Nitro Arc 6

I went to Beez's to get my (Tesla) VR-Nitro installed in my Spector Arc 6 Pro yesterday. Rico & Faizal were there as well & we talked for at least an hour... The former pickups in this guitar were the VR-60s; nothing wrong with them, they absolutely thrill when it comes to vintage crunch but I'm in need of distortion overkill.

I hear a balanced output from the Nitros, that's one of the reasons I like this pickup model (have it in 2 other guitars) & a closer look revealed the above- staggered pole pieces.

I've included the Orange Drop cap & a push-pull coil split switch in this guitar as well.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

TESLA's VR-Nitro humbuckers are also in these other guitars of mine:

• Schecter: Omen 6
• Brian Moore: i91

V-30

Ladies & gentlemen, Beez has a Celestion V-30 12" driver if you are interested. I think you know how to reach him by now... :-)

Wish it was back: Schecter 006 Deluxe

Schecter's 006 Deluxe was a simple guitar, much in the veins of the current Omen series; well-made & very affordable. In fact, it used to list for less than $300 when I tried it at Ebenex years ago. Back then, Ebenex was located at Roxy Square II, Beez was still the employee there. The body outline is preserved till this day & manifested as the Stargazer model but I'm rather thankful Schecter has the Omen range to perpetuate the 006's good vibes. Wish it was back...

Look for Samson @ Beez's

Beez is now one of the authorized dealers for Samson here as indicated by this banner at his shopfront window.

The display products in store are limited in selection (currently Beez has limited display space)...

...but if you wish to purchase anything offered at the manufacturer's homepage (Samson's official product page: CLICK ME)...

... just let Beez know & he'll arrange for them to be available in store.

Duncanized: Ibanez RG471

I was at Beez's last weekend, going about the ritual of splicing my instrument to my specific wants but no DNA re-engineering was involved, of course. The Orange Drop cap was de riguer inclusion.

Ditto the coil split push-pull switch.

Some time along the way, your sleuthing would reveal Ibanez's (commercial) association with Cort. An evidence of such collaborations would be the default pot you see above. Do note the Cor-Tek label; that's Cort's technology there forming part of the RG's innards.

Replacement pickups in my RG471, a Seymour Duncan affair:

• Neck: '59
• Mid: Classic Stack Plus
• Bridge: Screamin' Demon Trembucker

Fresh strings for it as well; a set of .009 Cleartone. It's much more affordable than the Elixir brand but equally effective. Unlike the latter (which is smoother to the touch), the Cleartone has this Curt Mangan/ Pyramid feel which I fancy.

Phat Horizon

Was at BEEZ's today to have the neck pickup of my new ESP Horizon FR-II installed. This is how things are in the pickups cavities- very neat & tidy, even the shielding paint had been applied evenly.

Ditto the controls cavity; everything prim & proper in there. I'm very happy that ESP made a point to have Orange Drop caps in the Horizons- it's a statement of quality. I don't see the point of naming my guitars after girls, I just have stickers pasted on them, strategically, of course.

The Horizon FR-II features a push-push coil split pickup switch.

The current pickups in there:

• Neck: Duncan Phat Cat
• Bridge: Duncan JB trembucker

 I have the JB-'59 combo in my ESP Phoenix II so the neck '59 here made way for the Phat Cat. It's now a single coil + humbucker pickup guitar, would it be any lesser than it's previous H-H feature? Definitely not, it's what I want to hear from this guitar & I got want I wanted; a brighter, less boomy tone in the neck pickup position.

Thanks BEEZ, for the splendid job, as always.

PS: Vanessa, if you are reading this, nice meeting you today.

Beez diver

Beez doing a Holy Diver cover. No effects used, just guitar + amp.

Dimarzio: D Activator X

This is my Ibanez SA1260 with a fresh bridge pickup- DiMarzio's D Activator X. The previous humbucker in there (also a DiMarzio), a PAF 36th Anniversary humbucker, didn't last a month. The pickup doesn't do well with a hefty guitar like my SA here which also churns out much bottom end in its unplugged performance, a vintage voiced/ output pickup doesn't help the situation; it's adding oil into water.

My initial intention was to go for a Seymour Duncan humbucker as I've had much success matching the various models on offer to the guitars I own but I decided to keep it a DiMarzio affair since the single coils (stacked humbucker actually) in there are DiMarzios (a pair of Area 67). I need a pickup with a strong midrange response, nothing too excessive in the treble offering but with enough bass to push lots of bottom end palm muting through. The D Activator X offers high levels of midrange & bass with the former exceeding the latter offerings slightly. Regardless of whatever niche appeal the manufacturer proposes this pickup for, it works in this guitar. I didn't grab it by virtue of its high output which is typically associated with heavy music because that's not a sure formula. I'm in it for the clarity & distortion saturation.

PS: Thanks Beez for the excellent workmanship once again.

Ibanez: SA1260... the deviation

It's another pickups overhaul, this time my Ibanez SA1260 received some significant make-over. The default pickups were retired for good & as you can see here, the cavities are some of the neatest the manufacturer has to offer.

No whammy applications with this guitar so 5-springs in there, as usual.

The reason why this post is tagged as a 'deviation' is evident in the pic above; I chose to have a Mallory capacitor instead of the usual Orange Drop routine. I was doing some spring cleaning for the last few days or so & discovered I had a Mallory stashed away in one of my guitar bags. The numeric on it had faded & I thought it should be used as soon as possible before some further deterioration takes place. I also had the volume & tone pots replaced; despite the guitar being very new, the pots were stiff. All these done at BEEZ's.

Finally, a fresh set of GHS .009s in the guitar & my preferred action set up. Played this guitar after watching CSI last night for quite some time. The other reason why this is a 'deviation'- DiMarzio pickups in here. Despite being a hardcore Seymour Duncan fan, I digress occasionally as a check of sorts; I don't mind having other brand name pickups in some of my guitars as a tonal reference. The newbies here are:

• Neck: DiMarzio Area '67
• Middle: DiMarzio Area '67
• Bridge: DiMarzio PAF 36th Anniversary