Afiqme

This blog has been moved to guitar.afiqme.com

afiqme@afiqme.com (Afiqme) — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 01:27:00 +0000

This blog has been moved to http://guitar.afiqme.com. You will be redirected to the new links in 20 seconds.

Thank you!

Downfall to Ember city

afiqme@afiqme.com (Afiqme) — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 02:53:00 +0000

Afiqme "Downfall to Ember city" mp3 album

Tracklist:
1. Chasing you
2. Downfall to Ember city
3. Can't stand for love
4. Night walk
5. Mystical kingdom
6. Penyakit hati
7. Easy

Download: Click here!

Don't miss out Afiqme's latest news & articles, subscribe to this blog today.

The difference between steel strings acoustic guitar and classical guitar

afiqme@afiqme.com (Afiqme) — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 01:42:00 +0000

Most guitarists still confuse to differentiate between classical and acoustic guitar. If you're playing most pop songs then you should go for acoustic guitar. Classical guitar is more suitable for playing classical music.

Classical guitar
- Use only with nylon strings.
- The neck is a lot wider and flatter.
- Played with fingers and thumb.
- The body of classical guitar is slightly smaller than standard steel strings acoustic guitar.
- Sounds mellow and less bright.

Acoustic guitar
- Uses steel strings to sound brighter when strumming.
- Usually use pin bridge.
- Narrower fretboard.
- Solid headstock.

Don't miss out Afiqme's latest news & articles, subscribe to this blog today.

Mr. Khalid and his Toyama guitar

afiqme@afiqme.com (Afiqme) — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 05:12:00 +0000

Guys, let me introduce you to Mr. Khalid and here is the picture of him and his Toyama guitar. This guitar needs to realign the floyd rose screw holes and install Seymour Duncan JB pickup on bridge.

Don't miss out Afiqme's latest news & articles, subscribe to this blog today.

Fina FAW-2038CEQTRS

afiqme@afiqme.com (Afiqme) — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 00:38:00 +0000

Last night I worked on a nice quality Fina FAW-2038CEQTRS acoustic electric guitar. You can visit their website at finaguitar.com.tw. I believe this guitar is Taiwan made. The C on the model name stands for 'Cutaway', EQ for 'EQ system' and TRS for 'Tobacco red sunburst finish'.

This guitar has great playability, super low action and very nice looking. I can't comment much about the sound since I don't have any specialty Acoustic amplifier here. But I've tested the electronic system with my electric amplifier just to make sure the system work.

As usual, I cleaned, polished and restring it after my work done. The guitar is now ready to be pick!

Don't miss out Afiqme's latest news & articles, subscribe to this blog today.

MEGADETH - BLOOD IN THE WATER: LIVE IN SAN DIEGO

afiqme@afiqme.com (Afiqme) — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 01:41:00 +0000

MEGADETH - BLOOD IN THE WATER: LIVE IN SAN DIEGO

Sleepwalker

Wake up dead

Take no prisoners

Skin O' my teeth

Washington is next!

Kick the chair

In my darkest hour

Hangar 18

Burnt ice

A tout le monde

Tornado of souls

Ashes in your mouth

Symphony of destruction

Trust

Peace sells

Holy wars

Don't miss out Afiqme's latest news & articles, subscribe to this blog today.

Guitar wallpaper

afiqme@afiqme.com (Afiqme) — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 02:22:00 +0000

Download 1024x768

Don't miss out Afiqme's latest news & articles, subscribe to this blog today.

TRS locking tremolo saddle

afiqme@afiqme.com (Afiqme) — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 19:40:00 +0000

Found 1 on guitarpartsdepot.com but this will cost me $16 not including shipping and I'm sure will have to add at least $10 for it.

Ibanez bridge systems especially those tremolos always come with their own designs, specs and this make us harder to find a replacement parts if broken. Plus it is more expensive than the original floyd rose parts. Luckily I have to replace only 1 saddle. This is one great reason why I always prefer standard spec bridge and hardware.

Don't miss out Afiqme's latest news & articles, subscribe to this blog today.

Raise up the neck for low action setup

afiqme@afiqme.com (Afiqme) — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 14:52:00 +0000

I had a problem when trying to setup the RG. I can't get my fav low action setup even after adjusted the bridge height. I have to raise up the neck by adding a plywood in between the neck and the body attachment. Then only I can have my low action setup!

It looks good even though I'm no good working with plywood. Heh!

I sanded the self cut plywood and glue it with wood glue. I screw back the neck and the body and restring the guitar. And finally, here's the new problem....

One of the tremolo saddle got broke! I don't even have spare one, so again I have to hold my job. Huh!

Don't miss out Afiqme's latest news & articles, subscribe to this blog today.

New guitar to work out... Ibanez RG series

afiqme@afiqme.com (Afiqme) — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 01:45:00 +0000

New guitar for me to work out! Ibanez RG series, made in Korea given by a good friend. I've searched net to get info of the year manufactured for Ibanez, but the serial no printed behind the headstock can't tell anything. It says 4120711. Usually the first two numbers will tell the year guitar been manufactured. But built in 1941 doesn't make sense. Heh!

Eeyyy yucks!

Specs

Model: RG370
Body: Basswood
Neck: Maple
Frets: 24 jumbo frets
Pickups: H-S-H Powersound
Bridge: Takeuchi TRS Trem
Controls: 1 volume & 1 master tone

I've done truss rod adjustment, wiring, cleaning and polishing the guitar last night. And tonight will done the full setup. Ok, time to go to work. See ya guys!

Don't miss out Afiqme's latest news & articles, subscribe to this blog today.

Seymour Duncan vs DiMarzio vs EMG. What do you think?

afiqme@afiqme.com (Afiqme) — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 11:09:00 +0000

I always believe in Seymour Duncan pickups. I've tried from the big low end 'Invader', super warm 'Hot Rails', tight bite 'JB' and vintage staggered. All of them have their own unique characters but my first choice is always JB. The new Blackout gives you very good metal sounding.

I've also used EMG before, it sounds great for drop tune but in standard, it sounds muddy, thin and weak. The only EMG model that I prefer is EMG 60, produced nice clean sound and great for solo. For DiMarzio, the only model that I've tried is the HS-2 and it sounds not bad but I think Duncan is warmer.

Don't miss out Afiqme's latest news & articles, subscribe to this blog today.

Checking in.. no.2

afiqme@afiqme.com (Afiqme) — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 02:29:00 +0000

Now we're in the mid of February. I'm still focusing on upgrading my guitars. Time to time I've to update my wanted list.

Guitar pickups still on the top of the list. 1 mid pickup for my Fender. Probably would go for Seymour Duncan Vintage Rails or Vintage Staggered. For my Jackson and LTD, my choices will be Duncan Distortion, JB or Blackout for the bridge and 59' or Jazz for the neck replacement.

For now I have to hold buying recording gears. Even though it makes me stuck from doing better recording, but my guitars always come first. They have to be perfect according to what I want.

Don't miss out Afiqme's latest news & articles, subscribe to this blog today.

Guitar nut

afiqme@afiqme.com (Afiqme) — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 17:43:00 +0000

Material used for guitar nut does affect the guitar tone. Most of guitarists would prefer bone nuts because it simply sounds better than others such as plastic, brass and graphite.

Further reading at Cleverjoe's Musician Resources.

Photo taken from Standardvalue.com.sg

Don't miss out Afiqme's latest news & articles, subscribe to this blog today.

Wallpaper of my Fender Stratocaster

afiqme@afiqme.com (Afiqme) — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 15:23:00 +0000

I made a wallpaper of my Fender Stratocaster.
Wallpaper sized 1024 x 768.

Download

Don't miss out Afiqme's latest news & articles, subscribe to this blog today.

Loose guitar strap button screwhole

afiqme@afiqme.com (Afiqme) — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 01:13:00 +0000

The strap button screw hole at the back had already loose. I jammed some toothpicks inside the hole and applied wood glue on it.

I use Titebond wood glue. I leave it dried overnight. The next day, I trimmed and sanded the surface a bit before install back the strap button. Job done!

Don't miss out Afiqme's latest news & articles, subscribe to this blog today.

Checking in..

afiqme@afiqme.com (Afiqme) — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 13:39:00 +0000

PC got problem! I'm not sure whether it's virus or what. Luckily all my works and data been saved at the secondary hard disk. Thank God!

I've done minor repair on my Fender this morning. The strap screw hole at the back had already loose. I'll post few pics with details on the next post. Ok guys, see ya, my PC is waiting!

Don't miss out Afiqme's latest news & articles, subscribe to this blog today.

Gotoh tuners on my Jackson

afiqme@afiqme.com (Afiqme) — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 03:27:00 +0000

Somebody please tell me I'm wrong! After replaced old tuners with new Gotoh tuners on my Jackson, it not only improve tuning stability, but I detected improvement of the sound. It maybe because the new tuners hold the strings tight (the old one loose a bit) so the strings less vibrated and resulted solid sound. Well, whatever it is, at least I'm happy the guitar now stays in tune most of the time. Special thanks to Vulcan X for the great deal of the tuners.

Don't miss out Afiqme's latest news & articles, subscribe to this blog today.

Duncan Distortion and Glen Drover M-1000 guitar specs

afiqme@afiqme.com (Afiqme) — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 03:06:00 +0000

I just bought Gotoh tuning pegs set yesterday and today I'm going to install it on my Jackson for more tuning stability.

I'm still eyeing few Duncan pickups. Now I'm really interested to listen the Duncan Distortion sound. As far as I know, Glen Drover (ex-Megadeth) uses this pickup on bridge combines with 59' on neck. Some fellas in the Duncan forum said that Duncan Distortion is basically a JB pickup with large Ceramic magnet (JB is Alnico V). It sounds tighter and screaming high. If I'm going to get this, I'm sure it will be fit in my LTD M-200 which I've been thinking past few days to follow the Glen's M-1000 guitar specs. So then I have Mustaine and Glen's guitars at home. Heh!

Glen Drover M-1000 guitar specs:

Body: Alder
Neck: Maple, Set-thru neck, 43mm neck width
Scale: 25.5"
Fingerboard: Rosewood
Frets: 24 XJ frets
Tuners: Grover
Bridge: Floyd Rose
Pickups: Seymour Duncan Distortion (bridge) & 59' (neck)

Don't miss out Afiqme's latest news & articles, subscribe to this blog today.

DiMarzio 500k pot

afiqme@afiqme.com (Afiqme) — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 20:19:00 +0000

Guys, I've just replaced the jammed volume pot on my M-200 with DiMarzio 500k pot. Nothing special actually, it just that I can play with the volume right now.

My good friend, Wahi had tested out the guitar today and it's great to hear nice feedbacks from him. Stable floyd rose, low action setup and screaming pickups make it a great piece of gear for guitar player.

Don't miss out Afiqme's latest news & articles, subscribe to this blog today.

Epiphone Wilshire reissue 2006 another piece of Khalid's guitar collection

afiqme@afiqme.com (Afiqme) — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 19:50:00 +0000

Khalid, the owner of the Yamaha SGV800 guitar that I reviewed last time showed up his another gears of war, Epiphone Wilshire reissue 2006.

This is another great guitar from my personal collection (besides the Yamaha SGV800 that was established on this blog earlier).

This China made guitar is surprisingly good for the money that I had to fork over. The Grover tuners keep the instrument in tune most of the time for any vigorous bending or vibrato. The neck is slender and consists of 22 frets rosewood fingerboard with pearl block inlays. Set-neck construction, lightweight asymmetrical Mahogany body. The bridge pickup has been replaced with a gnarly Samick humbucker pickup.

Autographed by Jerry Felix. An overall satisfying instrument, although this particular model has been modified unintentionally to be suitable for Heavy Rock. I wanted it to suit my playing more, but instead, I turned it into a screaming demon!
-Khalid

Don't miss out Afiqme's latest news & articles, subscribe to this blog today.

Change out your humbucker pickup magnet!

afiqme@afiqme.com (Afiqme) — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 14:01:00 +0000

Don't like your guitar pickup sound? Wanna change tone and feel of the pickup and how it reacts in your guitar?

Change out your humbucker pickup magnet!

You'll save more $$ rather than buying a new pickup. There are few choices of magnets:

Alnico II - Warm, sweet and smooth.
Alnico V - Tight and brighter than the Alnico II.
Ceramic - Tight, strong tone and powerful output.

Vintage and classic players like Slash use Alnico II for warmer tone, Dave Mustaine of Megadeth uses Alnico V and most modern players go for ceramic magnet pickup. You may try and see which sound the best for you! It's so easy to do... visit the web below

How To Change Out A Humbucking Bar Magnet

Photos taken from ESP forum

Don't miss out Afiqme's latest news & articles, subscribe to this blog today.

Ivanka

afiqme@afiqme.com (Afiqme) — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 16:42:00 +0000

Guys, I had just finished working on my LTD M-200 which I called her 'Ivanka' (heh.. all my baby got their name!).

Firstly, I removed all the strings and workout on the neck. I thought one of the screw holes has already loose but after I removed all the screws, I just realized two of the screws are not the original screws. The screws are too short to grip the neck tightly. Luckily I got few screws and straight away replaced them.

After that I tighten up the tuning pegs to make the tune more stable. This is one of my 'must do' procedure every time I do restringing. But make sure not too tight or it will scratch the paint.

Then I applied lemon oil and wipe the fingerboard with clean cloth to clean up the fretboard. This is my favourite thing to do which you can see your fingerboard shine and alive. But never apply the lemon oil on maple fingerboard.

Next, I restring the guitar with my fav string set D'addario EXL120 9-42 gauge. The next step, tuning and readjust the spring tension are the most pain things to do with floyd rose system. You have to be patient and readjust it slowly to make sure the tremolo bridge straight and stable. One of the guitar tech told me it's always better to start tuning the D strings followed by high strings below. The A and low E are the last strings to be tune. This is simply because the low strings will effect the tremolo bridge drastically. So if you start with the low strings, it will be harder for you to get the bridge straight and stable.

And always, don't forget to give a final cleaning touch to your lovely baby!

Don't miss out Afiqme's latest news & articles, subscribe to this blog today.

LTD M-200 Made in Korea

afiqme@afiqme.com (Afiqme) — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 03:39:00 +0000

Folks, I've already bought the LTD M-200. Neck and body are OK but there are still few things need to be repair. Last night I'd adjusted the truss rod to straighten the neck and this morning I do some wiring to make the neck pickup alive. Volume pot jammed but still can be use, it just that you cannot turn down the volume.

The neck is bolt on and 1 screw hole has already loose. So I'm going to do little woodwork to make it tight again. But I have to hold it right now because it's time to go to work! See ya!

LTD M-200 specs
Made in Korea

Body: Basswood
Fingerboard: Rosewood
Neck: Maple
Scale: 25.5"
Frets: 24 XJ frets
Pickups: Duncan Designed
Bridge: Licensed Floyd Rose
Hardware: Black

Don't miss out Afiqme's latest news & articles, subscribe to this blog today.

Going for 4th...

afiqme@afiqme.com (Afiqme) — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 14:15:00 +0000

Guys, I'm going out tonight to see the LTD M-200. This one is Korean made, batch before ESP opened up their factory in Indonesia. Hopefully the guitar is still in my acceptable condition. I don't care much about the wiring, pickups and dent. All I care is the neck (hopefully not twisted) and the body will check for crack.

I'm sure all my babies can't wait for their new brother!

Don't miss out Afiqme's latest news & articles, subscribe to this blog today.

Guitar rewiring

afiqme@afiqme.com (Afiqme) — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 15:15:00 +0000

I found a very useful site for you to learn guitar rewiring. It contains all the info and diagrams plus few useful tips and modifications idea.

Check this out...

Guitar rewiring

Don't miss out Afiqme's latest news & articles, subscribe to this blog today.