fernandes. I'd mentioned before that I would get the red cross inlays if I ever get a red colour guitar. Well, I finally managed to buy the red one. 

This is how it looks like.

The 24th fret sticker goes onto my neck pickup which managed to fit it perfectly.

Unrelated post..

My today post is unrelated to the guitars. However, I still think it is worth blogging about this.

I was browsing the drums buy and sell section at soft.com.sg when I come across THIS POST.

As you can see in this post, I think someone is trying to buy these drumsticks bags from somewhere, probably from Drums Resources. In fact, the photos were taken from that shop itself. Hmm....
I suspect that one of the staff there is trying to sell these and make money out of the shop's stock. Well, I wouldn't say it IS as I thought since there is no evidence. So I just contact the Nigel, the shop owner about it. He'd confirmed that it is not him.

New Family member

My Fernandes has finally arrived back from SV Guitars which I'd left it there for a new pickup switch to be installed in it. They get the job done quick and the price is also reasonable. 

Now it's time for cleaning. 

Quite a lot of cleaning is required. It seems that the previous owner has never polish the guitar at all. The hardwares, fretboard and body. White patches can be seen on fretboard and this shows the dryness of the fret. A little of lemon oil will do... hmmm...

So I removed the strings and do a overall cleaning. Then I restring it with my Everly strings I bought some days ago.

This is the overall look. It looks better than I'd expected. I will talk about its playability tomorrow. =)

New stuffs

I'd finally managed to trade a MIJ Fernandes guitar with Nicholas. I saw his post in SVguitar forum. He'd been selling it for 2 years but never managed to sell it. So long that he is willing to sell it for S$350 with all the accessories. I wonder why. Why hadn't he put it up on soft instead?

Well that doesn't matter any longer. I managed to bargain a S$50 off. So it's S$300

 1. ZOOM G2 multi-effect pedal.
Somewhat similar to the G2.1u I got.

2. Planet Waves 25ft Cable
The longest cable among all my other cables with locking jack pins.

3. Zoom Driver 5000
Gives you quite a lot of distortions as you can see from the picture below. Hadn't got a chance to try them yet.

4. Some unknown cable, 10ft long


Nicholas seemed to have keep all the things rather properly. All the manuals are still there, the pedal still intact and the box still in a good condition. (better than my g2.1u box)

But what about my guitar? It's right now at SVguitars. There seems to be some problems with the pickup switch. The neck pickup isn't working after I'd removed the tissue paper Nicholas has used to somehow make the pickup switch usable.

Big STEAL~

Today, I went to Davis to grab a FAB Overdrive, which they are selling for a S$19 on their renovation sale. However, just as I thought, I was one step too late. All the Overdrives are sold out. This underscores how kiasu the people. I'm not kiasu enough. Tsk tsk tsk...

Well, I still managed to get a few stuffs though. Take a look!

This is the first item I got. It is a micro guitar amp. 

ROCK YOU Micro Guitar Amp ($S15) U.P. S$30

The packaging wasn't very appealing at all. However, the size of it is rather enticing. 
If anyone of you are imagining how puny this little amp is, the 2 pictures below will explain this. A picture speaks a thousand words.

Shorter than a pen

It has a earphone jack on its left. The little buddy can be powered up by a 9V adapter.

Not enough power points? No worries. 

This amp can be powered by a 9V battery as well, making it portable. You could just bring this out, loaded with battery, plug your guitar in and rock on!

People may have some misgivings about this size of 5 watt amp. However, you will be flabbergasted by its overdrive. It has a rather decent overdrive! Will upload a sample when I got back my guitar.

More photos of it:

Here's another item I got for a steal. 

 Ki-Sound 15 ft cable (S$11) U.P S$15,

This actually is a 15 ft long cable. The guy at the shop mistaken for a 3 metre (10 ft). I like this brand of cable as it is noiseless and cheap. 

Lastly 

 Everly B52s LIGHT strings (S$5) U.P. 8.50

Never tried them before. Bought this for my new 'family member' which will most probably arrive tomorrow.

Note to all my non-Singaporean readers.

Kiasu means 'afraid to lose out'. xD Hope it helps

FAKE FAKE FAKE

I was chatting on MSN with a friend of mine about guitars. He was surfing through the net for some guitar and he saw a guitar on eBay, which the owner claims to be a MIM Fender 50th anniversary. HERE IS THE LINK

Well, he was so close of getting scammed. This is what the seller said in his eBay.

Selling my MIM Fender Stratocaster. 

i'd give an 8/10.

It's made in '96/97 according to the serial.

Also has the 50th anniversary decal as shown in the pic.

Case not included.

Firstly, a 50th anniversary of Fender is on 2004. If this guitar is really made in 96/97, it can never be a 50th anni strat. 

Also, a limited 50th anniversary is indicated with a special neck plate as shown below, which he failed to mention. Any seller would not forget such a noticeable factor.

A 50th anniversary sticker resembles this 

not the one he'd sticked on the headstock. I think it was just some sort of a decoy.

Any sellers, even the most foolish ones, wouldn't think of selling it for such a lower price. Buyers are supposed to be suspicious about this factor, too.

Well, in a nutshell, this is a scam. Smart people should avoid it at all cost.

Effect day!!!

I'm supposed to upload this post a few days ago, I just noticed that it wasn't uploaded.


Today, I would like to talk about 3 effect pedals. (2 Modtone and Boss)
A bit of intro
Modtone is rather special. Why? It is never advertised anywhere and its name is spread among the people through the players instead. This could be the reason why it is relatively cheap, as it does not incur any advertising cost.


Let's get to the story! 
All are tried on a Smash S1 3TSB and Sound Drive SG-100R SD Speakers
The three pedals I'm going to talk about are:

BOSS DS-1

DS-1 is , as most of us know, one of the very standard distortion pedal anyone would get. It has a very raw distortion and you can play metal with it. Good for chords. This rawness can be much a problem as well when playing a solo. The sound will get mashed up altogether. So, if you own a DS-1, modifying it will be a good idea.

ModTone Speedbox Distortion 

It was introduced to me by Andrew from Standard Value when I requested to try the BOSS DS-1. Speedbox is a distortion pedal by Modtone. It is a colourful distortion which will work very well when playing a solo. However, it also suffer a trade-off. The distort, IMO, is good for rocks but for metal? I don't think so. Its control knobs works the same way as DS-1. If you are looking for a more extreme type of distortion, Speedbox will not fit you but if you are looking for more distinctive notes, this is your pal.

Mod Tone Extreme Metal

The elder brother of Speedbox. More distortion and much more stronger. It has 4 equalizer knobs, just like BOSS Metal Zone. This pedal is a very versatile pedal. If you are looking for more crunchy tone, increasing the mid knob and a bit of mid scoop will do. By lowering its gain to half, lower the low and a moderate high, it can get some kinda simpler sound of a Speedbox. 

Inlays~

I'd been surfing the net to look from something new, from guitars to all the players. Instead, what really intrigue me is these inlay stickers.

This one is interesting.

Whoa~

Thinking of getting one for any red colour guitar if i got one.

Well, if you want to know more about this, you can check here!!! 

Music Ensemble got these in Singapore. Rather expensive but if you are adamant of getting greater looks for your guitar, i would suggest this.

Umh.........

While we were at SVguitars to get some guitar strings, a guy came in and ask a very weird (well at least to me) question to me. He was looking for a component of a strap. His is a very similar one to the strap I have as well.

Well, when Mike (owner of SV ) told him that, they don't have it (well obviously), he complained that this strap is very expensive. Well, its $27, price of a normal strap. He could have just buy a new strap instead of making a fuss there.

Finally

Finally got myself Eric Clapton ticket with KJ. It's on 14th of February 2011 as seen in the photo shown below. It's still a long way but better book your tickets now. It's selling out rather fast!!

After fetching my ticket, we headed to Davis Guitar to get a set of DR EXTRA Life Cool Blue coated strings to put on my guitar after the decal is done.