Long Overdue Updates

So, it’s been a very long time since the last time aku update korang. Well, I’ve been busy. Why? Unless korang follow aku kat facebook, you probably wouldn’t know what’s going on.

Let’s see. Last summer, lepas vacation, aku start belajar main softball. Masuk team company.

Pastu company beli meja ping pon plak. So aku pon start main ping pong. :D

Fall semester pulak, aku masuk class piano kat community college. And my instructor thought that I should skip the most beginning level. So dia masukkan aku ke class yang atas sket. So I had to work extra hard to keep up with the syllabus. I did very well in the class.

Here’s me playing part of the Moonlight Sonata. Tapi ni bukan syllabus class la. Saje gatal. This song is way above my level. But not bad kot, baru bape bulan main. :D

 

Pastu, I got engaged. So, some time in 2012, aku akan balik Malaysia for good to settle down. Because of that aku pon busy shopping. What have I been buying? Let’s see.

That’s Limited Run Gibson Flying V 7-String. I was surprised that it only costs around $1300. Lepas discount dapat dalam $1100. I thought why not? It’s limited production. Pastu feature dia aku blom ada, such as 7-string, EMG pickups, and fixed bridge. Pretty good guitar for the money. I preordered one in July, got it in October kot. Gibson is slow.

After that aku start beli rackmounted gears, like Pod HD Pro, Presonus Studio Channel tube mic preamp etc.

In September I bought a bass, 5-string Spector Legend Classic. I got it for like $500 bucks, and it’s regularly like $750 kot. Not bad for the money.

Late November pulak was Thanksgiving, so the discount would be good. Aku memang plan nak  angkut Gibson Les Paul Standard satu. But then aku jadi tamak. So I went for this Gibson Les Paul Supreme.

Couldn’t help it. This baby is gorgeous. AAAA carved flame maple top, and unlike other Les Pauls, the back is also AAAA carved flame maple. The headstock has some nice inlays too. Interestingly, I bought it on a rainy day in November, so November Rain was the first song that I jam with this baby. :D

As if that’s not enough, the week after that I bought two tube amps: Fender Deluxe Reverb and Line6 DT25 to go with my POD HD, along with a couple of Shure SM57 and Behringer FCB1010 midi pedal. Yup, that was a very costly November.

So yeah, in 2012, I bought 4 guitars, one bass, and a whole bunch of gears. And I’m not done yet. This is my chance to get all the toys that I can get. Still planning to get a few more guitars, an electric drum and other gears.

To save money, in December aku pindah ke area ghetto. :( That way I can save about $400 bucks per month. Moving was very time consuming too.

And then a few weeks ago aku start buat rack case, since I couldn’t find what I want in the market. Check out this album.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10100576789306435.2743752.3407023&type=3&l=616bf76869

Except for the tuner, everything in the rack was bought after July 2011. I still got space for more. :D

 

Future Plans

So yeah, I’ve been very busy learning many different things, buying the toys that I want. And I’m not done yet with those. I haven’t really been playing guitar to be honest.

Skrg aku amik satu lagi class piano, and it seems even harder than before. So I’ll have to focus on that. Tak lama lagi (maybe even this next week) aku akan dapatkan Electronic Drum set. So I’m gonna be learning that too. Not sure if I’ll take a lesson yet.

And then of course aku kena plan my wedding. Kinda hard since I’m here in the US still. Thankfully I have a very understanding fiancé. And we don’t plan to have a big fancy wedding too. The wedding will actually take place about one month after aku sampai kat Malaysia.

So yeah, other things have to be prioritized. Taun lepas aku released dua video jek. Taun ni, maybe tak kot. Paling banyak pon satu jek, probably not until the end of the year kalau sempat. I’ll try to write a few articles, maybe update some pages of the website. But video and TAB take too much time.

So rasanya 2013 baru aku back to full speed. Hopefully as productive as 2010.

Add me on Facebook if you want. You’ll see what I'm up to better.

 

Fender

Oh, sebelum lupa. Actually last year aku beli satu buku pasal history Fender Stratocaster. As an engineer, I was impressed with the innovation that Leo did. The Stratocaster has revolutionized electric guitars as we know it. Think about it. Ibanez JEM and many other great guitars are all variants of stratocaster, which is why they’re called “superstrats”.

And I’ve also become more and more interested in blues. When I get the time later, I’ll spend some time studying it. And aku tak pernah ade influence. But now I think I want to be influenced by Eric Clapton.

I’ve become more and more in love with Strats.

Last year kan aku pegi melawat kilang Taylor. I’ve always complained why Fender tak bukak kilang dia untuk public tours. Rumah aku pulak dalam setengah jam jek dari kilang dorang kat Corona.

Guess what? They posted on facebook that they’re opening it for the public. So I took a few hours off from work to go to the first ever Fender factory public tour. Check out this album.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10100420800394465.2714017.3407023&type=3&l=daab72a3ab

That was so much fun. :D I was so lucky, sikit lagi nak balik Malaysia pastu dorang kasi visit pulak. Cantek.

I’ve been there like 3 times so far. Next week nak gi skali lagi bawak kawan. Maybe a few more times after that sebelum balik Malaysia. :D

Here’s my second visit.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10100420800394465.2714017.3407023&type=3&l=daab72a3ab

and yeah, I saw the legendary Abigail Ybarra at Fender Custom Shop. That lady has been with Fender since the 50’s kot. Even Jimi Hendrix owned some of her pickups.

Yup, I own 2 Ibanez, 2 Gibsons, but I’m a Fender fanboy. I still don’t have a Fender guitar though.

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Tambahan.

I strongly urge you to join this facebook group, Guitarist Nusantara. Bagus group ni, banyak otai-otai bertukar-tukar pendapat. Noobs jangan segan, dorang welcome soalan. Just don’t ask them something too general and obvious like “macam mana nak terer main gitar”, since the answer is of course “practice a lot”. Ya la aku suka gak nak jawap soalan korang, but like I said, I’m very busy now. And I’m sure kat sana lagi ramai yang boleh jawap dengan lebih bagus. Ada jugak kat sana yang dah bertaraf artis professional. So take advantage of that.