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

Tag: guitars

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
Musicman Guitar James Valentine signature series

Musicman james valentine is… oh, Hello 😀 well this time is past a year from my latest blogpost, and I have to admit, this coronavirus , covid-19 has brought me back to start writing again. Yeah, need a pandemonium to take me back here. okay let’s get move on.

I do really have a good stuff to talk about. yup, it’s THE Musicman guitar, the James Valentine signature series one. Pretty isn’t it?

James Valentine is Maroon 5 guitar player and one of great guitarist. He plays riff perfectly, has strong sense of guitar phrasing and articulation, great taste of music. funny thing is, some people questioning his worth to have A Musicman signature series guitar by his name. (yea it was the comments on facebook when i shared my guitar review video, says “it’s funny you have to put maroon 5 on your video title, it means he’s no worth it, and i completely disagree with that. I respect James Valentine as my guitar hero. done.. no more whining.

Let’s talk about this guitar shall we? See, this musicman james valentine guitar has the best body design I’ve ever seen and touch. it has classy almost-gibson look while definitely i can feel the telecaster right away after i strummed it.

so beautiful.

The neck.. i smell strong maple syrup came out from this roasted maple wood neck. it’s almost like i wanted to lick it (i did by the way, and it’s tasteless 😀 ) . literally it smells so sweet

I was really happy when I hold this guitar.

ah yes.. the sound. It is definitely a tele sound with upgrades. it has booster engaged by push-pull volume knob and neck split coil on tone knob. check it out on my vlog video >>

the headstock is gorgeous, definitely high class musicman style

headstock front

so overall this is the most gorgeous guitar i ever play and yes, it was sold to guitar collector already. i missed this guitar. likely I’ll buy another one someday

headstock back

Musicman James Valentine Guitar Specifications

Model: Valentine

Size: 13-1/4″ wide, 1-3/4″ thick, 38-7/16″ long (33.7 cm wide, 4.5 cm thick, 97.6 cm long)

Body Wood: Ash

Body Finish: High gloss polyester

Bridge: Music Man® Modern hardtail with vintage bent steel saddles

Pickguard: Shell

Scale Length: 25-1/2″ (64.8 cm)

Neck Radius: 10″ (25.4 cm)

Headstock Size: 6-3/8″ (16.2 cm) long

Frets: 22 – High profile, medium width, Stainless Steel

Neck Width: 1-5/8″ (41.3 mm) at nut, 2-1/4″ (56.9 mm) at last fret

Neck Wood: Select roasted maple neck

Fingerboard: Select roasted maple neck

Fret Markers: 1/4″ Black Face dots

Neck Finish: Gunstock oil and hand-rubbed special wax blend

Neck Colors: Standard – Natural with finished headstock

Tuning Machines: Schaller M6-IND locking

Truss Rod: Adjustable – no component or string removal

Neck Attachment: 5 bolts – Sculpted neck joint allows smooth access to higher frets

Electronic Shielding: Graphite acrylic resin coated body cavity and aluminum control cover

Controls: Custom Music Man® active preamp; push/push volume for gain boost, 500kohm push/push passive tone for custom split pickup configurations – .022µF tone capacitor

Switching: 3-way lever pickup selector

Pickups: SH – Music Man® custom wound staggered pole piece single coil (bridge) and humbucker with chrome covers (neck)

Left Handed: No

Strings: 11p-14p-18p-28w-38w-48w (RPS 11 Slinky #2242)

so.. is this an epic comeback or what?

see you next posts
April 15, 2020
Eko Guitars N(e)XT series Electro-acoustic steel strings

My another gears update is an electro-acoustic guitar. I found it on local shop, while i was surprised about how this Italian chitarra brand appeared here in my city. Surely i gave it a try and i found myself like it. the sound quality and the price are somehow equal (plus few advantages) to my ears, so when it comes to comparison with other guitars in its price range.

this is what i got, the factory default:

actually I am impressed by things eko guitars has by factory default. The acoustic steel strings are great! feels like newly installed and vibrate the tones equally (though i can’t get used to it anyway, gotta change them with electric guitar strings). i got mono-jack cable and one Allen wrench for adjusting the truss rod. pretty neat for made in P.R.C guitars, and i guess that’s why Eko guitars, an italian guitar brand could came to my house.

when it comes to comparison, i picked yamaha apx500ii as its rival, and this Eko N(e)XT guitar won… it has more serious saddle bridge than apx and the eko guitars preamp delivers equal tones, (my apx500ii doesn’t have middle tone, which i need them most for my solo playing)

my first tryout on stage were my last night gig. i was fully satisfied, and i can see this guitar could do few more things after i set something up for this. you can check eko guitars at www.ekoguitars.it and i’m sure you will get more details, meanwhile i will set up things for the vlog. see ya

Update

now I have proper video for this guitar checksound. Here the guitar sound samples using TZ Audio Stellar X3 condenser mic:

September 1, 2015
PRS SE Custom 22 Semi-Hollow Electric Guitar

I got a PRS SE guitar for this time review and, first thing I wanna tell you is, that we should give credit to PRS guitars for the hardworks. Paul Reed Smith has taken his guitars into world’s music library like a new vocabulary for distinctive sound and playability. This PRS SE Custom Semi-Hollow Electric Guitar is a wonderful balance between price, sound, action and finishing layout. yes, Paul Reed Smith did it..

PRS SE Custom 22 Semi-Hollow

lucky i got this guitar for my guitar review. At first I didn’t even know how to start, so i search on youtube about this guitar and I found few great things to make comparison. first interesting thing is, if we turn the volume down to about 80% we will get an acoustic-piezo-pickup-like sound. So tried it and it works as it said on the review. The warm, clean tone sound that came out from the middle switch position becomes very nice acoustic steel strings guitar sound if we turn down the volume knob a little. I guess this comes from the semi-hollow guitar body and the factory default PRS SE pickups for this guitar has succeeded in capturing the semi-hollow guitar body sound. Very good. The clean tone itself has a twang, although I can’t say it’s a tele twang. But it’s in between Fender and Gibson. It’s truly amazing. While I can’t say this is for my playing, but, definitely I’ll choose this guitar for recording purposes for its wide sound range.

>> check my video review PRS SE Custom Semi-Hollow Electric Guitar <<

Next thing I wanna know about this guitar is, of course, how this guitar sound with overdrive and distortion effect. I have digital effects pedal and analog pedals for this, unfortunately my amp hasn’t come yet when i made this post, so i use Behringer ultra-G GI100 DIbox and an ordinary 1×10-inches speaker. The result is beyond expected. this guitar has warm overdrive and gritty distortion (I still can hear the note clarity in full distortion), while I can get a distinctive-fat and rich sound for lead guitar session as I use the booster. Overall, the sound is pretty amazing for medium grade PRS SE guitars.

PRS SE Custom 22 Semi-Hollow guitar

If there is one thing that might people dislike about this guitar, my guess is only the matter of taste. there are few minors about the finishing layout, but definitely it isn’t about the playability and precisions. The neck is unique, it’s wide BUT THIN, perfect for shredders but it also give a secure and safe feeling when playing jazzy chords (yes, IT IS). the strings lay very low to the fretboard and no buzzed frets at all. I guess the guitar neck is the thing which made PRS Guitars distinctive characteristics so bold.

I have Fender Special edition spalted maple and Gretsch electromatic for comparison, and i have to tell you PRS SE Custom Semi-Hollow Electric Guitar neck is very nicely different, yet you will get used to it quick and soon the fun begins. well, I did. 😀

this is a cliche but i got to tell you anyway,

“Semi-Hollow Electric Guitars are light-weighted and PRS SE Custom Semi-Hollow Electric Guitar IS NOT HEAVY AS IT SEEMS. not heavy at all”

about the price, unfortunately this guitar model is discontinued so the latest new price for this PRS SE Custom Semi-Hollow Electric Guitar model isn’t available, but, you might get lucky on eBay, and my suggestion is, take it. This guitar is the FIRST model for PRS SE custom semi-hollow, so consider if you have it, you got a historical stuff.

so far so good, if anyone have one, please share the information with me, thanks. have a good day 🙂
March 24, 2015