Bought a Wally looper

Yep, I took the plunge and bought one.

The Wally Looper is my first ever dedicated looper. And yeah, this article is a Wally Looper pedal review of sorts.

The pedal is really, really small. I'll talk more about that in a moment.

The box

Textured and ritzy. I'm both pleased and ticked off by this. Pleased, because even the box feels high-quality. Ticked, because that means a bunch of the cost went into the packaging.

In the box

Some cards, two adhesive floor pads (one for floor and one for pedalboard, a nice touch) and some stickers. The "manual" is just one card, which in all honesty is all that's needed because this thing is really easy to operate.

The back

You're probably wondering if this thing can be battery powered. Similar to the Ditto, no, it can't. A 9V center-negative power adapter is needed to power this thing. And no, it does not come with one.

It really is tiny

This is without question the smallest pedal I've ever used. But thankfully it was designed well. It has some good weight to it and does not feel cheap at all. The casing is proper, the knobs are smooth and proper, the footswitch has just the right amount of tension to it, and the lights (it has 2, one in the middle and one in the clear knob) can be seen easily from the floor.

Easy?

Yes, very easy-to-use.

Pros?

For a simple looper, it does exactly what you expect it to do. Instructions are easy and you'll be looping quick.

Cons?

"Effect", which is pitch uptuning and detuning, is pretty much worthless. You can hear digital nastiness whenever you use it. And the fact you can't overdub while uptuned or detuned kinda sucks.

Better than Ditto?

Yes. It's cheaper and has more features. While "Effect" is something I consider useless, what I don't consider useless is the fact it has both record (input) level and output level (top clear knob). Where that comes in damned handy most is when using different instruments. Switching from a guitar to a synth for example is something the Wally is much more friendly with compared to the Ditto. Guitars and synths obviously have totally different audio output types, and with the record level knob, Wally handles that with ease.

Can it handle long loops?

Yes. I recorded a few of those it and the Wally handled it easily.

However, I did "sort of" crash it once. While getting used to the foot switching pattern, I was getting a bit too ahead of myself and was accidentally recording really short stuff within a really long loop, trying to undo that, got a little overzealous with that and, yeah, screwed up the sample. I say I "sort of" crashed it because I was able to just delete the loop and start over. No big deal.

Does Wally "mud out" when you overdub too much?

When you first start using a looper, everyone "muds" it because they keep trying to overdub the same thing. The key to avoiding mudded-out sound on a looper is to not play the same thing twice unless you're going for a chorus effect.

Even if I had a really expensive looper like the BOSS RC-3 Loop Station, the mud would still happen if I overdubbed a guitar playing the same thing 3 times.

What does it sound like?

It doesn't sound like anything because its sole job is to repeat back the exact sound you play into it.

Looping technique

While it is easy and quick to loop, learning different looping techniques takes time.

You'll notice that a lot of guitar players that use loopers also use delay; the reason for that is that the delay acts as a metronome of sorts. When you're playing along with delay, it makes for much easier proper loops. You don't have to use delay, but it helps and that's one method of looping.

Is the Wally overpriced?

The Wally is the lowest-cost digital looper pedal as far as I know. The Ditto is more expensive, has less record time and doesn't do as much. I honestly would feel screwed had I bought a Ditto (especially since TC Electronic raised the price since introduction to market in 2013).

Do I feel screwed after buying a Wally? A little, and only because of that fancy dan packaging that, while cool, was totally unnecessary. Plain-box packaging could get the Wally's price down to $60 or even $50. But at present you're spending extra just for that stupid box. It's a really nice box, but that does nothing for the pedal itself.

Yes, I am saying it's the packaging that makes the Wally slightly overpriced. Not grossly overpriced. Just slightly.

Other than that, it's a very well-made, solid, easy-to-use digital looper pedal. No surprises, easy operation, works and easily fits anywhere.

On a final note, the footswitch is as such where for synth guys, using it with the hand on a desk is also a-okay. It has just enough give to it where it can be used with your foot on the floor, or index finger or thumb on the desk without a problem.

Which guitar effects are worth spending more money on?

I'm writing this one based on a recent email conversation I had with someone asking about guitar effects.

While I sing the praises of cheap guitars and cheap gear whenever I can (if you can get away with getting great sound for cheap, that's always a plus), there will be times when you'll have to spend extra to get "that sound".

Which effects are cheap and which cost more to sound any good?

Distortion or Overdrive: CHEAP

No need to spend a bunch of cash on this, as dist/od is one of the most basic guitar effects that exists.

There is no such thing as a "good" or "bad" dist/od pedal, because they all operate the same. The difference is in how it's wired and what controls you have.

Smarter players look for features and don't don't go by what the name of the pedal is.

For example, there are blues and classic rock players who use a Death Metal Distortion pedal. Why? It has a 3-band EQ on it, whereas most dist/od pedals only have 2-band.

In the more-expensive department, some blues guys use the Metal Muff because it has a 3-band EQ, master volume and a drive level (labeled "dist") and a booster on top of that. For those reasons, it's a great drive pedal even if you never use it for playing metal guitar music.

Be a smarter player and examine dist/od for features more than anything else. Most of you out there would probably really like the Metal Muff because it has all the tonal control you want that's suitable for just about any amplifier, be it solid-state or tube-type.

Modulation Envelope ("Wah-Wah" or "Crybaby"): MID-PRICED

You should go as cheap as you possibly can with wah-wah since nearly all of them exhibit the exact same problems. After less than 6 months, they "scratch", and then the foot switch mechanism starts to fail, then it starts squeaking and creaking, blah blah blah, etc. All traditional-made wah-wah pedals do this...

...except one, the Morley PWO. No potentiometers in it, because it uses optical circuitry. Yes, it costs slightly more and it may not "look cool", but it sure will last a hell of a lot longer and always operate properly.

Chorus: CHEAP

You go cheap with chorus because it is an effect you will not use that often. Many guitar players think chorus is something they'll use all the time, but that's rarely the case.

Chorus is bought because of a "sounded like a good idea at the time" reason and for no other, so you should go as cheap as possible with it. Behringer UC200. Cheap, works.

Flanger: DON'T BUY THIS

A useless effect for most guitar players. Don't buy it.

Phaser: CHEAP

You thought you wanted a flanger, but in fact you wanted a phaser. Behringer VP1. This is exactly the phaser guitar players want, and it's dirt cheap. Just one knob. And yes, that's all you ever need out of a phaser pedal. Anything more is just useless fluff.

BIG IMPORTANT TIP: How good or not-good your phaser sounds is directly affected depending on whether it is before or after your distortion/overdrive effect. If you're trying to achieve a Van Halen type of phaser sound, the phaser is placed after distortion in the effect chain and not before. But by all means, try both. Try the phaser before the drive and after the drive and see which sounds best to your ears.

Delay: EXPENSIVE (but totally worth it)

The delay effect is one that is absolutely worth spending good cash on, because I guarantee it will be one of your most-used guitar effects.

Take the DigiTech HardWire DL-8. Not cheap. Another is the BOSS TE-2 Tera Echo. Also not cheap. Another is the BOSS DD-7. Once again, not cheap.

Why put cash into delay? Because it brings about sounds that no other effect can do. A delay pedal when set to a short-millisecond delay acts as a chorus pedal. Long-delay can add in a cinematic big quality to the sound. "Fading" delays where each repeat loses a little treble in analog style (which many modern digital delays like the ones mentioned above emulate) really give a new dimension to a guitar sound.

I'll put it another way. A good delay pedal can be the difference between a guitar sounding like absolute crap and sounding sonically perfect. I'm not kidding. Delay can make a total piece-of-crap guitar sound positively beautiful, and makes expensive guitars sound even more expensive.

If there is any one effect you put cash into, it's delay.

Compression: CHEAP

Most players need compression and don't even realize it. Fortunately, it's affordable.

Think you need a pickup upgrade? I'm betting you don't. If you want your notes to last longer and be heard better, get a compressor.

Looper: MID-PRICED

I wrote about this recently with a full article, but the short of it is that you don't need to spend a ton of money on this anymore. It used to be true you had to, but these days there are lower-cost options. Namely, the Hotone Skyline Series Wally Compact Looper, and the TC Electronic Ditto. Both are great, both are built well and both get the job done in fine style...

...but I personally think the Wally is better. It has more features and it's cheaper.

Looper pedals at this point haven't reached cheap level yet because the compact looper is still a relatively new thing. In a few years they may bust below the $50 price point, but not now. You're going to spend a bare minimum of $70 to get a looper pedal at the time I write this and that's just the way it is.

Worth it? Yes. Looper pedals are great, and I plan on getting one myself (and yes it will be a Wally).

Squier Vintage Modified Jaguar guitar review

Before I tried the '70s Stratocaster at the guitar store over the weekend, I saw they had a Surf Green Squier Jag in stock. So I tried it out.

This was actually the second time I ever played a Squier Jag. The first one, also from the same store, sucked. And the reason it sucked is because it wasn't set up at all and the bridge saddles were completely set up wrong. However, this one was in much better shape. While it wasn't perfectly set up, it wasn't all out-of-whack like the first one I tried before was.

So anyway, on to the review.

Does Squier's Surf Green actually look like Surf Green?

This is actually a question that's more important than most people realize.

Surf Green, be it by Fender or Squier, sometimes isn't green but rather a sky blue with a hint of green in it. You will see some guitars labeled as a Surf Green color where upon seeing it you will say, "That is not green at all; that's blue!"

This is the second Surf Green Squier Jag I've seen in person, and yes, it is definitely a proper Surf Green and not that light-blue-pretending-to-be-surf-green thing.

Switchgear

Solid. Everything worked flawlessly. Not a bad knob or switch to be found.

Neck

24.0-inch short scale goodness. But the funny thing about a Jag is that even though you know it's a short scale, it doesn't feel like one. And I think that's primarily due to the offset-waist body that pushes out the neck slightly further compared to center-waist construction.

Everything was fine on the neck. Frets were proper, tuners were proper, finish was proper and it all worked very well. No obvious flaws found.

Body

The Jag is based on the Jazzmaster shape. Very comfy. Plays right sitting or standing, just like the Jazzmaster.

Wonky Jaguar controls

Okay, this is where I have complaints about the Jaguar. It has nothing to do with the quality of build (which was spot-on and good) but rather just how the Jag operates.

The Jaguar has a rhythm circuit on top of the body with its own dedicated volume and tone wheels. When selected, only the front neck pickup is engaged, and there's a capacitor in the top circuit that cuts off some treble. This is exactly the same way the Jazzmaster rhythm circuit works. No difference whatsoever, save for the fact the pickup set is different.

In the lead circuit, which are the bottom controls, that's where things get weird, because first-time Jag players would have no clue what to do.

On a Jazzmaster, the bottom lead circuit is easy to figure out. Volume, tone, 3-way pickup selector. Easy.

On a Jag's lead circuit is volume, tone and 3 on/off switches. If you look at the above image of the guitar, from left-to-right it's tone circuit switch, rear bridge pickup on/off, front neck pickup on/off.

That first switch is traditionally known as a "strangle switch" on a Jag. When used, a capacitor is engaged that bleeds away bass frequencies and makes the sound of the guitar "nasal" and "honky".

Believe me, you will know when you have the strangle switch on in the lead circuit, because the tone will "honk" right out. Is that tone usable? Depends on what you play.

The other two switches are really easy to figure out. Rear pickup on/off, front pickup on/off.

First-timers to the Jag are never told what these switches do. And don't bother asking the sales guy at the guitar store, because he won't know either (he also won't know how to operate a Mustang either).

ANYWAY...

Here are my complaints about lead circuit Jag controls.

1. It's almost too easy to hit that strangle switch by mistake when playing.
2. Fast-switching between pickups isn't easy. In fact, it's really difficult.
3. The fact the switches are black (on all models) and vertical makes it a bit difficult to know which switch position you're in even when directly looking at them in a brightly-lit room.

Playability

The neck is ridiculously "fast" because of the 24.0-inch short scale. You can seriously race on this thing.

Some people say the short scale makes the strings really floppy. That wasn't my experience. I felt just fine playing the stock 9-gauge string set it comes with from the factory...

...although I would admit I'd probably put 10s on it or at least light-top/heavy-bottom 9-46 just for my playing style. And if you play 10s now, you'd probably install 11s, which is fine because the Jag can handle them without a problem.

Once you get used to Jag controls, yeah, she sings; the guitar has a ballsy output because of the way its electronics are. Chords ring out true, but of course note decay rate (which you known as "sustain") isn't that of, say, a Telecaster because Jazzes and Jags aren't known for that sort of thing.

Verdict

Great guitar all around. My only real knock is the lead circuit controls. But then again, all Jags with a standard control layout have that oddball on/off switch thing going on, so it's just something you have to get used to.

It's also a super-comfy player and holds tune well. But of course it is largely built to original vintage spec, so it has the multi-groove string saddles just like the Jazz does, meaning it doesn't take well to wild, heavy picking without literally knocking the strings out of the saddle grooves.

The Squier Jag is a cool guitar, I dig it and will eventually grab one. But as much as I like Surf Green, I think I'd go with a sunburst finish instead. Why? There's a lot of blank space in the middle of the pick guard due to the skinny pickups, and the sunburst has a tortoise shell guard that visually fills that space up better. Same guitar, just a different look that I'd prefer.

Fender Classic Series '70s Stratocaster guitar review

Yesterday I had to go out and buy some guitar strings, and tried out two guitars at the guitar store. Of the two I tried, one was a Fender Classic Series '70s Stratocaster in natural finish with the maple neck/maple fingerboard.

When I saw it, I had to try it because there are several things about this particular Strat that are different compared to normal Strats.

Is it a proper 70s Strat?

Absolutely. This Strat is without question the same as a real-deal 1970s Stratocaster, with one exception: It's a lot lighter. But in this case, that's a good thing because real-deal 1970s Stratocasters are "boat-anchor" heavy. This one isn't and is a lot more civilized.

As for every other part of the guitar, it's all '70s. In fact, it's so '70s that this could easily qualify as a reissue.

What makes the guitar not a reissue is the fact there is a micro-tilt adjustment on the 3-bolt neck plate and the fact it's not boat-anchor heavy.

A bit "too '70s" for my liking

Fender made this thing so '70s that for most players - including myself - it is a little too period-correct.

Let's find out why.

Neck

Definitely a thick-and-chunky U shape. I believe it's the fattest neck Fender ever made, and yes, it's on the '70s Strat. Not only is the neck fat but the frets are the tall/skinny kind. This takes some getting used to.

I was surprised to discover it was not a fret-buzzy mess to play. However, the neck fretted out real easy when bending notes, but I know exactly why. Fat neck, skinny frets and a 7.25-inch radius fingerboard.

I'm not saying bending notes is an impossible thing, because you can certainly do it without a problem. The problem is that when you have a 7.25-inch radius fingerboard and skinny frets, yeah, you fret out a lot and that's just the way it is.

Pegboard and tuners

Big CBS-era style headstock with bullet truss rod cover and "F" tuners. Looks exactly like a '70s Strat should and is well done.

I'll address here the #1 complaint most people have about the '70s Strat, the "F" tuners.

Okay. "F" tuners are a very specific type of tuner with a very specific spacing that only appears on the '70s Strat and no other. Most players think these tuners suck (I personally think they're fine), however, they are the exact type of tuners Fender did use in their cost-cutter years of the '70s and are absolutely period-correct.

Buyers of the '70s Strat get really ticked off when they discover that in order to change out "F" tuners, you must get a set that is "F" spaced, because 70s "F" spacing is unique to that decade. Kluson or Kluson-style tuners do not fit the '70s headstock, and it's not because of the screw holes, it's because of the spacing of the pegboard holes.

In other words, with "F" style tuners and spacing, you're basically stuck with Fender part number 099-0822 tuners unless you want to do some modification to the pegboard to fit alternate tuners.

To those who get ticked off when discovering the whole "F" spacing thing, all I can say is that you should've researched the guitar more before buying it.

Again, I am 100% OK with "F" spaced tuners and their style. But if you're not, well... there's not much you can really do about it unless you hack up the pegboard.

Pickups

True to a '70s Strat, the middle pickup is not reverse wound, so every one of the 5 pickups positions has 60-cycle hum. It is absolutely mandatory to use a noise gate pedal with one of these Strats if you put any overdrive through it.

Also true to a '70s Strat, the pickups were weak, "thin" sounding and didn't have very good treble response to them. But again, this is true-to-'70s and that's what it's supposed to sound like.

For me, this is one of the reasons I can't stand real-deal 70s Strats. But of course, since this guitar is true-to-70s, you get a true-to-'70s pickup set.

Ordinarily I can deal with stock pickups, even on Squier guitars. But not the '70s Fender Strat. If I owned the '70s Strat, I would go ahead and buy a Tex-Mex pickup set and install those replacement pickups. I get my reverse-wound middle pickup (meaning hum canceling on positions 2 and 4) and the pickups are a higher output that would much better agree with me.

Body

The body felt like it had that less-contoured '70s shape, although I can't be certain. Maybe that was just me thinking the body was like that, but didn't know for sure. Felt comfy enough.

One thing I do know however is that yes, it has that total '70s "looks like a coffee table" look to it.

What both Fender and Gibson did in the '70s to cut costs was offer a ton of guitars in "natural" finish. And the only reason they did this was to save money because at the time it was cheaper to spray clear sealant on a guitar body rather than paint it.

The ash body on the '70s Strat looks... like ash. I guess the question is whether or not the guitar looked unfinished, as in not-complete. I can say with certainly that the guitar looks and feels completed. This is not the same cost-cutter crapola Fender did in the 1970s. You do get a properly-made, 100% completed guitar...

...but the natural finish does totally look like a coffee table. Maybe that's something you'd like. If it isn't, there's also Black, Sunburst and Olympic White. If you want a Ritchie Blackmore look, get black. If you want a Hendrix look, get Olympic White. If you want a really great sunburst (ash does take to a sunburst very nicely), get the sunburst.

I'm not kidding when I say the sunburst 70s Stratocaster is really a looker. Looks great in a rosewood board version too.

It is the ash body that makes the sunburst look so good on the '70s Strat model. The ash grain lines really pop out at you. You will notice however that the above two guitars have totally different grain lines to them; the reason for this is because ash isn't consistent from log to log.

Even with ash grain inconsistency, what you get will look good. And there's another perk as well. No two sunburst '70s Strats look the same. What you get will be unique to your guitar only.

Feel

I found myself fighting with the '70s Strat for a few minutes before I got used to it. And yeah, "fighting" is the appropriate word for it.

The feel of the body was fine. No complaints there.

The feel of the controls was fine. No complaints there either.

It was the neck I had to get used to. Like I said above, it has that big-ass U shape on the back to it.

Once I did get used to the neck however, I got along fine with the large-and-in-charge U.

Yeah, I know I make it sound like the U is this ungodly-large thing. No, it's not obscenely thick or anything like that, but bear in mind I'm totally used to "Modern C" slimmer Fender necks with a 9.5-inch radius fingerboard and medium jumbo fret wire. When you go from a Modern C flat-oval shape to the '70s U, yeah, there's a big difference in feel. But again, I was able to get along with it fine after playing on it for a few minutes.

Conclusion

Looks-wise, this guitar totally nails it.

Feel-wise, it takes getting used to, but after adjusting to it, it feels great.

Sound-wise, it sucks. It is true-to-'70s spec, but that's a sound I personally do not like at all. And the fact there's no reverse-wound in the middle position... yeah, bad. It's like I said above, dump the set for a Tex-Mex set and the guitar's sound would spring to life immediately.

To note: No, it is not the fact the neck has a 3-bolt plate that makes it sound so thin. There are so many idiot guitar players that think the amount of bolts at the neck plate actually matter here. They do not, so stop drinking that Kool-Aid. It's the pickups that make it sound thin and not that frickin' bolt plate. Change over to a Tex-Mex set and she'll sound A-OK.

Verdict: Good guitar, bad pickup set.

Alternative to the '70s Strat

You buy a '70s Strat for either one of two reasons. Either you want it for the look or for the feel.

If you only wanted it for the look, a good alternative is the Deluxe Roadhouse Stratocaster. Looks '70s, but is totally modernized. And it costs a lot less.

Alder body, Modern C-shape neck with medium jumbo frets, 22-fret instead of 21, Texas Special pickups, and some special control trickery where there's a master volume, 6-position "rotary tone" switch (kind of like a Vari-Tone) and a master tone. And yes, you'll like that rotary tone thing. Different, but very usable.

No bullet truss rod cover on this one, but there are standard tuners on it with standard pegboard hole spacing.

The neck is mildly tinted; that's a good thing, else that maple board would be way too white-ish in look.

Roadhouse is a hot-rodded Strat that has a '70s look to it. If you like a '70s look but want a modern guitar, a Roadhouse Strat is the guitar you want.

Is the Stratocaster overrated?

Is the Fender Stratocaster (I suggest the LPB color) a good guitar? Yes. Modern machining and manufacturing technologies make that possible, and it's the same the reason Squier makes such good guitars these days as well.

Personally, I think that yes, the Fender Stratocaster is an overrated guitar. Good guitar as I said above, but overrated.

Why do I think Strats are overrated?

The main reason is because too many players expect too much out of the guitar, and then get really disappointed when the guitar doesn't live up to those expectations.

For example, Strats have low-output pickups by design. They have skinny pickups mated to 250K potentiometers (meaning the volume and tone knobs) that when fed to an amplifier produces a "thin", trebly sound.

The reaction by players to this thin/trebly sound is, "Oh. I guess I need a pickup upgrade." So they go and buy higher-output pickups, then install them. But the result of that is a thin, trebly sound that's louder and noisier, but not necessarily better.

A Strat on its own cannot produce a "big" sound without a lot of help (as in a compressor). Any Strat plugged into any amp without any overdrive in use almost universally gets the same reaction by players, which is, "Gee.. this thing has no balls to it." Correct, because you're dealing with a guitar with skinny single-coil pickups in it.

In reality, what the player probably wanted was a Telecaster with its big, fat overwound rear (as in bridge) single-coil pickup, or a guitar with P90 pickups in it, or just some guitar where the single-coil pickup is physically larger with more winds on the inside.

Any Telecaster, whether a cheap Affinity, mid-grade Standard or American Standard will always "sound fatter" compared to a Strat. That big-ass overwound rear pickup really does make a difference.

Yes, you can get overwound replacement pickups for Strats, but it's just not the same. When you play a rear pickup on a Telecaster, you will probably say, "That's the sound I've been looking for!"

Am I saying that most Strat players actually want a Telecaster?

Yes.

Reasons why a Telecaster is better for most players

1. No middle pickup to hit accidentally when picking or strumming.
2. Volume control is away from you so you don't knock that accidentally when playing.
3. No tremolo system to put the guitar out-of-tune (which on a Strat you don't use anyway because it's useless for most players).
4. Rear bridge pickup has a higher output compared to a Strat.
5. Rear bridge pickup actually has a tone control wired to it whereas most Strats don't.
6. Front neck pickup is a mini-single with smooth, rounded edges, so even if you do smack that when picking, the pick will just roll right over it with no problem at all.
7. It is a true set-it-and-forget-it guitar. The Telecaster is the kind of guitar that once set up, it does not need to be set up again for a very long time unless you switch to a much thicker string (in which you would have to readjust saddle height, redo intonation and maybe crank the truss rod a 1/4 turn to compensate for the different string tension).
8. Neck is the same as the Strat. Same profile, same 9.5-inch fingerboard radius, same fret size, same amount of frets. It's the same Strat neck you already know, just mated to a Telecaster body. If you know Strat necks, you already know Tele necks. The Tele is not a guitar that's the polar opposite of a Strat. Just consider a Tele a simpler version of a Strat, so to speak.

Some players will never get used to a Strat no matter what it is

This is something not mentioned often but really needs to be said.

There are guitar players out there whose hands will never agree with the Stratocaster guitar. Or at least not the one made by Fender.

I'll put this in really simple terms. If your hands or wrists hurt when playing Strats, stop playing them. And no, throwing a bunch of a money at a more expensive Strat will not stop hand or wrist pain. If the Strat shape doesn't agree with you now, it never will.

And if the Telecaster causes the same hand or wrist pain/strain (which it might), don't play those either. Try the shorter 24.75-inch scale Les Paul or SG, or the even-shorter 24.0-inch scale Fender Jaguar or Fender Mustang. However, if the controls on the Jag or Mustang aren't to your liking, consider the American Special Mustang or a Blacktop HH Jaguar. Both those guitars are short scale, have nice-and-easy control layouts and are plug-in-and-go type of guitars. I guarantee you would be very happy with either axe.

To note, hand strain concerning guitars is not an age thing; it can happen to any player regardless of age.

Personally, I find the Jazzmaster - which does have a 25.5-inch scale length like a Strat - to be a far more comfortable player. That guitar has absolutely huge single-coil pickups, and while I love the guitar as-is, some hate the control layout. But Fender has that covered with the American Jazzmaster Special. Great guitar, offset-waist body for supremely comfortable playing, no vibrato system and a dirt simple control layout. The low-cost Squier equivalent of that is the Vintage Modified Jazzmaster Special.

Are fat-necked Strats better for older players?

Hand strain isn't an age thing, but when it comes to finger strength, that is absolutely an age thing.

For older players - which generally means guys over 50 - the fingers don't work as well as they used to. Sure, you can grip just fine, write things down with no problem and so on, but when it comes to the fingers playing fretted notes on a guitar neck, they just "don't work well". You get jittery, stuttered motions and it's enough to make you want to punch a hole in the wall out of frustration.

Some older dudes try thicker strings, but that doesn't cure the problem because the neck size is still the same.

If you're an older player that likes Strats and don't get wrist pain when playing, but do have the fingers-don't-work-very-well issue, more often than not the cure is a fat-necked Strat.

Yes, I know, you would think a thicker neck would be bad for the fingers-don't-work age issue. The opposite is true. Consider it the same as a thick vs. thin steering wheel on a car. The thicker wheel is always the preferred choice because it's just more ergonomically correct.

The two fat-neck Strat options are the Classic Series '60s Stratocaster with the "Big C" neck and the Classic Series '70s Stratocaster with the big-ass "U" shape neck.

Switching over to a fat-neck Strat will feel weird at first, but it's probably true your fingers will love it. There's a lot more wood for your hand to grab, so your fingers won't have to pinch as much, and if all goes well, you'll have very little stutter/jitter from your fingers or possibly none at all.

If the fat-neck Strat agrees with you, great. But you'll probably hate the sound of the guitar and want to swap out the pickups; that is a totally normal reaction.

What a lot of players would really like to see from Fender is modern electronics on a fat-neck Strat. But Fender doesn't do that, so you'll have to buy a fat-neck Strat and either change out the pickups and electronics yourself or just have a tech do it. Yes, this does add in extra cost, but in the end you get exactly the Strat you want. Great modern sound with an older-style fat neck.

To recap...

If you can't wrangle a good sound out of a Strat now, you never will because you've been probably trying to do it for years and never got anywhere. Try a Telecaster instead and enjoy the fat-ass overwound rear pickup. You'll like it a lot better.

If your hands hurt when playing a Strat, stop playing them and try a short-scale guitar instead.

If your hands don't hurt when playing a Strat but your fret hand fingers have a hard time fretting notes, get a fat-necked Strat.

And on a final note, something I've said before many times, know what you're buying.

Fender Stratocasters are good guitars, but they're not for everyone. And if you own one and think, "This guitar really isn't working for me...", that is not your fault. You don't "fail at guitar" if the Strat doesn't agree with you. All you need is a guitar that suits you better. Maybe that's a Telecaster. Maybe a Jaguar. Maybe something else entirely.

Go try different guitars, as in not Strats, and find one that really agrees with you. You may have to try out 10 or 20 different guitars before finding "that one", but it's worth the time because you end up being a happier guitar player.