Your new studio consideration?

Hey folks! Guess this would probably be my first proper post.

I'm a person who's rather obsessed with in-ear monitors (musician level earphones). Ever since I bought my first one, I've rarely listened to the music on my MP3 players with regular earphones. In ear monitors are especially useful to musicians. A well designed in ear monitor comes with a great noise isolation capability, allowing the musician to pay attention to his music as he plays without having it muffled by the noise from the crowd. While those with bigger wallets go for custom acrylic moulded in ear monitors, the rest of us prefer the universal ones (fits all ears). I am a huge fans of the Westone's in ear monitors. I've tried every one of their models, the UM3x being my favorite. When I listen to my music with Westone's monitors, it's so much easier to distinguish each instrument in a song. For entry level musicians, or a person who's looking for a dynamic sounding, comfortable earphone, I recommend the UM1. To those wearing these for the first time, you'll be surprised at how well these fit in your ears (after a minute or two to figure out how to wear them properly). The sound quality for these, well worth the price, they're built for clarity, detail, precision. Listening to these I found that the dynamism in my music was enhanced, or to say it simply, made more "fun". The UM-1 comes in various colors, and now they come in packs of 5 too, Westone calls this the Jamhub (above). I love this idea. For those of you who wanna get your monitors as a band or build your own studios, these're probably a good option. The color variety makes it easier when you link up your earphones to the various ports, avoiding mix ups here and there (a huge time waster when you're jamming). You can check Westone's website for more details.

Well that's all from me for now, Happy New Year!

LTD Elite

ESP is coming up with a new range of LTD called LTD Elite. (In case you don't know, yes, ESP, LTD, Grassroot, Edwards, they are all by ESP.

Notable features are that these LTD Elite are Japanese. The regular LTDs are made in various places; China for most of the non-deluxe models. Deluxe ones, I believe, are Korean. 

And of course, they have a totally new headstock logo.

They won't be officially introduced until January 2013 though. I am interested in the basses. Since bass and workstation are the next on my To-Buy-List.

HACKED

My gmail got hacked. I don't know how and why did that happened but because of that I was unable to post anything for a few days. My sincerely apology to all the readers.

Anyway, I'm planning of writing more about effects, multi-effects in general though some of these ideas are applicable on analog ones, too. It's nothing much really. Just my personal understanding of different types of effects and tips and tricks I'd learned over time.

The "Mobius" rises

Strymon has added one more awesome pedal to its list once again. This pedal is named "Mobius", which is a all-in-one Modulation effect pedal.

As you can see, it follows the similar construction as Timeline. The below is a Youtube Video they uploaded.

Its status is still "coming soon". So if you are eager to get them, please contact the distributors.
If you are in Singapore, it would be SV Guitars.
If you are in Bangkok, check with Pedals' Park Music Playground.

Year End Sales @ City Music

Hi those in Singapore!
December is coming soon so you know what to expect, don't you?

What if - No tone knobs

I hear this almost everywhere: "No tone knobs? That's bad!". "Why 3-way switch and not 5 ways?".

Actually, I wonder why people want those in the first place. There are some guitarists who will use all the knobs and pickup combinations. I would definitely use the tone knobs especially when I'm playing jazz, blues, etc..., in other words, genres would use overdrive instead of heavy distortions. However, how many of the rest actually touches the tone knobs? Many just leave the tone and volume all maxed out.

I'm writing this after reading some comments on the Jim Root's signature stratocaster and Mick Thompson's Ibanez.

In case you are wondering what shape is Mick's guitar called, Ibanez called them 'Glaive'. It looks like a glaive too.

In general, they are complaining about the lack of tone knobs. That is one thing they have in common; no tone knobs and 3-way switches.

Their reasons for the exclusion of the tone knobs are actually simple:

1. They don't use it - How many metal guitarists do you see fidgeting around with the tone knobs? Well, I myself hardly ever touch the tone knobs whenever I'm playing metal songs. All the tonal adjustments are done on the EQs of the amp or my ME-70. Mick did mentioned this when he talked about his Signature Glaive. So it is as simple as this. Why would you want something you don't touch at all on the guitar?
2. To increase the output - This was something new when I first read about this. Another reason for the exclusion is to maximise the output of the pickups. Wiring the pickups straight to a single volume pot would have preserve more signals than having it pass through all the extra volume knobs. If Jim Root Strat would have tone knobs like a regular strat, it would be two knobs. I am not so much of an electrician but it does make sense to me if I would think logically.

So in conclusion, there are no tone knobs because they are of little use to them. Sometimes, simplicity works the best, no?

The Roland Experience @ Central Plaza

This happened last Sunday. However, it's better late than never!

There was an event going on at Central Plaza in Bangkok.

All most all types of Roland products are displayed there; piano, electric piano, synth, vintage synth, drums, etc... Of course Boss products were featured as well. What did they feature? All their products in their 2012 catalog ranging from single pedals to multi-effects. 

This is definitely a heaven for any gear addict.

You get to try all the pedals just like in the picture above! All the pedals are connected to a clean channel of Roland Cube, a 50W if I'm not wrong. I can't remember though. Sadly everyone is trying them and there were these two dudes (two brothers I guess since they look alike) who tried the pedals for the whole 45 minutes I was at the event! That's inconsiderate of them. 

Here is the multi-effects section. They have everything, even the vocal effects. I played around with the GT-100 and the ME-25. GT-100 obviously have an upgraded and improved COSM system. The amp models there are definitely sweeter sounding. And trust me, it is not that complicated to operate, though ME-70 is much easier to do so. ME-25 sounds pretty much like the ME-70 actually. Not much of a difference though tweaking on ME-25 is not as straightforward as the ME-70.

Here is the e-Band and others section. I spent most of my time at the e-Band. I almost wanted to get it. Trying it was a double-reassurance that Boss will always sound very acceptable. Actually, I love it. Most of my tone nowadays is from my ME-70. What is the blue effect thing over there? That's a guitar synth processor. I have not much interest in them so I didn't bother with it. 

Most of the guitars provided are actually of brands I've never heard of. Some of the guitars, however, are equipped with Teslas and some of the basses are Fernandes. The guitar I tried that day, it has covered Tesla pups, which I assume is the VR-60 Classic. 

 This kid was sort of a 'highlight' for the day. This kid was actually playing the drums, not playing with the drums. You should see him play the double-kick roll. It wasn't perfect but pretty amazing for what a kid as young as him could do!

There were musicians to entertain us as well. I see that the musicians are not limited to Roland products only. I smelled a Dr. Z over there! The synths were Rolands of course

Oh! I almost forgot. They featured the Roland V-guitar as well! What is it? It's a Fender stratocaster with equipped with synth capabilities by Roland. A collaboration between Fender and Roland.  

Veelah La Vita

Say hi to La Vita!

This is a Veelah V1-GACE. GA stands for Grand Auditorium and CE means that there is a cutaway. So let's say for a Dreadnought with a cutaway, it will be V1-DCE. Now I prefer the sound of the Grand Auditorium than a dreadnought. A grand auditorium, to me, sounds more open, bright and clear. Dreadnought has a darker and warmer tone. I would go for the brighter tone. I don't know how else to explain. I just like grand auditoriums or jumbos.

Veelah has 4 different series, V1, V2, V3 and V4 with V4 being the most expensive tier and V1 (of course) the most affordable tier. 

One way to bring down on the cost and making the V1 affordable and yet not compromising quality specs is to strip down on cosmetics. If you've seen my guitar, V1-GACE has no bindings at all. None on the fretboard, none on the top or the back of the guitars. Binding can be expensive. There is no fancy roselette as well and not even inlays. Inlay-less fretboards look attractive to me. How much simpler could a guitar get? Oh yes, this pores on the wood are open and this is no gloss finish. Sonically, it adds up more to the mids. Imagine speaking through a mask and without one. That would be the difference between open and sealed pores.

What I get in return is a solid top and the following:

Graphtech NuBone Parts

I think having a quality nut and bridge is as important as changing the strings when they go dead. Graphtech Nubone synthetic bone bridges and saddles. If I'm to get the separately, at cheapest, they would cost me SGD 40 or about a thousand bahts.  So this is a plus for Veelah, for providing even its V1 range of guitars with these parts instead of plastics. You will also find that Swing acoustics do come with Nubone parts as well!

Fishman iSYS-T

 This is a very simple yet useful preamp there. iSYS-T (T stands for tuner). It isn't a ground-breaking awesome preamp but for a default preamp, this is definitely awesome. I played this through a VOX AGA70 and I was sold. That was when I decided to buy the guitar. You don't see any EQ knobs or sliders on this so the colour of the tone is fixed. Well, of course you can readjust the EQs on the acoustic amp or the mixer if you want. It comes with phase and contour buttons to add some colours to the tone. Simple enough? 

 The fretboard of the guitar is dry, a condition you would expect to see for a guitar stored away in the warehouse. So I'm not surprised.

 So I pampered this baby with some Ikea SKYDD. For anyone who's new to this, it is a wood conditioner. And yes I got that from Ikea. Safe to use on instruments? Safe enough to use on open pore fretboards like rosewood and ebony. Maple? I don't know. Most maple are finished and the pores are all sealed up and thus doesn't require reconditioning.

One problem is yet to be solved though. The action is too high. For acoustic guitars, I normally wouldn't adjust the truss rod myself. I would find someone experienced in this. Acoustic guitars can get really messy.


Price: THB 6300
If you are looking for this guitar in Singapore, check with SV guitars!

Veelah!

Veelah is not a random exclamation. It is a name of a guitar brand.

Not many people know this brand. Veelah is a brand from USA but from what I've learnt, they are manufactured in Taiwan. "Veelah? What brand is that? I don't know! I am not getting this." Well if you are one of these people, you are surely missing out a lot of good guitars.

One thing special about Veelah acoustic guitars is that all guitars are have a solid top regardless of which tier it is from and the nut and bridge of each guitar are Graphtech Nubone. A plus for a guitar with such specs.

Is it great? Well, this picture will tell.

I needed an acoustic guitar; all of mine is back in Myanmar. So I need a quality guitar. I can't afford Taylor or Martin or any high tier brands. So I was looking for one with a tight budget.
Let me introduce you to "La Vita". It got this name because I feel that it has so much life it in.

More about this tomorrow!

Delay - How to choose?

I myself am not professional yet. I am working towards to become one though!

Anyway, if you are looking for a delay pedal and it is your first, maybe my "Journey of the Delays" will help you make your choices better. 

There are so many delays out there. So what I did what to get a piece of paper and ask myself a few questions. These are the ones I think are the most useful.

• What am I looking for in a delay?
• Digital or analog?
• Do I want a bright sounding delay or a darker tone?
• Am I looking for a delay with a looper?
• Is 400ms of delay enough? Or do I need more?
• WHAT IS MY BUDGET?

Yes, these are the questions. What exactly are you looking for in a delay? If you are looking to imitate some of your idol's delay tone, the best to do is to study their rigs. What delay did he use? For instance, you want that delay tone from U2. How is that achievable? In my opinion, original is the best but everyone has to start off from somewhere isn't?

The next question is: Are you looking for analog or digital delays? Now some of people will dismiss digital. Technophobes... They will say like "Oh digital sounds sterile. I want analog." And they will be worshiping at the altar of an idol who uses Boss DD-5. Most of them are what you called "Monkeys see monkeys do" in Singapore. They have no idea of what sounding 'sterile' and they are probably saying because all the rest are saying. 

Here is my view on digital and analog. I owned both kinds and tried many of them. Digital delays usually sounds brighter. Actually, it doesn't really make it sound brighter but I would say it preserves the tone of your guitar and do no colouration to your tone. Analog on the other hand 'decorates' your tone with a darker tone and warmer feel. 

I'll cover the rest of my questions right now. Analog delays usually have a shorter delay time than a digital delay. Analog has about 400-900ms of delay time while digital delays can go up to 10 seconds, 21 seconds or even a minute! Now usually those delays with such delay abilities usually comes with a looper function. I mean, who uses a 1 minute delay or 50 seconds delay in any song. Digital delays also will have many modes of delay like 'analog', 'modulated', 'reverse', 'momentary' etc... The analog there is actually a sound generated by the computer in it. Now they have quite awesome 'analog' tone in digital delays nowadays. Why am I not talking anything about analog delay? Because they don't usually have any additional features. They are just... straightforward delays. 

Delays are never cheap. You can find cheap delays of course, but majority of them are expensive (around SGD 150-200). If you are new on delays and do not wish to spend a hundred bucks, there are cheap delays. I don't know how much Behringer Stereo delay is but I think it's pretty cheap. Another digital delay is the new nuX TIME CORE delay (just for SGD80 at SV guitars). If you want an analog delay, Artec SE-ADL Analog delay is just SGD80 away from you. Of course it would be the best if you can save up and buy what you want at once. Then you wouldn't have to spend your precious money twice. 

My personal preference? Go digital. Get one with looper. It will come in handy. I am usually my delay on my ME-70 and I like the sound I am getting from it as well. 

All you have to do before getting a delay is to do your homework. You wouldn't want to buy a Nova System and then totally clueless of what feedback is even. 

SV guitars - Swing SS1 Package

Here is (maybe) a piece of good news for anyone who is looking for an all-in-one electric guitar package. The poster above is quite self-explanatory. Worth the $250? Well, let me put it this way:

Guitar: $190

Cable: $12

Gig bag: $25

Picks: $3

That means in this package, you are getting the 15W amp for just $20. It is definitely not going to be great-sounding but at least it is still usable. In fact, it comes with a 3-band EQs so I have nothing to say against it. $20 is dirt cheap for a brand-new amp.

If you upgrade to Sound Drive SG-15, you get the amp for $70 instead of $100.

My personal opinion? If you have a very fixed and rigid budget, just go along with this package. Or if you have more cash to spare, please go for something like Nux. 

PRS SE Mikael Akerfeldt

Oh, a small update on my whereabouts. Right now I am in Bangkok. 

One of this church member here is a big fan of metal. He plays metal and almost only metal. It appears he doesn't really favour other genres so much. For me, I listen, play and explore everything, maybe with an extra bit of attention towards blues and fusion.

Anyway, his gear was a signature PRS SE. Mikael Akerfeldt. I am not so much of an Opeth fan so it isn't surprising that I wouldn't touch this signature guitar at a music store. But I had the luxury to try it out for quite a long time.

It is a nice looking guitar. That was my first though. Tone-wise, it isn't that bad as well, considering the fact that I played through a Roland Cube 15x and I could get some nice tones. The pups there are the same ones as SE Orianthi, PRS Designed SE HFS Treble (bridge) and Vintage Bass (neck).

Let's talk about the neck. The guitar shop he'd bought this from didn't make a proper setup for this guitar.
Either that or he'd lowered the action too much. There was a very bad fret buzz in the 19th fret on the 4th string. Oh, for those who hates gloss-finished neck, I have a good news for you. The neck on this guitar is matte-finished. No more glossy feel. And it sports an ebony fretboard. The neck width is rather wide and it reminds me of some Schecters. I used to be very anal about the neck size but along the way, I got used to switching between different types of necks. Thus, it is not a big problem. The rest of its features are the same as most SE Singlecut models; the bevel at the cutaway, 1-volume and 1-tone control.

Tone-wise, the bridge pickup sounds really fine. Feed it with quite a bit of gain and it sings well. But for the neck, it wasn't my cup of tea. While it sounds sweet with the gain cranked up, its sweetness dies of when the gain is reduced. Some may like that tone where there is a huge mid hump thanks to the body shape and the humbucker. To me, I still prefer the wooly tone of a single coil and a strat. Personal preference I would say.

Once again, with that said, you still have that 3-band EQs on your guitar amp, unless it comes either with a single tone knob or 2-band EQs. I would normally place them in the low criteria list since I like to have more control over my tone and I feel uncomfortable with being limited to a single tone-knob. Mid-band is a very important band to me as well and I wouldn't want it to be lacking as well. Anyway, you can tweak and adjust your guitar amp to compensate or cut down any section of your tone. We should try to tweak first before we start to whine.

New Pickups Day!!!

My recent craze for David Gilmour has got to me! So my strat has to undergo some pickup mods!
Therefore, I ordered a custom set of pickups from Ornamac Windery, after scouring the internet for days for a custom pickup maker.

At first, the pickup winder, Kerry, did not have a Gilmour set available for sale, so I sent him a message on ebay, asking whether he could make me a set to match the pups of  Mr. Gilmour.

Surprisingly the next day when i checked my email, Kerry has already replied me with the build specs of : 

It's comprised of a vintage style alnico five heavy Formvar neck pickup with a vinatge 50's stagger wound to a conservative 5.5k. The middle is a 60's style alnico five wound with 42 awg plain enamel to a sweet sounding 6.2k. And the standout of the set, the bridge is a high output alnico two coil with SPN 42 awg piled high to the mid 9k range.

^ Taken from his ebay site.

After some problems encountered with postage and Singpost, I finally got this set of pickups at my door!

I have wired a pickguard up good before i have these pickups at my door (They were nicely packed in a USPS box and they were shock-proofed with Styrofoam pads) and as soon as i got my pickups, I dropped em into my guitar, complete with stratcat.biz wiring!

I did not have the bent steel plate to mount the neck on pickup switch , therefore, all I did was to drill a hole in my pickguard and install it straight onto the pickguard.

As you can see, its above the volume and neck tone knobs.

Here is a review of these pickups. The neck pickup is fat and vintage sounding, with scooped midrange and a glassy top.

The middle pickup is twangy, sweet sounding and is definitely the best for cleans. I absolutely loved playing through it for the cleans, even though I do not thread through the clean territory that often!! 

The bridge pickup is not a little bit thin sounding, thanks to the AlNiCo2 Magnet, while soloing through this pickup, you get a smooth drive and sweet highs (think comfortably numb), while not sounding thin. Also, it has the compression for you to cut through the mix, therefore, it is definitely a pickup to do solos with! Nothing shred crazy, but for classic rock and blues, definitely!

Big thanks to Kerry of Ornamac Windery for helping me out when Singpost decides to screw me over, kudos!!

So there you go, my lovely stratocaster, albeit not black, but my tribute to Mr David Gilmour!

If anyone is interested in pickups from Ornamac windery, here is a link to his ebay page: http://myworld.ebay.com/klea3031

Tommy Emmanuel @SG

20th of October is just 8 days away. Anyone going for this? If I am in Singapore right now, I would definitely go for this. Finger-style guitarists are awesome.

The Story of the Picks

Picks are very important. The tone of your guitar is made up of everything and picks are no exception. 

Previously, I use V-picks for my picks. My favourite V-picks was the Traditional. It has a traditional shape of a guitar pick, unlike the triangle ones. These picks were my favourite because of the material it is made of, acrylic. This material makes every note you play fuller and… solid and the thickness of 3mm also contributes to that as well. Using thin picks (about 0.60mm) especially for music that is ‘heavy’ seem to makes the notes sound as if they are forced out. The bevelled sides of the V-picks also makes alternative picking easier. A few problems with the bevelled sides and that 3mm thickness, is that it is harder for pick scratching and when playing certain genres like blues where I don't add any compression effect, it makes it harder for me to control the volume of my picking. A delicate touch may end up with a much louder volume than I expect.

So I am using much thinner picks along with the V-picks when I play music that is certainly less ‘heavier’, to the thickness of about 1.14mm or even 0.60mm which is the thickness I occasionally use to play acoustic. Dunlops Tortex picks are what I'm using now. Actually, 1.14mm is still considered a heavy pick but not as heavy as the 3mm (this is extra heavy).  It gives me more control over the volume of the uncompressed notes I play. Pick-scratching is also much easier. And the notes won't sound forced as well since it is thick enough. The material 'Tortex' also produces a good tone, a name given for plastic which is used to replace tortoise shell picks since it was banned in the 70s. Another of such material is Delrex used on the Dunlops Gator picks which spots a matte finish instead. I tried the Gator but the feel of them isn't really to my likings. After all, one of the main reasons I use Tortex is because they feel the same as the Everly Star Picks I used to use and same material as well. Ever since Davis stopped bringing them in, I replaced them with Tortex picks. Oh! Tortex picks are less slippery than V-picks too. Of course I am not getting that 'acrylic' tone much Tortex sounds good as well.

For those small-sized picks, I used to use Alice 3mm picks. Now I am using the Small Tortex, too. I use these picks especially if I am using a lot of artificial harmonics, since it is easier for me to play them with these.

All these picks I used are more or less wear-resistant. And they don't break easily. As far as I know, nylon picks are those that will break so easily. Usually in 1-2 months, it loses its flexibility and become fragile. That is why I always tell my church youths to not buy nylon picks for carol-singing. Well, they don't listen. =/

Guitar Connection Theft (28 09 2012/Friday)

Another theft occurred at Guitar Connection last Friday (28th of September, 2012).

The guitar stolen was a 1999 Gretsch 6128T Duo Jet Black.

The serial number of that guitar is 999128-1846.

So if you happened to see a Gretsch like this for sales on Ebay, soft.com or guitar4christ, please do help by contacting Kelvin Ho at +65 96994466, the shop at +65 63390606 or the police.
Click here for more pictures.

I don't work for Guitar Connection and am not related to anyone in that shop. However, I hate low-life thieves. 

Tune, Like a sir!

Snark has its own pedal tuner right now. It has a similar display as its clip tuner. I would say that Snark tuners are pretty accurate. I was sold after I tried its clip tuner (though the main reason I got it is because it is red).

(From Premier Guitar October Issue 2012)

This advertisement reminds of me the "Like a Sir" meme so I decided to post this XD. Well, I am sure there are many 9gagers out there, regardless of where you are from (Singapore, Myanmar, Bangkok, etc...)

Clearance @Katong Showroom

 

Yes, Swee Lee is having another sales. I've seen many people complaining about Swee Lee setting a high price for their products. Well, if you haven't realise it yet, Swee Lee has a major price revision and many of the guitars are now priced decently. You now have an affordable Ibanez (and I'm not talking about Gio). So what's there to whine about anyway?

The tone cap

For so many years players have been chasing after the "vintage" sound, and they have gone to the extent of paying hundreds of dollars for this!

Notice the small area that is popping out? That is a sign of the capacitor being a Paper in oil cap! If it is a poly capacitor there wont be a notch there, as the notch is there as a result of sealing the oil inside the capacitor.

Recently (like two years ago), gibson released a series of historic reissue parts for sale.

http://www.gibson.com/absolutenm/templates/FeatureTemplatePressRelease.aspx?articleid=1314&zoneid=6

Here you can see they released another batch of bumblebees?

The answer to that is NO.

Those are just wesco film capacitors. Gibson simply repackaged it with some plastic cover that looked like bumblebees from the 50s and sell it to consumers.

http://store.gibson.com/historic-spec-bumble-bee-capacitors-two-pack/

A pair of caps with a production cost of ~10cents for 200 dollars? You gotta be kidding me right?

Unfortunately, there are still people who think that gibson found a entire stock of NOS (New Old Stock) capacitors and are selling it now. God knows where that myth came from.

The conflict about neck tenons

When you first venture into the world of the les pauls, one question would probably be: WHAT THE HELL ARE NECK TENONS?

Neck tenons are basically the part of wood on the guitar neck that joints the body.

Long neck tenons are used in Gibsons when they made guitars in Kalamzoo, Michigan.

Short neck tenons are used in Gibsons when they made guitars in Nashville, Tennessee.

Is that all ?? @#$!!#$

The answer is No!

From the top you can see that the wooden section that is in contact with the body is larger, and this is usually found on Gibson Historic Reissues. For the one that you see that the wooden section in contact with the body is smaller, this is generally found on epiphones and gibson standards/custom (not custom shop, mind you!)

What does the long neck tenon do better than the short one does ?

Basically a long neck tenon increases the area of contact between the body and the neck of the guitar, hence giving it increased sustain and making the tone sound smoother. By increasing the area of contact, the guitar is allowed to resonate better, hence giving it a better tone!!

However, does it justify the cost of $2,000 for the neck tenon (and better quality, possibly) to get a historic reissue? The answer is up to you :)

Zoom goes Stompbox? (MS-50G)

Yes but it is still an multi-effect processor, just much smaller. About the size of a Boss pedal I guess.

It is just like any of those in the G-series. It uses the same effects modeled in the G3, featuring the same ZFX-IV chip that you may find in any of the new range of Zoom effects starting from G3. Just like a multi-effect, it allows you to arrange and hook up to 6 different types of effects simultaneously as you like. Just like any multi-effect, it comes with a tuner. Being made into a size of a stomp box, the good news is that it eats less space on your pedal board.

Is this a plus? That's your call. For me, I may not be getting any Zoom effects for the time being, until one is good enough to stun me.

Jack Thammarat @ SG

Jack Thammarat is coming to Singapore, featuring mainly Yamaha and Laney products. 

All the good things have to take place when I am away from Singapore: Avenged Sevenfold, Joe Bonamassa, flumpool (Japanese band), Alex Hutchings, etc... I would say Singapore is quite fortunate to have all these privileges, well I mean... think of Myanmar. We have nothing....yet.

Bangkok trip - Music places (Chinatown)

Well, I felt as if a load has been taken away from my back, now that the audition is done and all that is left for me is to wait for October 24th, the day when my school starts.

During my one week stay in Bangkok, needless to say, I went for guitar-shopping. Well, window guitar-shopping. It took me quite a while to find the places there. The biggest problem is that not all the people can speak English or even some of them do, their English is so broken that you will hardly understand them unless you have great patience. Luckily, technology like GPS helped me a lot. I got lost 4-6 times and if not for GPS, I don't know where I would be right now.

While I was in Singapore, I asked on Soft.com.sg for places where I can get musical instruments. I got the most common reply. "Google it", "Search up for old posts", "Don't ask us to spoon-feed you". Well, Googling works of course but you get tons of answers and you won't have the time to read every single thing. So I am just sharing on how I managed to find the places here myself.

The best place to shop for instruments stuff in Bangkok is at Chinatown.
Inside that red circle is where all the music shops are located.There's quite a number of them there and the main distributors of some brands are located there, too (Swing guitar, Schecter, Fender, Gibson, Boss, Roland, Korg).

How to get there:
You can of course walk there but it is ridiculously far. Taxi would be expensive as well especially if you are unlucky enough to meet one of those taxi-drivers who charges a lot to non-Thai speaking foreigners. So the best way is take bus. But firstly, you have to get to Hua Lamphong MRT station. Next, you exit through Exit 4 and you will see a bus stop around you. From there you can take many buses but I will just list a few easy-to-remember bus routes: 4, 40, 53, 73ก, 529. Ok. All these 5 buses have slightly different bus route but what you have to remember is to alight on the next stop when the bus makes a 90 degree left turn. Here's an example on the route 73ก takes.

As simple as that. The name of the bus stop is Wat Chakkrawat School. Then you have to walk back to the opposite direction.

Then try to spot Panasonic as you walk. When you see it, cross the road and there you will see Asia Music. After that, it is shopping time!

NOTE: There will be some fake stuff around so beware of them. I saw a few of them. They are usually priced much lower than the authentic ones but they will claim its real if you ask them. So to be safe, if you are worried of getting scammed, shop at those bigger shops with a more trust-able shop settings.

Interesting reading....

There are some things that will work with any guitar to make them sound
better. All operations are easy to do and really worth the time.
1. If your guitar has a rear-routed tremolo cavity (eg. Stratocaster) that is
covered with a plastic cover and some screws, take it away. It´s amazing
how the overall sound of a guitar can change by simply taking away this
cover.
2. Take care of all screws on your guitar, they should be fasten VERY tight
and strong for a better sound. Critical locations are the screws for the
neck, the bridge and the tuners. Check them regularly.
3. If your guitar has a tremolo (eg. Stratocaster) and you don´t use it,
get it blocked with a piece of wood. This will increase sustain and
response drastically.
4. Shield your guitar (see corresponding project for this)
5. Let your guitar breath: for this you should take away the paint at any
location that can´t be seen, a critical location is the surface underneath
the bridge of a Tele or a Strat. Eric Johnson knows why he is doing that to
all of his guitars. You can also take away the complete paint of the inside
of the pickup cavities and the complete surface that is covered with the
pickguard.
6. Let your guitar breath: check the wiring of your guitar, you will often
find a lot of crappy cables in there. Get a high-quality cable and rewire the
complete electronics. It´s nearly unbelieveable what this can do to your
tone.
7. Let your guitar breath: check the routing for the neck on your guitar´s
body. Remove any paint, dirt etc. you find there and sand it until you
have an absolutely plain and clean surface. Do the same with the
corresponding location of the neck - sand away the paint and bolt on the
screws very tight.
8. Restring your guitar with pure-nickel strings and hear details you never
heard before from your guitar. Replace your cheap plastic nut with a good
bone nut to hear even more subtle details.
9. Change your cable with a very high quality cable (eg. George L´s) and
hear details you never heard before from your guitar.
10. Have fun :-)

Credits to http://singlecoil.com :) :)
If anyone is interested to talk tone, add me on msn limzeyi@hotmail.com !

Korg's Polychromatic

So TC Electronics and Hardwire has polychromatic tuners? Now Korg's Pitchblack is going polyphonic as well.

For those in Singapore, $85 for this Pitchblack. 

Sorry that I haven't been able to update nowadays. I have got entrance exams and audition in 2 weeks time. So I've been busy preparing. After that, posts will come up more regularly!

Loki

'No more Multi-efx for me'. Well, I lied

I've been too busy nowadays with preparation for my entrance exam, which is exactly 30 days away from now. And as such, I couldn't update the blog.

A few days ago, new resident in my home.

Will talk about it soon! Right now, I am happily looping and looping and looping and....