Thicker strings do not make a bigger guitar sound

If you play thick strings for sound and not for comfort, you've got it all wrong.

On the solid-body electric, there's this belief that you absolutely must use thick strings in order to make a "big" sound, with big meaning "fuller". Sorry, but that's not happening.

I play my Jazzmaster with an 8-38 set, which is the second thinnest string set you can get (the thinnest is 7 gauge, if you can even find them). The 8-38 is what's generally known as extra super light. Alternatively, if you just search for 8-38 guitar strings, you find them that way too.

I won't be playing 8-38 full time and will go back to 9-42, however I bought and installed an 8-38 set to prove a point. Thin strings don't mean a thin sound on a solid-body electric.

Note that I said solid-body electric. Where you really hear the difference with thick strings is on semi-hollow and hollow body guitars. Slap on a set of 12s and yes, you will hear that extra-ringy, extra-bongy style string vibration come through. Great for jazz music.

However, for solid-body electrics, the thickness really doesn't do a damned thing for the sound. Want proof? Jimi Hendrix and Tony Iommi. Both players get "huge" sound, and both use very, very thin strings.

How do players with thin strings get the big sound? Easy answer. It's how the strings are plucked. Namely, the pick you use.

I've said this just recently but will say it again. Many players use picks that are way too thick and bang strings way too hard, causing all sorts of fret buzz and the strings going out-of-tune constantly.

Some believe the solution to fret buzz and strings that waver in tuning too much on hard pick strikes is to use thick strings. That won't help. It is better to use lighter strings and switch to a flexible pick or at least one with a pointy tip on it.

Then the belief goes into total fantasy land territory by stating thicker strings make for a bigger sound. On the solid-body, no. Never has and never will.

Switch to a "clacky" medium pick, which is basically any celluloid, and lo and behold, the strings actually ring out better without the need to strike them with the fury of the fist of an angry god.

Seriously, it works. Try lighter strings and picks that flex more.

Vintage guitar of the week #6 - 1974 Fender Telecaster

Being I've been talking about Telecasters recently, I figured it was time to feature a vintage example of one.

Let's talk about the real-deal '74 Telecaster.

I picked this specific guitar because you can find one as a "Blackie" Tele. The Eric Clapton "Blackie" Strat is basically a black Strat with white pickguard and maple neck/fretboard. That Strat has a signature version as well as an American Standard version and a Mexico version. Squier has nothing that qualifies as a Blackie Strat. While true this Affinity is close to the mark, it has a large '70s style headstock and not the smaller style that's required for the Blackie look.

When it comes to a Blackie style Telecaster however, there is a Squier that almost exactly hits the mark, that being the Affinity model. The only thing it doesn't have is the vintage style 3-saddle "ashtray" bridge. Squier does offer that specific bridge on the Classic Vibe '50s and the Classic Vibe Thinline, but not the Affinity.

In Fender flavors, while true you can get a black Tele with maple fingerboard/neck in Fender USA or Fender Mexico flavor, neither has the ashtray bridge.

"That Fender Mexico version looks really close to the '74 vintage"

Correct. Arguably, the best Blackie-look Telecaster right now is the Mexico version, mainly because it has the same Fender "transition" logo on the headstock that the '74 does.

There are basically only three things you need to match the look of the '74. A set of vintage-style slotted tuners, an ashtray 3-saddle bridge and brass saddles. That's it. And yes, you will spend more on the saddles than for the bridge itself. Funny, but true.

Does the new Tele play like the '74 does?

No.

The '74 has a sound and feel that a new Tele won't. The pickups in the '74 are 41 years old and the neck has a decidedly different shape. Probably a "U" shape compared to "Modern C" that you would get on a new one.

What neck shape and sound you prefer is up to you. I personally could get along with either a new Tele or the old '74.

Does Fender make a '70s "plain" reissue Telecaster?

No. Or not currently at the time I write this.

There are currently three new '70s style Telecasters that Fender makes, none of which are a standard-style Telecaster. The '72 Custom, '72 Deluxe and '72 Thinline. Yes, Fender has a thing for 1972 with their reissue Telecasters right now. I've no idea why, but they do. The Custom does come in black, but has a totally non-standard electronics layout, hence why it's "custom".

If you want a standard Tele in black that has that true '70s look, the Mexico model with the modifications I noted above is the only way to do it.

Could you do these same modifications on a Squier Affinity? Maybe, but it would take some effort. It's probably true the Fender tuners will not fit the pegboard holes on the Squier, and the screw pattern will also be different for the bridge. In other words, drilling will be required.

It should be noted however that on its own, the Affinity Tele is just fine as-is. The same can be said for the Mexico Tele.

Also bear in mind there are a lot of Tele players who simply do not like the ashtray bridge, which is why the "flat" bridge is on modern Teles to begin with. I personally have no problem with the ashtray bridge, but you might because the edges do stick up away from the body. If you feel that might bother you, head to a guitar store and try a Tele with the ashtray bridge first, whether Fender or Squier flavor. They're easy to spot, and you'll know very quickly whether one bothers you when playing or not.

How to record a chorus effect for guitar without a chorus pedal

This is a really easy recording trick that works every time.

Chorus pedals like the Behringer UC200 are cheap, so if you want the chorus effect for your guitar, it's not expensive.

However, you may not even need one if you only want it for use when recording at home.

Chorus in this context literally means "one that sounds like many." So, when recording that's literally what you do.

How to get a chorus effect without a chorus pedal

Step 1.

With your multitrack recorder of choice (I suggest a ZOOM R8), record a riff on track 1.

Step 2.

Record the exact same riff on track 2. And I don't mean copy the track. I mean physically play the same riff again on a separate track, that being track 2.

Step 3.

Pan track 1 50% to the left.

Step 4.

Pan track 2 50% to the right.

Step 5.

Decrease the bass EQ for both tracks so they don't "boom" too much.

Step 6.

There is no step 6. That's it.

Does this really work?

Yes, it does. You're literally creating a chorus of guitars simply by having two of them play the same thing instead of just one.

"Can I use 3 guitars instead of 2?"

You can if you wish, but the more guitars you layer, the more the sound may "mud" a bit.

If you want to use 3, have track 1 panned dead center, track 2 panned hard left and track 3 panned hard right. This will give the "widest" possible stereophonic sound.

"Does this work for distorted guitars?"

It can, but only if you keep your riffs simple. Complicated stuff tends to sound like "stuttering," so try to keep it on the simple side.

"That's it?"

Yes, that's really it. Record your riffs twice, pan the tracks away from each other and you get a genuine chorus effect - even if you record your guitars totally dry with no effects at all.

On a final note, doubling up guitars like this really works nice with acoustic guitar. If you find your acoustic sounds too "tinny" when recorded, try doubling and you may finally get that great sound you've been looking for.

Cheap guitar of the week #22 - 2013 or newer Squier Affinity Telecaster

Why 2013 or newer? Because...

...it has the updated gold-and-black Squier logo on the headstock.

I've made mention a lot of the Squier Affinity Telecaster. Great guitar, cheap and good. I've played one personally and yes, it's a good Telecaster.

However, the better looking ones have the gold-and-black logo treatment on the headstock.

It took me a while to figure this out, but the only way you're going to know you're getting this better-looking logo is if the guitar was made in 2013 or later.

How does one figure this out? Other than seeing it in person, the serial number. Either the first two digits or the second two digits state the year of manufacture. If you see a 13, that's 2013. A 14 would be 2014, a 15 would be 2015, and so on.

Unfortunately, it's the case right now where pretty much all the guitar vendors are still using the stock guitar photo for this particular guitar, which is old and shows the old plain black logo.

Being that guitar vendors usually won't bother on a request to send you a recent photo before purchase, your only option is to ask for the serial number and hope they even know what it is.

I do plan on getting an Affinity Telecaster either this year or next year, and I want that black-and-gold logo. I've seen it in person and like it much better than the older plain black logo treatment.

Yes, the guitar is exactly the same no matter what logo is on that pegboard, but what can I say, I like that gold-and-black logo better.

Are vintage guitar pedals really worth it?

No, not really.

For my regular readers, you know I use a DigiTech RP360 as my primary effects unit, and I'm very happy with it. Is it perfect? No. The interface could use some work. But as for how it sounds, oh yeah, great stuff if you're willing to dive into what it's capable of.

Take the BOSS HM-2. There are plenty of vintage versions of this to be had. Would I suggest buying one? No, I wouldn't. Why? Because it sucks and sounds awful.

No, it is not because I don't know how to wield one correctly. It's because the HM-2 is truly a crappy pedal. In the '90s, I borrowed one of these from a friend, who only lent it to me because he never used it, and quickly realized why he never used it. Awful pedal.

Unfortunately, some dope will see the HM-2, see that it's old, and figure "if it's old it must be good". No, no, no, frickin' no. It was bad in the '80s, bad in the '90s and guitar players aplenty tossed these things aside without giving it a second thought. HM-2 pedals would sit in guitar stores for months because nobody wanted them.

Now I'm not saying that all vintage pedals are bad...

...but most of them are.

Pedal effects were never designed to last more than 10 years, and that's being generous. With regular use, most will suffer some sort of major failure in less than 5 years. Why? Because you stomp on it, yank cords in and out of the thing, and it sits on the floor taking in all the dirt settling down there on top of the dirt on your shoe you mash there every time you use it (and if you say you have perfectly clean shoes, you're lying).

I personally would never buy a vintage guitar effect pedal, even if it was never used, because electronics do not age well and never have.

"But guitar electronics last a long time..."

True. But you're not THROWING THEM ON THE FLOOR and stomping dirt into them, are you? Of course not.

Even with never-used vintage effects, the knobs will be scratchy and there's a high probability the foot switch won't even work correctly.

I would only buy a real-deal vintage pedal effect if the entire unit was gutted, all knobs replaced, foot switch replaced and every solder joint redone, because then I will know it will work like it's supposed to. Like hell if I'll ever buy a pedal that was sitting in someone's dank closet for the better part of 20 years. Screw that.

"But the build quality..."

...means nothing. No matter how well a pedal effect was built, it is not immune to the ravages of time. Electronics are not like a guitar's wood. Electronics are circuit boards, solder joints, capacitors, wires, potentiometers, chips and so on. None of those things age well.

At least with a piece of sealed wood, it has some kind of protectant on it. Not so with a pedal effect. Doesn't matter that it's in a metal or plastic case, because all that moisture and dirt will work its way right in there, guaranteed.

Buy vintage pedal effects if you want. There are plenty of people willing to take your money for them. I'll stick with the new stuff, because at least I know the thing will actually work right out of the box with no surprises at all.

And by 'new stuff', I don't necessarily mean all-digital. There are plenty of awesome new analog pedals out there, many of which are really, really good.

Vintage gear is cool and all that, but for pedal effects, just know you're dealing with old electronics that might be more trouble than they're worth.