Welcome to my humble blog where I write the little things concerning Guitar, especially the Electric guitar. I am an avid Project guitar builder and enjoys DIY projects on guitars. Through this blog, I will share with my readers my experiments, findings, projects, recommendations and more. Do check back now and then while I hope you will be able to find the information provided in this blog useful.
There was one Saturday about 3 weeks ago where I was wandering around aimlessly. Well, actually, that seems to be the common occurrence anyway. I went to the Esplanade and there was this fantastic contemporary Jazz band performing. Well, I am not exactly a great Jazz fan but I do appreciate Jazz. They were so fantastic that I keep wanting to buy their CD. Well, today I gave in to temptation and bought the CD. Although, I have to say that the CD is somewhat disappointing, it wasn't as good as they were when live. Well, at least I did a recording with my phone and going to share with all of my readers out there. Copyrights all rights reserves to Noir, who performed this piece on that day. Well, and they made my day!
While I was doing a recording for the Entwistle Dark Star neck pickup, I had Kizu right beside me. I picked it up, plugged it in and did a sound sample recording with Kizu. Kizu is equipped with Seymour Duncan Jazz neck pickup. Once again, pardon the sloppy playing.
Kiko Loureiro is the well known guitarist of Brazillian power metal band, "Angra". Other than being a very good technical player of heavy metal riffs and licks, he is also a very accomplished Brazillian Jazz guitarist. Sambal Da Elisa is a track off his second solo album which is more Jazzy compared to his first solo album. Nonetheless, I really enjoy the second album and this is one of the tracks that left a sweet aftertaste.
"傷(Kizu)" is probably the only one of my Ibanez guitars that doesn't follow my Dimarzio Evolutions configuration. The story started out with my friends giving me a Seymour Duncan Customs pickup for my birthday present in 2010. That is such an evil gift. Anyway, the rationale being, I wanted to build a guitar that might sound like Hizaki's(ヒザキ) guitar, which is an ESP Horizon III fitted with Seymour Duncan Jazz and Customs. But I didn't want an ESP guitar as I felt that the shape of the neck wasn't really to my liking.
At around the same time, there was an ebay auction of an RG520QS, my favorite non prestige RG model of all time. It sports a mahogany body with the standard Made in Japan Ibanez specs. So, after thinking it through, I bought it and had it shipped all the way from the United States to Singapore. When it arrived, I took a look at the guitar's condition and I nearly fainted. There were paint chips around the headstock and the neck had dings all over. The body of the guitar was sand out of shape and the sides of the quilted sapele veneer was being sand away. I knew I had to put my DIY skills into work again.
First thing I did was to dismantle everything and start with the most important part of the guitar, which is the neck. The dings were actually quite extensive and so, I decided to just refinish the neck, to my all favorite hand rubbed Tru-Oil finish. I removed the dings via the steam with hot iron and sand down the raised grain method. After that, I proceed in removing all the clear coat for re-coating of the neck. The neck was being refinished with 4 coats of hand rubbed tru-oil (for guides of doing this please click here)and being buffed down with rubbing compound for that baby butt smooth satin feel.
The next thing to tackle was the body. I initially re-sculpted part of the body with AB Epoxu and repainted the body with a black burst to cover up the veneer which the previous owner sanded away. However, that didn't turn out too well as rattle can sprays can only get me that far. Not to mention, the humidity of Singapore prevents the paint from drying rock hard. At about the same time, someone was selling a RG520QS body in Jemsite, condition almost intact save a few minor paint chips. After thinking about it, I decided that buying that body is way worth it than redoing up the current one, which I kind of hated. So, I bought the body, had it shipped all the way from United States to Singapore and began assembling the guitar.
At about the same time, I bought the neck pickup, Seymour Duncan Jazz from my local Seymour Duncan distributor, Davis GMC. The guitar was then quick assembled with all the hardware installed. I've also added a push pull coil tap pot for more tonal versatility. Mahogany and split humbucker actually gives of a pretty nice twang. The pickups being Alnico 5 based, is less hot compared to Dimarzio Evolutions ans is a tad bit too much on the highs. I've always been a lover of Ceramic based Pickups but this guitar gives me the option of a different tone on different days.
The neck, which is a Super Wizard neck measures 17mm on the first fret and 19mm on the 12th fret with a flat radius of 430mm and sports a Bulbinga stripe which isn't there for cosmetic reasons. It acts as a separate piece of hardwood to counteract the neck tension, therefore making it more resistance to neck warping. The thin profile of this guitar coupled with the flat radius of the fretboard makes shredding really easy. The action is set to a super sick action of 1mm on the 12 fret allowing players the lightest touch possible next to a scalloped neck. Due to the flat radius, players are also able to do high note bending effortlessly without choking the notes halfway.
The guitar got it's name "傷(Kizu)" mainly because the amount of scars it went through before I refinished it to a condition I am satisfied with. "傷(Kizu)" simply means scar in Japanese. In addition to the Seymour Duncan Customs and Jazz pickups, the guitar is also equipped with the Orange Drop and Treble Bleed mod.
Ibanez RG520QS "傷(Kizu)" Specs neck type: 3pc Made in Japan Super Wizard neck with Bulbinga Stipe fingerboard: Rosewood with dot inlay body: Transparent Rootbeer Mahogany body with Quilt Salepe Veneer fret: Jumbo frets bridge: Ibanez Original Edge Bridge neck pu: Seymour Duncan Jazz bridge pu: Seymour Duncan Customs
Neck Specs Scale: 648mm/25.5" a : Width at Nut 43mm b : Width at Last Fret 54mm c: Thickness at 1st 17mm d : Thickness at 12th 19mm
Radius: 430mmR
Some days are meant for rock. However, some days are not complete without some Jazz. In the Youtube video I posted, it is one of those classic Jazz pieces "Autumn Leaves" once sang by Edith Piaf now played by Joe Pass.
Joe Pass is a very accomplished Jazz musician and plays in a such a way with robust rhythm while always leaving the listener a sweet after taste. Do Listen to it. I am sure most of your will enjoy it and complete your day as I did.
