Swine tone

So the Bare Knuckle pickups went into my Ibanez SZ520FM. It's a pair of Warpigs.

FACT: The bridge Warpig features a distressed metal cover salvaged from WWI. It was alleged to be coming from a Mark V tank which was disintegrating in a trench. The neck Warpig includes parts dipped in toxic sludge believed to be the ingredients in making Agent Orange fluid. 

MYTH: The Warpigs are ordinary high output humbuckers with a tweaked bass response for some smooth jazz/ fusion overdrive responses or grinding low-end notes in an extreme metal distortion setting. No pigs were slaughtered to manufacture these pickups.
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Obiter dictum: A decomposing torso was discovered floating in Bedok Reservoir yesterday. In the recent wake of an uproar by Woodlands residents, when a dead body was discovered in their apartment block's roof top water tank, there might be furious demands by citizens in asking the authorities to replace the entire reservoir with a fresh water body just like the eventual replacement of the aforementioned water tank. He, he...

Ibanez: SZ520FM

Remember the Ibanez ISG35 bag I mentioned a few days ago? Well, that was bought for this guitar; the discontinued Ibanez SZ520FM.

When the SZ520 was released, it was a 'first' in the SZ range to feature a flame maple top & a new fretboard inlay, the 'cardiac heartbeat' indicator. But I didn't buy this guitar for those reasons, I have always admired how the S-series fundamentals were manifested to become this set-neck model. The feel of the instrument was a departure from the typical RG/S shredder affair. It was a bold move by Ibanez back then, I had my reservations but after trying one at Swee Lee (I tried & bought the SZ320 first) I knew this guitar was a success.

The body's flip-side...

... but more importantly, the pickups. The SZ series will be remembered by Ibanez fans as the Seymour Duncan-Ibanez collaboration. However, these pickups were not a made-in-USA affair (the ones in the Prestige SZ models, were), they were Korean & differentiated from the Duncan Designed models featured in many budget guitars like some Squiers. 

Instead of the 6-in-line Ibanez headstock designs of the S-series, the SZ featured a 3-by-3 design instead. I can't stand looking at this headstock for long because it reminds me (all the time) of the S-Classic models which I really wanted but not available here. *SIGH*

The headstock's flip-side view with the Korean i/d numbers. By virtue of this identification, we know it originated from the same factory which currently handles PRS' SE models.
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Obiter dictum: I was watching late night news while doing this entry; it seems that the MRT's North-Eastern Woodleigh station will be officially opened later today. According to the authorities, the station remained close for years because the neighbouring population was insufficient to supplement the station's operational costs. But many of us would see this as a poor excuse to deprive the opposition ward of good service amenities. Now that the Potong Pasir constituency had been recaptured by the ruling party, we would expect such things to happen. But if the authorities choose to say that the population is now in good numbers to trigger the stations operations, are there any statistics to back this up?