Reviews

Last week I talked about a new DVD I had picked up which teaches the basics on how to airbrush stunning designs onto your lefty guitar.  But what if you don’t have any artistic talent and just want to inexpensively and effectively transform the appearance of your guitar?  A custom designed full-body vinyl decal kit could be the solution for you!  This week I tried my hand at applying one myself – with great results!

Full body vinyl decal kits are a fantastic way of completely changing your guitar’s appearance without breaking the bank.  Various different designs are available online, but one of the most popular has got to be the Zakk Wylde Bullseye graphic – and this is the one I have opted for. After all, it’s not often you see a left handed guitar with a bullseye paintjob!

The particular decal I got was bought from Triple S Signs here in Scotland through their eBay Store.  They don’t currently have any decals listed but if you shoot them an email they will be able to accommodate your needs, just make sure to ask for a left handed one!  The price is £9.95 + £2.95 P&P and the decal can be printed in any color you would like – I was advised to get the black as they thought it would accentuate the flame finish on my guitar.

The Kit[singlepic id=75 w=180 h=180 float=]

The decal comes as one large vinyl sticker but only the stripes are the actual decal, the rest is simply the two protective layers.  In the image to the right only the black stripes are the actual parts that will be applied to the guitar.  So you will need to take into account which color will be the best match for your particular guitar when ordering.

Preparation[singlepic id=74 w=180 h=180 float=]

I decided to individually cut out each section so that I could more easily alter each piece to fit my particular guitar.  As you can see, some of the stripes overlapped certain parts of the guitar and it was therefore necessary to trim some areas to fit.  I also decided to remove all of the guitar’s hardware to aid in positioning each section.

Have you ever wanted to get a custom airbrushed paintjob on your guitar but couldn’t quite afford the artist’s fees?  Why not learn to do it yourself with John Gleneicki’s new Wicked Airbrush DVD which will show you all you need to know about creating jaw-dropping designs on your guitar!  Hell, us leftys are supposed to be the creative ones right? ;)

As a lefty player it can often be arduous trying to get a guitar in the exact finish you desire without going down the expensive custom designed route.  John Gleneicki recognises the passion that some people have to get creative with their instruments and sells a variety of instructional media aimed at teaching you how to customize your guitar.

I started off dabbling in painting guitars through using John’s ebook How To Create a Factory Guitar Finish with Just A Couple of Spray Cans, but recently I had been feeling like kicking things up a notch.  So I picked up his DVD from the new Wicked Airbrush Series which introduces you to the world of airbrushing and aims to show you step by step how to create a U.S Flamed Flag paint job.  It’s maybe not a paint-job for everyone but this complicated design ensures that every technique is covered throughout the DVD.

A Complete Introduction to Airbrushing

Upon purchasing the DVD you will immediately be given access to download John’s e-book ‘A Complete Guide to Airbrushing’ to give you some swatting material to peruse whilst waiting on the DVD.  This 70 page booklet will teach you all you need to know about getting started with airbrushing so that when your DVD arrives you will be ready to rock.  It covers topics such as the different types of airbrush, maintenance, paints, compressors, accessories and the best ways of practicing your art.

Time to review the latest guitar to grace the LeftyFretz guitar rack – the Vintage V100 Icon Lemon Drop.  I’ve had this guitar for exactly one month now so I have had plenty of time to get suitably acquainted with it.

For those who have never heard of them, Vintage is a UK brand which is rapidly gaining respect within the guitar playing community. Vintage worked with acknowledged guitar industry guru Trevor Wilkinson to produce their current range and this really comes across in the quality of the instruments.

The guitar was purchased from Reidy’s online store for the bargain price of £265 ($400ish) including next day shipping so it’s really verging into beginner guitar money.  You’ll also be glad to learn that Vintage does not charge extra for their left handed guitars.

I’ll give you a quick sum up of the main features, but head over to the Vintage website for the complete low-down.

• Mahogany Body
• Flame Maple Top
• Mahogany Set Neck
• Rosewood Fretboard
• 24.75” Scale Length
• 22 Frets
• Wilkinson Hardware/Pickups

The reverse-fitted neck humbucker and out of phase centre position wiring creates one of the most recognisable guitar sounds of the genre – real “Black Magic”.  The guitar is also extensively reliced to give it that authentic ‘used’ look which so many players are lusting after these days.

This week we have a review of the rather unique Ibanez ORM1 Omar Rodriguez Lopez signature left handed guitar.  Usually I wouldn’t even consider a guitar with retro styled looks such as this one but then I noticed that it was a shorter 24” scale length and my curiosity got the better of me.

Okay, so it’s more a recount of my past month with the ORM1 than a proper review, but hopefully you can still take something from it.  Information on this guitar is rather thin on the ground so hopefully I can help point potential buyers in the right direction.

LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT? NOT ENTIRELY…

I sauntered into my local guitar store exactly 4 weeks ago to the day intent on giving this interesting little guitar a thorough investigation. ‘Little’ is the keyword  here folks as this thing is tiny, I thought someone had mistakenly hung up a GuitarHero controller when I spotted it hiding in the corner. I was almost a little too embarrassed to request to give it a spin.

The sales rep grabbed it down for me and set me up in the store’s soundproof booth so we could have our intimate one-on-one session.  First off, let me tell you i’m glad the room was soundproof because this thing sounded HORRIBLE. To be fair there were a lot of factors affecting the sonic diarrhea taking place in that booth.  I was incredibly sweaty due to it being a beast of a day, I had no idea how to fine tune the amp, the action was ridiculously high and the ORM1 pickup was just weak sounding and incredibly shrill at the same time.