“Only they who believeth in their guitar quest shall be granted passage”

Tag: guitar

Yngwie Malmsteen’s Fender Stratocaster signature series

If you’ve ever gotten hooked on neoclassical shred (like I did), then you know Yngwie Malmsteen is the king of fast, expressive guitar playing. And his weapon of choice? The Fender Yngwie Malmsteen Signature Stratocaster, a shred machine with vintage soul. I got the chance to play one, and trust me—this guitar is way more than just a flashy artist model. It’s a legit tone machine with serious personality.

First Impressions vibing out from this Strat, it looks straight out of the ’70s, with its large headstock, vintage-style body contours, and aged Olympic White finish. It’s pure rock ‘n roll nostalgia—but don’t let the retro vibe fool you. Under the hood, it’s built for modern speed and control.

Features

The most noticeable feature is that Scalloped fretboard feel. At first, it felt strange—like my fingers weren’t touching the fretboard at all. But after a few minutes, I started to appreciate how responsive it was. Bends, vibrato, and legato runs become way more expressive. It forces you to lighten your touch, which actually improves accuracy if you’re into fast melodic neoclassical metal guitar playing.

This Fender’s neck & playability went with a slim “C” neck shape and 21 super-jumbo frets. The Rosewood fretboard is mean and fast. Honestly, it’s one of the most playable necks I’ve tried. If you’re into soloing, this neck will make you feel right at home. The headstock looks cool with its big head.

big head, love it!

those tuners are great!
Some extra features that matter is that you also get a brass nut (for better sustain), vintage-style tuners, and a reliable tremolo system that stays in tune even with heavy use. It’s not just for show—it’s a serious player’s guitar.

The Real Tone factor

Under the pickguard, you’ll find a trio single-coils of Seymour Duncan YJM Fury pickups. These are specially designed to be quiet, clear, and super articulate—perfect for high-gain playing without all the noise. Whether clean or distorted, the notes come through sharp and focused. Yes that pure clarity.

looks on youtube

Conclusions

My final thoughts about Yngwie’s strat, this guitar isn’t just a tribute—it’s a custom-built instrument for players who want speed, tone, and expression in one classic package. It may not be for everyone, especially if you’re into heavy riffing or extended-range guitars, but for lead players, it’s a dream to play. It comes with gorgeous tweed hardcase by G & G.

If you’re chasing expressive solos, classic Strat tone, or just want to feel something truly different under your fingers, this guitar is absolutely worth checking out.
July 19, 2025
It Might Get Loud (2008)

What does inspire me beside guitar playing and songs? Of course it’s movies. This movies is just one of many of them.

“It Might Get Loud” (2008) is a documentary film directed by Davis Guggenheim that explores the personal and musical journeys of three legendary guitarists from different generations and genres:

Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin) – representing classic rock and blues-based hard rock.

Graham Wiltshire/Redferns/Getty Images

The Edge (U2) – known for his innovative use of effects and ambient soundscapes.

Rmv/Shutterstock

Jack White (The White Stripes, The Raconteurs) – rooted in raw blues, garage rock, and DIY ethos.

The film brings the three guitarists together in one room to talk, jam, and share stories about how they discovered the guitar, their influences, songwriting processes, and unique playing styles. It blends interviews, archival footage, and intimate solo segments where each musician reflects on their early days, iconic riffs, and philosophies on music. The film culminates in a jam session where the trio plays together, notably performing songs like “The Weight” by The Band.

check my complete list on Benable Musical movies inspire me so much

This movies has complete good stuff from their Personal connections to the guitar those guided them to he evolution of tone and technique couses Contrasts between their style and approach plus the emotional power and cultural impact of the electric guitar. It’s reflective, passionate, and inspiring for musicians and music lovers alike.Though they come from different eras and sounds, Page, The Edge, and White share a deep emotional connection to the guitar. “It Might Get Loud” celebrates the instrument’s ability to express identity, rebellion, and soul. You would not regretted it.
July 1, 2025
PRS SE made in Indonesia, is it worth the name Paul Reed Smith guitar?

PRS SE Custom 24, yes, before we talk about my , let’s check this stuff. This kind of questions happen all the time since USA guitars built their lineups overseas. People tend to underestimate the built quality of factories in developing countries because of poor quality control and cheap parts, even the risk of being stolen and sold illegally which would cost a big loss for company brand and products.

First doubt went to Japanese guitars compared to US made, but Japan guitars fought back with even better qualities. years after that, the doubt went move to china, Korea and Indonesia. There are so many minor details which showed that the overseas productions is just crap with muddy pickups, unfinished neck and poor fret crowning etc. and people started to think that it’s just blind brand developments with profit oriented only.

BUT, I think Paul Reed Smith guitars made a big difference here. I just got one of its series, the PRS SE custom 24 guitar Amber Fade limited edition and it’s just like Paul said:

“It looks good, it plays good, and it sounds good”

i thought it was a overly bold statement but now i get it

PRS SE Ltd Edition Custom 24 Amber Fade has nice finish, the glossy one, great color. The knobs work smooth and fine (although it’s too slippery for me 😀 ) the bridge, saddles and nut are great, it is set for the 0.09 – 0.46 strings gauge so it plays like butter, great precision and craftsmanship

i made the sound check:

PRS SE Custom 24 Amber Fade Ltd Edition

and it sounds great!

one positive thing after another is, the PRS SE keep their high standards since their Korean made… i fell the same vibes with the early PRS SE model made in korea

Paul Reed Smith SE custom 22 semi hollow

Paul Reed Smith SE Mark Tremonti series

and definitely it pushes away my thoughts in doubting the “made in Indonesia” guitars. this guitar is worth to collect.

Paul Reed Smith SE Ltd Edition Custom 24 Amber Fade

Paul Reed Smith SE Ltd Edition Custom 24 Amber Fade

PRS SE Ltd Edition Custom 24 Amber Fade

Paul Reed Smith SE Ltd Edition Custom 24 Amber Fade

PRS SE Ltd Edition Custom 24 Amber Fade
May 28, 2021
Ibanez JS1600 PSV Premium silver, for us or for Joe?

hello everyone and I’m sorry. I’ve been fooling around for last 3 years and this year, i am making my comeback to this blog. I hope this time topic will bring back the writing fun in me. haha

lately I made a small business by trading my stuff, to get new gears and new stuff for my videos on my youtube channel, and that activity brought me to meet the Ibanez JS1600 PSV Premium silver guitar. a made in japan guitar by Team J. Craft, surely it’s not a joke. check this crazy specs:

Ibanez JS1600
Made in: Japan by Team J. Craft
Finishes: PSV (Premium Silver)

Ibanez JS1600 PSV Premium silver guitar

Ibanez JS1600 PSV Premium silver guitar back side

Body
Body material : Mahogany
Neck joint : Tilt Joint
Bridge : Gotoh GTC101 bridge
Hardware color : Chrome

Ibanez JS1600 PSV body guitar

Ibanez JS1600 PSV body guitar back

Neck
Neck type : JS Prestige
Material : 1-Piece Maple
Fingerboard : Rosewood
Inlays : Abalone Dots
Frets : 22 /6105

Ibanez JS1600 PSV headstock guitar

Ibanez JS1600 PSV tuning machine guitar

Electronics
PU Config : HH
Neck PU : DiMarzio PAF Pro
Bridge PU : DiMarzio FRED
Controls : 1 Volume (with High-Pass filter)
1 Tone (with coil tap) / 3-Way Toggle

Ibanez JS1600 PSV Premium silver guitar complete pack

Neck dimensions
Scale length : 648mm/25.5″
Radius : 250mm

and it came with great hardcase, beautiful neck plate and joe satriani and steve vai signature. FYI it was preloved guitar. the previous owner had a chance to bring it with him and got it signatured by joe satriani and steve vai.. what a lucky man

Ibanez JS1600 hardcase guitar

Ibanez JS1600 neckplate guitar

Ibanez JS1600 joe satriani signature

that’s almost all about the guitar details.. wonderful isn’t it?

now, for my real topic here. Ibanez JS1600 guitar has fixed bridge! for a two thousands five hundreds dollars guitar which is a Joe Satriani signature, don’t we think it is overpriced? no whammy bar? come on, besides this is professor satchafunkilus we’re talking about. even mr. Satch himself using whammy bar mostly on his performances.

that’s what i thought first when i saw the ads of this Ibanez JS1600 PSV Premium silver guitar . but when i plug it on my small amp, i know this one is no joke. As a result, it’s a beast machine waiting to be unleashed on big stages. the neck feels great and the strings are stay in tunes forever. furthermore, what make it best is the volume pot knob! it responses like any other guitar I’ve tried so far.. it’s so easy to dial to get exact amount of volume and gain we want to, even the tone knob does great job, too. certainly i made a sample sound on my youtube channel:

after checking the video i hope you understand what i’m talking about, most importantly, this guitar feels like a kind of joe satriani’s understanding point of view as non whammy bar user guitarists. so it is like more for us, or for satriani’s fans who love his playing and wants to discover their own playing styles such as a non whammy bar guitarists (like me 😀 i’d love to learn though).

so, the conclusion is, this guitar is worth to be collected whether as our private collection or as our main axe on our gigs. i hope you like my review. i know this kind of writing is old ones, you know, nowadays people goes to Instagram and making judgement by one picture or one minute videos and short captions, but i stick on this. having my own site and writing honest reviews. therefore it’s more me.

one thing i feel need to say is, please subscribe to my youtube channel guitar learner. it is synchronized with the stuff i write here so i guess it is still correlated as “old but gold” way of learning. I’d really appreciate that if you do. thanks, see you next posts

February 13, 2019