Kamikaze.... Episode-2

Just to reinforce something, which many of you already know but some pay little attention to it.
Regardless of what guitar (acoustic, classical, electric blah blah blah) it is, all guitars are FRAGILE!

Even though it's not my guitar, it hurts to see a guitar 'crippled'. Here is the scenario.
I was jamming with my other friend in front of my CCA room when a girl came up with a Masestro SD-1 (laminated spure top with mahogany sides) to us and said, "Could you help me check? The guitar seems to be out of tune."


It was out of tune. But the reason isn't that simple. The headstock of the guitar was broken. I failed to take a picture of it. (Of course, it won't be nice to take photo of the guitar when the culprit is crying.) But I managed to find a similar case of it. 

(Okay, the cat is cute xD)

According to her, the guitar strap came off and neck of the guitar dived towards the floor. Now, how do the strap come off? It didn't break or anything. In fact, it is not the straps fault. It is the player's fault.

The above picture will describe how it comes off. If the guitar strap is folded as shown above, it is as good as trying to take it off. This is the most common reason of 'kamikaze-ing'. This folding will usually happen at the back of the guitar rather than the front strap lock. You must watch out for this and correct it before your guitar kisses the floor. 

This is not gonna happen to me. All my straps are securely locked. 

This doesn't give 100% protection but at least 90% (or 95%). I will still take the pain to check my straps after every song.

I am sure many of you know this but how many of you actually take the effort to check?

Headache.......

Hi guys.

I wanted to post something up today and it's already halfway there. But this headache I am having is killing me. So I decided to take a break for today. =(

Guitar + crystals

What do you get when you add Swarovski (ask your girlfriend or google if you don't know what this is xD, U ought to know) and PRS together ?

+

This is what you get. (take note of the guitar)

It is crazily hard to find just the photo of it alone online. These are all the few 'visible' pictures I've got. 

This PRS is a normal Custom 24 but at the same time, it is one-of-a-kind Custom 24. The only difference is that, this whale blue guitar is totally covered with Swarovski Crystals. It was custom made for Michael Jackson's ill-fated 'This is It' tour and she nicknamed it after him, MJ. 

'MJ' was also featured in a cover of her album 'Believe' (2009) and also in her MV 'According to you'.

DIY?

Have you ever thought of making your own DIY guitar and you have difficulties finding all the parts? 

Well, Swing has a solution for you in this case.

Swing's ST-DIY Electric Guitar Assembly Kit allows you to enjoy making your own DIY guitar. They give you all the parts, instructions and all you need to do is to get a soldering gun and a set of screwdrivers. This reminds me of making Crush Gear when I was young. xD 

As for the specs...

• Alder body
• Hard Maple neck, maple fretboard
• S-S-H Alnico Pickup set
• Synchronized Tremolo Bridge
• comes with D'addario EXL120 set (gauge 9)

My Band's Gears

This post is about the gears each of my band members uses now or have used before (it will be crossed out). This includes everything; drums, bass and guitars. This is not a review of equipments. Just sharing our equipments. Nothing special though.
This is just a random idea which was actually suggested by the drummer of my band. 
Ok.. here we go! All the names below are just nicknames.
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KJ, Guitarist 
Guitars: 
LTD Viper-50
LTD F-250
Epiphone Les Paul Std Plus Top
Fender '97 California Strat with scalloped neck.
(I think this scalloped neck is actually customised since california strat originally comes with the normal type.)


Strings used: DR strings (10-48)


Effects:
Boss GT-10
Boss DS-1 (Beez modded)
Modtone Vintage Wah
Korg Pandora PX5D
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Loki, Guitarist (me)
Guitars:
Squier Standard Strat
Fernandes FGZ-400 (with Tesla VR-extreme and Plasma-RS2)
(This Fernandes is long discontinued. It would be impossible to find it on the current catalogs)


Strings used: GHS coated (10-52)


Effects:
Vox V847 Wah
Behringer PB100
Biyang Metal-End King
Modtone Extreme Metal 
Ibanez TS-7
Danelectro Milkshake Chorus
Zoom G2.1u
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Jack, Bassist
Bass:
Fernandes FRB-45 (1995 model. Like many old Fernandes, it is out of production. Discontinued)


Strings used: D'addario (0.045-0.100)


Effect: 
Boss ME-20B
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And last but not least...


Osiris, Drummer
Drumsticks:
AHEAD Hybrid Series 5AB (studio)
AHEAD JJ-1 Speed Metal
(previously Joey Jordison's signature drumsticks. Ever since he had switched to Pro-Mark, his signature was replaced with 'Speed Metal'. Has the dimension of a 7A but slightly heavier. 3g that is.)


You might not have notice this. But Ahead is the only drumstick producers who has listed the weights of their drumsticks. And yes.. they are not wooden. I'm sure some of you will know this.

Earth Hour 2011

Opps.. this post comes rather late. I just realised that I never press 'Publish post'. =P

Today's Earth Hour 2011. We are supposed to switch off as many electrical appliances as possible.

Alright then, time for me to switch to my tiny amp instead. My laptop and the amp are the only things that are powered up now. xD

How heavy is this thing?

I was randomly watching videos on Youtube. Michael Angelo Batio's guitar catches my attention during my Youtube-tour.

This is MAB's Armorflame Quad. It is actually 4 separate pieces of guitars all combined together to become a quad guitar. Without a doubt, this looks cool alright. However, this is my thoughts: how heavy is this thing exactly? =x
And....it's very exaggerating. However, his videos can 'wow' you though.


P.S. I am not a fan of his by the way. -.-

Shopping (again)^3

Alright. Everybody needs a break, agree?
Well, doing Physics for continuous 6 hours yesterday without budging a single inch from the table is not at all healthy. So I decided to take a break by going out for shopping (at City Hall~)

These are what I bought.

From right>>
GHS Coated Guitar Boomers (10-52). Well, my usual stocking of electric guitar strings. Until now, I still prefer GHS coated boomer the most; it is the cheapest coated strings. I usually buy the 10 gauge ones with thicker bass strings. The normal type is (10-48)

Cherub WST-900 Clip Evo Tuner. Bought this from SV Guitars. I have been looking for a new tuner since my old tuner has spoiled. This sounds pathetic but my one and only tuner is my Zoom G2.1u. So I decided to get this chromatic tuner. Why chromatic? I usually play dropped-tuning so it's necessary. And (obviously) it is the most flexible type of tuner. I prefer clip tuners more than the pedal types. They are cheaper and much lighter. Adding another block of metal in my pedal case is not a very good idea. The Vox Wah already weigh a tonne. xD

Gallistrings Phosphor bronze round wound: Again, my top priority in getting strings is to get a coated one. So I decided to give this a try. Haven't string them onto my acoustic as I can't find plier and I borrowed my Planet Waves Clipper to my friend.

Audio Technica? Nah.. that wasn't part of my list. It's just my headphone =P.

EXAMS ARE OVER!!

Today is the best!! Why?

That's why.

To celebrate this, I watched a movie I wanted to watch. It had been months since I last watched a movie.
Well, time for me to update my blog!!

Kamikaze.... Episode-1

I know I am not supposed to post but... I can't help posting this up. =3

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I think everyone can remember the old Japanese infamous Kamikaze during WWII.

Have you then see the guitar version of this? Well, I did, at my void deck today.
On my way back after mugging at the library, I saw this two guys jamming at a void deck. One guy was using an LTD F-250 or F-350 while the other was using an Ibanez. White colour, white pickguard, and HSH configuration. I would assume that it is  They had their babies plugged into Orange Micro Crush each. 

Suddenly, the white Ibanez goes "BANG" on the floor. I don't know how much this act of 'kissing-the-floor' does to it. 

What I want to bring up today is.... there are many ways he could have prevent this.

1: Getting an external strap lock

OR ALTERNATIVELY

2: Get a lock strap.

Some would suggest using of duct tape instead. I don't like to use it. It is far too complicated compare to the above-mentioned. Simplicity is the best.

NOTE: I don't think the Dunlop Strap Locks (above) can fit in the strap locks of PRS guitars. I can't confirm this but that's what I've been told.