The CIOKOLATE Fever

Well, of all things edible on Earth, Chocolate is my favourite food. So anything that sounds like Chocolate will surely get my interest, even if it is an inedible pedal power.

Good news for those who have just too much pedals on their rig. Cioks is coming up with CIOKOLATE! 16 outlet power supply for you (because 10 outlets are too mainstream! =P )

That's the good news. Every good news is followed by a bad one. The bad news is CIOKOLATE is a celebration for Cioks' 20th anniversary (Cioks has been around since 1992, a year before I was born). Well, not exactly bad if you'd think of it. It is already July by tomorrow and August is just a month away!

Good news for those in Singapore #2

Here is another good news, my dear friends.

Hmm, Swee Lee got their prices revised and opening up a new branch and now SV is having a sale. Is this just a mere coincidence or is it more than that? *shrug* Heaven knows. But do you notice that the brands that are on sale are actually those that are available at Swee Lee? =)

But customers like us are definitely at an advantage. Too bad, I'm stuck here in Myanmar.

Good news for those in Singapore #1

Yes, good news. Everyone loves good news. Everyone loves hearing the good things. And I'm going to do just that.

Swee Lee is opening up a new branch at Peninsula there. Great isn't? Now, you don't have to travel all the way to Bras Basah (but of course) unless you are looking into something more than guitars (like drums and keyboards, synths)

Tesla + Swing

It appears that Swing guitars are now using Tesla pickups on their guitars.

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This is what Tesla said on their website:

We would like to welcome Swing guitar Technology, recently Swing started using Tesla Pickups in their guitars, this is the perfect combination because both companies have the same goals such as to create products of the Highest Quality that can be used by professional musicians all over the world.

They should have done it long time ago. Hehe.

la Resurrección

Previously on Kamikaze Episode-3,

A Takamine has fallen (literally).
But it has been resurrected.

Looks like new isn't? What sorcery is this? Definitely not necromancy. 

It is the work of a tech whiz (named David Wong) at Novelty Guitar @ Parklane Shopping Mall (Basement 1). If you are a gamer, there is no way you can miss this place. Even if you are not, you can hardly miss it. It is just beside McDonald's. 

Another place I can recommend if you are looking for repairs (apart from Luther Music) is TYMC @ City Hall. They do repair such damages. 

And the story of the little ones continues...

I've always been talking about Modtone stuff since I started writing this blog. I've tried a fair share of its products, owned them and sold some of them. One of them which still remains and I have no intention to sell is the green Speedbox Distortion.


I know this is kinda late but I don't care anyway. I will still post them. Here are the new Mini-mods after the 1st five little ones.

The mini-Buzz Boy. Sadly, I am not really a fan of fuzzes (or fusses as well =P).

Mini-Clean booster. This is an ideal size for a booster pedal because one doesn't want too much space to be eaten up by just a booster alone on his/her pedalboard. Maybe it's just me, maybe this is a common preference.

High gainer is just another drive pedal. An alternative for you to choose between its mini-overdrive and this. Sadly, Myanmar is not 'blessed' with a large variety of equipments. Needless to say, I doubt there are Modtones around here. Well, good news for those in Singapore is that SV Guitars carries this brand. An awesome guitar shop it is. It was my favourite shopping place when I was still in Singapore and one day when I come to visit Singapore again, I will definitely go there again.

Here's Lemon Squeeze compressor sustainer in a smaller chassis. 

And last but not least, the mini-Colosseum reverb with all the same controls as its bigger sibling. 
I think all the above apart from the compressor and the fuzzer are available in Singapore. Do correct me if I am wrong because I'm physically present in Singapore to go and check at the shop itself.


How I wish there are more guitar shops in Myanmar. Oh yes, I remember that there Sinamax and Guitar 77 here. I have yet to check them out!

Ballad~!

Just wanted to share something that has been stuck in my head recently, if you guys so happens to have not heard of this before, be in for a lovely suprise! ;)

Otherwise, just enjoy the short solo :D

Myanmar Guitar-ology, Episode-3: In the beginning..

Back to this series once again. Fathers' Day kept me busy and thus I couldn't post anything.

This is the guitar which caught my attention first.

Reasons? Here they are:

1. The only guitar sporting a brand name on its headstock
2. Has a cutaway (I favour guitars with cutaway over those without one)
3. Larger guitar body than any others
4. Look suspiciously like a Martin.

Well, I was correct. It is a Martin (See the photo). Why would Ko Cho feature a guitar of other brand in his guitar show? That is because he made it. Here's the story.

When Ko Cho first started out as a luthier (I guess nearly 16 years ago or even more), he tried to seek knowledge from other luthiers and guitar companies. I am sure he would surely have contacted famous guitar makers like Gibson, Fender, Ibanez, Taylor, Martin, etc... and luthiers alike. It is a wonder how he contacted them back in those time, when there is no Internet on this piece of land called Myanmar. My guess is that he must have used airmails to contact them. 

His teachers back them were books. Kind souls would mail him back books on guitar-making and apparently, it seemed that the only company that bothered to reply him was (none other than) Martin. They replied to him that he could start out by buying their unassembled guitar parts and try to assemble it himself. Now everyone familiar with Martin would know that their guitars are definitely not cheap. The less pricey range of Martin was only introduced a year ago (probably because Taylor started mass-producing some of their guitars). Hence, it must have cost him quite a lot when he purchased those parts and get them send over to Myanmar (let's assume he doesn't get taxed over those). And because of the price, he didn't dare to start assembling it in case he makes a mistake. All he could do was to read the tutorial booklet that came along with the parts over and over again. It took years (like 4-5?) to muster up enough 'courage' to make this guitar. 

What is commendable here is not the guitar but Ko Cho's eagerness in becoming a luthier. An amateur would not bother contacting all the companies and luthiers out there or face any rejections. An amateur would not dedicate his life in instrument-making and study about different types of tone wood and alternatives. I hope there are those in my generation who are like him. I'm sure there are some out there in Myanmar. Just that I have yet to meet them. =)

Green Bean ?

This is madbean's take on the TS-808 pedal, with added controls, and i've dropped in most parts except for diodes, potentiometers and ICs.

Waiting to be housed :)

Solo concert @ Yangon

Dear guitarists and music lovers in Yangon,

Please take note that this is happening on the 22nd of June.

Maybe some of us will not know this dude. I do though. This is a rare opportunity to miss, especially when the admission is free. I am sure though it may be just the minority, there are still people out there in Yangon who love classical stuff so I just want to share this joy with these people. Yes, I am definitely going for this.

Do check out his website >>>HERE<<<
and WGC's website >>>HERE<<<