Fender: American Vintage

Fender has just released the American VIntage series, this '69 Telecaster is one of the guitars. The manufacturer said these were made to re-voice the guitars of the era & feature period-correct deatils.

I find this interesting but would like to see if they use those cheap capacitors in there...

Hey, dad! (Part 46)

Hey, dad! Thanks for getting me this Fender t-shirt. It's so windy here...

Eillek SALE

If you are looking for some Ibanez (such as the ZR bridge assembly seen above)/ Fender/ Gibson spares, among others, be informed that Eillekoet is currently having a SALE. You have till 27th June to check them out. Also, get to hear your favourite song being played in-store while you shop- no kidding.

Return of the Graphtech

My (Fender) ST-72 now gets a set of Graphtech saddles.


What's so good about them?
They are not 'so good', mind you. They just serve their purpose- to ensure smooth contact between the strings & the saddle.

How much?
$40 per set, available @ Davis GMC

Does it kill tone?
I don't hear any tone deterioration, my Strat still sound as snappy as ever. However if you love your default pickups but wish for a less protruding treble end, the graphite helps.

Fusion guitar

Extract the fundamentals of this guitar...

... fuse it with this one and...

Ta-da! You get a fusion of both but it's only available to those of us with enough excess to pry open the vaults of Fender's Custom Shop. Is Gretsch going to sue Fender for such abominations? Of course not... Fender is Gretsch's parent company.

Looks like

Many of us adore the simplicity of Fender's Blacktop Jaguar model.

The idea of a dual humbucking Fender sporting a Jaguar-esque body isn't new; the Toronado was there for the taking but not many of us were interested...

Fender: Pawn Shop series (Musikmesse 2011)

Fender's Musikmesse (2011) offerings as seen above- the Pawn Shop series (from top to bottom):

• Mustang Special
• '72
• '51

The Mustang will be on my acquisition list as it has the features I want: Humbuckers + Fixed bridge. The other two models looks rather unique & borrowed heavily from the Telecaster bass but it's nothing new. There was a Squier '51 version available here & discontinued in 2007:

Precision or Jazz?

This Fender Mark Hoppus signature bass is listed as a Jazz model in the manufacturer's catalogue. However, the headstock states otherwise. If we do not know Mark Hoppus swapped the neck of his pre-signature Jazz bass with a Precision neck (because he prefers the feel) & that detail was perpetuated to date, then we'd be confused. Some newbies would have thought he's duped by the stores if no efforts were made to explain the misleading categorization.This is a revised model for 2011, I thought they'd revise the labels on the headstock as well but as evident here, they remain in tact. Well, if they were updated to be politically correct markings, then it won't be what Mark Hoppus would have wanted, yes?

Eillekoet

I went down town today to visit Kellie, whose shop name had gained a following for being unpronounceable- how do you say 'EILLEKEOT'? Anyway, that's besides the point. Kellie deals with spares, namely by Gibson, Fender & Ibanez. When I was there yesterday, the Ibanez Edge III & ZR bridges (7-string version included) were available, so were some Gibson spares & pickups- Burstbuckers, 490-series, '57s, Iommi... I placed an order for a P-94, he he... There are more spares to come, if you are interested in any, you can place an order for what you need. Store details:

 EILLEKOET

545 Orchard Road

Far East Shopping Centre 

#02-09 Singapore 238882 

Call: 96577757

eillekoet@gmail.com

Real wear

Whatever Fender, Gibson, Marshall, etc.t-shirts we wear are not quite as legitimate as we'd want them to be, but not this one.

It's a perfectly genuine Fender wear as depicted by the label. You can get yours @ Swee Lee BB branch; $20ea.

Hollow Jazz

I had intended to buy a Fender (Japan) Jazzmaster last year but after hearing one in action, the tones coming from it was a little too thin for my liking. This year, the Jazzmaster is offered in a hollow body version but with NO F-holes at the sides as indicators. I'm not sure if it's actually a semi-hollow instead because it features an alder centre with ash parts for the rest (of the body). Maybe this one would have something for me...

PS: I still dislike guitars with truss rod adjustments at the body-end of the neck; now you know why Ernie Ball/ Music Man guitars are not a hit with me or any '60s-style Fender for that matter.