Epiphone Zakk Wylde ZV (Bullseye)

I purchased this guitar in 2009 as part of my "golden ticket" to catch Zakk Wylde in person in Singapore. There's quite a story to this.

Sometime in July 2009, I decided to contact an online seller who was dealing with Dean guitars - amongst many other brands he was dealing with. I got in touch with him as I was interested in purchasing a Dean VMNTX United Abominations guitar - one Dave Mustaine signature guitar which I was trying hard to hunt down due to the looks and graphic painted on it. So this person was able to bring the guitar in, and I slapped on a deposit of RM200 to secure my interest. A couple of months later, I was contacted by said seller who said unfortunately he was unable to get the United Abominations version of the VMNTX, but was able to grab me the standard silver model. While I was tempted by this, I decided to tell him to hang on to my cash first, to see if he was able to swing it in a month or so. As I was in no rush, and wanted that specific guitar, I was willing to wait.

A month or so later, I was contacted back, and this particular seller apologised to me and said he was still unable to get the UA version of the guitar and asked if I wanted my money back. At this point, I had found out that Zakk Wylde was coming to Singapore for a Epiphone/Gibson clinic, and interesting luck would hae it that this seller was offering a "deal" where if you were to purchase a Zakk Wylde signature guitar, it would be delivered to you hand signed with a certificate of authenticity by the man himself. As this excited me so much, I decided to switch my deposit to the Zakk Wylde ZV guitar, in hopes of getting a signed version back. What took place after this was beyond my wildest dreams.

Essentially I was brought to a guitar store where I was to pay for my purchase, and there, I met a nice chap who deals with Gibson guitars. Several discussions later, and after pouring out my heart and soul over what a huge Zakk Wylde fan I am since 1996, I was then invited to "look them up" when I was in Singapore to collect my guitar. I had then also attempted to secure my entry to the guitar clinic by contacting the organizers. Little did I know, I ended up not really needing that confirmation.

Short version of the story, the night ended with me having sat in the VIP lounge with Zakk and Barb (his wife), having long conversations, got my Epiphone LP Bullseye signed, my Epiphone ZV signed, Sonic Brew and Stronger than Death CD signed, a photo with Zakk, sat at the front VIP row to watch Zakk's clinic, and sat right next to him having seafood dinner by the Indoor Stadium river. I would also a month later end up being an owner of a hand signed Gibson BFG model, which was signed on the same day as all my other guitars. November 30, 2009 will forever be one of the most amazing days of my life.

Quick Facts:

Neck Material: Mahogany
Neck Type: Set Neck
Fingerboard: Rosewood (22 Frets)
Body Material: Mahogany
Neck Pickup: EMG-HZ
Bridge Pickup: EMG-HZ

I've hardly touched this guitar also in fear of smearing the signature. I can only guess it sounds very much like the LPs only with a slight SG tone. I've tested it out for a short while just to make sure both pick-ups work. The HZs are pretty standard on most Epiphones, and they are high output passives, so I doubt you will have any issues with getting a solid tone out of it. Last I checked this guitar was discontinued by Epiphone - so I am guessing a review is a little pointless at this juncture anyway. But if it's one thing I know, whatever guitar Zakk puts his name on is going to kick some effin' ass.


Overall Rating: N/A

Epiphone G-400 Tony Iommi Signature Guitar

So I'm guessing here that no one is going to believe if I told them that in 2007 - the same year I won an Ibanez S470 at a Herman Li guitar clinic - I was selected as the winner of a competition by the organizers who brought Heaven & Hell (comprising Ronnie James Dio, Geezer Butler, Tony Iommi and Vinny Appice) to Singapore. The prize? Well, an Epiphone G-400 Tony Iommi Signature guitar. The most important part about the prize was that it was signed by the late, great Ronnie James Dio (RIP), the legendary Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler, and the epic Vinny Appice. I cherish the signatures of these greats on the guitar. It was slightly smeared when I received the guitar, but the actual signatures are all pristine. It's now kept nicely in a case to preserve the memory of these legends.

Honestly, I have absolutely no review of this guitar, and it will be difficult for me to fully scrutinize it as I've not played it much at all in fear of the signatures smearing further. I plugged it up ONCE, and the tone was recorded for a demo version of a song called "Mind Games". I have to say, the USA pickups are amazing - extremely responsive, and if you blink you might actually think they are a set of actives. Playability of the guitar is what you would expect from a classic SG with a wider fretboard. Neck and bridge tones have a distinct difference, with the treble giving you more crunch when required. I wired this up through a Boss MT-2 and recorded a very rough cut version of the song, and my guitar bro was blown away by how thick and clear the tone was, as it cut through the rhythm.

However, that was the only time I had used it, and unfortunately am unable to provide a more in-depth review. From what I hear, this guitar is absolutely fab, and I'm sure if you're looking to play some Black Sabbath tracks, this guitar would absolutely suit you.

Get well soon Tony! The world still needs your music!

Quick Facts:

Neck Material: Mahogany
Neck Type: Slim Tapered Set Neck
Fingerboard: Rosewood (22 Frets)
Body Material: Mahogany
Neck Pickup: Gibson USA Tony Iommi Humbuckers
Bridge Pickup: Gibson USA Tony Iommi Humbuckers

Make: Made in Korea

Overall Rating: N/A

Ibanez S470

It was a beautiful May day in 2007. Herman Li had come to Malaysia to conduct an Ibanez guitar clinic. My guitar bro and I had long been listening to Dragonforce and was looking forward to the opportunity to catch Herman Li in all his guitar playing glory. If I remember correctly, the guitar clinic ticket was close to RM40, but we were willing to dish out the dough to catch Herman and view his technical wizardry. The event was held in KL, and as per usual, my guitar bro and I would indulge in a bit of nasi goreng tambah telur tambah ayam, before heading out to a night of madness. How the night ended, was truly insane.

So we walked in to the registration counter and the place was flooded with people - in excess of 300. This is quite unusual for a guitar clinic, but the organizer's were well prepared for a large crowd, and this is why they shifted the venue to KL. As we were walking in, we were distracted by a couple of white sheets of paper which you are given after the registration. It turned out that the white piece of paper was for a lucky draw to win an Ibanez S470. The conversation between my guitar bro and I was short and succinct. I don't remember the exact words of our convo, but I know I ended the convo saying "I'm going to win that guitar".

Fast forward till the end of the concert, and the lucky draw event was going on. About 10 names were called up without my guitar bro and I winning anything. The lucky 10 called up were getting clinic tshirts and everything else. When it came to the grand prize, I suddenly heard Herman Li pause and stare at the sheet of paper, and begin to badly pronounce my name. In 2 seconds I jumped off my seat and went "YEAH!!!". And the rest is history. The S470 was presented to me by Herman himself, with his signature on the cutaway. Following that, I managed to meet him, shake his hand and got him to sign my Dragonforce CD sleeve. What a great night!

Quick Facts:

Neck Material: Maple
Neck Type: Wizard II
Fingerboard: Rosewood (22 Frets)
Body Material: Mahogany
Neck Pickup: AH-1
Middle Pickup: AS - 1
Bridge Pickup: AH - 2
Lo TRS Bridge

Make: Made in Korea

Ibanez S 470 Review

Short version of this review is that I've hardly used this guitar in fear of wearing out the signature. I did, however, use this guitar to record two songs from my second album - Oriental Love Affair and Lifeline. The tone of the guitar is exactly what I had expected out of an Ibanez - a nice rocky edge, with smooth tones on the neck, and bordering on metal brutality on the bridge. I'll admit I've hardly used the middle pickup, and if you've read my earlier reviews, in my experience, the middle pickup for Ibanez guitars are usually absolutely rubbish (with the exception of the Prestige series of guitars).

In any case, I recorded those songs with a Boss MT-2 pedal, and the result was exactly what I was looking for. Single note picking on distortion can get a little bit too messy, but nothing a good producer can't clean up. Lead lines can be creamy and smooth on the neck, especially on the higher frets. What I enjoyed - and to me is one of the hallmarks of a good Ibanez guitar - is how versatile these guitars are. One look at it and you tend to think it's an all out metal guitar, but the variety of tones you get out of it always surprises me. I guess this is why I own more than 5 Ibanez guitars - Japan, Korean , Indonesia and China made ones.

In any case, the S470 is an "inexpensive" Korean guitar, worth considering if you're looking for something versatile to suit a harder rock genre. I've coupled it alongside several other pedals and amp distortion and it usually performs well. The output is good enough for both studio, stage and recording, so unless you're looking for a specific tone, there's no real need to change the stock pickups. Well done to Ibanez on that part.

Playability wise, you're looking at a set of jumbo frets, so you can afford a little bit of sloppiness and still hit the right notes. The Wizard II neck is fast as always, and the action is a hair away from the fretboard. Keep in mind though, that this guitar only has 22 frets, and not a 24 you would expect from an RG. The S470 is a classier guitar, slimmer body, Lo TRS tremolo for a lot of "horse screaming" tones, and with pickups with adequate output for most types of music and settings. In short, worth exploring this guitar if you just need 1 axe to cut across many genres.

Overall Rating: 8

Epiphone Les Paul Custom ZW Signature Bullseye

It was the year 2004, I had just returned from Australia several months before that and got into my first "real" job. Earning a meager salary of RM1,600, harbouring huge hopes and high dreams of one day being able to own a signature guitar from my hero and all-time legend Zakk Wylde.

My love affair with Zakk and his music began in 1996, when I started to delve into the world of Black Sabbath, and then to Ozzy Osbourne. I heard a song called "No More Tears" and was just blown away by the solo. Up till today, if I were asked to pick the one perfect solo - Zakk's solo from "No More Tears" will be number one without contention. The phrases, timing, speed, accuracy and technicality were so perfectly intertwined that from that moment on, Zakk solidified his position as my all time favourite guitarist. I then went deeper, and got deep into his Pride & Glory music, his solo acoustic material from Book of Shadows and his tour of Japan, early BLS material from Sonic Brew and Stronger than Death - two epic Zakk albums (Listen to "Hey You (Batch of Lies)") and of course all his material from Ozzy Osbourne. I was obsessed with Zakk, and therefore swore that on my first drawn salary ever in my life, I will purchase his signature guitar as a tribute to my all-time hero.

So let's come back to the story - the year was 2004, it was my first job, and I was earning a crappy bullshit RM1,600. Contrary to your expectations, my first salary did not go to this guitar but it went to a Jimi Hendrix Dunlop Wah (JH-1) instead! I'll talk about this wah pedal later on when I review the effects pedals I own. It was not until after 6 months of working, and a trip to Singapore to watch Master Steve Vai live, that I finally purchased this guitar. I emailed the chaps at the large music store in Singapore on stock availability, case options and total price. I was tended to fast, and everything was perfectly set for when I showed up at the store to collect my guitar - well, almost.

I showed up at the particular branch where the chap who answered me worked at. I came in, introduced myself and told him I was there to collect the guitar. To my surprise, he did not have ready "stock" in the store, and instead told me to take the off-the-shelf copy. After examining the off-the-rack one, I concluded that the condition was too bullshit to take home. So I asked for a new one, and instead was told to get down to their warehouse to pick it up. So I paid the bill in full at the branch, and walked out of the store with an empty case, and my luggage (I used to take the bus to Singapore in those days - thank you NICE bus). So I grabbed a cab, squeezed in with the solid hard case, and went on my way to the guitar warehouse, where the people were notified ahead of time of my arrival, and had the guitar sitting out in a box ready for my collection when I arrived. I left the taxi meter running on the outside of the gate (as the cab was not allowed to turn in to the warehouse), and ran in to collect my guitar. All this occurred 1 hour before I was due on a bus back to KL. Long story short, everything worked out well, and I got my guitar, it fit the case perfectly, and I went off an extremely happy camper. To top it all off, this was the last few Korean made versions of this guitar.

I was finally a proud owner of a Zakk Wylde signature model! For years after that I kept talking about how it would be brilliant to one day have Zakk himself sign the body of the guitar in a gold marker. That dream was fulfilled in 2009 when I met Zakk himself who happily scribbled all over my guitar! So dreams do come true folks.....and it helps to be lucky sometimes too.

Quick Facts:

Neck Material: Maple
Neck Profile: Slim Taper "C" Profile
Fingerboard: Rosewood
Body: Mahogany
Neck Pickup: EMG - HZ
Bridge Pickup: EMG - HZ

Make: Made in Korea

Review:

I'll keep this short and sweet, as my long story above is what really matters to me - especially the fact that this guitar is now long retired into my glass showcase with his signature scribbled all over it.

Short version, the EMG-HZ's are probably the most active passive pickups I know. Picksup well, very ballsy, clear distorted tones and clear clean tones as well. The neck clean tone is exquisite, a good amount of bass and depth. Obviously thinner on the bridge, but also sounds equally compelling on clean. Both pickups can sound sinister on high distortion - but what's more exciting is how it can clean off by rolling the tone knob. I used this guitar on a number of songs I recorded for my second release, and rolling the tone knob down actually helped to clean up the dirty outliers left behind by my BOSS Metalzone pedal. It then turns it into a nice hard rock tone, for fans of newer "rock' style music, which adds a lot of bass into their chugging chords - this guitar will deliver the expected Les Paul tone, with an added kick thanks to the EMGs.

I did not have to set-up the guitar out of the box, and the action and playability came out well inspected from Korea. I've used this guitar anyway from heavy metal (Ozzy, BLS, Megadeth, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden) to 80s Metal/Rock (Poison, Bon Jovi, Dokken), to my own pop/rock styled music and it all fit in well. I'll be honest and say I never really got the most out of this guitar because I was simply too careful around it. It was my first ever electric guitar purchase, it was a signature model of my hero and I never really wanted to damage it. I was very coy around it, and perhaps never "enjoyed" it the way it should have been used. But on the flipside, I enjoy it equally as much staring at it in my cabinet. Maybe sometime in the future I'll purchase the LP Custom Plus ZW Bullseye, which now comes with active EMGs ;)

Overall Rating: Off the scale! Ok, realistically it makes an 8.5 - Zakk himself would use it stock!

Fender American Standard Stratocaster (Blackie)

The purchase of this Stratocaster was an extremely proud moment. It was also kinda funny how it happened, and I am not sure if anyone knows this story.

It was during one of those sale events held by a large guitar store in PJ. I had walked in to the store to pick up a set of Seymour Duncan Alnico II pickups to be fitted into my white Epiphone Les Paul. I went in and purchased the pickups, and was served by a nice sales dude (who still works there and is an awesome person), who went through the motions with me and basically rang up my pickup sale. In my haste of purchasing the Alnico II pickup, I had failed to notice that the pickup I purchased was for the neck instead of the bridge! I did not realise this mistake until I reached home that night, had contacted the gentleman who helps to set up my guitars, and realised that I bought the wrong one!

So being absolutely disappointed, I headed back to the store the next day, and looked for the same sales dude. I told him my predicament, and he more than happily walked over to where the SD pickups were to seek out the bridge version of the Alnico II. After 5 minutes of search, he comes back to deliver the bad news to me that they are out of stock of the bridge ones, and I am free to choose any other pickup of equal value or to get store credit. Seeing that I was not swung by any other pickup at that point to fit into my Les Paul (I wanted the Slash tone), I decided against getting any other pickup and opted for store credit. So the nice sales dude basically rung it up and scribbled on my receipt that I now had RM380 of store credit to use in this store.

So being disappointed, I decided to walk around the store to take a look at the guitars. I had not realised that the store was on sale - and back then in the big guitar store, when guitars were on sale, accessories usually were not. So I walked around and hit the Fender section, and I tend to "shut off" sometimes at this section simply because I always feel I am unable to afford anything in that section. As I continued walking, all of a suddenly a huge 20% discount sign caught my eye, and there sitting on the stand was a Black Fender American Standard Stratocaster. After quick mental math, I decided to try it out, and immediately fell in love with it. I was a fan of the black version as one of my all time favourite guitarist, David Gilmour, uses a black Strat. Let's not forget that Eric Clapton uses a black one too. So to quote my guitar bro, I finally had my own Blackie! And it came with this awesome fitted Fender case too!

I basically swapped my store credit and added on the extras and walked home a proud owner of an American Fender Strat!

Quick Facts:

Neck Material: Maple
Neck Profile: C Shape
Fingerboard: Maple (22 Frets)
Body: Alder
Neck Pickup: Am Standard Single Coil
Mid Pickup: Am Standard Single Coil
Bridge Pickup: Am Standard Single Coil

Make: Made in USA

Fender American Standard Stratocaster (Black) Review

So what else can I say about a Fender Stratocaster which has not been said already? I am guessing that's why it took me this long to actually want to write a review on it. I think I was far more interested in the history of its acquisition than an actual review. So I'm going to try to be succinct;

Glassy tone? Check
Comfortable neck? Check
Stratified Single Coil Tone? Check
Killer Blues Tone? Check
Able to play David Gilmour tunes? Check

Really, there's not much more to go on about it. Crystal clean tone, perfect mids, excellent highs. Plays very comfortably, although I am not the best "strat" player around. I used this guitar for some of my gigs which required a nice single coil tone. The output is great, matches up with the drums and bass very well, and cuts through when required. Can't complain much about this gutiar at all. If I were to gripe, is trying to understand why the hell my pickguard is yellowing - but I am guessing that's probably the "made in china" part of the guitar! Am thinking of swapping it for a black one, so that I truly have a David Gilmour looking guitar.

So, sorry folks. Not much of a review here, but more a posting about having a Fender American Standard Stratocaster. The short version? Everyone should own one. Every serious guitarist should own one. It's a terrifically versatile guitar, and can fit almost any genre. If you want to play some metal on it, just hook up a Metalzone of Full Bore on it, and you're ready to go. I know I did, and I was able to cover a ton of different tunes. Just be aware of the limitations of a single coil. It's not Fender's fault, but really yours if you think you can perform Black Metal on it.

Overall Rating: 9

PRS SE Mikael Akerfeldt (Tortoise Shell)

Quick Facts:

Neck Material: Maple
Neck Type/Profile: Standard
Fingerboard: Ebony (24 Frets)
Body: Extra Thick Single Cut-away Mahogany
Neck Pickup: PRS HFS Vintage Bass Humbuckers
Bridge Pickup: PRS HFS Vintage Bass Humbuckers

Make: Made in Korea

PRS SE Mikael Akerfeldt Review

Once every couple of years, constant aimless visits to a guitar store pays dividends. I spotted this guitar by chance on one of those days where I had nothing better to do, decided to visit the guitar store to see "what's new" without any idea that this guitar even existed. Upon visiting this store, I was at my usual hotspots of Ibanez and Fender, when I was told by a then person I knew who worked for the store, that they received a new shipment of PRS guitars. Now previously, I was hardly swung by PRS guitars sold in Malaysia, as a certain store used to bring sub-par models in and jack them up for premium prices. So I did not expect much....until I saw this baby.....

Being the huge Opeth fan that I am (and I still regard Mikael Akerfeldt as one of the few "genius" musicians currently active and alive today), I was immediately taken in by the design of the guitar, and especially the beauty of its color (described as a "tortoise shell" finish) and the nicely parked Opeth guitar behind the bridge. I've read some reviews which have complained about how ugly the guitar looks, but I could never understand why they believe so. Listening to Opeth for more than 10 years now made me think that I could not imagine this guitar any other way. In my opinion, it exudes the same mental upbringing of its signature artist, and also portrays the wry, autumn type melody which is synonymous with Opeth's music. I was blown away by the design itself, and was honestly not prepared for what I was going to get when I plugged it in.

I'll put this forward immediately - playing on this guitar is absolutely effortless! With an extremely comfortable neck, and highly responsive pickups, the guitar was built to play bassy rhythm lines, as well as thin fuzzed up retro leads which Mikael himself is known for producing. Playing around with the tone knob can produce some amazing results - and at one point if one were blind and just listening to the tone, you would almost think that a Telecaster was being played. That sums up the versatility of the guitar, which is absolutely what an artist such as Mikael Akerfeldt would demand. Opeth is well known for their melodic death metal music, as well as their penchant in creating melodic masterpieces which switches between dirty and clean within a blink. Further on, their album Damnation brought out a different side of Mikael's song writing process, one which will forever seal his "genius" title in my mind. The way the guitar is made, and the way the tone of the guitar can seamlessly switch between bass heavy dirty tones and crystal clear clean tones all begins making sense if you're familiar with Opeth's music.

To add further to my amazement of this guitar, the price point was unbelievable for the quality you are getting. For below RM3k, you are able to obtain a Korean piece of wood, tricked out and suited towards any particular genre. I'll be bold enough to say that this guitar can play musical styles ranging from pop/rock, blues, country, heavy metal and jazz. The mahogany body provides enough depth for heavier forms of music, or even clean jazz which calls for more bass tones, and the tone knob cleans up the tone, and thins it just right for thinner lead lines required in both clean and slight over drive. Once again I cannot express how amazed I was at this guitar overall, with a great price point to go with also.

It took me many visits before I finally brought mine home, as everytime I was ready to bring it back with it, it was sold out (and was forever kicking myself for not getting it on the first visit). Finally, after 3 different "shipments" in and out of the guitar store, I finally got my piece, brought it home and was thoroughly satisfied with it! If you want to get a slight feel for how it sounds, tune in to some of Opeth's newer material, and you will hear this PRS make its apperance in its tracks.

Overall Rating: 9

Gibson Zakk Wylde BFG (Buzzsaw)

To finally own a Gibson guitar is to finally feel like you have achieved something tremendous. The day I purchased this guitar I stayed awake most of the night thinking how far my guitar collection had come, from humble beginnings of a Santana acoustic guitar when I was 15 (I donated the Santana guitar to a charity where they had music classes), to now owning a Gibson Les Paul, albeit a BFG model. A few months prior to this purchase, I had achieved the coveted status of being a Fender American Standard guitar owner- an exquisite guitar which provides tones you always only hear on your favorite CD, DVD or live performance.


I purchased this guitar from a recently acquired friend whom I met "accidentally" while pursuing my dream of meeting Zakk Wylde in Singapore. Sometimes life throws you a bunch of oddballs, and what started off as a quest to purchase a Dean VMNTX United Abominations guitar, turned out to be a purchase of a ZW ZV Epiphone and a ZW Gibson BFG, as well a bunch of crazy twists which saw me seated next to Zakk Wylde eating seafood by the bay in Singapore (but more on that later).

So yes, as you can tell from the photo, this guitar was signed by Zakk himself on Nov 30, 2009 during a meet and greet in Singapore. I had 2 other guitars signed by Zakk (Epiphone Bullseye and ZV) which I will review at a later date.

Gibson Zakk Wylde BFG (Buzzsaw) Review
Quick Facts:
Neck Material: Unfinished Maple
Neck Type/Profile: Les Paul 50's Neck
Fingerboard: Rosewood (22 Frets)
Body: Bookmatched Maple Top and Chambered Mahogany
Neck Pickup: EMG 85
Bridge Pickup: EMG 81  

Make: Made in USA

The Zakk Wylde Gibson BFG is one Bad F*ing Guitar, with its nasty unfinished looks, natural color and signature Zakk graphics, this guitar was built for war. Solid as a tank, the tone exuded by this guitar is rich, fat and chunky all the same, while keeping the clean tone pure and bassy at the same time. This is not a guitar for elegant fingerpicking, but was built for pure destruction. The EMGs are ready for an attack at any time, and as with any active pickup, the EMGs are extremely sensitive to the nuance of your playing, and will project that in the best way possible through your amp.

The most crucial part about this guitar is that you are able to get Zakk's tone with the right pedal and amp settings. The whole reason behind my purchase of this guitar was to emulate Zakk's tone. I was not fussed over whether the clean tone was fantastic (and I do remember I only tested this guitar in dirty), but was more concerned over what settings on the amp I would need to prep to ensure I am able to pinch and squeal ala Zakk. This guitar did not disappoint, and I was able to do almost anything I want on it. The neck is slim, fairly fast, and emulates the classic LP 50's neck, which was built for good rhythming and lead at the same time.

The Zakk Wylde BFG plays like a dream. In spite of being a BFG, the workmanship of the guitar is exquisite, and Gibson still took the pains in ensuring that the product being sold with Zakk's name is that of quality and precision. Part of this is due to Zakk's personal involvement in all his signature guitars produced by both Epiphone and Gibson. Loaded up with active EMG 85 (neck) and 81 (bridge) pickups, this guitar is ready to squeal and run through metal chords and progressions with superb ease. The neck feels faster than the usual LP necks, and all the little scrapes and nicks from your pick can be heard, forcing yourself to be cleaner as you continue to play this guitar.

So if you're as nutty over Zakk as I am, this guitar is a "cheaper" alternative to his Gibson LP Custom signature guitar, and it's a class above the Epiphones available (although those are not too shabby at all!). It's a good in between for those Zakk fans looking at emulating his legendary tone. I certainly was able to do so!  
Overall Rating: 9.2