Setting up your own instruement

I have been reading up recently in the forums of aspiring guitar players or guitar players themselves who doesn't really know how to go about setting up their own instrument for the optimal playability. I personally feel that it is detrimental for a player to know his or her instrument and at least knows how to operate his or her instrument. The minimum that a player should know is how to change the strings of the instrument.

Truss rod adjustment, intonation and action adjustment might seem daunting at first but with practice and the guts to try it and after getting used to doing all these, it is just like changing strings. Knowing how to perform these operations does not only give you the benefit of saving money but it also gives you more control over your instruments and perform the necessary remedy in the event that your instrument doesn't perform in it's best. Additionally, knowing the above mention operation will also allow your to understand how your instrument works and hence makes you a better player as a whole.

Yngwie Malmsteen playing Star Spangled Banner

I happened to chance through this video and I thought it was a pretty cool video and rendition of a national anthem. Stars Spangled Banner has not only been played only by Yngwie Malmsteen but also by many others, such as Joe Satriani, Eric Johnson, Steve Vai, Zack Wylde and etc. I think it's a great and cool way to renew the tune of national anthem by engaging local talents to perform in a big event. It not only reminds us of our national identity but also allow people to catch up on the different types of music styles on the same tune.

Fan Frets!

What are Fan Frets? Well if you take a look closely, you can see that the frets are not actually evenly spaced but in fact fan out. It's a design by Novax guitar and is interesting as it overs the player the advantage of both the long and short scale. This gives players the advantage of having the lower end grit that a lot of metal players need but yet still maintain that nice light touch feel of the slinky strings at the treble end. Kind of like the best of both worlds. However, unfortunately, there isn't anyone here who knows how to do that yet. I would very much love to try something like that here thought. To find out more about Novax guitars and their designs, please click here!

Ibanez Wizard Thin Necks!

Above is the picture that is taken from Jemsite.com and we can see the cross section of an Ibanez Super Wizard and Jem neck. We can see how thin the neck actually is and that thinness isn't actually a placebo effect. Also, note the difference of the back, between a Wizard and a Jem neck. Notice the D and thin U difference respectively? That creates a big difference in terms of "feel", which can also contribute to how thick a neck feels.

Unfortunately, Ibanez no longer produces the Super Wizard necks for their mid range guitar. However, if only they show a cross section of their other current available necks in their catalogues.

Design a Jem Loser!

Did I take part in Design a Jem contest? Of course I did! Being an avid fan of Steve Vai, I have to do one. However, I am a big fan of natural wood finish guitars and hence, I design one according to that idea.

My favourite wood grain is definitely "Quilted Spalted Maple". I have never seen one in front of me but from the images on the internet, I know it exists. Since "Quilted Spalted Maple" is after all maple, why not use it for the neck too (I know you can't see it from the picture)? So, I specify that the neck should be made of the same material and chose Brazilian Rosewood as the fingerboard.

The body of the guitar is Mahogany at the time I designed it but if I were to add more design now, I will definitely choose purple heart as the body wood instead. The rest of the design are pretty much the same without much difference in specs.

Design a Jem contest Winner!

Do any of my readers out there remember the Design a Jem contest where everyone in the world can take part in designing a Jem and the winner gets one of the 2 made. One for him and the other, for Steve Vai. Shown above is the design of the winner and of course the actual guitar. I have a agree that it is of course a real beauty.

It kind of resembles the shirt that Steve Vai wears for his concerts doesn't it? Maybe that's the reason this design won.

Ibanez MiKro Iceman!

Ever heard of the Ibanez Iceman? Sure you have! Have you heard of the Ibanez MiKro line? Sure you have. Now, take both of the concepts and combine them together, you get a travel guitar in the shape of the Iceman. How cool is that!

However, do note that the MiKro are of the Ibanez Gio quality but not Prestige quality. However, we can be assured of Ibanez's QC, in producing good value for money instruments. The size of the MiKro is perfect for beginners and people with small hands alike. The Ibanez powersound pickups are not an attraction in the realm of pickups but they get the job done for beginners and a pickups swap will easily solve.

The next big question is, I wonder when will this actually arrive in Singapore.

ESP jeune fille X lazuli -Cross Ray-

Fans of Mana, rejoice! Mana gets a new signature series. Instead of the usual black guitar that he uses, it is a beautifully crafted blue guitar instead. Mana's guitar is always well known to be of a creative yet interesting shape and always with the signature glowing cross, replacing the neck pickups. However, with a shape like that, I honestly wonder if it is practical to sling and play.

The specs of  ESP jeune fille X lazuli -Cross Ray- are as follows

BODY : (Top) Hard Maple, (Back) Alder
NECK : Hard Maple 3P
FINGERBOARD : Maple(Black Paint), 21frets
INLAY : jeune fille
SCALE : 648mm (Long)
NUT : Lock Nut (42mm/R2)
JOINT : Bolt-on
TUNER : GOTOH SG360-07
BRIDGE : Kahler #2315
PICKUP : EMG 81
CONTROL : Master Volume,LED Speed Controller
Cross LED ON/OFF Switch
COLOR : jf lazuli
PRICE : 1,239,000 yen (Include TAX)
with Hard Case

The Ibanez Premium

The Ibanez premium series isn't new news. However what is new, at least to me is, I finally gotten down to my local music store and get my hands to try the Premium series. My first thoughts on the Premium is, if players are expecting a Prestige feel to the neck, well it isn't. It's a total different feel to it. The immediately different is that, the back of the neck has a rounder feel to it. It isn't as flat as a prestige. This makes the neck feels way thicker than it should be.

Another noticeable difference is that the 430mm radius is very noticeable, compared to the Prestige. This is because, the rounder back forces the player to grip the neck with the hand, giving more contact area to the palm, more so than a flatter back, which forces the player to anchor this thumb on the neck instead (This is kind of hard to explain).

Lastly, the neck feels somewhat narrower than a standard Ibanez neck. It doesn't feel like a 43mm nut but feels more like a 42mm nut. However, this probably can also be attributed to the rounder back of the neck.
Nonetheless, these difference doesn't mean that the Premium aren't good guitars. They are superb guitars for their price and probably plays very well, comparing to guitars of the same price range. However, do keep in mind that as consumers, we are definitely not getting a Prestige feel kind of guitar for a cheaper price. Ibanez quality is evident in the Premiums, just that the feeling is totally different.

Nightwish Imaginaerum official teasers!

Nightwish finally released their official teasers for their next upcoming album Imaginaerum. From the teasers, we can tell that this is definitely going to be a great album with influence from almost every kind of music defining who Nightiwsh is today. I can't wait for their album to arrive and set it on my player. Have you ordered yours?

Imaginaerum by nightwishband

Happy Birthday Yoshiki

A very Happy Birthday to Yoshiki from X Japan. May you continue be successful and continue making more remember-able rock tunes.

The Truth about Thin Necks and Fat Necks

Thin necks and fat necks. What actually makes people go crazy about them? In my opinion, there are 2 things that contribute to a good playing guitar other than a well setup guitar. The neck and the bridge spacing. Some of us likes thinner necks while some of us prefer thick necks.

Does thinner necks equates to faster playing while thicker necks equate to slower playing? My answer to that is no. I have seen players playing slow bluesy tunes on an Ibanez (famous for their thin necks) and I have seen players shred on a Gibson Les Paul (which incidentally is well known for having baseball bat necks).

The truth is however that thinner necks does makes it easier to do fast runs, due to the shape of the neck making you having to curl your fingers at the fretboard, giving you more space to run your scales. Thick necks however gives you more grip, which also means more strength to hold down your strings or when you are performing a very hard bend (Think of opening a door knob).

Either way, do not let what you read affect your decision on your preference on a thin or fat neck. In the end of the day, it is your preference that counts the most.

What humidity does to your neck

Have you even wonder what Humidity can do to the neck of your guitar other than the neck having a pretty obvious warp? Look at the above picture for clue. This is a very good example of the wood shrinking in colder and dryer climate places having the fret ends popping out at the side. This is especially dangerous to us players as the fret ends in such a case is actually sharp and can cut us when we are playing the guitar. Next time you pick up a guitar, make sure that the fret ends aren't popping out like this.

More Children of Bodom Pictures

Are You Dead Yet? No I am not. However, yesterday's concert left so much impression in me that I had to post up more pictures, which are better taken with a professional camera, courtesy of Marcus Lin, a media photographer and personal friend of mine.

All of the close up shots are very well taken especially with the lighting and details. But this I ain't going to start talking about photography. These photos here convey as much energy as the concert itself and it would be a mistake not to share it to all my readers out there. For whoever is reading this, the next time Children of Bodom is heading your way for a concert, do take some time off and attend it just for the experience. The energy and feeling gotten from it is highly describable and the feeling after a concert with such an experience is more so. 

Children Of Bodom Live in Singapore

Today at Fort Canning Park, Children of Bodom came for the first time to Singapore, brought in by Davis Guitars. The concert began with a high and ended at a high. The sound was fantastic and wasn't loud to blow away your ear drums.

As I volunteered being an usher, I get to see all the fans of COB and not to mention the concert itself. It was an awesome experience at best to be honest.

Halfway through the concert, the crowd went crazy and pushed over the barricade that separates the hate crew and the normal pass area. I was standing near the barricade and it kinda fell on my leg and I got pushed in with the crowd towards the stage. It was overall a painful but fun experience to be in the mosh pit. And honestly, it was also the first time I witness a mosh pit in Singapore.

Alexi's technical skills with the guitar was amazing. His showmanship on the stage was also fantastic. He manage to get the crowd going crazy over him. Being my first time at a heavy metal concert, it was honestly an impressive sight and experience for me. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the concert and felt that even for those who paid for it, it was worth every cent.

Swan neck deformity and silver ring splint

Have you heard of the Swan Neck deformity syndrome? Well, it is a syndrome where your finger can bend back more than what it should allow and usually cause your fingers to lock up when you exert pressure in an attempt to straighten it. It isn't painful nor is it harmful.

I was born with this on my left hand. How is this relevant to guitar playing. Everytime I attempt to do a fast scale run (Usually an arpeggio sweep), my pinky locks up and I tend to hit the note half a mili-second slower. Now, that is irritating.

Silver Ring Splint created a splint specifically for this condition. What it does is that it creates a threshold where how much your fingers can bend. This prevents your fingers from over extending hence, not susceptible to locking up. I own one of these and I find it highly useful, especially in my arpeggios and precision based required playing times. This is an alternate to those who are like me, who loves the instrument but are hampered by this condition. Don't stop or be demoralized because of a condition. There are always ways created out there for you to find to solve it.

Michael J Fox plays Marty McFly again

Michael J Fox once again assume his identity as Marty McFly by donning his red hollow body Gibson playing "Johnny Be Good" in his annual charity event "A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Cure Parkinson's".

For those of you who can remember, Marty McFly shredded towards the end of the song in 1955 and stunned the crowded, where fast playing of many notes wasn't even being introduced yet. The video clip brings back many nostalgic fond memories of the movie (Back to the future). I've also attached the clip of Marty playing the whole piece for the benefit of the younger generation who never knew the existence of this movie.

New Colour Variation for ESP Antelope

Do you know the ESP Antelope? It isn't a very common model within ESP but nonetheless, in my opinion a very well designed instrument in the image of heavy rock or metal. One notable user of the Antelope is Teru from Versailles. ESP has just announced that they are producing Antelope in 4 other different colours complete with gorgeous flame maple tops. Fancy riding an Antelope for this season?

Seraphim

My friend went over to the X Japan concert in Taiwan recently and he pick up a CD of one of the local bands for me. The name of the band is Seraphim. It is a band with speedy power metal riffs and rhythm while fronted by a classical sopprano style singer. Overall, it's a very enjoyable album and considering that I can't buy this in Singapore, it's definitely a good gift on his part. For more information about Seraphim, please click here.

Nightwish New Single "Storytime"

Nightwish fans! Rejoice. The first single of the IMAGINAERUM album is finally being released on youtube. This is a little teaser to all the fans out there such as I awaiting the arrival of the album. From the impression of this first song, it is evident that Anette has improved and matured tremendously since the last album. The children choir towards the end in addition to epic-ness of the whole piece definitely left my hair standing thirsting for more. The reviewer who covered at the press was right. This is the beginning or another era for Nightwish.

Ibanez Brass Guitar?

A while ago, like a long while ago, Ibanez once had really cool guitars. Not like they aren't making any not cool guitars now. They made a solid brass guitar which was suppose to be the center piece for the the '79 Chicago NAMM show. It sports an ebony board, Flying Fingers humbuckers, and active 3 band equalizer. This is apparently a very rare piece which is also the same guitar featured in Ibanez: The Untold Story. The first question however that comes to my mine is, how heavy is the guitar actually? Well nonetheless, I am sure that it is capable of producing sweet bell like tones due to the nature of brass.

Nightwish Dark Passion Play

I know that this album has been out for a long time and the next one is probably going to be out by next month. However, this is something that I would like to share with everyone out there reading my blog. Dark Passion Play is an interesting album, especially for Nightwish as this is the first time Nightwish produced an album without what is known as their signature voice. Nightwish collectively decided to fire their ex vocalist (Tara) who was a classically trained singer and is well known for her power soprano voice.

This album is what known to Nightwish themselves as a beginning of a new Era. Instead of having soprano voice fronting the band, they have chosen Anette, whose voice is closer to pop/rock style instead. Nonetheless, the album worked out well and kept the Nightwish element in the album.

The album has epic symphonic style, soft soothing ballads and hard trash metal style. It is overall a highly enjoyable experience when listening to this album. I highly recommend anyone who hasn't yet listen to this album yet to go ahead and give this album a try. It may not be the sophisticated Soprano fronted Nightwish we once knew but nonetheless a very enjoyable new era Nightwish.

ESP Edwards Horizon III Seven String!

ESP Edwards once again came up with something that is based on one of their most popular design but an extra string. For seven string lovers, who need the extra low end grit of the seven string, rejoice as now you have a choice on that ever elegant Horizon III shape. It comes with Tune O Matic bridge with makes restringing a breeze. Edwards might be a guitar that is crafted in China and assembled in Japan for the Japanese domestic market, rest assured that Japanese quality control is of top notch and worth every cent. If you are into seven strings, do consider the Edwards seven strings as your weapon of choice.

Checking the Neck Relief of Your Guitar Neck

There is a simple way of checking how much relief your guitar neck has or rather, how warp your guitar neck is. I usually like to set my guitar neck dead outright and I leave it at zero relief. Anyway, follow these steps to see how warp your guitar neck is.

1. Hold down the 1st E string with your left index finger on the first fret.
2. Hold down the 1st E string with your right ring finger on the 24th fret.
3. look at the space in between the string and fret on the 12th fret.

If there are a lot of spaces in between, you guitar neck is pretty warped and need a truss rod adjustment. If it has a little space (0.something mm), you only need to tighten a little to get a zero relief. If you prefer some relief, you can choose to loosen or tighten the truss rod. Go ahead and take sometime to check if your guitar needs a truss rod adjustment today.

Leaving a Guitar Neck Unstrung for Long Periods of Time

Recently, I received a question from one of my friends, asking me if it is all right to leave his guitar neck off the body for a long period of time. Specifically pertaining to neck warping. My answer to that question is no.

Think about it this way, we are usually more afraid of our neck warping compared to the neck back bowing. The neck's tension is counteract by the tension of the strings. Unless you specifically set the truss rod to back bow the neck, chances are, after stringing you will still need to adjust the truss rod to keep the neck straight.

I believe that leaving the neck with a tight truss rod will however cause the neck to stay in a particular bow but that is no cause to be alarmed of. I have necks unstrung for 6 months with a tight truss rod but still function equally well, without the need to further tighten the truss rod.

Hari Raya Haji!

Eid Mubarak to all my Muslim readers out there. Have a nice holiday and long weekend ahead.

Changing of Pickups or Changing of Amps

Many times, in a guitar related forum, beginners will tend to ask this question. "Should I spend $X on pickup swap or a new amp"? Usually, the reply will always be another question of what amp he/she is currently using.

Most of us like individuality and want by all means to make our instrument "OUR" instrument. By doing minor things like pickup swap or slight modifications, we can better justify the instrument to be uniquely ours or trying to improve the sound of the guitar by changing the pickups to the ones used by our Idols. I am no difference from the love of doing this.

However, do keep in mind that if the current amp you is a really small one and has pretty much a bad sound (Or what you think is bad), chances are, after a pickup swap, you probably still get a bad sound. This is no surprise as the amp plays a major component in the overall tone of all your gears. So the next time you think of changing the pickups of your guitar (Or any other modifications on your instrument for that matter), do keep in mind that the amp plays an important part of improving your overall tone.

Nightwish Imaginaerum Storytime Teaser!

Nightwish has release a teaser for one of their songs in the upcoming album which apparently received very good reviews from reports in the listen session impressions. The little teaser looks really impressive and I am looking forward in receiving my Imaginaerum CD, which I've ordered from Inokii at Far East Plaza. Anette, the new Nightwish singer is getting warmed up and is doing really well, giving Nightwish a side that isn't seen with Tarja as their singer. Do make sure to order this fantastic album if you are a fan of Nightwish. It will definitely leave you a lasting impression without a hinge of disappointment.

A Metal Song in Classical Guitar Arrangement

Amaranth is a top single by Nightwish, one of my favourite metal bands of all time. It is a very nice tune and is played with a guitar tuned full step down. I came across this video and it seems that this is a prove that music genre is not an obstacle to good music appreciation. What makes it more amazing is that the arrangement actually sounds as good in classical guitar arrangement as the original version. Do take some time to listen it and relax on the nice arrangement and composition of Tuomas (Keyboardist of Nightwish) and the classical guitarists of Nylon Tapestry.

Adjusting the action of your floyd rose bridge guitar

The action of the guitar is a very important aspect of determining the playability of the guitar. The action of the guitar is pretty much determined by the type of bridge of the guitar. In this case, I will be explaining on how to adjusting the action of the Floyd rose (Or other licensed variation).

The Floyd Rose is a bridge with it's tension being suspended by the tension of the strings and the springs behind the guitar. The part where it's highlighted within the red boxes, in the pictures are known as the studs of the Bridge. The knife edges of the bridges is being anchored to the studs and the studs are the ones to adjust, to adjust the action of the bridge.

The studs usually can be adjusted with Allen keys (different brands require different sizes), usually size 3. Turn the studs counter clockwise to lower the action and clockwise to raise the action. Try and balance both sides and check for buzzing after adjusting. I normally use a pick as a gauge for my preferred action.

If there are no buzzing after adjusting the action, you can leave it as it is. If there are buzzing at certain frets, especially the upper frets, you will have to adjust the action higher. Adjusting action of a Floyd Rose Guitar isn't hard and is actually quite easy and won't cause permanent damage to your guitar. Try it out today.

Measuring your Action the easy way

I usually prefer the 1mm action on my fretboard and I usually measure it by putting a piece of 1mm pick at the 12th fret in between the strings. If the pick gets stuck in the strings, I know for sure that the action is less then or equal to 1mm. This is definitely a way easier method using a ruler attempting to measure the action of your guitar.

For more information on the importance of action, please click here.