My dream gear

Joel's been building some interest in electric guitars. Mainly after listening to some awesome guitarists (most of them snort drugs, screw chicks and drown in booze. why lah?) like John Frusciante, Joe Satriani, Jimi Hendrix, and a couple more. Here are some of the guitars that I would like to have. Note that I'm being realistic. These guitars aren't exactly the most expensive with all those custom-made features. Anyway, here are some of them.





This is the Ibanez SZ520FM. A thick mahogany body, thru-body stringing, Gibraltar III bridge and a pair of humbuckers designed by Seymour Duncan and Ibanez. If I had this guitar, this would be my heavy-duty rocking axe (think Metallica). The inlays are really attractive, some heart-beat motive. The colour's cool, a bit gothic but cool nonetheless. Maybe I'll do some Skillet with Piao and Leonard with this thing.

















This is the Paul Reed Smith Soapbar SE. This guitar has a lawsuit history behind it. Apparently Gibson took PRS to court claiming that the singlecut guitars produced resembles too much of its widely acclaimed Les Paul models. Now, PRS still manufactures the Soapbar. Only, it has a double-cutaway body now. I still prefer the single-cut. Anyway, this simple, no-frills guitar has a vintage cherry look, solid mahogany body and neck, a simple one volume, one tone controls, a stoptail bridge and my favourite - a pair of P90 pickups. Rather than the usual singlecoils and humbuckers, P90s offers an alternative in the middle. For those wondering, singlecoils are single magnetic pole pieces. They produce a brighter tone and are ideal for cutting throught he mix so you can be heard easily. However, they can be pretty noisy if attracting interference from nearby power sources.

Humbuckers in turn are two singlecoils wired with each other. They are generally more powerful, gives a fatter sound and more sustain. However, the price is less sustain and treble.

Now, what are P90s? A P90 is basically a larger singlecoil. Which means you get a more powerful singlecoil and something that's close to a humbucker. With this pickup, it'll be easier to cover the heavier stuff as well as cleaner

songs. It'll be ideal for me 'cos I play in church. Imagine going from praise

songs (King of Majesty) to worship songs (Over the mountains).





I had a hard time choosing between this and a Telecaster. I guess the humbucker equiped at the bridge attracted me. Sure you can get a humbucker custom fitted onto your Telecaster but I just happen to like this one too. This my friends is the Fender Cyclone Deluxe. It looks a lil bit like the guitar Kurt Cobain designed himself which is the Jag-Stang. Anyway this axe has an alder body, maple neck, singlecoil at the neck, humbucker at the bridge, master tone and volume controls and a vintage-style synchronised tremolo.

The best-selling Fender guitar is no doubt the Fender Stratocaster. Well, I want something out of the usual and this looks like it! A humbucker at the bridge and a singlecoil at the neck is enough for me. The yellow grafitti colour represents something very youthful. Definitely my taste!

This is the Taylor 414ce. But actually if you ask me, I would accept any Taylor offered to me because well...its a Taylor! Nothing beats a Taylor except maybe a Martin.

The model I chosen here has a grand auditorium body, Sitka Spruce top, Ovangkol back and sides and a mahogany neck. According to the website, Ovangkol has properties of the more expensive hardwood, Rosewood. This guitar is also fitted with the Taylor Expression System which is a pickup developed by Taylor themselves. From the picture, it looks really simple - one bass control, one treble control, and one volume control. However, from what I heard it sounds damn good and also has less feedback compared to active pre-amps.

I chose this model because it has a beautiful looking Ovangkol body (Kit would beg to differ). It also looks like Adrianne (a Taylor copy which I sayang very much). Also,

its body shape and choice of woods makes this ideal for the

fingerpicking and medium strummer type of guitarist. A

dreadnought would appeal more to me because I'm a more

heavy strummer. However, I dare not sacrifice too much

on the volume of individual strings being plucked. =)