I drank 3 liters of water a day for a week, and here's what happened
There are a few water challenges out there. I took the "drink 3 liters a day challenge", and this is how things went.
Choosing the challenge
The two most known water drinking challenges are drinking 3 liters a day and drinking a gallon a day. And by gallon, I mean a USA measurement gallon, which is 3.79 liters.
I decided to go with the 3 liter challenge for two reasons.
First, drinking a gallon of water a day just seemed ridiculous.
Second, the 3 liter is easier not only because it's less water, but because the standard bottled water size is 500ml, which is 1/2 liter. This means 6 bottles a day is 3 liters. Easy to measure.
Preparation
Drinking water is something I was already doing, but even before I started with the 3 liter challenge, I realized that drinking 6 bottles a day means an entire 24-pack of water would be gone in 4 days.
My preference for bottled water is Aquafina brand, and the lowest cost for a 24-pack here in Tampa Bay Florida is 5 bucks. Yes, that means it's just 21 cents per bottle, but over the course of a month that's 7.5 24-packs of water, or $37.50.
I wasn't about to pay that kind of cash just for bottled water. Screw that.
Bottled water can be had for much cheaper just by getting a generic brand. Or the cost can even be cut further buying gallon jugs.
What I decided to do was buy a 5-cup Brita watcher pitcher. Cheap, small, and the filter lasts about 2 months. Yes, I decided to drink right from the tap in my home. I have well-based water anyway.
The pitcher paid for itself fairly quickly, so it was the right choice.
I had something like 12 bottles left from the 24-pack of Aquafina I had, so I drank all those, then switched to filtered water out of the Brita pitcher. I clean and reuse the Aquafina bottles just to measure 500ml since it's easy.
Yes, there is inconvenience using the pitcher because it is always taking space in the fridge, and it takes time to filter and cool the water. But for water drinking challenges, filtered tap is the most cost effective solution.
Things that happened and things that didn't
Skin elasticity
Supposedly, drinking a lot of water increases skin elasticity which is an anti-aging thing. I didn't notice anything like that. But my color seems a little better. I'm a very fair skinned guy, so to see any color is a plus.
Hair
I wear my hair short, but did notice some more fullness. Not a crazy amount, but it was noticeable.
Energy
I have definitely noticed an energy difference when doing my two daily 15-minute workouts.
Skin healing
If I get a cut or a bug bite, the skin seems to heal a little faster now.
Sleeping
No real difference here. There was one night however where I had to get up twice to urinate.
Going to the toilet
Going more often? Of course. Bothersome? No.
Did my urine color change? Yes. There was only one day where my urine was almost clear. I think it was the second day. After that it turned to a very-light-yellow color, which is normal.
The lack of craving for other drinks
This one surprised me a bit. As I started drinking more water, I felt very little desire to drink anything else. The cranberry juice and vegetable juice in the fridge, both of which I really like, now barely gets touched.
How it makes me feel overall
If I had to choose one word to accurately describe how I feel drinking 3 liters of water a day, it would be satisfaction.
Describing the satisfaction is difficult. It's not a jumping-for-joy feeling nor a feeling of being jubilant or excitement. Rather, it's similar to when I feel a sense of accomplishment. My body feels better for having more water in it, I feel better for putting the best possible liquid in my system, and it all just feels right.
Will I continue doing this?
Honestly, I've not decided yet. I like the feeling drinking 3L of water a day, but may scale it back to 2L.
The most challenging thing about the 3L-a-day challenge is simply remembering to keep drinking water. Once you get in the swing of things, drinking 3L daily is actually easy.
It's not that my system can't handle 3L, as it certainly can when spread over a day. But I don't know if I could ever make it habitual to the point where I drink 3L daily without even thinking about it.
I'll keep drinking 3L daily for now and see where it leads.
Guitar of the week #92 - Epiphone Nighthawk
Someone at Epiphone is convinced this guitar will work.
Back in 2014 is when I made first mention of the Epiphone Nighthawk, which at the time was priced just under $300. It costs more than that now, but not all that much more.
I have seen this guitar come and go several times. Every time I think this guitar is dead as a doornail and never to return, it just keeps coming back.
There has never been a time when the Nighthawk was not a limited edition since 2014, and this one is no different...
...except that Epiphone might have got the guitar right this time. Maybe.
The Nighthawk technically qualifies as a HSH pickup configuration. There's a slanted humbucker at the bridge, a single-coil in the middle and a mini-humbucker at the neck.
The bridge is not Les Paul-like at all but much more Strat-like. And yes, the strings are thru-body mounted.
You do see ornamentation. The body is bound as is the neck as is the headstock. You also see ornate inlay work on the fingerboard.
The neck is a "fast" SlimTaper D shape.
What I think Epiphone got right this time are the finish choices. For this volley, Epiphone has gone with three quilt color options of Transparent Blue, Transparent Purple and Transparent Black. And they all look good.
Prior to this, Epiphone tried a tiger stripe finish. I saw that guitar in person and, eh, didn't really do much for me. The darker quilt finishes however really make the guitar pop nicely.
What's it sound like?
Bright. Kind of like the in between sound of a semi-hollow and a Telecaster, but manageable.
In other words, a very modern tone as far as my ears are concerned.
Technically, this guitar covers a lot of ground, tone-wise. You can make it sound like an SG or a Strat or any other number of guitars. So if you like a guitar that just screams "I'm versatile", the Nighthawk is a good choice.
Put simply, yes you totally get what you pay for with a Nighthawk. And I say that in a good way.
How to embrace fret buzz and enjoy it
You'll enjoy your roundy-neck guitar a whole lot more once you work with fret buzz instead of against it.
Take the Fender American Professional Stratocaster. The fingerboard radius is 9.5-inch. Feels great, but buzzes around here and there because that's just the nature of how Fender electric guitar necks work.
Whenever you search for anything related to fret buzz on the internet, you only see articles and videos on how to get rid of it because fret buzz is deemed Worst Thing Ever on a guitar.
It's not - if you know how to work with it.
"Perfect" Fender or Squier setup sometimes has fret buzz
The vast majority of electric guitar necks for both Fender and Squier will have the "Modern C" shape (which is a slim oval) on the back with the 9.5-inch fingerboard radius on the front and "medium jumbo" size fret wire.
If you set up the neck with the action low as most players do, you will usually hear some buzzing on the wound strings 4 (D), 5 (A) and 6 (low E).
Even with a neck that has no uneven frets and the truss rod has the proper neck relief set, you will still run into fret buzz mainly for the fact you're playing a very round neck.
7 ways to work with fret buzz
(This is presuming your neck and saddles are set up correctly.)
1. Chord more
Chords that use 5 or 6 strings sound fine even with some fret buzz present.
2. "Small chord" more (anything but fifths)
This just means that whenever possible, play 2-note chords because like with the 5-note and 6-note chords, having a little amount of buzz present is acceptable when more than one note is heard...
...except for "power chords" fifths. Chances are pretty good that any guitar player who reads this has been playing for more than 3 months. If that sounds like you, you can do a lot better than playing stupid power chords.
3. Use short notes and chords
Fret buzzing only sounds truly terrible if left to be heard for a long time. Use shorter notes and chords to combat that. Get good enough at it and you can completely mask any and all fret buzzing.
4. Use light overdrive
A light overdrive transforms fret buzz into a nice overtone.
5. Turn the tone down
Take some of the treble out and this will mask out fret buzz as it is a high pitched clacky sound by nature.
6. Play percussively
Most guitar players refer to this as playing "funky rhythms". It's a style of chord play that's mostly clean and involves a fair amount of muted notes, also known as ghost notes.
Playing some percussive lines for certain chords with the picking hand lets the strings literally snap back to the frets and sound nice.
7. Use the front side pickup more
The front pickup, known as the rhythm pickup or "neck pickup", does work better with fret buzz when chording. It also works better with single notes when you're trying to either mask buzz or just make it sound better.
Yes, there are $7,000 guitars that buzz
Really expensive Fender Strats can buzz. Again, it's not player error nor is the guitar set up poorly. Strats just do that.
The Fender American Professional Stratocaster seen at top? That buzzes too.
If you go down the line from the Fender Standard Stratocaster to the Squier Classic Vibe Stratocaster and even all the way to the lowest tier, the Squier Bullet Strat, they all will buzz somewhat.
My point is that no matter how much money you throw at a Strat or a Tele, fret buzz happens.
Is there any electric guitar that doesn't buzz?
The only way to really combat fret buzz is to play guitars that have thin necks with very flat fingerboards.
A cheap example is the Ibanez GRX20; it has a thin neck, big fret wire and 15.75" fingerboard radius.
A not-so cheap example is a Jackson Pro Soloist SL2, which has a 12-to-16" compound radius and jumbo fret wire.
You will notice quickly that the less-buzzy electrics with the thin necks and super-flat fingerboards are "metal" guitars. And I don't care much for those at all.
Lower cost recommendations for those that want a less-buzzy neck on guitars that aren't "metal"
"Metal" guitars suck. These don't.
This is an SG and sometimes listed as having a "faded" color. It has the SlimTaper "D" shape neck with 12-inch fingerboard radius. At the time I write this, it does sell cheaper than the Squier Classic Vibe guitars do.
I'll be talking more about this guitar later this week. Loads of character.
This has a 24.75" scale length like a Gibson and a 13.75" fingerboard radius. Both pickups are lower-output vintage style, meaning it does not have ridiculous "metal" pickups with too much output. Nicely priced.
Sterling by Music Man Cutlass CT50
This is basically a Strat with a 12" radius fingerboard without the high price tag of the Eric Johnson Stratocaster.
Fret buzz is not your enemy
I play a Jazzmaster, which is a total buzz-monster if not the most buzzy guitar Fender and Squier makes. It buzzes not only on the neck but also at the bridge and even has overtone vibrations behind the bridge. But I love the guitar anyway. I learned to work with the buzz and now I get tones out of that thing I never could with any other guitar.
If you know your guitar is set up correct and it still buzzes, yes you could switch to balanced tension strings (promotes even vibration) and a thin, flappy pick (the more flexible the pick, the less the strike strength, the less vibration, the less buzz), and that may help somewhat...
...but it's better overall to just accept the buzz and work with it - especially if it's a Fender or Squier electric.
The worst Squier I ever owned
Not all Squier guitars are good. This is the tale of the worst one I owned.
I've gone through a fair share of Squier guitars. And contrary to what some believe, no, I do not keep them all because I'm not a guitar hoarder. For example, there was one particular Squier guitar I kept for only 3 days before returning it for another guitar (which led me to getting my first Jazzmaster, so that was definitely meant to happen).
One Squier guitar in particular however was the worst, and it's a guitar still being made at the time I write this, the Squier Vintage Modified Surf Stratocaster.
Said up front, the guitar is built well. Build quality is not the problem. The problems are the saddles, pickups and electronics.
Something on certain Stratocaster guitars I absolutely cannot stand are bent steel saddles, which the Surf Strat has. I've talked about this before so I'll keep this short. You lose a ton of adjustment range with bent steel compared to full block. And the ironic thing is that you get the the full block saddle on the cheap Squier Bullet Strat while you do not on the Fender American Standard Stratocaster. Full block saddles used to be on the Standard but the chintzy bent steel is now used and has been for a while now.
I did change out the saddles on the Surf Strat from bent steel to block, but it didn't help the next problem.
The pickup set in the Surf Strat is too bright to the point where 3 out of the 5 pickup settings are unusable. Mid+Neck and Neck are usable and the rest are not. The best way I can describe this is that the pickups just sound screechy. Too much treble response comes out of those lipstick pickups. And it doesn't help that there is no tone control wired to the bridge-only pickup setting.
There is also a physical problem with the pickups. They sit loose in the pick guard because of the rounded lipstick casing. It is required to take off the guard and place small pieces of silicone tubing around the pickup height adjustment screws just to keep the pickup from rattling around.
Usually, a Strat or Tele pickup only shifts around and rattles when sitting very low in the pick guard. But the Surf Strat's lipstick casing on the pickups being very rounded on top means they always shift around. What a stupid design.
What would fix the Surf Strat?
A saddle change and pickup change is all that's required...
...or you just buy the Squier Deluxe Stratocaster instead. That guitar has the block saddles and traditional Strat pickups in it and is $50 less than the Surf.
I didn't want the Deluxe model (not a bad guitar but it's not what I wanted), and I wasn't willing to do the mods to the Surf to make it a usable Strat, so I traded the guitar out.
Again, the Surf Strat guitar isn't built bad, but the hardware choices for saddles and pickups are what make it suck.
My suggestion is that if you like the guitar and you're willing to put some work into it, pick up one in Surf Green, change the saddles, change the pickups to ones that have traditional casings so they sit in the pick guard correctly, and you're all set.
To put it another way, buy it with the intention of modding it, because I guarantee you will not like the guitar in stock condition.
Guitar of the week #91 - Squier Vintage Modified Baritone Jazzmaster
Not a "proper" Jazzmaster, but oh, what a sound.
A baritone guitar is one with a longer neck with thicker strings tuned significantly lower than standard E-A-D-G-B-E tuning. You can tune one a fourth lower to B-E-A-D-F#-B or a fifth lower to A-D-G-C-E-A. Tuning to either of these allows the player to play notes and chords the same as in standard tuning. In other words, you don't need to relearn the guitar again. Everything is the same, just lower.
The best bang-for-buck baritone that has "the low twang" is the Squier Vintage Modified Baritone Jazzmaster.
What about the Bass VI?
There's some confusion here for some people so I'll clear this up right now.
The Squier Bass VI is exactly what its model name says it is. A bass. Yes, it may have 6 strings and the same 30" scale length as the Baritone Jazzmaster, but it comes strung with and is designed for bass strings. This literally means the Bass VI is tuned to E-A-D-G-B-E but one octave lower compared to a regular 6-string guitar.
The strings that go on the Bass VI are not intended for the Baritone Jazzmaster, and the strings for the Jazzmaster aren't intended for the Bass VI. One is a guitar, one is a bass. Each is tuned differently, each uses specifically sized strings for what they do.
Which is better for the guitar player to do guitar player-like things on it? The baritone.
Not proper, but it's got that sound
I said the Baritone Jazzmaster isn't a proper Jazzmaster. What I mean by that is that compared to a regular Jazzmaster, it has no vibrato system, a hardtail bridge, Stratocaster "football" output jack, one circuit with volume/tone, and a 3-way toggle positioned in the lower-middle of the body instead of the bottom horn where it usually is...
...but that doesn't take away from how unbelievably cool the guitar sounds. Those big Jazzmaster single-coil pickups take to thick strings turned low very nicely.
What does clean, twangy baritone guitar sound like?
The immediate example that comes to mind is the theme song from Twin Peaks. I never watched the show, but absolutely do remember its theme song because absolutely nothing else on TV sounded like it at the time.
I don't know if a baritone or a Bass VI was used, but that is the sound. Get yourself a baritone guitar and a tremolo effect for that "stutter" tone and you got it.
Aside from Twin Peaks, Duane Eddy's Rebel-'Rouser also has that low twang tremolo stutter tone to it.
Baritone guitars were also used here and there with surf rock music as well as other '60s tones.
Is the baritone guitar a "one trick pony"?
No.
Remember, baritone guitar playing is no different from regular guitar. It's just lower tuning.
Could you simply lower a regular six-string to get the same effect? No, because you're missing the extra scale length and thicker strings and will buzz all over the place.
It has been said that the baritone guitar is woefully underused. I think the main reason for that is guitar players simply aren't aware the baritone guitar exists.
Well, now you know.
Is there anything cheaper than the Squier?
Yes, there is ESP LTD Viper Baritone version, but I don't recommend it. At all. Pickups are awful and the tuners aren't correct for the tuning it's supposed to hold.
The Squier Vintage Modified Baritone Jazzmaster is the best lower-cost option for a true baritone electric guitar. Right scale length, right tuners, right pickups, right everything. It's not the lowest-priced baritone, but it is what a baritone electric is supposed to be.