Schecter: Damien Riot FR

I was at Davis GMC earlier today, before the storm took over & flooded parts of Ang Mo Kio, managed to try Schecter's Damien Riot (FR). The 'extra' feature here is the heel-neck joint which is at the 18th fret while the rest of the bolt-on electric guitars out there (generally), sports a 17th fret occurrence. The body outline there played a crucial part in keeping things in balance pertaining to this 'deeper' joint. The neck has a great shred feel to it but the roundness of the overall profile invokes a (Fender) Strat make. I'm not quite a fan of EMG-HZ pickups but in this guitar, the pair sounded aggressive but retaining that passive pickup warmth. It proved its worth after I plugged it into a Marshall DSL401. So if you are looking for a locking whammy equipped solid-body, this one's recommended.

Dirty boys

Dirty Boy fuzz pedals are now available at Davis GMC. Please visit Davis' Pedal Store to know which specific models are available because when I was there, they had just been brought in, the price tags (or stickers, rather...) were very fresh.

After trying a few pedals (didn't manage to test the entire selection available) with brother Chris (thank you very much for enduring my nonsensical noodling), my favourite turned out to be the least fuzz laden of them all- it's the booster-based Ball Buster. In a nut shell, the BB offers what the (CMATmods) Butah has with added dynamics. There is still the fuzz factor in tact at the maximum drive setting but for the rest of the drive range, it gives the Butah a run for its worth. That's the primary reason I like this one.

Be informed that these pedals are costly. They don't come with any storage boxes or instruction manuals- the manufacturer will verify this upon inquiry.

GIbaon: Les Paul BFG Gator

This is a recent addition to the Gibson Les Paul BFG manifestation- the Gator. Anything special to look out for? Zilch. The 'Gator' reference is the reptilian hue you see above, the manufacturer stated that the scale-like carvings on the guitar's top gave the guitar its identity. If I refinish my current BFG to look like the one above, I might be able to own a Gator without actually having to purchase one. But no such intentions in the mean time.

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.

Cheap & cheerful (2): AXL Badwater 1216

Many of us find the singlecut guitar design simple & desirable. However, acquiring a Gibson Les Paul would prove to be too prohibitive in terms of price considerations so we look at the clones out there in hope of finding that elusive value-for-money model. AXL's Badwater range has this 1216 model depicted above (I've featured this guitar here before, if you could recall...), listing for $295 $250 (@ Davis GMC). The traditional Les Paul fan would have second thoughts about the satin finish & that less pronounced cut away which is a little put-off in terms of design. But this isn't a design appraisal, the 1216 is a well built guitar with the Les Paul BFG philosophy clearly manifested- it pays very little homage to cosmetics but delivers the fundamentals in terms of playability & tone. The default alnico humbuckers possess this signature classic rock tones but with sharpen definition so it's an enticement for you shredders out there. If you can live without the gloss feel of the traditional Les Paul, the 1216 is indeed a cheap & cheerful pick.

V-7

All ye Gibson fans... behold the Flying V, 7-string!! (But it's not mightier than Thor's hammer...).

So Gibson finally acted & added 1 more string to the electric guitar (when many others have moved on & added 2 more) & make it standard production. Anyway, if you are wondering why the machine heads there are devoid of tuners, these are the Steinberger gearless, through-headstock, model- not a new idea, they are seen in the Firebird.

Remembering labour

All you beleaguered workers who worked your bums off only to spend your money on guitars & the likes- HAPPY LABOUR DAY, you are not alone!!