Now that I’m back online after a while, I owe visitors and readers an update on what’s up with the site.  The hosting migration took place like clockwork but I did not get time to post confirmation or do much after that.  2008 was an interesting and trying year, that kept me from revamping/updating my websites, recording music and working full time.  I’d moved to a new continent, traveled a lot and just when I started working again, my health took a u-turn for the worse.

The last quarter, in particular, was a real struggle trying to balance work with my illness and getting medical help, and things were looking gloomier each passing day. 

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I’ve been hosting my websites at Godaddy for over 4 years and things were going well until I ran into performance and configuration issues this year.  I was reasonable and tried working with them from March, but finally gave up last month when they jerked me around for requesting a downgrade until they resolve all issues.  Looking back on all the responses I received I have to assume their support staff are snorting coke on the job, and god bless them!

Anyway, I spent the last month evaluating other hosting companies, and found one that deserves my business after all the help they’ve extended while I tested their server and network performance.

In short, the site will be inaccessible for 8-12 hours between today and Tuesday.  Once it’s back up, everything should work but if you run into a bug or bad link, please send me a quick email.

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I’ve been busy the last two months looking for work and working on my tone for a demo I’m recording, hence the silence.  However, I’m back for a while and will continue developing the site and making it as informative as it used to be.  Over the next few months there will be lessons, exercises, reviews and guides to help improve your technique and get you comfortable with the guitar, whether it is setting up or customizing it.

I have also learned that many visitors are following links to the old guitar tech section, which doesn’t exist anymore - don’t sweat, updated information will be published as soon as the next guitar arrives for a setup.

Meanwhile, feel free to drop me a line if you have questions or suggestions.

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With the number of visitors here I decided to list the stuff I’m clearing out, all in excellent condition:

1. Boss MT-2 Metal Zone (with Monte Allums Sustainia & Tri-Gain mods) - Sold

2. Boss DS-1 Distortion (with Rectifier mod from Monte Allums) - Sold

3. Boss CS-3 Compression Sustainer (with Monte Allums Opto Plus mod) - Sold

4. Boss NS-2 Noise Suppressor - Sold

5. DiMarzio Breed bridge Humbucker - Sold

6. DiMarzio Blue Velvet single-coil pickup - Sold

7. DiMarzio/ibz HSH pickup set from RG2550E - Sold

8. Smoked mirror pickguard from RG2550E - Sold

If you have questions or need audio samples/more pics, just holler. Can be shipped to US, Europe, India. Payment via PayPal or bank transfer (UK/India). Email for prices.

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Last week I decided to play around with the JS30 by throwing in the stock DiMarzio humbuckers from my RG2550E. I wasn’t very excited about how these pickups sounded in the RG so I didn’t expect much. It would obviously sound different in the JS30’s alder body (as opposed to the RG’s basswood) but what I did not expect is how these pickups really brought the guitar to life. I mean it didn’t just sound a little better, it sounded like a different guitar altogether!!

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Last weekend all major changes to the RG2550 were complete but it took some tweaking during the week to perfect the setup for my style of playing. Overall, I’d say it’s as good, if not better than many £1500 guitars out there - glad I didn’t spend that kind of money on a JP6/JS1000 ;)

The modifications:
1. Pickups: Installed a Breed bridge but it wasn’t as hot as I expected it to be, so I switched back to the Tone Zone. My ears are quite happy with the Evo neck + Tone Zone combo so I doubt I’ll be making further changes.

2. Custom H-H Pickguard: Shielding the pickguard with copper tape was a PITA but it’s a one-time affair. The smoked gray mirror looks really good against the galaxy black finish, clearly better than the bronze stock pickguard.

3. OTAX VLX91 super-switch: Wiring the OTAX wasn’t exactly easy and took over an hour - one reason I don’t want to change my pickups again lol. The new coil-tapped switching positions are really sweet though especially for clean guitar.

4. Nut shim added to reduce open fret buzz, as a result of straightening the neck.

5. The Edge Pro locking stud mod is brilliant, giving me 100% tuning stability no matter how much I use the whammy bar. Makes you wonder why the hell Ibanez stopped using locking studs in their Edge trem systems.

RG2550E before the upgrade:

Nut shim - pickguard w/shielding, locking studs, OTAX switch - studs installed:

RG2550E customization complete:

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A list of mods planned for my Ibanez RG2550E, parts have arrived but I need a whole day to complete the work and get the guitar fully set up.

1. New pickups: Been testing many pickups since the guitar arrived, but I will settle on something soon. I’m convinced about the Evolution neck and I will be removing the mid single coil, but after checking out a DiMarzio Evo 2 and Tone Zone I’d like to try a Breed bridge before finalizing my pickups.

2. Custom pickguard made by Jeannie Pickguards, USA - primarily to remove the mid single coil, but it also happens to look very cool.

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Both pickups arrived yesterday so I took them for a spin and the Tone Zone sounded so much better than all the demos I’ve heard of it. While it doesn’t look as cool as the other DiMarzios I own it certainly lives up to it’s name. The Tone Zone nails everything from classic rock to 80’s metal without compromise, which is all I need.

The Evo2 wasn’t bad but whenever I’d switch to/from the Evo neck, it would sound like I was playing a completely different guitar. Put the Evo2 up for sale since I won’t be needing it anymore.

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Ibanez RG2550E Galaxy Black:
Since I have already talked a bit about the RG2550E-GK here, I’m going to make this a quick subjective review about why this guitar was worth every £ I spent on it.

What I liked (besides the great build quality):
- Perfect fretwork: Supposedly same frets as the RG1570 but for some reason this guitar had better fretwork
- Acoustically sounded better than the RG1570 which has the same basswood body
- Pickguard mounted pickups: I was concerned how this would affect tone, but it has worked out better than the rear-routed pickups of the RG1570. In fact, the DiMarzio Evo pair will not fit an RG1570 without modding the body because of the increased pickup height
- Stock DiMarzio/ibz pickups sounded good, not as hot as I’d like them, but they’re way better than the V7-S1-V8 pickups on the RG1570
- Cosmetic: Ghost sharkin inlays, Cosmo hardware, Bound rosewood fingerboard

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Ibanez RG1570 Mirage Blue:
Mirage Blue is truly an eye-catching finish and just like other Prestige guitars it is well built but slightly over-priced in the UK :) The Prestige 5-piece Wizard maple/walnut neck was a welcome change from Jackson and Fender necks. The RG1570 is clearly built for shredding but too bad the biggest letdown with this guitar was the terrible fret buzz of the wound strings in the lower frets (including open string buzz). The action was set quite low by the store, which accounted for some of the buzz, so I added some neck relief to reduce the fretted buzz and shimmed the nut to resolve open string buzz.

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