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Hello
everyone, It’s
been another 4 months since my last rambling. I hope everybody’s keeping
well. Christmas
has come and gone and a new year beckons. I thank God for seeing my
through another year. I’m amazed and humbled by His love and provision. It
wasn’t an easy decision for me to decide to work on guitars full time and
there’s been moments where I literally sweated bullets but I never looked
back after I took the plunge. I
would also like to thank all my clients for their business and support. It
has been fun and rewarding to work on guitars for folks who appreciate
your experience, time and effort. Thank you guys!!! Thank
God the Skreddy pedals are a hit with the local
musicians. 7 of the 8 pedals ordered were pre-sold and the one remaining
Screw Driver was sold the weekend the pedals arrived. I’m thrilled to know
that some of the Skreddy owners are over the moon with their pedals. Marc
is definitely onto something special. Watch out for more Skreddy products
in the future. Since
my last rambling, there have been some changes with regards to my personal
gear. I sold my personal Reverend Avenger. I’d raved about this guitar
before and my opinions still stands. I just felt it was time to move on.
I’m glad the Avenger is in the hands of someone who appreciates her tone
and playability. 4
months after receiving my Gries
35, I'm glad to say that the honeymoon's not over yet. I’m still
amazed by the wonderful tones I’m getting with the amp. I’ve tried many
guitars thru the amp and all of them sounded fantastic!!! My many repair
clients share this observation as well. I’m both grateful and thankful for
my personal gear. I’m truly spoilt by them. Since
selling my Reverend Avenger, I’ve decided to custom assemble an electric
guitar for myself. 2 of my clients went along with me and one of the guys
have his guitar all done up and is very pleased with the quality of wood,
amazing assembly/set up work and wonderful tones he’s coaxing out of his
custom guitar. As of today, I’m still awaiting my personal neck and body
to arrive. I
get all my custom necks and bodies from a very reputable supplier in the
U.S. whose willing to work with me on some special requirements. All
components of the guitars are top notch. I will not scrimp and save on
parts or cut corners. The default tuners are staggered Gotoh/Klusons, CTS
pots, CRL switches, Orange Drop or Mallory caps, Callaham or Gotoh trem
assembly. These are the same stuff as most boutique builders use. I’ve
never been associated with average or generic products/work and I don’t
intend to start anytime soon. I’m
tentatively marketing the guitars as NosNuma guitars. NosNuma is a loose
Greek translation meaning Kindred Spirits. I would like to think of my
instruments as kindred spirit to the musicians who plays them. I’ve got
very exacting specifications for NosNuma guitars and will not compromise
my “vision” of the electric guitar. Please
feel free to e-mail me on questions about NosNuma guitars.
Last
but not least, a heartfelt thanks to my past, present and future clients
for their business, support and friendship. Happy
New Year everyone, Malcolm December
28, 06 |
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Hello
everyone, It’s
been 4 months since my last rambling. I hope everybody’s keeping
well. Some
of you may know what’s been going on with me in terms of my personal
guitar gear. Needless to say, there's been some major changes and
it's been a while since I’m so excited about guitar stuff. I’ve been
fortunate to have seen and played through a lot of quality gear and
nothing fazes me these days. I would like to think that I know what
will work for me and I’ve found my tone. I’m
a huge fan of
Reverend
products and for the longest time, I’ve been extolling the virtues of
their discontinued amps. The Reverend
Kingsnake
and Goblin
amps are to me still one of the best amps if not the best amp one can get
for the price. I’ve
been more than happy with my personal
Kingsnake
amp but at the back of my mind, I would still love to own a high quality
hand made amp. Well,
“Providence” provided me with an opportunity to have the amp of my dreams.
In a moment of folly, I’d sold my personal
Kingsnake
amp to a repair client of mine. I had the most grievous bout of seller’s
remorse upon selling the amp. I tried buying back the amp to no avail. I
still have a Reverend
Goblin
in stock but my hunt for a boutique 1X12” combo began. I need a 1X12”
combo for my repair work as basses don’t generally sound good through a
1X10” combo. I
had several specific requirements for my “dream” amp. The amp has to be
point-to-point wired with quality components. The amp should preferably be
a single channel, single input model with reverb and master volume. The
amp should take either 6L6 or 6V6 power tubes. Last but not least, my
budget is US$1,600 excluding shipping bearing in mind shipping by any of
the big 3 courier services namely Fed Ex, UPS or DHL would set
one back by at least another US$500 so we’re talking about a pretty large
chunk of change. I’d
short-listed the following amps for consideration. First on my list is the
40 watt
Fargen
Blackbird.
I’ve read wonderful comments on Ben’s amp and have been following his
success through the years. Next on my list is the
Alessandro
Rottweiler.
The last amp on my list is the
Top Hat Super
Deluxe. Of
the 3 amps, the
Alessandro
Rottweiler
fits my requirements to a T. The
Fargen
Blackbird
lacks a master volume while the
Top Hat Super
Deluxe
lacks reverb. I
was more or less decided on the
Alessandro
Rottweiler
when I read about
Gries
amps in some guitar forum. After some research and many correspondences
with Dave Gries, I bit the bullet on his
Gries
35
model. The Gries
35
is a better-built amp in terms of cabinet construction and components
compared to the
Alessandro
Rottweiler.
On top of being a
Gries
owner, Dave and I also worked out a dealership arrangement. I’m proud and
excited to represent
Gries
amps in our part of the world. I
received my
Gries
35
early this week. Upon unpacking the amp, I was struck by how handsome the
amp looked. The blonde tolex matches the salt and pepper grill perfectly.
I understand from Dave Gries, he’ll be using a gold grill cloth and my amp
is the last of the salt and pepper grill cloth. What sold me on the Reverend Kingsnake was the really high clean headroom. I didn’t think any amp under US$1,600 could sound better or cleaner than the Kingsnake Well, I'm glad I was wrong!!! I'd requested Dave to stock the amp with
Electro-Harmonix preamp tubes, SED/Winged C 6L6s
and a JJ 5AR4 tube
rectifier . Mys
Gries 35 is a definite
keeper and she’s here to stay!!! God
bless, Malcolm August 18, 06 |
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Hey
all, It’s
been months since my last rambling. I hope everybody’s keeping
well. I’ve
been busy with church activities, guitar repairs and traveling. I would
like to thank all my clients for their support and referrals. It’s
encouraging to know that there’s a greater appreciation for professional
guitar maintenance, repair and restoration. I also find a growing
awareness for boutique gear among local musicians. Since
my last rambling, I’ve discovered a whole new tonal dimension by stacking
one overdrive or OD for short pedal into another. From a mild rhythm grind
to searing lead lines, the tonal possibilities are endless. No more
getting a good rhythm tone which can’t cut it for lead or getting a thick
sustaining lead tone which is way too much gain or too “muddy” for rhythm
work. Like
most musicians, I’m plagued by the occasional G.A.S. – gear acquisition
syndrome, attack. I’ve been on an OD/Distortion binge and have finally
settled on what I feel is the “perfect” setup. Many
people consider the venerable Ibanez TS808 or TS9 the benchmark for
overdriven tones. My pet peeve with the afore-mentioned pedals is the ever
present mid hump. I could never dial that away and although many people
find that mid hump “musical”, I find it over prominent and it colors one’s
tone excessively. You can’t hear the true tonal characteristics of your
guitar and amp. My
1st boutique OD pedal was the discontinued
Reverend Drivetrain OD pedal. It had the mid hump albeit slight compared
to the TS808 or TS9. I thought I’d found THE pedal. A couple of months
later, an acquaintance of mine turned me unto a new OD pedal that Dave
Barber
had built for him. It was still in the prototype stage but Dave was kind
enough to build me one. The pedal in question is the present day
Barber Direct
Drive.
Boy
oh boy. Did the hand script prototype Barber DD rock my boat!!! It had
even less mid hump than the Drivetrain. I promptly sold off the
Drivetrain. About a year later, Dave came out with the Direct Drive Super
Sport model. The Super Sport model had 4 internal trim pots that allows
for further tweaking. I was sold and ordered a Direct Drive Super Sport
with an additional “Clear Blues Mode”. Upon arrival of the custom shop
DDSS, I sold my hand script prototype DD. I
was in the honeymoon period with the custom shop DDSS for a long time.
Then, I’ve been using the “British” channel of my single channel tube amp
to get the high gain lead tones with all my OD boxes. However, that was a
compromise as I’m not able to dial in a clean rhythm tone in that setting.
After playing all my previous and then present OD boxes, I found none of
them gave me the true tonal characteristic of my guitar and amp. They all
added a certain warmth or upper mid frequency to my tone. In short, none
of them were transparent. I
realized the common denominator in all my OD boxes then was they’re all
op-amp based and that was the culprit for the ever present mid hump
although I was able to dial most of it out with the DDSS. I then searched
the Net for a non op-amp based OD pedal. I
took a chance and ordered my 1st
Germanium/Transistor OD/Fuzz box in the form of the highly raved but
discontinued
Tonefactor HellBilly.
I’d read in Internet forums how well the HellBilly stacks into an OD pedal
and I was very keen to try it out. Well, the HellBilly arrived after a
couple of weeks and I was stoked by the pedal! It was the most transparent
pedal I’ve tried and the EQ actually works. The one thing that really blew
me away was how touch sensitive the pedal was and how well it cleans up.
The HellBilly was also quieter than the DDSS at similar gain output.
I
could finally use the “Blackface” channel on my tube amp using the
HellBilly stacking into the DDSS. However, the slight mid hump of the DDSS
was “exaggerated” alongside the HellBilly and that got under my skin after
a while. A repair client of mine has been wanting my custom shop DDSS for
the longest time happened to send me his newest instrument purchase
for a once over and guess what, he went home with the custom shop
DDSS. I
finally came to a conclusion that op-amp based OD/Fuzz pedals are not my
cup of tea. I’ve been reading a lot of wonderful things about this new guy
on the block who makes really awesome sounding pedals. I visited his
webpage and fell in love with the tones I heard on-line. Marc Ahlfs custom
makes
Skreddy
pedals. After a couple of e-mails with Marc, I bit the bullet and ordered
a
Screw
Driver. After
2 months with the Screw Driver, I am still bowled over by the pedal. It’s
everything I want in an OD box. Extremely touch sensitive, quiet, and with
a dynamic EQ range. This is the best OD pedal I’ve heard period! I'm sold
on Skreddy pedals. I’d originally wanted the Skreddy
Top
Fuel
but Marc convinced me to go with his Screw Driver. A buddy of mine came over to check out both the
HellBilly and Screw Driver. He went home with the HellBilly. As I’ve
always been keen to check out the Top Fuel, I ordered one with the cutting
mids option. I understand from Marc he modeled the Top Fuel after the
recent lead tones of Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour. Expect liquid, searing
tones with articulation. So
now, I’m in tonal nirvana with the Top Fuel stacking into the Screw
Driver. I can get a wide array of OD/Fuzz tones. For the sake of
disclosure, my other pedal is the critically acclaimed
RMC Picture
Wah. My
next pedal purchase would be an analog delay pedal. I don’t think the
search would ever end:) God
bless, Malcolm April 18, 06 |
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Hey
all, It’s
been slightly over a month since my last rambling. I hope everybody’s
keeping well. I’ve
been pondering on what to write, as I would like this page to be both
informative and educational. I’d originally intended to do a blog of sorts
but I don’t think a lot of people would like to hear my personal thoughts
and opinions although what I’ve been sharing here has been fairly
personal. It’s
been a slow month and I had the opportunity to do a lot of reading. A few
nights ago, I came across an interesting article in a past issue of
“Guitarmaker” magazine, a quarterly lutherie publication by
A.S.I.A.
The Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans. The
article raised the following questions. Who’s a luthier? And what does it
take to be one?
Erwin Somogyi ,
the author is a highly respected and successful luthier whose flat top
acoustic guitars starts at USD16,000. My
acoustic construction instructor at Roberto-Venn once commented that one
shouldn’t be considered a luthier until one has successfully and
consistently built at least 20 or was it 30 high quality instruments.
Anyway, I remember being intimidated by what he said but that didn’t stop
me from calling myself a luthier on my business card as soon as I started
shop upon my return to Singapore. Is
it a misrepresentation when someone who’d assembled a kit guitar or taken
a class in a guitarmaking school markets oneself a luthier? At what point
can one legitimately and credibly call oneself a luthier?
In
certain European countries, one has to complete years of rigid academic
curriculum and protocol before they can hang out their shingle as a
luthier. However, in most countries, there’s no form of accreditation per
se or a special governing/review board that decides if one has met the
requirements and qualifies to be a luthier. Then again, lutherie covers
such a wide scope of skills that it’s almost impossible to sufficiently
narrow down the ten most important skills to have. Erwin
brought up a few working models/scenarios in lutherie and went on to
ascertain if any “true” lutherie is taking place. The
1st scenario was can someone still be considered a luthier if he does all
the woodwork and assembly but farms out the finishing to another
individual? In the author’s opinion, neither both can be considered
luthiers in their own right because neither can function independent of
the other. How
about a situation where a master craftsman supervises the construction of
guitars and is solely responsible for everything that happens in the shop
but has an apprentice helping make the parts and basically do all the
grunt work. Is the master craftsman then doing lutherie given that he has
an apprentice helping out? In
Erwin’s opinion, the answer is yes. The master craftsman is never far from
the action so to speak and there’s a distinction in rank. The apprentice
is essentially doing serial piecework and has no authority to make changes
in the guitarmaking process. The
3rd scenario is where a group of like-minded individuals come together to
build their own guitars and they also help each other out. In this case,
all are luthiers because they build their instruments from start to finish
and none specializes in any aspect of the work. The
4th and final scenario is a small custom shop where there’s a boss and
several employees. Everyone is involved in building the guitars but
there’s a distinction in rank and it’s involves more of teamwork than a
co-operative relationship as described above.
Are they all luthiers
then? The author concluded that it’s irrelevant in this case, as it would
depend on the shop culture. In most small shops, all the employees are
rotated on a regular basis so no one is indispensable except maybe for the
finishing guy. It takes years of experience to be able to finish the
guitar. From
the above distinctions between luthiers and non-luthiers, we can now look
at the competence question. What does a luthier need to know in order to
survive competently and honestly? Erwin
feels that the following qualities are pre-requisites for a fellow luthier
and I agree with him. To
know how to assemble a guitar from start to
finishing. To
have knowledge of the working possibilities of the
materials. To
have a grasp of voicing, plate dynamics, and guitar
acoustics. To
know the basic repair procedures for fixing cracks, fractures, pulled
bridges, warped necks, frets and action work, finish touch ups and
refinishing. To
have a sense of professionalism which includes a genuine respect and
appreciation for the work, the clients, one’s fellow workers and peers,
the tools, the instruments and the materials. To
recognize one’s limitations. To
keep one’s commitment, promises, deadlines, pricing quotes and word as
much as possible. To
own up to one’s mistake and miscalculations without
attitude. Never,
under any circumstances whatsoever, knowingly lie or rip off anyone. This
includes behaviors such as telling different people different things about
the same set of circumstances. To
maintain and cultivate an attitude of openness and willingness to learn
until the day one dies or gets rich, whichever comes
first. In
closing, anyone who does the above can be qualified to call oneself a
luthier. Malcolm October 27, 05 |
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Hello
again, It’s
been a while since my last update. I talked about my acoustic guitars the
last time and I’ll continue on about my electric gear. Although I enjoy
building acoustic guitars, I’m not much of an acoustic player and prefer
playing the electric guitar. I’ve
been very fortunate to have played, worked on and owned a plethora of
boutique guitars. I’ve thinned my herd considerably and am down to have my
present 2 electrics the past 5 years. They are my
James Tyler Classic
and Reverend
Avenger. I’ve
never been a fan of the venerable Stratocaster and have never owned a top
routed Strat-style model until I bought my Tyler Classic, I think in 2000.
I tried all the Rosewood board Tylers the dealer had in stock and was
planning to give the only Maple board model a miss because my impression
then was a Maple board Strat would sound very bright. Well, I’m really
glad I tried the Maple board Tyler because the guitar proved me wrong.
None of the Tylers got my attention but within 5 minutes of playing the
Maple board Tyler, I knew then I’ve found my “perfect” Strat. The guitar
had the chime, clarity and quack associated with a vintage Strat. The
guitar actually played and sounded better than the vintage Fender Strats
the Tyler dealer had then. I
wasn’t even actively searching for the “perfect” Strat but have tried
several boutique Strats prior to checking out the Tylers. This is the
perfect example of how the special guitar finds us rather than the other
way round. It is important to keep an open mind when checking out an
instrument and listen to the guitar. The sad reality is most people shop
for guitars with their eyes rather than their ears. My
Tyler Classic fits my bill as the “perfect” Strat-style guitar. It sports
a 2-piece Alder body with a 2- tone sunburst finish and a thick and chunky
quarter sawn Maple board and neck, which is cut from the same board so the
grain matches. The Maple board is fretted with my favorite 6105 fretwire.
The pickups are supposedly
John Suhr
V60s,
which I’d paid extra. The tremolo is also my favorite
Wilkinson/Gotoh VSVG model
. A
lot of people are under the impression that a Maple board guitar will
sound brighter than a Rosewood board but I beg to differ. I find Maple
board to be thicker and warmer sounding with an upper midrange emphasis
while Rosewood board has better articulation and more emphasis in the
treble and bass. Those folks who feel Maple boards impart a brighter tone
are actually hearing the thick lacquer that some manufacturers coat on
their Maple fingerboard/necks. I’ve come to prefer a lightly finished
Maple board with single coil pickups and opted for this option with my
personal Avenger. I’m
a huge fan of Reverend products of which I’m a dealer. As mentioned in my
“Shop” page, “I will not represent a brand unless I’m absolutely bowled
over by their products.” My
2001 Avenger has the older and chunkier “Eastpointe” neck. Some people
equate slim necks as a more comfortable and fast but in reality, a thicker
neck is more comfortable and one experiences less finger fatigue. It may
take a while to get used to the girth of a thicker neck but once you get
used to it, there’s no looking back. I love my Avenger for its tonal versatility and weight. Everybody who’d tried the guitar is impressed by the chime, clarity and quack of the guitar. I personally feel it’s sounds more Strat-like than all the Fender guitars I’d worked on. I almost never use the tremolo and am glad to have a fixed bridge. I’m still amazed by the tones and playability of the instrument even after 4 years. I actually play the Avenger more than the Tyler. Unfortunately, Reverend no longer produces the Avenger model, which I personally feel is a real shame. Anyway, it’s Joe Naylor’s call and it’s his company.
I plug both guitars into a Reverend Kingsnake 20-60 1X12" combo. The amp utilizes a pair of 6L6 power tubes, which I've also come to prefer. When I started playing the guitar, I was only concerned for the dirty tones from the amp and didn't bother about the clean tones. However, I've come to realize that a good clean tone should be the ofundation. The signal path of a single channel tube amp is purer and direct sounding. The Kingsnake has amazing clean tones with high headroom. Like all Reverend amps, the Kingsnake does not break up at stage volume at the U.S. setting. I've yet to try a cleaner sounding amp than the Reverend amps which again is unfortunately discontinued. A
lot of folks don’t realize that the amp plays a more important role in
getting a good tone rather than the guitar. I’ve known guys who spend
money upgrading their pickups and electronics on their Les Paul or PRS but
play thru a transistor amp. That just doesn’t make sense to me. Not all
tube amps are built equally but one definitely experience tonal nirvana
when the guitar is plugged into the right tube amp. Nothing can replicate
the warmth and punchy tones of a tube amp. I’m
a minimalist when it comes to effects. I only have the discontinued
Barber Electronics Direct
Drive Super Sport with clear Blues mode option and the widely acclaimed
RMC Picture Wah .
I use only
Evidence Audio and
George L’s
cables.
Again, most people neglect the importance of good quality cables. I
personally prefer transparent sounding cable. Some cables do color the
tone of the amp and guitar and I avoid them like the
plague. I’ve
rambled enough and I hope you find the above information
useful. Malcolm Tan Sept 10, 05 |
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Hey
all, To kick off
the inaugural “rambling” post, I figured I would talk about my personal
gear. My personal
acoustics are my non-cutaway Brazilian Rosewood OM and Maccaferri style
cutaway curly Koa OM models as seen in the “Gallery”
page. The Brazilian
Rosewood back and sides were Christmas present from the
de Jonges
and the
guitar holds a very special place in my heart. I gave my 110% while building
the guitar and the clean lines and fine joinery reflect that. The guitar is
complimented with a German Spruce top, bound Ebony fingerboard and bridge
with South American Mahogany neck. The nut and saddle are carved from bone
and the headstock is capped with a piece of figured Brazilian Rosewood. All the woods
used in the construction of the above guitars were air-dried. Most mass
produced guitar on the other hand are kiln dried. So what’s the difference
then?? Wood is
hygroscopic by nature meaning it readily absorbs moisture from the
atmosphere. Wood shrinks as it loses moisture and swells as it gains
moisture. When the tree is downed and sawn into boards, the lumber is
still relatively “wet” and unstable. The wood will distort when subjected
to the slightest change in humidity or temperature. That’s why all
woodworkers need the lumber to be cured and stabilized to a specific
moisture content before working with the wood. Both air
and kiln drying are means to an end. Kiln drying can be described as
controlled air-drying. The lumber is stored in an insulated area where dry,
hot air is circulated to cure or dry out the wood. Kiln drying is a lot
faster than air-drying because forced convection is used. Air-drying, on the
other hand, is letting Mother Nature do the work and it takes years for the
wood to dry out naturally. After receiving their lumber from the suppliers,
most reputable builders kiln dry their wood between 6-12 months before using
them. However, some larger manufacturers kiln dry their lumber for only 2-4
months before using the wood at the risk of using less stable material. When the
lumber is kiln-dried, the cells within the wood dry out. However, they will
still be able to absorb moisture. It is different when the lumber is
air-dried. The cells within the wood actually dry out and crystallize during
this process. That’s why air-dried lumber is more resistant to moisture than
kiln dried lumber and consequentially more expensive. However, it
is not practical and cost effective for mass manufacturers to use
air-dried woods for their instrument. They cost more than kiln dried woods
and are not readily available in large quantities. Wow, what
started as a gear introduction ended up as a discourse in lumber and
humidity. I hope the above information is useful. Malcolm Tan July 24, 05 |