Various Ibanez AANJ Neck and Body Fitting

So, you want to assemble your own Ibanez? You want a real Ibanez you can call your own? Easy! All you need to do is to get an AANJ neck with AANJ heel joint body and put them together. Hey if it fits, it should work right?

Fast forward this after you get the parts and then you realized that, the screw holes for the neck doesn't align with the ones in the body or Vice versa? Why is that so, it's all AANJ! Well, for starters, Ibanez has AANJ necks and body being produced by 4 countries through out these years. Namely Japan, China, Indonesia and Korea.

You can ONLY match a neck with a respective made in the same country body if you do not intend to do further modification. My Frankenstein is a good example. It sports a Korean made neck with a Korean made body. No, the screw holes didn't align at all. I had to fill it up and drill in new holes. Yes, it's troublesome. So the next time you decide to build an Ibanez from parts you assembled all over the world, make sure you get parts that are fitting!

Ibanez and Fender Uniqulo Shirts!

Sorry for the no action lately. Life has been busy once more. However, I haven't given up on guitar yet. Nope, it's my greatest passion. Anyway, check this out! Finally the Fender T-Shirts from Uniqulo is out! To make it more awesome, there is also a collaboration for Ibanez and uniqulo! Yes, these are limited edition, as per all Japanese products! Show how big of a fan you are to these Awesome guitar brand names. Yes, I have gotten mine!

Steel wool?

I was taught that I should use steel wool and lemon oil when cleaning fret boards. I was taught to use steel wool and lemon oil when I want to clean my frets. I didn't know what it is for but now I do. I actually realized what steel wool is. My personal stand on steel wool is this. I will NEVER EVER use steel wool on my guitars. I will also not let anyone who uses steel wool to clean fretboard near my guitars.

This is the main reasoning. Steel wool is actually abrasive. It's like sanding down your fretboard a little with sandpaper and lemon oil when you clean your fretboard with steel wool. Do I want more micro scratches on my fretboard? No, I don't think so.

The question is, what do I use then? To clean fretboards, I prefer the application of lemon oil and a soft toothbrush. SOFT! No point using toothbrush with hard bristles. Those are actually abrasive also.

For fret polishing, I will usually tape up my fretboard with masking tape and polish it with metal polisher. Do note that those are actually abrasive too so, it's better not to let any seep into your fretboard.

So the next time someone tells you that they are going to use steel wool on your fretboard, my advice is, take your guitar and go to someone else.

Dream Theater live in Singapore

It has been a really busy week. It felt like forever since I posted something on the blog. One good thing did happened this week though. Dream Theater live in Singapore! It happened yesterday actually and I was too tired to actually post about it yesterday. Anyway, Andy McKee opened for them and as expected, "Drifting" was the first of his songs. Sorry that I do not have a picture of him.

As expected, the concert was electrifying. The only thing that irks me a little is that my favourite songs weren't played. It felt like a promotion for their new drummer, which also cannot be blamed.

John Petrucci was phenomenal and his mastery of the guitar was simply breath taking. The best part of the concert was when there was a technical fault and John came to the mic and told everyone that they can't hear anything from their in ear monitors. They actually played a song without being able to hear themselves. How amazing is that! 

Why is it amazing if it's a technical fault? Well, I know for sure that these guys aren't just air guitaring or lip singing to a CD track. It's the real deal. I honestly don't understand the point of going to concerts where the singer just lip sing.

All and all, it was a pretty good experience. The volume was a tad bit too loud and I actually had my ear plugs on. I know, rock concerts are suppose to be loud but honestly, I prefer to keep my ears intact for time to come.

P.S. There was this kid who was sitting beside me doing Air Guitar/ Air drumming/ Air Keyboarding and vigorous headbanging for almost the whole concert but kept still when Dream Theater played "Pull me Under". Honestly, the whole row was shaking because of him and he kinda hit me a few times which lowered my experience int he concert. At the very least, do your homework before going to a concert and know that "Pull me Under" is a signature song of Dream Theater. Not "On the back of Angels"