Using a Garmin Drive standalone GPS in 2018
It's been a while since I've said anything about GPS, so I figure it's time for an update.
The model of satnav I use these days is the Garmin Drive 50LM; a 5-inch model from 2016 that I bought originally as a refurb. The 50LM is not all that different from the Drive 51LM, with the only real difference being the 51 has more smartphone-specific features in it.
Both the 50 and 51 5-inch versions (along with 60 and 61 6-inch versions) use matte screens which can be read easily even when wearing polarized sunglasses. Both of them also can be used in either horizontal "wide" or vertical "tall" orientation, albeit that setting has to be adjusted manually.
For the fancy schmancy multi-touch glass screen, you get that on the DriveLuxe 51 5-inch and DriveSmart 61 LMT-S 6-inch.
5-inch vs. 6-inch
The model with the largest screen area using the least physical space is the DriveSmart 61 LMT-S model with its 6.95" edge-to-edge display.
Whether to get a 6 or a 5 depends how close the screen is to your face when driving.
In large vehicles like a big SUV or RV, yeah you need the 6. For passenger cars however, no you don't. Whether you mount the satnav on the windshield, to a vent via a vent clip or via adhesive disc to the dashboard, the 5-inch is the best for the passenger car.
Where screen legibility is concerned, all Garmin Drive, DriveAssist, DriveSmart and DriveLuxe models have "themes" that allow for different color schemes with better contrast. In older models, all you had before was "day" and "night" modes for color choices, but now you get a bunch more that makes for easier reading.
Overview and goodies
Touchscreen is responsive, backlight is bright, everything is legible and readable, route calculations and recalculations are very fast, TTS (text-to-speech) voice is incredibly good now (nothing like the computery TTS voices on the older models.)
Even on the most "basic" Drive model, which mine is, you now get a Trip Planner (multiple waypoints can be set for a single route,) custom avoidances (you can set roads and/or areas to avoid,) and route choice (for most destinations, you're given the choice of which route you want to take instead of just one, and you can customize the route.) All this stuff was previously only available on very high-end Garmin units.
Things that matter
Is the routing good? Yes. For most destinations, the first route choice Drive gives you is usually the best one.
Easy to figure out? Yes. If you've ever used a smartphone or tablet (who hasn't?), anyone can learn this thing. Manual not required.
Is it reliable? Yes, very reliable. But I still carry a backup GPS. More on that in a moment.
Is it sturdy? Yes.
Can you hear it? Yes. The little speaker does well for something housed in a case that's only 2cm thick.
How is the battery life? Terrible as usual at just 1 hour. However, this is normal for all satnavs these days regardless of who makes it. And since everyone uses a satnav plugged in anyway, battery life really doesn't matter.
I still carry a backup GPS in the car
In the car's glove box I have my nuvi 40LM that I bought new in 2012. Still works fine. When I was using the 40LM as my main unit, the nuvi 200 was my backup. When I got the 50LM, the nuvi 200 was retired and now the 40LM is the backup.
I always use GPS when I drive, enough to the point where driving without it just feels weird.
It's been 12+ years since I started using GPS. In that time, I've only had one Garmin satnav (StreetPilot i3 model) crash so hard that it locked up the unit for a few minutes. And that was back in 2005. Since then, I've never had a Garmin exhibit a hard crash like that. But even so, satnavs are tech. Tech sometimes breaks unexpectedly for the weirdest of reasons, and that's why I carry the backup.
I may never use my 40LM except for checking it once every few months to make sure it still works. But if it ever happens that my 50LM fails, I will be very happy to have that backup.
Yamaha FD01S is boring but good
This guitar isn't flashy, but it's not supposed to be.
The Yamaha FD01S is a cheap-but-good acoustic guitar. And the only thing bad about it is that it has a very boring look. Standard dreadnought shape, plain dot inlays, plain pick guard, plain bridge, plain headstock with Yamaha logo, plain everything...
...but one heck of a solid build.
Yamaha has been building acoustic guitars for a long time. They have a very specific formula to their builds that hasn't changed much in 25 years (if not longer). And the reason a Yamaha acoustic is still the same build today as it was years ago is that it just works.
The only time I've ever seen a cheap Yamaha acoustic fall into disrepair is from user error. A lot of these get into the hands of beginner guitar players who don't maintain the guitar properly, and it's only that which can break one of these things.
Even if you only put a half-assed effort into maintaining one of these, it can easily last 5 to 10 years. All you basically need to do is keep the truss rod adjusted properly, keep the fretboard and frets clean, use a dirt cheap guitar humidifier to keep the body from warping unnecessarily, and that's basically it. The only thing that needs replacing over time are the bridge pins (also dirt cheap).
One thing Yamaha acoustics do very nicely, even on cheap models, is that they project well. Why? Easy answer. Solid spruce top with mahogany back and sides. The top resonates very well and the back and sides "rounds out" the sound for a very proper sounding acoustic guitar.
Also, this is one of the very few low-priced acoustics that does not need a tuner upgrade. The tuners Yamaha uses are actually better than they need to be, as they're a heavier metal that hold the guitar in tune very well.
Yes, this guitar is boring, but I wouldn't want Yamaha to change how they make these things. Great guitar for what it is that performs reliably for very little money. You really can't ask for any more than that.
Cheap one-pickup electric guitar options
There's a funny thing about one-pickup electric guitars...
...and that funny thing is that for the most part, it's seen as a "custom shop only" thing. But you absolutely shouldn't have to pay several thousands of dollars just to have a one-pickup guitar.
The cheapest one-pickup electric I'm aware of is the Epiphone Les Paul Junior. This is a guitar priced at well under $200 at the time I write this.
The only other cheap one-pickup electric I knew of was the Kramer Baretta Special. The Kramer Baretta is still made, but it's not as cheap as the Special was.
Is there anything besides the Epi LP Junior for a cheap one-pickup electric? There may not be. Sure, you can find one-pickup guitars made for kids, but the Junior may stand alone as the only cheap adult size one-pickup electric.
Why would anyone want a one-pickup electric guitar?
There are some guitar players who only use the bridge pickup. That rear pickup is where they live. The front neck pickup isn't used. Ever.
People who only use the bridge pickup on an electric will sometimes physically cut the wires and take out the front pickup to allow for easier play. When no neck pickup is present, a player who plays in that area won't constantly be hitting the pickup with a pick.
What is the easiest way to get a one-pickup guitar for cheap?
Take a guitar with 2 or 3 pickups and convert it to just one.
Get a guitar where most or all of the electronics are mounted in a pick guard, then just swap out the pick guard for one where the other pickup locations aren't present.
The easiest guitars to convert over to one-pickup are Stratocasters and Telecasters (even if not made by Fender or Squier) because a) there are so many of them out there, and b) because the pick guard conversions are available inexpensively right now.
Telecaster-to-Esquire conversion
Esquire pick guards are dirt cheap and is arguably the easiest one-pickup conversion to do. The Telecaster and Esquire look identical to each other, save for the fact the Esquire does not have a neck pickup.
And yes, technically the Esquire has different pickup wiring compared to a Telecaster, but if you don't bother with the Esquire wiring, nobody is going to notice.
Stratocaster single-humbucker conversion
While there are tons of Strat pick guards out there, when going with just one pickup, one of the more popular conversions is a single-humbucker guard.
This conversion requires slightly more work, because if converting from 3 singles to 1 humbucker, the volume pot needs to be changed from 250k to 500K (otherwise there won't be enough treble response out of the humbucker and it will sound "muddy"). Fortunately, one 500K volume pot is cheap to buy.
Other guitars without pick guards?
The Ibanez GRX70 does not have a pick guard.
If you convert over one of these to a single pickup and take out the other 2, what you're left with are ugly holes.
How can you make those empty holes look better? Fill the holes with black foam. Get yourself a pack of black foam sheets, cut the foam to the size of the pickup cavity and use as many layers as needed until the hole is filled.
Yes, there is white foam available, but I don't recommend using it. In a very short period of time, that foam will start discoloring and turn brown just from regular play and there's really no way around that. Black foam is a much better choice, even if the guitar you convert over to a single pickup is a lighter color.
V guitars are dumb
These are dumb guitars...
...but we still love these things and buy them anyway.
Some quick history.
In the late 1950s, Gibson was feeling the heat from Fender who was gaining huge market share from the Stratocaster and Telecaster models. As a response to this, Gibson released 3 brand new models in 1958. The Futura (which is the Explorer), the Moderne (which had a re-release), and the Flying V.
They didn't sell well and Gibson discontinued them in less than a year in 1959.
Where the V is concerned, Gibson in an attempt to dump all the spare inventory cobbled together what they had and shipped out some Flying Vs in 1963. Four years later in 1967, Gibson started making the V again and has ever since.
As a side note, the 1958 and 1959 model year V made in korina is one of the most highly valued collectible electric guitars in history.
Fast-forward to the late 1980s, around 1987. Rock was the #1 music in America. Heavy metal was also doing quite well at the time. And a staple guitar of the era was the V guitar.
In the '80s the Gibson Flying V was a rock axe of choice. In the '90s, the Jackson King V and super cool Jackson Rhoads V with the shorter bottom fin took over as "that V guitar to have".
Was the V ever the #1 rock guitar? Nope. The #1 rock guitar of the '80s and early '90s was what's commonly known as the Super Strat. And that doesn't mean a guitar by Fender. It means a guitar with a Fender-ish double cutaway shape, HSS or HSH pickup configuration, two knobs (usually), and either a hardtail bridge or Floyd-Rose tremolo system depending on player's preference.
Why is the V guitar so dumb?
As a former V guitar owner, I can speak from experience as to why Vs are dumb.
Unless you arch the guitar's body on the leg, it cannot be played sitting down on its own. Guitar strap is required.
No matter how careful you are with a V, the fin tips will get smacked, resulting in dings, cracks, chips of wood taken out (very common,) and so on. There's just no way to keep a V in good condition if played regularly. I mean, yeah you could wrap electric tape around the fin edges, but that just looks stupid.
There is no good spot for an output jack on a V. As such, whether the jack is top-mounted or on the inner fin (either one,) plugging a cable in or taking it out is always a chore.
Most Vs do look like toy guitars because they have that whole "looks like a rocket ship" thing going on.
But not everything sucks about a V
Weight distribution is very good on a V. Because of all that extra wood for the fins, a V is one of the most evenly balanced guitars you could ever play. I have never known a V made by anyone to have neck dive issues.
Another cool thing is that the body remains light since it gets so small right before the neck starts.
When outfitted with low-output vintage style humbucker pickups (as most Gibson V models are,) the guitar actually works very nicely for pretty much any style of music.
Will I ever own another V myself?
I might. But certainly not any time soon.
My V of choice would be an Epiphone.
Which model? Korina Flying-V, of course.
This is one of the few V guitars I could get along with. It has the "alnico classic" lower-output humbuckers and that nice late-'50s look to it. Yeah, it has gold hardware and that's dopey, but I'd still like it just the same. I dig the fact the pickup switch tip has that gold-like (more orange-like, actually) color to it.
Epiphone Limited Edition Bjorn Gelotte "Jotun" Les Paul Custom Outfit
Some guitars you want just because they look cool, and this is one of them.
I have absolutely no idea who Bjorn Gelotte is. Not a clue. All I care about here is the guitar, and the Epiphone Bjorn Gelotte "Jotun" Les Paul Custom really, really gets it right.
It is typically true that white guitars look awful. It's also typically true that a Les Paul without pick guard doesn't look that good either. But this guitar however looks absolutely stunning in white and without the guard.
First of all, I'll note the thing you don't see ordinarily in photos, the gold binding. That binding is all sorts of pretty. It matches up with the gold hardware and gold knobs perfectly.
This is one seriously elegant looking Les Paul. Very ritzy tuxedo style look all around.
How does it sound? I've no idea. What I do know is that yes, it does have active EMG pickups in it (there is a battery cover on the rear of the guitar,) so you can take from that what you will. It also has premium grade Grover Rotomatic tuners on it, which are the best tuners a Paul can have as far as I'm concerned.
The only complaint I have about this guitar is the white "poker chip" on the pickup selector switch as I think that detracts from the overall look. However, that chip can be removed easily, so it's really not a big deal.
Actually, I do have one other complaint. That gold hardware finishing is guaranteed to wear off over time with regular play, particularly where the hand rests on the bridge and on the bass side of the pickups. That's totally normal wear for guitars with gold hardware and there's no way to prevent that.
I'm not a Les Paul guy and certainly not a fan of active electronics, but I still think this guitar is great and would be proud to own one. Very, very nice look all around.