Ebay Store For EC Lovers!

Saturday Jam Around...

We indeed have our hands full today jamming to our favourite tunes with our guitars and amp. I guess the pictures paint a thousand words... James for once opened up and played some decent sounding tunes which he naturally shies way from when we frequent music stores in KL. I thought he has great ability and just needs more practice... Especially love his rendition of 'Samba Pa Ti' which was wicked yet pleasantly played with the melody and the chords blended in together. I'll leave you to decipher the moods :-))... Have a good weekend...

My Contribution To The Crossroads Antigua Center...

Funny how sometimes something your idol very much can influence you to do something out of the norm... Being an ardent fan of vintage and beat up gear doesn't justify the purchase of a new pedal, even more so, from a music retail store... So last Saturday was the day of the reckoning; I had made up my mind that I wanted to hear how good the EC Crossroads pedal by Digitech was, and if it was indeed up to my expectations, I would grab it without any regretful hesitation.
So, I proceeded to Bentley Music in town for an audition although I would have loved to be there on weekdays instead where I could have the whole store practically to my own ears (regular shoppers beware!!! :-)). Plugged into a regular USA Strat, I tweaked and twiddled with the Crossroads pedal, all the 7 modes it had to offer, to hear what it could and could not do... Putting it in a nutshell, my first impressions were that the distortion modes were edgy and tad harsh through the single coils of the Strat, a complete opposite of the Boss OD-1 and the Ibanez TS-9 ovedrive pedals in my possession. I think it would have sounded better on a Gibson axe which boosted the midrange frequencies pretty well. My personal favorites playing for the first time are the 'Leslie' rotating speaker cabinet simulator; the 'Badge' sound, the 'Unplugged' 1939 Martin 000-42 guitar mode and the fat 'Reptile Gibson L-5 guitar tone. It didn't took long for me to decide that I must purchase the pedal after reading the nice and convincing information on the packaging box, notably the part which mentions the contribution from the purchase of this pedal towards charitable causes for the alcoholic center in Antigua which is maintained by Eric himself. It may have been a commercial ploy after all, but heck, if EC doesn't sell, who does anyway...
Back home, with a more engaging and matured setup, I am pleased as punch to know that indeed I have bought home a good investment grade pedal. Although not a Japanese made one, this one IS special... It commemorates Eric's tone and sound throughout his 40 over years super career. The pedal sounded closer to Eric's setup when you use the other gears he used back then (same spec guitars and amps). This gadget takes your tone one step closer to mimic 'God', only after you have invested in His well known otherworldly gears... So, EC fans out there, buy this pedal, and you'll have His tone in your arsenal, also do the world some good by a donating to the center for good causes, Peace brothers...

OverDrive Affection!

1980 BOSS OD-1 - sweet and nice with the seminal silver thumb screw...

The elusive JRC 4558D chip which is inherent in all great OD pedals of the 70s and 80s... included in this one as well...
My great 1983 Ibanez TS-9 midrange booster. Fattens up single coil sounds to nice thick and throaty tones of often talked and admired vintage tube amplifiers. Every guitarist worth his salt should own one from this vintage.
With the elusive chip yet again :-)

You Think I'm Lulu !!??!!

Three cheers for the newly wedded man! Our buddy Chris Blur recently got hitched and we were there at the Federal Hotel KL to celebrate his big day. From left to right: Victor ' Bukit MF ' Tan, framus 'Thamby' himself, and the notorious yet fun, Rizal 'I'm an Indian Boy' Ross. The highlight of the event was of course the 'keng chao' sessions where each one of us pitted against the other in the traditional test of who'd be able to withstand / sustain the excessive alcohol consumption... Within minutes, red wines were discarded like failed commodities and replaced with the good ol' Hennessy brandy. Most felt the wine was tad dry... Soon, glasses clinged, with cokes as mixers, and the occassional Chinese tea pouring in to provide camouflage for unseasoned drinkers on our table.... Even though I faced respiratory problems with alcohol in my system, I downed at least 3 glasses of Hennessy Coke that night, and got away mostly with blushed skin only... how lucky... The rest were getting rowdier as the night rode on, some challenging their adversaries to drink and drink further... The finale was a cocktail test in which everyone's filled glasses were poured into an ice bucket. Agitated carefully, the drinks were then equally divided and everyone consumed them without much complain.. talk about being fair... ha ha. All in all, an enjoyable evening out.... Cheers!

Quid Pro Quo...

Churning out a set list for your gig can be quite a harrowing experience. . . You want to sound original and bona fide and yet be successful in recreating the music you love as a tribute to the genesis artist.

So, after much consideration, my first demo in tribute to Eric and the blues greats would include the set list below:

1) Crossroads
2) Me & The Devil Blues
3) From Four Till Late
4) Badge
5) Old Love
6) Malted Milk
7) Nobody Knows You When You're Down & Out
8) Born Under A Bad Sign
9) Some Day After A While
10) Hideaway

The Martin 000 28EC pictured above is the drool to come... Stay tuned for more...

EC Sightings

With a beautiful friend after playing fussball...

Bristol, TN Speedway 2006...

EC's residence in Chelsea, London...

Self explanatory...
EC and Kim... (notice the Red Wing boot)
EC and friends...
Guitar auction #3???

A fairly recent charity function in London where he raised UKP 35,000/- by auctioning a signed Fender Stratocaster...

The famous signboard, revisited...

Seattle, Washington sound check somewhere in the 21st century...

Enjoying every moment it seems...

A Cream era portrait...

The guitar below, exposed with the legendary initials...

Sound check in New York City with a Firebird...
With Muddy Waters...

Three guitarists...

Bending backwards...

A done deal!
Carrying a koala bear - Down under tour 2007...

With a new bike...
Displaying boredom in a hotel room in Japan...

With a fan... ah... it ain't that bad ok...
With daughter Ruth Kelly...

A game of fussball with Hiroshi Fujiwara...
Having shark's fin soup in Shanghai 2007...
With U2's The Edge & Larry Mullen Jr....
with Steven Seagal...

Photos From Across The Causeway...

Situated along North Bridge Road & Coleman Road

Swee Lee, Bras Basah Complex

A beat up 60s Jazzmaster at Guitar Connection

A rare blue teal colored Firebird guitar

Nice, nice, nice


According to the shop owner, a genuine one indeed...

24 Nights!

I was searching through my old RAW files aka digital negatives today when I stumbled upon this photo taken by my wife in London early this year... It reminded me a lot on Clapton's concerts there, particularly during the 90s when he did many shows at the Royal Albert Hall (pictured above). What a great feeling to be able to re-visit this historic venue, most English rock stars have indeed performed at the Albert Hall at least once in their career... The good news is, it's only a 10 minute walk from our hotel in Kensington, the bad news is, our next trip there is only next year... Speaking bout that, I've just managed to get Eric's office address in Chelsea, so we're heading there next time around, hopefully we can bump into the legend himself! Wish me luck!