John Mclaughlin & The 4th Dimension @ Bangkok: Rig

So here is the rig John Mclaughlin used on the concert on 18th of March at Bangkok.

Simple enough? Indeed it's simple. Korg Pitchblack to Seymour Duncan Twin Tubes, followed by MXR Stereo Chorus. All these are powered by Dunlops DC-Brick. Well, this all I can say: Simplicity

And below is a picture of his rig from his website. 

Yes. MXR Carbon copy delay is missing. I am not sure why though but prior to that, during the sound check, he had technical difficulties and said that his rig was not 'behaving'. That could have been the reason or he just simply didn't want any delay on board. 

He uses Line6 Relay G-30 wireless system so that he could free move around without the risk of trampling onto cables if he is using one. Then again, I realised something else during the concert:

(I had to 'steal' photos from others because I was bestowed with neither a mighty Canon EOS nor the photography skills)

He wasn't using the Line6 but instead, a cable. It could have been all due to the technical difficulties prior to the concert. Oh, as you can see he is using his PRS. I was expecting this Godin though. 

And yes, he doesn't use amps in his live setup (for those who don't know about it). According to him, it's about 20 years since he had stopped using amps. In a Premier Guitar Rig Rundown, he said that he wasn't trying to achieve a specific tone with this setup but it was basically to make the life of sound engineer easier. He said:

"The louder the volume is on the stage, the harder the job of the (sound) engineer upfront to get a good sound out of it"

So once again, Simplicity.

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.  

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.