Taking Candy From Strange

When I was young I remember being told never to accept candy from strangers.

Seems like Japanese kids are much more generous, and actually give me the candy!

Sweet.

It was snowing today quite a bit. Probably the most that we've had all winter actually. But in my opinion it's half-assed snow. By the time it hits the ground, it instantly evaporates to a cold patch of water. If it lands on me, it looks like a 7-eleven slushie without the raspberry cordial. Right now it's about 3 degrees.

I woke up early today at 1030am. HA.

I thought it'd be a good idea to go to Ochanomizu and Akihabara for a quick perusal before Kawasaki "kamikaze".

I'm still on a guitar kick, but less so since I bought my latest trick.

What was beckoning me to come here today was news of this secondhand Jem 77B RMR in Akiba. It's the same model as the one from America. I HAD to see what I missed out on.

A quick babelfish translation of the internet post states "A little there is a crack in the contour part, but it is the beauty item".

From what I saw in the pictures and in person there was more than a little cracking in this mirror. If it translates to bad luck there's at least 28 years of misfortune in years to come. More so if someone actually pays their asking price of 198,000 yen.

In the shop it didn't look as bad as I thought it would. It adds a touch of character, and you wouldn't be so afraid to scratch it. It's already a pre-scratched relic!

I had a try of this Burny Les Paul copy while I was there.

My favourite guitar of all time is my 1990 Les Paul. I heard that Burny's (made by Fernandes) had a good reputation for LPs.

I saw that this had the sustainer AND a Floyd Rose whammy, so I wanted to see if this was as good as it sounds. The tone was quite nice, but I'm starting to get over the novelty of the sustainer. Still, it's a cool party trick. The whammy bar wasn't tight or recessed, so it didn't feel as good as I hoped in that regard.

The gf wanted to go to Uniqlo for a sale, so she tagged along with me to Kawasaki. Looks like the shopping spree lasted 6 hours for her solely in Lazona.

Nuts!

We went to Shi-an Gyoza, a Chinese Restaurant in Lazona after work. It was pretty tasty, although not quite as good as the one in Yurakucho. If you go to just one in Tokyo, make it that one.

On the way out I saw these classic signs and couldn't resist taking these photos. A security guard looked puzzled about what I was doing. I'm a very dangerous man in Tokyo!!

Double Whammy

Today I ventured alone into not only Akihabara, but also Ochanomizu once more.

I'm still going through my seemingly never-ending guitar phase. I am itching to buy another guitar. I certainly don't NEED another one and being in Japan isn't going to make it so easy to cart it back to Australia.

I guess I have a real bad case of G.A.S.! (Gear Acquisition Syndrome)

The mirrored Ibanez Jem that I thought I'd lost out on, may still be possible. I made an offer to the American music store and he is considering it. I thought he wouldn't accept it, so I'm again debating whether I should get it or not.

Unusually for a Sunday I was awake by 830am, and I thought of checking out more guitar stores.

I "discovered" a new store in Akihabara called Revolve which is a part of the Ikebe Gakki.

I had a LOT of difficulty finding this place. Usually I check Google Earth street view to find an address, but when I checked, I couldn't see the store in the photo so I relied on their map for directions. It's not the clearest thing to understand.

Basically from the station, you have to go across the busy road with the river on your right-hand side. Oh, and DON'T go out the Electric Town exit (It's on the east side you need to go out).

I'm pretty happy I found it. They have a GREAT selection of guitars. Just about every guitar I wanted to try was there.

First I had a go of a secondhand Ibanez RG20051.

The reason being was the finish. I kinda like the swirl that they did on the JEMs, so I wanted to see how this looked and played.
It looked in good condition and played fairly well, but I didn't feel like I HAD to have it. It looked a little cheap, but it was 73,290 yen.

I wasn't convinced.

Next I tried a recently released John 5 Triple Telecaster Deluxe. This had a more impressive feeling of quality and I really liked the mirror scratchplate on this. It looks the business for sure.

The pickup selector felt like it had a loose connection and was cutting out a little. The bridge pickup was very nice though. A very useable chunky sound. For 94,290 yen this one felt pretty good. Only thing here (apart from the dodgy pickup switch), was the weight. This is one weighty guitar, like an old Les Paul heavy.

I was getting the feeling the staff didn't want me to try any more guitars so I left pretty soon after that one.

Before I went to Revole though, I went to Laox Music Vox.

I'd forgotten all about this place. It's not a bad store, but not as good as the others. They have a few different levels of gear so it's fairly big.

Here I tried a Jem 77v bk.

This is the guitar most similar to the guitar I've been considering from America. It has the same pickups, so I imagine it will have the same sound.

I don't know what it is, but I'm not excited about this. It doesn't sound bad, but I prefer the hotter output of the white VWH model. With those discounted ones at Rock Inn I am tempted, but the gold on white isn't my preferred colour scheme.

Once I finally left these music stores I made my way around the usual Akiba places, then on to Ochanomizu.

By now it was already getting dark and colder, reinforced by a really cold wind. I should have went home but I couldn't stop this urge to look at guitars!

The Jem I tried last week was gone. It wasn't priced too bad, but like I said here, it just wasn't seducing me. Some guitars have some real mojo (like my Strat and Les Paul), and others just don't.

In one of the used guitar stores I tried a Hohner headless guitar.

I've never seen one of these before. The body was like a squashed strat (not the Jack), with three single coils and black scratchplate. It didn't play too badly either. This is more of a clean tone guitar (like a Fender), but it was in great condition for only 32,000 yen. Tempted on this one, just for it's rarity. If anyone knows what this is, let me know!

Finally before leaving I REALLY wanted to try the Fernandes Sustainer on a guitar again. In the same shop I saw one that looked a little old, but played great. The sustainer was easy to use and got me wanting one of these bad!

It sure beats fumbling with an eBow. I found an excellent youtube video here explaining how it works.

Lucky for me in Japan, Ikebe Gakki sell some Jems already fitted with a (white) sustainer in the neck position, so I could kill two big birds with this one stone.

We'll see what happens eh?

The Maids Of Akihabara

I went mostly solo today. The gf is doing a short job for a few days so I was left to my own devices. 

 I didn't have anything in particular planned so I decided to go to Akihabara and Ochanomizu. They are only a short walk from each other. 

 Aki for the UFO catchers and electrical junk in Electric Town (oh, and maids too), and Ochanomizu for guitars, guitars and more guitars!

 

  Arriving at Akihabara I saw one of the maids promoting their maid cafes. I felt like a perv for taking her picture. Yoko would probably call this hentai, but all I can say to that is "pffft". 

 Surprisingly the whole time I was there, I didn't spend a yen on a UFO catcher, although I REALLY, REALLY wanted too, as people were winning all around me. I was waiting for my "moment".

 

I sneaked another maid picture here. She clearly busted me for taking her photo. Thank you maid girl. May your picture remain posted here for all eternity! 

 Later on I met up with the gf at Ochanomizu, sparing her the boredom of me weaving in and out of the numerous guitar shops on the strip. 

 We had some cake and coffee/tea before walking back to Akihabara for some blank CD/DVDs. 

 We went to the local Don Quixote, where I admired the maid outfits that I wish gf would wear for an um, special occasion. 

 There I bought a 700ml 25% bottle of the infamous green shochu. Looking back now I wish I got the 1.8 ltr bottle for 1080 yen. DANG! 

 Akihabara is geek central. With all the computer stores, porn manga comics and GUYS playing the UFO catchers for upskirt dolls, it must be heaven for nerds.

  Just in case one of them missed this "prize" in an arcade, this UFO catcher has a mirror. 

 Arriving back in Yotsuya, I had shochu mixed with peach nectar juice which I heartily recommend. 

 Oh, to be in Tokyo and pleasantly inebriated.