Goodies have arrived..........

My parcel from Musikhaus Thomann's has just arrived with my order; about 4 days from Germany to the UK.

I've never used Thomann's before - but they were quite keen on their prices for the GROVER'S;  so I placed an order with them (and for some string sets!).

The box was well packaged, and all items were present and correct !   That's a good start in my book.

Here's what we have......

Some nice *FREE* Planet Waves picks in the D'Addario string set...... 3 pack

Mostly medium gauge........  but you can never have too many picks !!!!!

Authentic TOUR Picks from Joe Satriani, Mark Tremonti, Motorhead etc.

Yamaha Pacifica 112X CLEAN, CONDITION and PREP for Grover Locking Tuners Upgrade - Part 1

We all know how important it is to look after your instruments. 

It's been a while since I stripped my Pacifica down for a darrrrrrrn good clean..........  so after removing the old strings, I started by cleaning the rosewood fretboard with isopropyl (ISO-P) alcohol wipes............  to remove any built up grime and grunge..........

CLEAN

There seems to be some differences of opinion on this topic of cleaning a rosewood fretboard;  some folks use ISO-P wipes or liquid / spray onto a cloth - whilst another 'school of thought' seems to suggest that lighter fluid (Naphtha?) might do the trick just as well?

I've never used Naphtha on a fretboard *ever* - surely it would leave a nasty residue?  Whereas ISO-P wipes are pure // will evaporate quickly and leave no residue, right?

CONDITION

Once that was done - I applied some Planet Waves Lemon Oil onto a small fine microfibre cloth (the type used to clean your sunglasses!) and gave the fretboard the treatment.  You really don't need too much of the product;  use it sparingly..... remember Lemon Oil is a CONDITIONER *not a cleaner*

A little goes a long way..............  as they say !

Finally, I cleaned the body, neck and headstock with some Jim Dunlop Formula 65 polish and buffed to a shine.  This stuff is great - and the more frequently you use it, the better; as each application leaves a micro layer of protection preventing stain build ups.

UPGRADE THE TUNERS?

While my guitar was on the bench - I decided to remove the original Yamaha OEM tuners;  as I had already decided to replace them with Locking Tuners............

After some researching - I opted for Grover's Mini Rotomatic Locking Tuners. (6 in a line) 406-C6 in Chrome.  These tuners have an 18:1 Gear Ratio, are fully enclosed - and guaranteed for life !  They also have mini-buttons to allow for more finger room.

Locking tuners give you all the benefits of standard Rotomatic Tuners (PLUS the added bonus of positive locking by the Grover's internal cam post.)

Why do you need them?
Locking tuners help to speed up string changes and prevent de-tuning // tuning drifts - often associated with poor machine heads or incorrectly fitted / wound strings leading to string slippage.  

How do they work?
Insert your string through the string hole, pull to tension by hand, and start to tune-up your guitar.

As you begin tuning, only the locking cam in the string post turns. The string post begins to turn once the string is locked.  In under one string post revolution, you'll be in tune......... and you'll stay in tune.  *well hopefully*

Original Tuners Removed (FRONT)

Tuners Removed (REAR)

Check out part 2............  fitting the Locking Rotomatics (http://sixstringzuk.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/grover-locking-tuners-upgrade-part-2.html).

M-AUDIO Axiom AIR 25 - most wanted !!!!

I've been looking to add a USB hybrid MIDI controller keyboard / pad (with transport controls) to my ProTools system for a while now........

At the Summer NAMM 2012; M-AUDIO announced their new range of controller keyboards - the AXIOM AIR product range...... and I was excited to learn about the new "Ignite" software that would ship with every AIR unit.

Designs have changed since Summer NAMM - and only the AIR MINI 32 made it to market.  (This is a bit too small for my needs!)

So, today - April 2013 - and still no  release of the 25 key, 49 key or 61 key versions........

I'm reliably informed that the AIR 25 will be shipping *very soon* to re-sellers in the UK - and is likely to drop mid-May 2013.

The design has changed since the Summer NAMM first "prototypes"?............  but functionally - the 25 key unit is very close to the original spec.  (Except the unit is now White, and not BLACK!) ...and has more PADS !!  It will ship with the "Ignite" software, in addition to "Pro Tools Express". *EDITED 22nd May 2013 (The AIR 25 *DOES NOT* ship with Pro Tools Express, only the 49 and 61 key versions of the AXIOM AIR)...  instead you get a CD with Ableton Live...  PLUS you have to download the IGNITE application which is not too bad as a mini-DAW app!

While we are waiting for the mid-MAY 2013 release date - here are some photographs to drool over !

Price will be around £229 GBP (UK pounds) from most online stores.

More info. from the M-AUDIO website
http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/AxiomAIR25.html

ProTools 11 - Everything you wanted to know....

The guys over at Pro-Tools-Expert / airusersblog have uploaded a great video (about 45 minutes) which summarises the new features in ProTools 11.

If you are a Pro Tools user - you really should subscribe to their YouTube Channel;  

Right now, I am running PT 10.4 on the x86 PC platform - but I am seriously considering moving to PT 11 when it becomes available.

Kudos to the guys at Pro-Tools-Expert - AirUsersBlog!!!

http://www.pro-tools-expert.com/

Watch it in the player below... on watch on YouTube........

My Home Studio Setup and the guitars.............

Home Studio Setup :

See the TAB - "Home Studio - Gallery" - or click the link below.....

http://sixstringzuk.blogspot.co.uk/p/home-studio-gallery.html

Custom built DAW Workstation Furniture

Windows 7 x86 Laptop

Avid / Digidesign Eleven Rack (11R) with Eleven Rack Expansion Pack (ERXP) - as primary AUDIO interface

Behringer FCB1010 [with EUREKA PROM]

Avid ProTools 10.4 

Pair of Mackie MR5Mk2's Active Monitors

The guitars..... (click LINK below for the gallery!)

http://sixstringzuk.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-guitars-gallery.html

Gibson Les Paul DT

Yamaha Pacifica PAC112X

Fender Semi-Acoustic Vince Ray Unlucky 13

Takamine EG345c 12 String Electro-Acoustic