Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Epiphone Thunderbird IV


Features:
Alder body
34" scale Maple neck
Rosewood fingerboard
20 frets
2 TB-Plus humbuckers
2 Volume and 1 tone
Chrome hardware
Polyurethane finish


Actually, i wanted all my guitars to muc

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Marshall DSL401

This is the one at home.
This is an image from the internet.

Fender DG20S


Guitar Features
Body Style: 6-String Dreadnought
Top: Solid Spruce
Back & Sides: Mahogany
Neck: Nato
Tuners: Chrome Die-cast
Markers: Dot
Fretboard: Rosewood
Lets see, I bought this guitar at Guan Hock Lee at their Car remote control shop in Menglait when it still had a branch there. One of 5 acoustic guitars on display. They had two guitars with solid tops, Epi dove and this one. All guitars are wrapped in plastic and tied with rubber bands. This fender DG20s was wrapped also with plastic and rubber bands that deteriorated so badly that it just crumbled off when you pulled on the plastic wrap. Unbelievable right? Plastic wrapped?
The 1st string was broken and all the strings were rusty. I asked to demo it and the old lady took ages to unwrap it that i had to help her. I tuned it but it was no good to play on as it had rusty strings. However, I felt it resonated well and i could feel the difference made by the solid top. I asked for a better price because i wasnt happy with the strings and thew old lady gave it.
Its great for the beach and whenever you wana just strum in the middle of nowhere without worrying about damaging it. Its been on jungle trips too where i had to walk across rivers and small waterfalls. i had to dry it quickly.

Custom Audio Boost/Line Driver



Your bassist gives you the cue, the drummer is getting ready to ride his cymbals and the crowd is roaring for an atmospheric melodic solo that only you can ignite... but alas, your solo is undernourised, lacks punch, needs volume, extra sustain.. you are just.... invisible.



Fear not. BOOST it mi mariachis! Boost it as much ad 20db if you wana let er rip. Yes Rrrip the ear drums of those pesky people. Or you can be subtle too.. and use just a touch....if you're dry like that.


If you love the natural tone of your valve (chuuUB) amp and you want that extra presence for solos without extra colour, this one will do for you. Adds sensitivity and gives you extra room for dynamic expression. I like it too.
I bought it from Ranking music and sports store in Bras Basah( wet bras haha...) complex in Singapore. Initially wanted the CAE overdrive/boost pedal and they had it at the opposite store, Swee lee but is priced unreasonably high considering it had competition just next door.

Planet Waves Chromatic Tuner

You guitaristS!!! yes you people!! You know who you are........

especially those who feel the need (or sick addiction) that the rest of the world must suffer the endless, whaffling, monkey jerking, noodling, macho jocky Shredding SHREDFEST that your lonely bedroom hourless practice ...(whew!) deserves...

REMEMBER.. none of that matters if your guitar is tuned like shit and intonated like rotting shit that just hit the fan!


Before all that. TUNE IT!!! For crying out loud. Tune your guitar and stretch those strings. It is important to be in tune. You dont know how.. LEARN! You have no excuse these days. Buy a TUNER!

Oh... I like this tuner. Purchased at Dave's guitar in Singapore and the guy who helped me demo it is really helpful. I wish i tried the other pedals in the shop. The problem was i came 30 minutes before closing and there were too many customers too at the time. Remember guys, pick the best time for demoing, not after work in rush hour!

Its well priced, looks great, tunes your guitar and bass quickly and accurately and the display is large and bright. Great for the stage!

MXR Carbon Copy Analog Delay

This a great Delay pedal and its really simple to use too. I bought it at Tom Lee's music centre in Vancouver, Canada. And the guys there (and also credit to the othr guitar shops in and around the area) are really helpful and friendly. When i wanted to try the pedal, he just handed it to me and i could demo it using any of the guitars and amps in the shop without ever checking up on me. So i had all the time in the world to make my decision. Top class!!! None of the shops in Brunei, Manila and Singapore can compare to tht service. (at least thats wht i think.. frm the shops ive been to)

The blue light is really bright. Loads of fun with great simplicity. My favourite setting is just using it on a long delay, medium repeats with a clean sound and playing shimmer open chords or riffs. Grreeat stuff! And you wont be so common like all of the rest of the bunch who have a Boss delay.

Digitech Expression Factory


The Digitech pedal filled with the essential classic expression effects that you ever only need to use.
I dont use most of them actually. Mostly for fun jamming at home and messing about.
My favourites are the Vox wah (Hendrix Man!) wacka wacka Uwowaa.. a piece of 60's sleazy swagger;
The Whammy for the Morello style of axe slinging slashing destruction in "killing" or epic flying zephyr in "like a stone";
space station ..um... movie soundtracking noodling hog poo or epic space aliens invasions?
and that ADA flanger for the SWooshing speeding jet...
It has some overdrive pedals too though you have use the expression efffects with it. The model of the Big Muff is my fav.
Well done Digitech.
Though it does look bland like a BOSS. oh well..
I bought this at Guan Hock Lee in Brunei.

EH Graphic Fuzz

Electro-harmonix!!!! So retro, so cool, so quirky, so great analog fuzz graphic ed sustaining tonal options guitar tone... but what did you guys at EH do wrong? It gets sick easily. Its currently not working and it may be the adaptor or the injured organs inside. And it uses a 40v.dc adaptor!!! What were you thinking?!

I bought this at Music Ground in Denmark street, one year after my Small stone. An impulsive buy if i recall correctly. Its dead now, lying under my bed. I havent repaired it yet. As I havent been off my ass to order an adaptor from the UK. I tried looking for one in Brunei, Singapore and Canada. Out of luck. "Why dont you order it online?" was the guitar sales assistant typical response. Maybe next year.

Just realised also that EH has released a 9v version of this pedal. So no need for adaptors and its smaller in size, ideal for crowded pedalboards. EH!!! This should've been done in 2002. Now, how will i be able to sell it, should i want to? Ppl would prefer the 9v version.

Boss DS-1

Ah... The BOSS distortion pedal. Used by many players but I didnt really care about the many players then.

I had a housemate who had it but he didnt like using it as he preferred his Metal Zone. My Zoom multieffects committed suicide on me (what a coward of a multieffects...) during a gig! so i made sure to use something else, something simple. So i borrowed his Ds1 which was gathering dust under his bed. Eventually after i kept borrowing it repeatedly, he gave it to me as a farewell gift! What a generous bloke! haha

Good reasonable distorted tone. Hey, Cobain used it on the first two Nirvana albums for recording and gigs.

This hasnt died on me yet. Though i still prefer the distorted tone of a raging valve amp. ROAR!!

EH Small Clone Chorus

My first real stompbox! (1st ever guitar effects was a zoom multi effects but i dont consider that as good for real stomping).


Bought it from Music Ground in Denmark Street in London. Ok I'll confess, I wanted the watery sound of "come as you are" and "teen spirit" so badly at the time. And i wanted the genuine route. Pretty simple pedal and as it is quirky like me so its just right for me. Lush analog chorus. great for thickening up your tone, adding warbly bubbles...



It died on me after two years (not during a gig, thank heavens). It took another two years before i organised myself to get it fixed. And the repairman used sticky tape to paste the receipt. Holy smokes!!! Its now called an ALL ONE chorus pedal!!!