I always wonder how much does the gears of professional guitar players cost. But I never bothered about calculating them, so I thought it would be a good topic for my blog The heck is that different guitarists have completely different gear setups which varies greatly in costs. I end up choosing ‘Slash‘ because his gears’ setups are reputed for their complexity, unique tone & his my favorite guitar player.

I’ll be costing his current live gears setup for Velvet Revolver.

Here’s the schematic of Slash’s Live Gears:

Gibson Custom Shop Slash Les Paul Signature Guitar (x3)

$4,399.00 x 3 = $13,197.00

BC Rich Mockingbird SL Slash Signature (x2)

$1,700.00 x 2 = $3,400.00

B.C. Rich Bich 10-String

$699.99

Guild Crossroads 6-6 electric acoustics (x2)

There’s only 3 of those Guild doubleneck guitars in the world, one has been stolen from Slash and he’s left with only 2. They are not available for sale, but judging its high quality & uniqueness I would put a price tag of $5,000 x 2 = $10,000

Gibson EDS 1275 Double-Neck Electric Guitar (x2)

$3,299 x 2 = $6,598

Gibson Les Paul Standard (x4)

$2,329.99 x 4 = $9,319.96

Gibson Custom Shop 57 Les Paul Goldtop Reissue

$3,499.00Nady 950-GT Wireless System

$230.00 (* I couldn’t find the exact price of the Nady 950 - Gt, this price is one of a high-end Nady Model.)

Bradshaw Switcher

$600.00

BOSS DD-3 Digital Delay

$109.00

MXR M-108 Ten Band Graphic EQ

$119.99

Dunlop Heil Talk Box

$169.99

Ampeg SVTMP Tube Mic Preamp/Direct Box

$529.00

Peterson Strobe Model 590 Tuner

$849.99

Dunlop SW-95 Crybaby Slash Wah Pedal

$169.99

YAMAHA SPX-900 MULTI-FX

$459.00
dbx 166XL Dual Compressor Limiter

$249.95

Rocktron HUSH Noise Reduction Pedal

$69.99

Shure SM57 Instrument/Vocal Mic (x6)

$99.00 x 6 = $594.00

JCM Slash Signature model 2555SL (x6)

$1499.00 x 6 = $8994.00

4×12″ Marshall JCM Slash Cabs (x6)

$969.00 x 6 = $5814.00

All the main gears of Slash’s live sound are here.  You must note that this in an approximate costing because there are other accessories like picks, pickholder, cables, guitar cases & cases for all the above equipmnts,…the list is too long to mention them all, but it eventually inflates the total cost to a large extent.  Sometimes other guitars are added or new models of Amps added in this live setup.

So the gross total cost is $65,673 

For us poor Mauritian people we must not forget to add tax, shipping costs,……………..

The event which I’m looking forward the most in 2008 is the purchase of my new Electric guitar. I have the option of buying it locally or from the U.S.A. A friend of mine from the U.S agreed to buy a guitar for me, because he will be back to Mauritius in June/July.

So after visiting the musical instrument shops here there were a limited range of models. But on the internet they got everything even the girly guitars I still don’t know which guitar I’ll buy. So I’m going to list all the possible guitars I may end up with this year together with their specifications. I’ll be starting from the cheapest guitars to the more expensive ones. So here we go:

Aria (Strat Copy)

This Aria guitar is on sale at Damoo Music shop. Its got an alder body, rosewood fingerboard, Maple bolt on neck, 25-1/2 scale, 3 single coil pickups, vintage tremolo, 1 volume, 2 tone selectors & pickup switch. Its available in black finish. Its price is Rs.7000. This guitar is my last resort Even if I buy it, I’ll change its pickups to HSH configuration, with 2 stacked Seymour Duncan humbuckers.

Those kinds of strat copies are reputed for their crappy hardwares. After some months of use, you might find the pickup selector switch loose and causing noise when switching positions, the tone & volume knobs might (will) come out. And my best personal experience with those types of guitars, is having the trem out of the guitar’s body and having it in you hand After a year or so, the guitar may even fall apart LOL

Godin - SD

The Godin SD is available at Kawai Music Shop. I tried this guitar for countless number of hours at Kawai. Whenever passing by this music shop I’ll go in and try all their guitars This guitar costs Rs.19,000. Its got a maple body, maple neck, maple/redwood fretboard, HSS pickup configuration, 5-way switch, 1 tone & volume knob, 24-3/4 scale & a classic trem. With this one too I’ll change the pickups later to HSH configuration with one Stacked Duncan on neck position & the best Duncan pickup I can find on the bridge.

The single pickups are quite noisy, actually there’s nothing wrong because most single pickups are noisy when playing with distortion. The hardwares are perfect, and the short scale of this guitar makes string bending much more easier. The guitar’s finish is perfect, the neck is thin enough for sweep picking, but not ideal for shred. The upper frets are a little too small for my fingers, causing some difficulties to play with ease. If ever I buy this one, I’ll never mess with the trem due to my bad experience with it The bolt on neck is better compared to Fender Strats, as it is flatter hence allowing better access to upper frets. The Godin SD beats the hell out of the standard Fender Stratocasters in terms of quality, sound & price. By the way the Godins are manufactured in the U.S, but the wood comes from Canada.

Michael Kelly - Patriot Phoenix

The Michael Kelly Patriot Phoenix electric guitar is a striking instrument. It features a flame maple top and an intricate flame-inspired inlay. A locking wrap-around bridge improves resonance and performance. Sculpted-in knob recesses and pickup cavities look great. Includes set-neck construction, Grover tuners and specially designed chrome covered pickups.

• Neck: set mahogany
• Body: solid mahogany
• Fingerboard: rosewood
• Frets: 22 jumbo
• Scale length: 24-3/4″
• Binding: white triple bound plastic
• Inlay: abalone block
• Bridge: TonePros locking
• Tuning machines: Grover
• Pickups: dual PAF plus
• Controls: 2 volume, 2 tone, coil tapped
• Strings: D’Addario
• Hardware: chrome

This guitar costs Around Rs.15,000 + Rs.5,000 (freight) = Rs.20,000. This one is way ahead the Godin SD. Michael Kelly is not a so well known brand, but it is owned by Bc Rich meaning American Brand. But Michael Kelly’s are manufactured in Korea. However we can see that the hardwares & materials used are of really good quality, and its based on the famous ‘Gibson Les Paul’. Its even coil tapped hence increasing the tonal range of the guitar

Dean - Cadillac Select

Originally designed with elegance in mind, the Dean Cadillac Select Electric Guitar has only improved with age. It’s offered with its original 1980 specifications including the select mahogany body and neck. Other appointmets include: multi-ply binding, ebony fingerboard, block inlays and gold hardware. In addition, the new Cadillac is now available with a “carved,” highly figured flame or quilted maple top.

Like the Dean ML, the Caddy has appeared both onstage and in videos of many top artists over the past two decades. The Cadillac’s biggest moment might have been the night it appeared on stage as the Dean endorsee walked away with five Grammy Awards.

• Arched Figured Maple Top
• Mahogany Body
• 24-3/4″ Scale & 1-11/16″ Nut
• Grover Tuners
• Gold Hardware
• Zebra Pickups
• Tune-O-Matic Bridge
• Set Mahogany Neck
• Rosewood Fingerboard
• Block Inlays
• 22 Frets

This dean too got all attributes of a Gibson Les Paul, though the body shape is different. The Cadillac too costs around Rs.15,000 + Rs. 5000 (freight) = Rs.20,000. The name Dean assures you of the quality of this instrument. And it is 100% American built (though I’m not sure where the pickups come from), just as Jevin once told me, its a “Pur Sang” Most of the reviews I found on this guitar rated it 5/5. But the awkward body shape and the absence of a double locking trem are making me doubt whether to buy it or not

Ibanez - S520EX

The S520EX electric guitar from Ibanez is an axe any player can love-cool looking, terrifically equipped, and possessed of a dynamically smooth sound that can stoke up big time. The Wizard II neck plays fast. The Infinity pickup at the neck combines a warm, classic tone with high output, while the bridge pickup accentuates the mids, has great dynamics and string clarity. Locking nut and ZR tremolo keep you in tune through the wild times, and jumbo frets enhance playability.

Wizard II neck
3-piece maple neck
Mahogany body
22 jumbo frets
Bound rosewood fingerboard
ZR bridge
IBZ INF1 humbucking neck pickup
IBZ INF2 humbucking bridge pickup
S Special 12th-fret inlay
Black hardware

This Ibanez is the one I probably want th most & the most expensive one of the lot. It costs Rs.20,000 + Rs. 5,000 (freight). Its Japanese made, and most reviews are rating it positively (4&5 over 5). This is the only guitar with a double locking trem that I’m satisfied with because of its quality & price. But my favorite guitar with double locking trem is the Steve Vai’s JEM However the JEM’s price is too hot for me

But this Ibanez S-series guitar is among the best. After some research I found that the ZR (Zero Point System) Bridge on this guitar is the best double locking trem on the market. Even the EDGE used by Steve Vai & Joe Satriani, are being modified to ‘EDGE ZR’. I was always afraid to buy guitars with double locking trem because many of them are cheaply made, specially the Licensed Floyd Rose. Many users also complain about the Original Floyd Rose too. But it seems its not the case with the ZR bridge

Herman Li of Dragonforce is a notable user of the ZR bridge. He takes the bridge to extreme limits by lifting the guitar in the air by only holding the tremolo bar. Tom Morello of ‘Rage Against The Machines’ too put the ZR bridge in his non-Ibanez guitars.

I’ll certainly buy one of those 5 guitars, maybe if I find a better one I may give up the idea of buying one of them I’ve always been a fan of Gibson Les Paul, hence my fondness for Mahogany bodies with Maple tops.

The other day I was surfing through the Job Offers Ads of Servihoo in search of a part-time job and I found an advert corresponding to my profile. It was that of “Chat Animator”. So I emailed them my CV, then I got a call from them to attend an interview. Actually its not a formal interview but just a briefing session and you must do a small test.

During the briefing we came to know about the real nature of the job and its reason. The company’s aim is to regulate the number of girls and boys (Homo, Bi… sexual included), in a chat room. Those are chat rooms of all Mobile Phone service providers in France. And most (all) of the time, there’s a lack of girls mainly in the chat rooms. For e.g, if there’s a chat room with 25 Girls and 50 Boys, this means that around 20 boys will have to leave due to inactivity. So this is where the company intervenes by creating fake profiles of girls and giving them to their employees to chat. So the guys in France will be chatting with us Mauritians, thinking that we’re French girls. And we have to play the game, and try to keep them chatting for the longest time possible.

However hot chat is inevitable when a guy and a girl chat, and the company encourages their employees to do hot chat so that they can keep the French guys chatting longer.

When the guy their briefed me about this, I was like: “Oh Shit I’m Going to Travesty Myself (virtually) & Get Fucked (virtually) By Those Perverted French Guys”

Then I was called to do the test. It consisted of pre-made chat conversations where there were blanks, and you have to fill in the blanks. The 5 first conversations were OK, but later came the hotter ones and it was real hard for me to play the game, even that I knew it was purely virtual I finished all their shitty conversations in 30 Minutes and I got some time to look at the other guys working there chatting. One guy beside me was having virtual sex with a French guy, others were having the same hot chat.

I was thinking how immoral this shit is. And you’re being paid a salary of Rs.4,000 + Bonus of 10 cents per message sent. Those outsourcing companies are exploiting Mauritians and if I can say sexually exploit them virtually. LOL And how about people asking you about your job position and you’ll say “I travesties myself virtually” LMAO.

2 days after my memorable interview, I got a positive reply from the company asking me to come to its training sessions. I was still thinking whether to accept that job, but ended refusing it due to its immorality, even though I badly need a part time job

I keep on pondering how many more companies which operate those kindsof chats are there in our Cybercity? And are they legal?? Maybe in the near future we’ll see the implantation of companies in the cybertower operating live Webcam hot chat. LOL

One piece of advice for those who are working in those chat centers, move your ass out of there or you might turn gay ROFL

Preventing those things would definitely make a perfect end of year according to me.

However its impossible, so “Dream On” and have a Happy New Year 2008 with your families, while eating your “carry poule Chantecler” (Sa Ki Bon Sa!!!).

This post forms part of MBB’s Theme of the Week

I’m going to review this LG (JU250) “3G For All” mobile phone which my dad bought some weeks ago. Below are the phone’s specifications:

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