Guitars and Music Stuff

Music is said to be the window into the soul. Ask anyone if they have never heard of a radio and you will be greeted with a cynical look. This section describes the music that I have the pleasure of listening to, and the music I play both to soothe the man inside of me, and others who listen. This site basically lists down the personal road I took to achieve what I have, and my personal gear.

Guitar

Let me start by talking about my guitar education. I started playing classical guitar at 10, and went through close to 5 years of instruction with ABRSM. The reason I left, and I'd imagine for many others, is because I can't stand practicing any more. Classical music is extremely strict and difficult such that players need to practice for hours on in order to play it well, and many times in front of an audience. It gets tired after a while, and I did not pick it up again until college.

classical to acoustic to electric

The church fellowship needed a guitarist, and thanks to my big mouth, my services were volunteered. Frankly, I was terrified of picking up the guitar again after so many years of not even touching one. But it turned out to be pure joy - it's like one of those campfire settings where the guitarist plays the first chord to let the vocals know the key, and then the songs begin. For the first time, I wasn't the solo player but doing back-up instead. One interesting find is that I can actually change the mood of the songs by varying the strum pattern, and even the picking style (thanks to my classical training). I had even started to worship God in my own personal time just strumming away, letting my guitar do the rhythmn and melody. For the first time, I can actually feel that I really enjoy playing the guitar. My love for the instrument has started to rekindle again.


Boss ME-30

The switch to electric guitar, and joining a band is a slightly different experience. The interesting part for vocals is that all you need to do is to follow the singers. If they sing fast, you play fast and vice versa. For the band, it's a slightly different mentality. We have to listen to each other. We have to focus more on the correct rhythmn, whether it is rock, jazz, country, funk or R&B. I guess it is at this time that I mature most as a guitarist because of the wide range of possibilities available. Especially when we're playing for Touch Music at Faith Community Baptist Church, it gets a little intimidating when another musician suggests a groove and I don't know how to play it. The only way to learn, I guess is to listen to more music and I actually started to listen to guys like Lee Ritenour, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eric Johnson, Joe Satriani, etc...guys who are totally alien to people who listen to only Top 40 music.

gear acquisition syndrome

The biggest problem that a electric guitarist faces, is controlling himself from buying too many toys. I have the same problem, too, and everyday when I look into my bank account and say that I have the cash (it's payday), I would have to say in the next sentence, I already have enough. Besides, most people cannot tell a good tone from another. I have actually found an article on the Web regarding this ailment: How to Avoid the Gear Acquisition Syndrome, check it out and perhaps you can avoid this trap. Well, let me list down the stuff I have and you tell me if I am nuts:

  • guitar: Fender California Fat Stratocaster (bought 1998)
  • guitar: Epiphone Les Paul Standard (bought 1997) with EMG 89/81 pickups
  • guitar: Ovation Celebrity Deluxe (bought 1992)
  • guitar: Yamaha FG 412-12
  • tuner: Seiko ST707
  • amplifier: Vantage VG-15R
  • effects: Boss ME-30
  • pre-amp: Line 6 POD (bought November 1999)
  • stomp box (Boss): Metal Zone; Auto Wah; Compressor/Sustainer; Chorus Ensemble; Digital Reverb/Delay; Equalizer.
  • stomp box (others): Pro Co Rat 2; Dunlop Cry Baby; Snarling Dogs Vari-Tone; LR Baggs Preamp/Equalizer.

If you'd like, you can actually take a look at what these "toys" look like by going into my gear page.

guitars

When I first started to pay the guitar, I played on a classical Grand Suzuki guitar that I bought for RM195. It was pretty expensive at that time, and to justify for the purchase, practices were 1 hour every day. After a few years, I wanted to dabble into the acoustic realm when I bought a Maya. Never even heard of the brand before but it cost RM150. These are left in the closet before I left for the States, and when I came back, they are both either given away or beyond repair. The first guitar that I bought in the States was a 2nd hand Alvarez for US$200 that I later sold for a hundred bucks more. I loved the sound but somehow, I decided to bring back only the Ovation with me (that was the 2nd acoustic I bought there).


Pro-Co Rat 2

In Singapore that was when the Les Paul, Strat and the 12-string was acquired. My dream guitar was the Les Paul and when I played it, the fingerboard felt like butter. It felt so much "faster" than the Ovation that I paid for it immediately. However, when I played it in church, it sounded just horrible through the Peavey Bandit Transtube...almost everyone complained, even after I changed the pickups to EMG (I thought they sounded great at home). So it is with great reluctance that I put down the Les Paul and bought the Strat.

pedals

As for the pedals, well, my 1st setup was when I started playing in the band. I used the Alvarez and since it's just an acoustic, I had to buy a Dean Markley pickup for it (it fits right into the soundhole). The sound didn't really have much power to it, and so I supplemented with the LR Baggs Pre-amp. When the Ovation arrived, the gear has changed to Boss, i.e. the Equalizer, the Chorus and Delay/Reverb. That sounded great and it became my gear for a number of years, until I met a friend who recommended the Metal Zone. The acoustic had too much feedback, and so I decided to get the electric. The Metal Zone was used with the Les Paul and somehow, many people didn't like it. I blamed this on the amplifier, since I really spend a lot of time at home getting a good sound through my little amp.


Snarling Dogs Vari-Tone

So, after a while, I bought an ME-30 multi-effects unit to get a little of everything. They even have a webpage for people to post their patch settings. One comment, I didn't like the distortion in the unit, in fact, I hated it. So, I bought a Rat distortion, and guess what, it was good. I even used my Les Paul for it, and it turned out great. For the Strat, however, I'm hoping that the Metal Zone will be good for it. Somehow, the Rat sounds a little too trebly so maybe if I can tweak the settings on the Metal Zone, I should be able to use it. Well, my search for my personal sound is over, at least for now.

I guess that my main axe these days is the Fender Strat plus the ME-30. Depending on the nature of the songs, I could add a few pedals before going into the ME-30. For example, I like the Rat pedal for a smooth distortion if I'm using the Les Paul (the Metal Zone for Strat), and the Auto-Wah for a funk rhythmn. For clean strum, it's usually just the ME-30 set to Rhythmn settings. I also have a patch for a heavenly, ethereal sound which I got the settings from the Web. Check out the website at the Unofficial BOSS ME-30 Homepage For a great lead solo, Metal Zone into the Digital Reverb/Delay sounds incredible, at least, to my ears. Anyway, the real thing is still the fingers. If I play like bad that day, no matter how good my sound is, my fingers will still destroy it.


Line 6 POD

current gear

Well, guess what? I just bought myself a new toy, and this will be the last gear that I will ever own...well, for a while anyway. Seriously, this is one excellent gear - the POD from Line 6. It is what one would call an amp-simulator, meaning that this product will sound like an actual amplifier when you plug your guit into it. And the amps it has in its arsenal is pretty impressive to say the least: Roland JC120, Fender Deluxe, Fender Bassman, Matchless Chieftain, Vox Ac30, Marshall JTM45, Marshall JCM800, Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier, and a Soldano Pre-amp.

Let's see, I will need to be really rich (or save tons of money) before I'd even consider getting any one of these great amps, and the POD can actually take the place of some of them...another plus, is that the POD can fit inside my backpack. Talk about versatility. Now I can just use a POD and plug my guitar into it, output to any lousy amp and sound great. I'm talking Marshall and Mesa/Boogie overdrive for rock sound, the Fender and Vox for super clean stuff, Roland for jazz and another Fender to play the blues. Wow...and there is the Soldano for heavy metal stuff. What more can a guy ask for?

Back to Wei Kwan's homepage.

http://www.oocities.org/wei-kwan_ng
a service of Weikwan, Inc.
most recent update: Jan 6, 2000
Copyright Ng Wei Kwan 1999 all rights reserved
Romans 8:28