cartoons then vs. cartoons now
When you use Netflix with a web browser, there's a lot more ability to sort through what you want, and part of that includes the ability not only to sort by genre, but also by subgenre, and then year released from newest to oldest.
For the heck of it I went to the "Children & Family > TV Cartoons" category. While true Netflix is missing a ton of stuff (no Smurfs?), you can really see how things have changed.
When I viewed the very last row of titles, the oldest in the Netflix database, I knew every one of those. Or rather, I knew of them.
Of what was in that row, the three I remember watching as a kid were Transformers, Voltron and Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends.
The others, Jem, G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero and Star Trek: The Animated Series were not shows I watched regularly as a kid (especially since 'Trek was before I was born). I did watch the 'Trek toon later as an adult. But to date I've never watched a full episode of Jem or G.I. Joe. As for why I didn't watch Jem, that should be obvious. As for why I didn't watch G.I. Joe, I was just never interested in it.
Then there are the cartoons today. Some of them were My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, Adventure Time, Scooby-Doo!: Mystery Incorporated, Wild Kratts and Transformers Prime.
Before continuing, yes I am aware of the whole brony thing with the My Little Pony crapola. And no, I have never watched a single episode of MLP:FIM and never intend to because it's a children's television cartoon for little girls. 'Nuff said there.
The first thing I notice with today's cartoons is that there has been a night-and-day difference in animation style, primarily due to computer technology. Today, cartoons which feature computer animation use a hybrid of both hand-drawn and digital, whereas before everything was hand drawn.
The second thing I notice is that today's animations are a lot faster and jerkier. This is again due to computer technology. It is possible - and easy - for animators now to get very precise movements even from the smallest on-screen thing. That, and kids today all watch cartoons in crystal-clear HD, whereas when I was a kid we were all watching tube-type television sets.
The third thing I noticed, which is a surprise to me, is how long certain franchises have lasted.
Just about every popular cartoon from when I was a kid is still running today. Scooby-Doo in particular is one that's just weird because that's even before my time, as it spans all the way back to 1969. The original Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! did start that year. That's crazy, but true. This means Scooby-Doo is literally over 45 years old.
Many cartoon franchises today are reboots. A few are done right, but most are done horribly wrong. An example of one done so wrong it literally wasn't funny whatsoever was Garfield: The Movie from 2004. I never saw that movie because even the preview of it creeped me out. Garfield was not meant to look real. Ever. He is also not meant to talk. Ever. But yep, that turd of a movie exists. The horror. Oh, the horror.
Oh, and guess what else is getting ruined? Peanuts. The world's favorite comic strip will be destroyed forever. It's happening next year. And I know it will be awful. I will not watch it. No way. Not happening. I will not have Peanuts ruined for the rest of my life. It's bad enough that The Smurfs movies exist (which are just as bad as the Garfield movie if not worse for their creepy factor). It's bad enough that The Transformers were ruined...
...but now they're going after Charlie Brown himself.
Good Grief.
I suppose it was only a matter of time before it happened. If you were to think of the one thing... the one thing that should not be touched no matter what, it's Peanuts. You simply do not mess with that. But not only will it be messed with, it will be totally destroyed. In 3D, of course.
Well, after it happens, one thing will be true. The bottom will have been hit, because there is no lower to go after that.
It should be no wonder why adults hate reboots of old franchises.
Anyway, like I said, there are good reboots and bad reboots with most being bad.
From what I can see on Netflix, yeah there are a lot of new 'toons for kids to watch, and that's good. But it's also polluted by a crapload of reboots.
There are enough new ideas out there to sweep away the old and bring in the new. How many frickin' times must something be rebooted before it's put out to pasture? I guess the answer to that is, "If there's even a chance that rehashing an old, tired idea will make money, we're doing it no matter how bad we mess it up."
Kinda sad.
The lower end 2014 Gibson USA Les Paul line - which to get?
While I'm not a Les Paul player, I was happy to see Gibson dropping their prices for several USA models for 2014. In this article I'm concentrating on the first 6 of them from lowest-to-highest in price.
Yes, there are more than 6 models, but I'm sticking with the first 6 because that's what most people can afford. With that said, here we go.
Gibson Melody Maker - this guitar is the perfect upgrade to anyone who owns an Epiphone Les Paul Special I P90 now, because it's the same guitar with more features. Same wraparound bridge, same color, but with the addition of more controls and a proper pickup selector on top instead of the bottom.
When you want a guitar that is the same type of P90 setup as the Epiphone with the same style bridge in a Gibson version, you literally cannot do any better than the '14 Melody Maker.
Gibson LPJ - the best part about this Gibson is that it has both right and left-handed versions available. For lefty players, this is your 'Paul.
Several colors are available, but the best one is the gold top because it matches the black-covered pickups best. And yes, all LPJ models to the best of my knowledge all have those black pickup covers. If you're wondering if the pickup set is "hot", yes it is. The pair is a 490R and a 498T.
Gibson LPM - the pickup set in this one is new for '14, and it's called the '61 Zebra Humbucker. I have no idea what it sounds like, but I assume since "61" is in it, it's supposed to lean more towards classic rock "growl" of sorts, and that's not a bad thing.
The "M" is for Min-ETune, meaning yes, this guitar has the robot tuners on it. I consider this a novelty at best. Nice to have, but in the end it's annoying because it's a part of the guitar where you have to periodically recharge the battery. For those wondering, yes, you can tune the guitar manually without wrecking the Min-ETune gears. The guitar wouldn't be worth much if you couldn't do that.
Gibson Futura - without question, my favorite 'Paul for 2014. The Inverness Green color option is damned gorgeous, the neck is correct with the 60s slim profile, and the pickup combo is killer, with a Burstbucker Pro in the bridge and a Sidewinder P90H humbucker in the neck. Yes, the neck pickup is a humbucker, although it doesn't look like it. It's called the Sidewinder because there are two coils non-stacked side-by-side inside the pickup casing.
This guitar also features a 15db boost and push/pull for tap when needed. All the awesome goods are in this particular axe. Not good for metal, but good for everything, and I mean everything else. Doesn't get much better than this.
And yes, the Inverness Green is both on the front and back, which is exactly how it should be. Gibson nailed this one right.
Gibson Les Paul Studio - this would be the best USA 'Paul for metal players because it has the 490R and 490T pickup combo along with orange drop capacitors in it.
Everything about this guitar is right except for one really, really annoying thing. The plastics.
The pick guard, pickup rings and poker chip (the plastic around the pickup selector switch) are what I describe as mustard-colored. If those plastics were proper aged white, this guitar would be perfect for most people. But that mustard-colored nonsense is an instant turnoff.
If you buy the '14 Studio, plan on spending a few extra bucks for replacement plastics, because believe me, you will hate that mustard color. And no, this is not one of those things where the photos make the guitar look bad. That plastic really does look that bad. Don't know what Gibson was thinking with that nonsense...
Gibson Les Paul Studio Pro - this is another one where Gibson got so close to getting this right but messed it up with the look, again with the plastics. If the pick guard, pickup rings and poker chip were aged white and the knobs gold, they could have nailed this one. But again, all that stuff can be replaced easily and for cheap.
With this one, the pickup set is a '57 Classic and a Burstbucker Pro, which is not as "hot" as the non-Pro Studio model above, but genuinely more usable for those who don't play metal all the time. The push/pull for coil split is on this one as well for when you want to get a Telecaster-like (sort of) sound out of it.
Rich's picks
My two picks are the Melody Maker and the Futura.
As for which I would go with, that's a tough call.
The Melody Maker has true real-deal P90s in it. Yes, that means they buzz (as in 60-cycle hum), but the spank you get out of those is amazing.
The Futura on the other hand has a look to die for, plus the slim 60s profile neck. I'd also find the 15db boost useful as well.
I'd probably go with the Futura because for me it has the most stuff I would find useful on a Les Paul. Definitely not as comfortable as the Melody Maker (it has a wraparound bridge while the Futura doesn't), but I'm pretty sure I'd like the neck better, and that's what would sell me on it more than anything else. That and the gloss Inverness Green (yes, it is a gloss). Supremely good looker.
How to get Jimi Hendrix guitar tone
Hendrix tone is basically about three things. Fuzz, octave and an envelope filter (which you know as wah-wah or just wah).
The stuff you need to get Hendrix tone is below (both for cheap and expensive ways), however you should keep reading after that stuff because there are certain things you need to know.
Expensive way
Dunlop JH-OC1 Jimi Hendrix Octavio - This is combination fuzz/octave pedal.
Dunlop Jimi Hendrix Signature Wah JH1D - A wah pedal that supposedly uses the original 1960s design when it was made by the Thomas Organ Company back in the day.
Cheap (as in WAY cheaper) way
Joyo JF-12 Ultimate Octava - A mean, green (literally) machine. Fuzz/Octave pedal. I guarantee you will love this thing, and love the price too because it's cheap but awesome at the same time.
VOX V847A Wah Pedal - I specifically recommend the VOX because it has more of a "growly" envelope that's actually much easier to deal with. And it just looks cooler besides that.
Things to know about getting Hendrix tone
Okay, here's the stuff most players don't take into consideration but is all applicable.
Hendrix used very light strings, had a very light touch and used very "clacky" picks, as in Fender 351 Celluloid style picks.
The mistake most players make is that they bang strings hard, thinking that's the way to get Hendrix tone. Wrong. There are tons of videos of Hendrix playing. Watch them. Hendrix always played light. Rarely were the strings banged hard.
Light strings is what made that super-twangy sound you heard on Hendrix recordings. It's also the reason why Hendrix was out-of-tune so often.
As far as EQ settings on an amp are concerned, all you have to know is to simply turn everything up to 10. It's not like Hendrix was a smart guy when it came to this stuff. All Hendrix did was crank everything to 10, and for softer parts, the volume of the guitar was simply turned down. And yes, that's all there is to it. The only knob that wasn't on 10 all the time was master volume, and that was only turned down so Hendrix wouldn't literally blow up his amp.
Now concerning the Strats he used, bear in mind that Stratocasters of the time did not have a 5-way pickup selector, because that didn't happen until the late 1970s which was long after Hendrix's death.
Hendrix did not have a main guitar because he was constantly destroying them, so new Strats were used quite often.
This basically means that to get Hendrix tone out of a Strat, you get the gear I mentioned above and purposely use a Strat either on pickup position 3 or 5 and nothing else.
What guitar do you need to get? A Squier Classic Vibe Stratocaster 60s. You do NOT need a Fender. That Classic Vibe has the super-spanky single-coil pickups with proper staggered pole pieces and AlNiCo (which means aluminum, nickel, cobalt) magnets in them, meaning they're bright as hell, and that's exactly what Hendrix used.
Fuzz, octave, wah, a Strat with the appropriate pickups and knowing the basics on how Hendrix tone works is all you need. After that, just learn the riffs Hendrix used (which in all honesty is not that difficult) and you've basically got it.
Squier Vintage Modified Jazzmaster Review
The Squier Vintage Modified Jazzmaster is the best Jazzmaster money can buy right now, even more so than a Fender version. Why? Because it's the most true to what a "real Jazzmaster" is supposed to be without paying thousands of dollars or anywhere close to that.
A lot of dancing around, but few that hit the mark
The original design of the Jazzmaster is something most players don't like, mainly concerning the bridge, vibrato and electronics. As such, both Fender and Squier have several Jazzmaster models that stray far away from tradition.
A few examples:
The Squier Jazzmaster Special has no vibrato, no rhythm circuit and uses concentric volume/tone knobs.
The Fender Classic Player Jazzmaster Special is close to the original, but the bridge is replaced by an Adjust-O-Matic.
The Fender American Special Jazzmaster has no vibrato system at all, and the "swoop" JAZZMASTER logo on the headstock is totally wrong.
Basically put, both Fender and Squier dance around the original Jazzmaster design quite a bit. Currently, there are only 3 models that are true to the original. The Squier Vintage Modified Jazzmaster, Fender American Vintage '65 Jazzmaster and Fender 1964 Closet Classic Jazzmaster. That's it. All other models don't follow the original.
When you want as-close-to-original with the exception of a modern "C" slim oval neck and modern frets, you get the Squier Vintage Modified version. If you want an absolute original Jazzmaster design, you get the American Vintage '65.
And yes, that basically means if you buy the Squier Vintage Modified, really like it and want to stay with that design, there are only two Fender models above it that can accommodate...
...and it's for this reason I say the Squier Vintage Modified is in fact the absolute best Jazzmaster for the money right now.
Trust Leo's original design and good things will happen
The things people hate about the original Jazzmaster design is the string ring, the buzzy bridge, the buzzy neck, the vibrato system and the way the electronics work.
Or to put it another way, most players love the look and feel of the guitar, but hate almost everything else about it. Fender understands this all too well, and that's why there are so many different Jazzmaster models that stray outside the original design.
An original-design Jazzmaster is quirky as hell, and I don't deny that. But those quirks are what make the guitar so wonderful.
As I say in the above video, a Jazz is not "Telecaster easy". If you want the easiest possible electric guitar to play where you can just bang away on it and not care, you play a Telecaster. Any Telecaster. Whether it's the lowest-priced Squier Affinity model, the high-priced Select Telecaster or any model in between, a Tele is a Tele, and it's stupidly easy-to-play. No vibrato to deal with, a rock-solid bridge setup, and you can literally bang those strings as hard as you can and the Tele can handle it with no problem at all.
A Jazz is not an easy guitar, because there's a lot going on with it. You have to play it differently, the electronics are a lot more complicated and there is a learning curve with the guitar. A big one.
But for many, once you go Jazz, you never go back. The guitar was designed to be insanely comfortable to play, and it is. The offset-waist body shape molds right to you, and having the neck just slightly further away makes such an amazing difference.
I said before in a previous blog that I'm an "offset convert", and I totally am. To me, Strats and Teles just seem so inferior compared to a Jazzmaster now. It's not that Strats and Teles are bad guitars, because they're not, but I can totally understand why Leo Fender pushed the Jazz as the premium top-of-the-line Fender model at one point. The Jazz really is superior, if you know how to wield one properly.
An original-design Jazzmaster is not a guitar I recommend, but I love it anyway
The entire reason I don't recommend the original-design Jazzmaster is because today's modern guitar player wants something "automatic", as in a guitar they can just pick up and play that has little to no learning curve at all.
It's like I said, if you want easy, play a Telecaster. Or if the Tele shape doesn't agree with you, play a Stratocaster, which is slightly more complicated because of the 3-pickup layout and tremolo system, but not by much.
The complicated nature of an original-design Jazzmaster is not why I love it. I love it because it's insanely comfortable to play, and I can get sounds out of it that Strats and Teles simply cannot do.
Even if you took a Strat or Tele and stuffed in those big Jazzmaster pickups somehow, it still wouldn't be the same. Similar, yes, but not the same.
I'm very, very happy there was an inexpensive Squier Jazzmaster that stayed true to the original design, because it's my #1 axe. Great guitar.
How to build a metal guitar
Building a metal guitar is an easy thing, and it can be done inexpensively. Or said more plainly, it can be done real cheap. As in under $200 cheap.
A metal guitar is basically defined as a guitar with a 24-fret neck and two humbucker pickups that "looks metal".
Here is the quick way to get a metal guitar for cheap. All it requires is the purchase of one guitar, one bridge pickup, one neck pickup and one set of tuners.
Dean Vendetta XM - this guitar is as far as I can tell the lowest-priced 24-fret electric you can buy. It has a nice dark look to it with black hardware that has the "metal look". Also, the controls are set back from the pickups, meaning if you swing your arm wide a lot when playing, you won't accidentally hit the volume knob, pickup selector or tone knob at all.
Powered by Lace humbucker for bridge and for neck - yes, you do have to buy two pickups. One for bridge, one for neck. But fortunately, they're both cheap. Installation is easy, and it comes with the pickup rings.
3x3 set of locking tuners - with tuners, you either have inline (6 "in a row", such as on most Fender and Squier models) or 3x3 (3 on one side of the headstock, 3 on the other side). The Dean Vendetta is a 3x3 style, and the above set adds in the capability to lock the strings and also provides a tension adjustment screw on top of the tuner button.
Copper Shielding - with cheap electrics, you usually see the most cost-cutting when it comes to electronics. On some cheap electrics there is barely any shielding at all. What the shielding does is diminish electric interference noise. All you have to do is when you do your pickup swap, line the pickup cavity area with shielding before putting in the new pickups. It's really, really easy.
In the end, all of this is under $200. And for the money you get a genuinely good metal guitar that looks good, sounds good and performs well. And because it's so cheap, if you bang it around and ding it up a bit, you really won't care. Believe me, it's nice having a guitar where you don't mind if you get a ding or a scratch on it while thrashing it around.