Cheap guitar of the week #19 - Sawtooth Telecaster
Very cheap. But is it any good?
The Sawtooth Telecaster style guitar is a brand I've seen crop up over the past year or so. From the reviews I've read, buyers describe this guitar best as "okay".
What's the biggest selling point of this guitar? The price. At the time I write this, it's dirt cheap. In addition, Sawtooth is also lefty-friendly and still keeps it cheap, which is a big plus...
...but is this guitar out-of-the-box ready to play? That I can't say for sure.
I would label this guitar as another handyman special of sorts. What that means is that you may have to level the frets using a cheap fret leveling kit before you can really start playing this thing. And you may have to lightly file a few fret edges.
If you're okay with that, then the Sawtooth is safe to buy.
Also, if you were looking for a project Telecaster style guitar, you can't do any better than the Sawtooth. Where project guitars are concerned, you need cheap. And this guitar is cheap and complete. Buy it, level out the frets, install some new pickups and electronics (optional,) and you're good to go.
How does it play? I've no idea. But since the price is so low for it, it's worth the risk to find out. My guess is that it probably has the same playing characteristic of a Squier Bullet series guitar. And that's not a bad thing.
While the price is right, if you want something better but still cheap, the Squier Affinity Telecaster is still the best for a good, cheap Tele. That one I have played, and can confirm it's good. Great neck on it, too.
5 tuxedo look electric guitars
(Note: This was changed to 4 because one of the guitars became suddenly unavailable.)
For formal affairs, sometimes a formal looking guitar is needed.
Guitars that follow a tuxedo style look is easy to understand. It's a black-and-white color scheme, usually with a fair amount of shiny chrome and a rounded appearance (meaning little to no sharp edges in the design present.)
Why own one of these? Because some players like a guitar that has a bit of fancy dress to it. And if you're ever in the situation where you need a genuinely formal-looking guitar for a gig, having a tuxedo style guitar comes in quite handy.
Here are 5 that would qualify as tuxedo guitars.
Fender Classic Series '69 Telecaster Thinline
This Telecaster is about as tuxedo as you could get with one. Black with pearloid pick guard, semi-hollow with the F hole. Not exactly the most elegant for formal affairs, but it would get the job done.
Rickenbacker 360
What really makes the 360 work as a tuxedo guitar when in black is the "R" tail piece. Without it, the look of the guitar really wouldn't work. And while the white pick guard is rather large, it does complement the overall look of the instrument.
Gretsch G6136TSL Silver Falcon w/Bigsby
A mighty Gretsch makes its appearance with a guitar that very much carries with it a formal, tuxedo look. Can't go wrong with a Gretsch when it comes to fancy formal look, and this one delivers in fine style.
Lastly, the mighty Duesenburg Fullerton. Very fancy dress throughout. Lots of fancy bits all over the place on this one. It even has design cues you don't notice until you look up close, such as the front pickup having stair-style pole pieces, the tail piece having car grille style slats, the mounting strip above the pick guard being shiny metal, and so on. Lots and lots of fancy dress here. Heck, even the serial number on the back of the headstock is stamped on a small steel oval plate.
Rich's pick?
The Gretsch Silver Falcon, no question. If I were in the market for a tuxedo electric, Gretsch would be my only choice.
If I were looking to save a buck and get a tuxedo style Gretsch for less, I'd grab a G5455T Electromatic Double Jet w/Bigsby. That's one I've played personally and like it. Not as fancy as the Silver Falcon, but a lot more affordable.
Vintage guitar of the week #2 - 1979 Gibson Les Paul Custom Silverburst
This, ladies and gents, is a proper Silverburst.
One of the better Silverburst finish guitars you will see is a '79 Gibson Les Paul Custom.
Why does the Silverburst on this Les Paul look so good?
Answer: Because it's aged naturally.
Something I'm surprised guitar makers have not done yet is an "Aged Silverburst" finish. We've seen every single kind of aged/"relic" finish you can think of except an aged Silverburst, so if you want the aged look for this particular finish, you have to buy the genuine article.
While I'm not a Les Paul guy personally, I totally admit that the look of this guitar is pretty much spot-on perfect. The finish and binding has nice, even yellowing to it, and the headstock in particular looks crazy-good.
This can't be replicated (or at least not yet)
Guitar builders who "relic" don't do Silverburst, and I doubt they ever will. Why? Because nobody knows how. I've never seen it attempted. In addition, it's really tough to replicate genuine yellowing where the body and the body binding and the neck binding and the headstock binding all match up properly for a proper aged look.
Any guitar builder who would attempt this look would spend many long hours trying to get a guitar to look like the '79 Paul does. In fact, they would have to outright buy and study this Paul just to have a proper frame of reference.
"Golden Era" rock guitar?
Definitely.
Here are some of the top rock hits from 1979:
- AC/DC - Highway to Hell
- Led Zeppelin - All My Love
- Van Halen - Dance The Night Away
- The Police - Roxanne
- Dire Straits - Sultans of Swing
- Cheap Trick - I Want You To Want Me
- Bob Seger - Old Time Rock And Roll
- Eagles - Heartache Tonight
1979 was a good year for rock, and a lot of Les Paul guitars were used in recording studios back then.
This is a Paul you'd be proud to have in your own studio, even if it's just a small one in your home. Grab one of these Pauls while you can.
Does Epiphone make a Silverburst Les Paul?
Sometimes they do, but not always. It an on-again/off-again color they offer.
What is the secret to perfect fuzz guitar?
Fuzz tone is something most guitar players get wrong because they ignore the one setting they should pay attention to the most.
When it comes to the fuzz effect, wow do you have a lot of choice. And I mean a crazy amount of choice. From that link alone, you could spend hours going through all those fuzz effects, and I'm not kidding.
My preference is digital fuzz using the DigiTech RP360, which has 8tavia (which I believe is Octavia), Later Fuzz, DOD Classic Fuzz, Face Fuzz (emulation of the Fuzz Face), and my favorite, Big Pi, an emulation of the Big Muff Pi.
So what's the secret to great fuzz?
Effect-level tone knob. What that means is a tone control directly on the fuzz effect itself. Not the guitar. Not the amp. Not the EQ. The effect itself has to have some kind of tone control on it.
As you will see on that first link, there are many fuzz pedal effects that do not have a tone control of any kind. Instead, you just get a master volume, fuzz level and nothing else. The Fuzz Face is an example of this.
Why does the tone control matter so much on a fuzz effect?
I'll use the Big Muff Pi and Fuzz Face as the examples here.
Let's say you have two guitars. A trebly single-coil Fender Telecaster and higher-output Gibson SG that has far less treble than the Telecaster does.
With the Fuzz Face, it is pretty much guaranteed that you will love the Fuzz Face on one guitar but hate it on the other.
With the Big Muff Pi, you can use its tone control to shape the sound to the guitar currently plugged into it, allowing it to work with both guitars. That's the big difference right there.
A tone control on a fuzz effect doesn't do what you think it does. Instead of it acting like EQ, it acts almost like a wah pedal. This is a good thing.
Tone control makes for a far more usable fuzz effect. It even helps out when shaping a sound to whatever amp you're using at the time.
Remember, fuzz isn't just for '60s hippie rock
A lot of players don't know that Eric Johnson is quite a fan of the fuzz effect. And yes, it's true, he has a signature Fuzz Face pedal. Would I personally use it? No. I'd go with the Big Muff Pi instead any day of the week because it has a tone control while the Fuzz Face does not.
If you are going for that Eric Johnson tone, a delay effect is required along with the fuzz. He does use a BOSS DD-2 along with a Deluxe Memory Man.
Personally, if I were going for that "echo over echo" sound, the BOSS Tera Echo can do that in a single pedal.
Fuzz and delay actually do work very nicely together. Not so much for rhythm, but for lead tones it's a great sound.
What? You haven't tried a fuzz effect yet?
If you've been trying and trying to get "that sound" but can never seem to hit the mark no matter what (especially for your lead sound,) the thing you're missing is probably fuzz.
Fuzz is a very old-school effect, but it does work wonders. I recommend the Big Muff Pi linked above, but you can try out any one you want. However, as I also mentioned, I strongly suggest getting one with some kind of tone control on it. Believe me, you will very much appreciate having effect-level tone control on your fuzz.
Cheap Guitar of the Week #18 - Gretsch G5421 Electromatic Jet Club Firebird
The more I look at this guitar, the more I want one.
The Gretsch Electromatic Jet Club Firebird is, simply put, a cool guitar.
This is one of those guitars that's easy to dismiss, but the more you look at it, the more you notice the details, and the more you want one.
First, it's a two-tone body. The back and sides are walnut-stained.
Second, yes it does have the "G" arrow knobs. This is a Gretsch thing where the knobs they use have a rather ornate look to them - even on a Jet priced this low.
Third, which most photos of this guitar do not show, it does have an arched top.
Fourth, bound body. Real easy to miss, but makes for a very nice look.
What about the sound?
That's the best part about this guitar.
The Gretsch dual-coil pickups that come on this are absolutely not "muddy," but rather bright and trebly in a real good way. I best describe the sound as a mix between a Jazzmaster and a P90. It's a very, very usable sound that works for everything from rock to country to stoner to shoegazer (if you know that that is) to just about everything you can think of. No, it does not do metal. However, I'd even recommend this to a metal player for when he needs a guitar to record clean parts.
For the "atmospheric" guitar players out there, one thing I know this Gretsch does better than most guitars is work with effects. Put a washy-style reverb or delay on this and it sings. Why? Because of the way the pickups sound.
For players who are into vintage, stoner rock and 1990s grunge tones, this guitar handles fuzz tone like you wouldn't believe. Even better than my Jazzmaster. You hook this Gretsch up to a Big Muff Pi and look out... crazy-big sound. Drop the 6 string to a D, let the power chords ring out and oh yeah, good stuff.
Looks much better in person
Stock photos do not convey the wow factor you get seeing one in person.
I'll put it another way. Strats are Strats, Teles are Teles and so on, but with Gretsch, it's different. Way different. Even their black guitars don't really show off how good they look in person. Why? I'm not exactly sure. There's just something about Gretsch design where the photo never really captures what the guitar truly looks like when you see it with your own eyes, similar to Rickenbacker guitars. No photo of a Ric accurately shows off how good a Ric looks in person either.
Worth it to get a cheap Gretsch?
Yes. I have played an import Gretsch before, the Electromatic Double Jet with Bigsby, and was very impressed with it. That's a guitar that runs a few hundred bucks more. If the Jet Club Firebird is even half the guitar the Double Jet is, oh yes, it's worth the buy, no question about it.