.gapnap.com

guitarist , guitar instructor , guitar collector
March 10th, 2010

Guitar Shops in Taiwan Part 5 ! . SHRED TAIWAN !

SEE ! I TOLD YOU SO !

Remember this ?

Oscars ‘10 - Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score Goes to

UP (2009)

My predictions IS 100% OK !

Who wants Consultation on Betting World Cup :P

(Actually , it doesn’t work when I AM BETTING , I always lose when i bet . But when i do not bet , i always win )

Okay , lets get over and end the Shred Taiwan Saga. Shit man , i can’t believe i am going to Indonesia in 2 weeks time . I better finish this last post before i get there ..

last time we were HERE, just about to enter the VIP room .

Ok , here we are…

Unlike other VIP rooms that i’ve been . (The usual VIP rooms loaded with Gibsons , PRS , Vintage Fenders …those very sellable ONES lah) ..This VIP room’s concept is slightly different .

The guitars in the VIP room , are more like “players guitar” , not the usual “collector’s guitar” area..

That is the interesting thing of shopping in Singapore , Malaysia & Taiwan for guitar stuff…

In U.S , everything is the same . Sam Ash , Guitar Center …all you do is walk into one and compare price .

Here , at least we have unique shops leh ..

On the wall : Taylor’s Guitar . Tried a few . Okay , don’t ask me about the price tag . It will scare you off . Wasn’t really impressed with it …in terms of value for money..

Lots of SGs and LPs …Actually , i wanted to ask ..why the hell did he use that material on the wall ? temperature? Then what’s the point of the spot lights above ?

A JP Musicman Going for RM6800-RM7000 . Pretty okay prices .

Musicman Bass , with the Fan :(

Spot the Messa ;)

Now this is what i’m talking about …Very High end Jacksons , with a Sweet ESP on the right ;) ..

Jackson & ESP Shredders would love it .I really dig the third Jackson from the back right , reminds me of my Fender Splattercaster .

PRS , Ibanez J customs , Gibson ZW !!!

Some weirdo guitars in the VIP ..I think its by ESP . And it is SUPER EXPENSIVE too …

Honestly , its my FIRST time meeting this 2 guitars in person . Usually i see this on the internet and thought “which guitar store will stock this up ? for what ? “ ..

I nearly tried , but i think the people around will stare cock at me ..they will probably think ..

“Huh ? Malaysians are into THIS KINDA GUITAR?”

So i gave in to external validation . i did it for Malaysia .

So yeah , there you go . Biggest Music Shop in Taiwan ..

Now , i am inspired to create a VIP room for Music Master …I need to

1. Bring in more high end guitars . (Actually , i just brought in a Gibson ..and it was sold after 2 days ) I do not have a multi 6 digit capital to bring in a range of high end guitars .

2.Destroy one of the Jamming Studios , and make a VIP room . (very possible)

3.Or , move …to a bigger location

Wow , not easy eh?

It seems that everywhere also putting VIP room , Bentley , Evolution Music , Guitar Collection (VIP Section) ..

Are GUITAR STORES PRACTICING CLASSISM ? separating the poor buyers from the rich buyers .

Or is it , too many people go guitar raping and end up not buying , so they need a “room” for serious buyers .

I am a guy who believes in testing and feeling before buying . You can always test my guitars at Music Master , no matter who you are , whether you have the money or not .

Come to think about it , even I do it. Thank God my suppliers are friendly enough to let me test drive the guitar , before i order them . If they treat me this way , why can’t i treat others this way?

I rather spend some money to travel , make sure i know who i am dealing with , make sure the guitars are alright , at least try to TEST IT OUT , Then only buy .

I know i could have gone “online” , deal with them through email and get the stocks in . But hell no , i will only do that if i have someone who is TRUSTABLE on the other side of the country , or at least someone i personally know, who will be responsible .

The trend of people buying “online” is getting more and more popular , i am OKAY with that , but remember , the numbers of internet scams are increasing . You might wanna keep that in mind . Always , test before you buy . If not , go for a reputable or a trustful seller that provides great after sales service .

RATING for ATB Tony’s Music World : 8 out of 10

Okay , since i’ve finish my Guitar Shops in Taiwan ..and i am a random person . I wanna rant about some shit that happened today

I opened jamtank , and i saw this .

Like wtf man ? Jamtank is gonna be another lelong.com.my ?  Lun did a great job by voicing out . But he got turned down . I think having multiple threads is fine , but bumping 20 threads at one time to flood the whole thing ? Just create a blog and put everything in lah .

Btw , i have a cool new product , check this out .

Paratuss Penguin




March 7th, 2010

Get Out Of That One Scale Per Song Mentality

Okay , its been a while since i blog about guitar lesson …Hey , i may be a businessman , but that doesn’t mean i QUIT playing guitar ..Once in a while , i still have customers & ex-students who seek advice from me .

A common question that i get is ..

“What are modes? How do i use them?”

Of course , being the nice gapnap , i started explaining to them ..the problem is .I realized. The more i try to explain modes , the more i find it more DIFFICULT for them to understand ..

I was thinking about it these few days , and i came up to a conclusion ..the reason why most people DO NOT understand modes , and DO NOT know how to use them ..is ..

They always think , ONE SCALE PER SONG ..

In other words , if a song is in a key of Aminor , they only think Aminor is the ONLY scale they can use in that song .

Wrong.

Okay , the truth is ..i am still trying to develop the lesson ..i know many of you want that “magic pill” blog post , ONE POST that solve it all , but that isn’t going to happen..(because i do not see a short cut in learning modes yet) ..

The best way to start , is to realized , are you having that “One Scale Per Song” Mentality ?

Let us put you to a test ..check out the chord progression .

|1 2 3 4|1 2 3 4|1 2 3 4|1 2 3 4|

E          |G        |A        |B B C D|

All the chords are in MAJOR , there are no MINORS in the chord progression.

Tell me , what scale would you use on this chord progression ?

How many scales can you use ?

What are the modes?

Don’t be shy , post a comment . Pros and Otai are welcome too..

Let us all start to see a bigger picture in our playing ok? :)




March 4th, 2010

Guitar Shops in Kuala Lumpur

Suggested by a friend from Australia  . Thought of creating a useful list for everybody .

List of Guitar Shops in Kuala Lumpur & Petaling Jaya . The ultimate Guitar Shopping EXPERIENCE !

You might wanna bookmark this page…The guitar stores are in SEQUENCE (in terms of location) , don’t try to skip que ok !

Guitar Stores In Kuala Lumpur .

By Monorail : Bukit Bintang Station.

Bentley Music , Bukit Bintang www.bentleymusic.com

Chambers , Sungai Wang Plaza

JS Music , Jalan Imbi www.jsmusic.com.my

CK Music , Jalan Imbi www.ckmusic.com.my

Ultimate Music, Jalan Imbi www.ultimatemusic.com.my

Guitar Shops in Petaling Jaya . THE NEXT GUITAR VALLEY IN MALAYSIA!!!

By Putra LRT : Kelana Jaya LRT Station , Taman Bahagia LRT Station

Music Master Studio , SS2 #1 USED GUITARS in MALAYSIA (self whore..haha)    www.musicmasterstudio.com

Guitar Planet , SS2 Tropicana Mall

Yamaha , Kelana Jaya www.yamahamusic.com.my

Then , Take a Taxi to the Curve..

Yamaha Beatspot , The Curve www.yamahamusic.com.my

Bentley , Mutiara Damansara (BIGGEST GUITAR SHOP IN MALAYSIA) www.bentleymusic.com

The Guitar Store , Damansara Perdana www.theguitarstore.com.my

Guitarproshop , Damansara Perdana guitarproshop.blogspot.com

Guitar Collection , Taman Tun Dr Ismail , 1Utama www.guitarcollection.com.my

Technics , 1Utama

Central & Others That Are Worth Mentioning.

Yamaha Beatspot , Midvalley , www.yamahamusic.com.my

Rhapsody Music , Midvalley

Guitar Collection , Midvalley www.guitarcollection.com.my

Do Re Mi , Jalan Ipoh www.doremi.com.my

Woh Fatt , Jalan Tun Tan Siew Sin

The Guitar Store , Desa Sri Hartamas & Cheras www.theguitarstore.com.my

Useful Sites For Price List

Generally , Bentley’s stuff www.guitars.com.my

Ultimate Music’s stuff www.ultimatemusic.com.my

CK music’s stuff www.ckmusic.com.my

Used Guitars in Malaysia , Online Sellers based in KL/PJ

i know there’s alot of you , but i will only put up those who have very positive feedback & reputable sellers that i have personally dealt with. Every seller here is A+ in terms of Service , responsibility and after sales service . I’m sure you’ve heard of them :)

www.gapnap.com (self whore , yay!)

vulcan.x Ibanez , Pickups and Pedals

deadeye The guy who carries EVERY BRAND !

guitarkaki boutique pedals , rare guitars

rockok Raw Parts & Pickups direct from factory :P

From Penang :

Seedslim , the FENDER MAN

DanLion , Penang’s Powerseller

Guitar Techs & Bloggers

afiqme
a fantastic guitar player and a great friend :)

vinzmusic
New Guitar Tech in PJ , all the way from NZ :) Try him !

Yustech
Guitar Tech from Shah Alam . Been using his service since i was a little kid :)

Sourcing Used guitars in Malaysia

Mudah

Lelong

Jamtank

I-bands

Lowyat

Guitar lessons in Malaysia

Wait ….i think every town has its own music school lah ..
Ok , let me get this straight . There is no such thing as “this music school” or “that music center” has the best guitar teachers around ..

Because every teacher is AN individual , NOT A COMPANY , every teacher has his own style and he IS unique . A great teacher may work in Guitar Collection today , after ONE year he might switch to Guitar Store..

Plus , A great guitarist is not always a great teacher .

The easiest way to find out is  , the learning atmosphere . Go to a place where GREAT guitarist hangs out . Go for a teacher that BRINGS his student together .You know why?

You will learn MUCH MORE with this formula

A group of learning guitarist + a great teacher to guide you .

Compared with , 1 on 1 , two way communication , traditional teacher-student method .

Also , a simpler way to find out where is good for you is ..how much the teacher inspires you ? if he inspires you alot , you might want to stick with him for a long time .

phewwww…that was a quick list that came through my mind .

Yeah , feel free to drop me an email or a comment , whoever that is worth mentioning (or did i miss any?) , or if you want YOUR SHOP to be in the list ..

The others that i mentioned . Nice free advertising link for you eh?  You owe me a meal :P