Bring Me to Life: Trying NYXL on a Les Paul

The new string feeling is amazing. I took a break from essay writing by trying on a set of D'Addario NYXL strings. I had wanted to try a low tuning to play stuff from A Perfect Circle. As much as they aren't a good influence in terms of lyrical antithesis to my Christian faith, James Iha and Billy Howerdel are geniuses at crafting intricate...

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Monster Curry at Serangoon Nex

Monster Curry hasn't changed in price, but it has changed its practice of upfront payment. You no longer have to pay first! We tried something different this time: their honey toast, which we think is a just-pass. According to wife, she says it passes the test to satisfy a sweet craving but it's not something to shout about. In other news,...

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Pedalboard Adventures November 2017: Building with the JPS

Alas, I have fallen into the trap of building/tearing-down/rebuilding pedalboards. I put together the following builds with the spare "big format" pedals that I had. This one with an improved outboard application: as my DD-7 rehouse has dual mono outputs, I placed this last in the chain, with one output split to the Joyo AC Tone for direct-to-board,...

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New Gear Day: JPS Pedalboard (No Crazy Pedals)

I was inspired by my recent MSM Stringdom Workshop participants who were seeking simplicity of tone for worship to strip down my rig to something much more manageable. 8 pedals. No crazy delay or reverb, just my PS-6, DD-7 and Time Machine for basic delay tones. I can stack the DD-7 into the Time Machine for dual delay sounds, or set...

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New Gear Day: Suhr Modern Satin

This African Mahogany beauty came into the fold as a result of a trade with my Gretch Duo Jet. If I were honest, I wasn't bonding with the Gretsch as much as I thought I would. Yes, it's a "quintessential" worship guitar sound, but it was like playing an electrified acoustic. I had difficulty accessing the 16th fret onwards for...

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Renewed Reflections on Worship Songs

Allow me to preface this reflection with a confession. I have considered myself an "armchair theologian", and I shall provide a working definition from one who has articulated it before: "An armchair theologian is also an outsider to “the game”. He looks into the academic community of theologians with a keen interest in the topics being discussed....

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MSM Short Course - Bass-ics (Foundations of Bass Guitar in a Worship Team)

I'll be conducting a short 8-session course at the Methodist School of Music, entitled "MSM Bass-ics: Foundations of Bass Guitar in a Worship Team". Registration details are in the Google form below! https://goo.gl/forms/r6eOUFFLYNqU9Eaj1 See you so...

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Freedom Marches In (Hillsong United, Guitar Playthru Tutorial)

Hi all! I've come up with a video for the latest Hillsong United tune, with parts I think would be beneficial for beginners to learn. ...

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Tones and Tips: Gretsch Duojet

I recently got a hold of a Gretsch Duo Jet. It's a completely unique instrument, with certain quirks that takes some time getting used to, and a sound that has twang and growl, a balance between a single coil and a humbucker. Here's a video I made that shows the unique tones and control scheme for the Duo Jet. I would have spoken and have...

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Wonder (Hillsong United) - Guitar Playthru and Tutorial

I needed this recording, not in the sense of a monetary make-or-break for my channel, but I was feeling incredibly down this week. It's like there's been a dark cloud hanging over me, and it hasn't lifted. Everything was getting to me, and I didn't know how to change the way I felt about everything. I felt under-appreciated by everyone. And every memory of being taken for granted, of being abandoned, of being cast aside for the better ones--they all came crashing down on me. I felt stifled, I...

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Jazz and Blues in Worship

I'm a fan of reharmonizing tunes to fit other contexts, and in my case where some of my musical upbringing took place playing in wedding bands, I learnt some Jazz and Blues. I'm not skillful in Jazz chops by any means, I'm just a fan of the genre, having picked up a few tricks of the trade from sitting through numerous sessions where I've had...

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Lion and the Lamb (Bethel) - Guitar Playthru and Tutorial

This isn't another lead guitar cover. Here's a suggested lead and rhythm guitar arrangement for Bethel's "Lion and the Lamb", which I've come up with catering to the following scenarios: Your band doesn't have a keyboardist but you need to recreate the synth pulse. Your band doesn't have the expensive Strymon stuff to pull off the big, spacey-sounding lead tones. With two electrics, you'll be able to cover enough tonal ground, and with the right arrangement, they'll complement each other to...

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My Lego Sets from 1996-1998

I went back to Springside to retrieve items that Mum wanted me to sort and throw. I found my old Lego sets! These brought back wonderful memories, as the Aquanauts series were meant to be played underwater--I remember going swimming at the club with these in hand. There's a ship that appears to be some space-travelling spy series, which I also believe...

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How Great is Our God (Guitar Solo)

I was very refreshed to learn a Hebrew version of the song "How Great is Our God" recorded by Joshua Aaron. Right in the middle of it, there's a powerful, declarative guitar solo that spoke so much to me. Call me crazy, but the musician in me worships with solos! I decided to learn it and incorporate it whenever I get called to play this song....

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Are You Quitting Guitar? (May 2017)

A friend messaged me and asked if I was quitting guitar because of all the gear I was offloading on Carousell. Another joked that I was keeping the guitar pedal economy going by trickling down my effects onto the newer generation of 2nd-hand market buyers. On that latter point, I did realize I'm now part of the 2nd-tier of the gear life cycle;...

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Brunch and Lunch at Curious Palette

Nestled in a row of shophouses opposite Paradiz Centre, Curious Palette caught our attention for a variety of reasons: they had a Scotched Egg dish, their fries were truffled sweet potato, they had a soft-shell crab burger, and their hotcakes were so big that it has been purportedly substituted a main course for a food blogger. We just had to try them...

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