Ic. I didn't know about the tremolo tailpiece thing. Just started learning acoustic as basic this year. Thanks for the info. But then I remember Mami did used the whammy bar once in 1 of their lives(only1 song). Can't remember which video clip I saw online. Anyway as long as it's included I'll just take it. lol

spacecadet wrote:It's really annoying that I went through all this crap with Ishibashi over my shipping address and then they ended up just shipping other peoples' orders to the US anyway.

I'm pretty sure they were only shipping internationally for those on the reservation list, which is what my email suggested, and it could explain why you had to go through all the extra trouble. But still, I agree that it was poorly handled.

*sigh* Still no tracking updates on my Tele, and according to Australia Post's International Post calculator, I won't see it until anywhere between Monday-Wednesday next week (or maybe Saturday if my delivery man decides to be generous and work that day).

Anyone else planning to upgrade their guitars?

I'm planning on getting a new nut, locking tuners, new electronics and seymour duncan pickups: cool rails, vintage rails, and real hot rails.

Might also look in to a better bridge depending on how good the stock one is.

I'm pretty much planning the same upgrades, especially the tuners and the bridge, but I might swap the pickups out for some Fender humbuckers. It just depends on what I can find, because I still want to retain a little bit of that Fender tone.

I don't have knowledge of all these. So I won't be changing anything. I don't own an amp to try them out =\

kenzo9 wrote:Ic. I didn't know about the tremolo tailpiece thing. Just started learning acoustic as basic this year. Thanks for the info. But then I remember Mami did used the whammy bar once in 1 of their lives(only1 song). Can't remember which video clip I saw online. Anyway as long as it's included I'll just take it. lol

In term of clips, Mami did used her whammy bar of her Strat at the end of her solo in "Anata ga Mawaru アナタガマワル" (Best Xmas Live) and before Timo's bass solo during "Hi-Hi-Hi" (Budokan). But seem not with her Stratomaster.

bouvip wrote:Anyone else planning to upgrade their guitars?

I'm planning on getting a new nut, locking tuners, new electronics and seymour duncan pickups: cool rails, vintage rails, and real hot rails.

Might also look in to a better bridge depending on how good the stock one is.

You're Hot/Cool Railing all three pickups? WOW.

I did think of hotrodding/buying better pups for them but I'm gonna hang fire as if the tone is fine as they are, well, as they say, if it ain't broke why fix it?

But yeah, a Hot Rails SHR-1 would do nicely, and if I feel saucy - a couple of SD single coils (possibly two Alnico Pro IIs). Not sure if the SKULLSILVER needs doing - unless the pups are annoyingly microphonic, and even IF that is the case, I'd prolly get it dipped in wax first. Interestingly, whilst Fender does humbucking pups for their Blacktop Teles, the Fender humbuckers that are sold are not the ones with pup covers. If I were to go the Seymour Duncan route - perhaps getting the milder pups like the Antiquity or Alnico Pro IIs. For the Bluetus - go Fender Noiseless? OK, that's me spazzing over mods as it is.   

At the end of the day, the tone is a culmination of a lot of things (including how we play the guitar) and pups alone may not do the job if one of the most important bit of the guitar is not right which IMHO is the wood. Basswood's not really my fav tone wood (prolly wrongly biased heh) but I'll hold judgment until I plug them babies in when they arrive!

Just gonna show one pic of my Mamimaster for now:



I'll post a ton more plus a review that's gonna be too long for the forum at my Best Scandal blog. But general impressions are that it's pretty good, but you're not gonna forget it's a Squier. I've actually always been a little surprised at how good Squiers sound and this guitar is no exception, but they always feel a little like toys. This is definitely a starter guitar as is, although it could probably be upgraded to be gig-worthy if someone wanted to.

This is also my first Hot Rails and I was kind of taken aback by how it sounds. I'm not sure if I'm a fan, personally, but I definitely get why Mami likes it and it does sound like her. You really couldn't use it by itself if you were the only guitarist in a band, though. It sounds quite thin and shrill without a rhythm guitar underneath. The single coils both sound great, though. They sound like my Squier Strat, which I also always thought sounded better than it has a right to.

spacecadet wrote:Just gonna show one pic of my Mamimaster for now:



I'll post a ton more plus a review that's gonna be too long for the forum at my Best Scandal blog. But general impressions are that it's pretty good, but you're not gonna forget it's a Squier. I've actually always been a little surprised at how good Squiers sound and this guitar is no exception, but they always feel a little like toys. This is definitely a starter guitar as is, although it could probably be upgraded to be gig-worthy if someone wanted to.

This is also my first Hot Rails and I was kind of taken aback by how it sounds. I'm not sure if I'm a fan, personally, but I definitely get why Mami likes it and it does sound like her. You really couldn't use it by itself if you were the only guitarist in a band, though. It sounds quite thin and shrill without a rhythm guitar underneath. The single coils both sound great, though. They sound like my Squier Strat, which I also always thought sounded better than it has a right to.

that looks beautiful   i have wanting to get my hands on the guitars but they are always out of stock and i am worry since i have small hands that it wouldn't work well for my hands

Mine just arrived! And in one piece, too, thank goodness! I'm not home right now to look at it myself, but first impressions from the photos I've been sent is that it looks great. It does have some rather ugly reddish wood grain on the fretboard, but that's to be expected at this price point.

Today's going to be a long day. *sigh*

Just a quick survey before I pick my Bluetus at the depot.

I see that guitars have now reached Singapore, Oz, Canada and NYC - any of you had to pay import duty? Being in the UK means paying them (Japanese stores never underdeclare the value of goods shipped). Wallet being drained again for me, I'm afraid.

It's not that I wasn't expecting to pay for duty - but everyone here seems to go yay! got my guitar(s) without any hassle whatseoever. (^^;;

Nope, my order was under $1000AUD, so I didn't have to pay anything extra. Anything above $1000 is around 10% tax, though.

Just a little update - So far I'm kind of.unimpressed. There's no doubt it's a Squier. The finish isn't as sparkly as I thought it would be, and as I mentioned above, my fretboard and the back of the neck has a really yucky grain. The neck itself is very comfortable, though. It's in desperate need of a set up, there's fret buzz everywhere, but that's to be expected after shipping.

For me. Kitty shop price them as zero when sending to tenso. Tenso then remind me about that. Their webby have this little edit button to do magic. No matter how expensive the item is u can price them to the amount which you won't be tax. However if the item was unfortunalty damage, you might just get peanuts or worse nothing.

PS. I took the gamble.

Well mine arrived today while I'm at work.  Gonna go home during break and check it out!


Also cool rails is an awesome neck pickup so I think combined with hot rails it'll sound great!  

I'm pretty skeptical about the duncan designed hot rail since it's a cheaper quality pickup.

edit: well just opened the box.  I was worried it might be damaged cause the box was, but guitar isn't scratched.  


Quick review:  It looks great and I don't see any flaws or scratches surprisingly.  The frets are actually pretty good too.  They are better than my old MIM Fender Deluxe Strat.  Pickups are decent, but will be replaced soon.  I'm actually really happy with this guitar.  I wasn't expecting too much, but it plays well enough for me to keep.

Since everyone's gotten their guitars, I now have my bass. Here is BLUETUS in all her glory:





If I have to nitpick - the fret edges are a tad rough and filing them would do the trick. Since I have no skill whatsoever in that department, I'll get that sorted out when I send her for set up. The bridge at a glance doesn't look as robust as my Fender Standard Jazz® but the intonation was fine. The  neck pickup's volume knob was a tad 'off' position-wise but it took a millisecond to take it off and position it properly. Easy.

Apart from the above, I have to say she plays like a dream. Worried if the basswood sounds not up to par? I don't think you have to worry. I plugged her into my Behringer bass amp (300W head + 1x15" cab) and she sounds so good.

I'll do a ten-second soundbite on YouTube and I will update this post in a bit.

Just dropped off my Tele at the music store for a full-setup. The luthier opened the case and  said "Woah, this is very cool!". I guess they don't see guitars like this very often. Hopefully it'll be nicer to play after they're all finished,  the fret buzz was pretty bad.


Wow, Bluetus sure is blue! I love it! Great to hear it sounds and plays great!

Can any Americans tell me where they had to order theirs? And how much extra in dollars the shipping/postage was...?

Unfortunately they sold out weeks ago, except for Tomomi's bass, which you can buy from the kitty web shop, but even they are close to selling out. You can try Yahoo Auctions using a buying service like Buyee, though, but the price will probably be a lot higher than the retail price.

I got mine through Ishibashi, but they're sold out like BrokenByDefault said.  

Also made this little video.  I'm surprised that the Duncan Designed Hot Rail sounds pretty decent.

http://bouvip.tumblr.com/post/89439559686/covering-awanai-tsumori-no-genki-de-ne-with-my

bouvip wrote:I got mine through Ishibashi, but they're sold out like BrokenByDefault said.  

Also made this little video.  I'm surprised that the Duncan Designed Hot Rail sounds pretty decent.

http://bouvip.tumblr.com/post/89439559686/covering-awanai-tsumori-no-genki-de-ne-with-my

Whoaaa. NICE ONE, bouvip. I see you've been saving that cover for this baby, huh? And fancy a collab vid when I get my SKULLSILVER... *koffkoff*

____________________________

As promised, here's my soundbite (20 secs hehe). My bass playing is not good - so, to any bass purists out there, gomen nasai ne.



As I thought - I didn't get the SCANDAL-labelled gig bag by virtue of not buying BLUETUS at Kitty (which by the way sold out their BLUETUS quota too - it wasn't there when I checked this morning, I'm afraid). Weighing the SCANDAL strap/bag option vs getting the bass straight over to the UK without a proxy meant the latter option wins. Yeah, trying to make myself feel better actually. HAHAHA. At least my MAMI guitar that's due to arrive will be the Kitty one

Didn't realise BLUETUS had Duncan Designed pups which I think sounded superb (enough) and I'll keep it as it is. It is a tad lighter than my poplar Fender MIM Std Jazz Bass but that's about it. I will do a review on/SCANDAL cover with it in the near future, so watch this space if you are interested.

HARU's SKULLSILVER is now at the airport in Japan according to EMS tracking. As for MAMI's, still no news from Buyee.com. I hope all is going OK at their end!

Ah, so that would explain why the kitty packages were $80-$120 more expensive, because they came with the gig bag and the strap.

BrokenByDefault wrote:Ah, so that would explain why the kitty packages were $80-$120 more expensive, because they came with the gig bag and the strap.

To Ikebe-gakki's credit, although I just paid the basic 48000円 price tag, they did add a small number of goodies - two Fender Rock-On Touring picks (a yellow .73 and a light blue/grey 1.0) and a genuine (non-monogrammed though) made in USA Fender strap. Not much, but that was nice of them. I'm not sure whether Ishibashi will be doing the same for my SKULLSILVER.

Gonna get hard cases for these babies anyway... but so not now. I am officially broke. Hahaha.  

The bass sounds great maharizm!  A collab would be cool

I didn't get anything extra at all with my Stratomaster and the Squier gigbag looks like a kids guitar bag.  Luckily I have a Fender gigbag and hardcase already.  I want the strap though! It has the Scandal logo on it which makes them different then the normal Fender Monogrammed Japanese Straps.

I didn't get the Scandal logo Gagbag and strap for my bluetus from Ikebe too....
I wonder if there's a way to order the gagbag and strap from somewhere......

chandlerping wrote:I didn't get the Scandal logo Gagbag and strap for my bluetus from Ikebe too....
I wonder if there's a way to order the gagbag and strap from somewhere......

I have a feeling we can't. If someone has them, it means they would have a guitar from Kitty too and it will be very unlikely for them wanting to sell off a limited edition case/strap. I know I wouldn't!

A few years back, Kitty did sell the limited edition Fender monogrammed straps (with the Scandal logo) on their own. This is a long shot - but perhaps scanning Yahoo! Auctions for these babies. I cannot remember if the colours were the same as the ones you get with these guitars. For me, I just bought one that is the same as TIMO's (but without the Scandal logo) on Rakuten. The HARU one (black/yellow/lightgreen monogram) is a bit elusive. UPDATE: Yay. Found one at Amazon JP!!!