squier standard stratocaster on the way

As you know, I recently acquired a 1971-style Fender Stratocaster waterslide decal, "WITH SYNCHRONIZED TREMOLO" and all.

Since receiving it, I've been searching around for a suitable neck to put it on. I've basically searched everywhere. Everywhere online, that is. eBay, other online retailers... I even looked at Mighty-Mite as they are licensed to use Fender designs.

Well, here's the problem I ran into. Actually, there are a few of them.

My original '93 Fender USA Strat has a one-piece maple neck, so I wanted a neck like that to fit my USA body, with the difference being I wanted a large CBS-era headstock since I have a '71-style decal in my possession.

You would not believe how difficult it is to find a complete (keyword there) one-piece maple neck that uses a modern "C" shape with medium jumbo frets that will fit a USA standard Stratocaster body for a decent price.

The "licensed" way...

...will cost you a bundle even before tax and shipping. Yes, you can get a brand new logo-less CBS replica Strat neck, but where the price jumps is if you add in a nut and a finish. Without nut and finish, price is somewhat low. Add in a nut, cost gets added in. Add in a clear satin nitro (which is in fact the lowest-priced neck finish), more cost gets tacked on.

I couldn't justify spending the base price + tax + shipping just for a neck.

The eBay way...

...depends on what seller you buy from. What you get might be great or might not because it's luck of the draw. It's also next to impossible to find a one-piece maple neck with the CBS headstock that has modern measurements.

Modern is this: C shape (a.k.a. "slim oval"), medium jumbo frets, 9.5-inch fretboard radius. That's it. Sounds simple enough, but wow is it tough to get for a price that's right.

You can find small-headstock Fender and Squier necks as a one-piece maple that match these measurements all day long. No problem. But go into big-headstock territory, and getting what you want becomes more difficult.

A few examples of necks that don't cut it, or just can't be found:

• "70s reissue" is NOT a modern C shape but a big, fat U shape. So that's out.
• American Special does not use medium jumbo but rather the larger jumbo frets. And I don't like those. Can't use that.
• Squier Affinity one-piece maple necks do not fit the USA body properly and have a skinny nut of 1.60-inch instead of Squier and Fender Mexico 1.65-inch or the American 1.685-inch.
• Squier Standard Stratocaster one-piece maple necks do match the standard requirements and are basically identical to Fender Mexico necks, but are impossible to find on eBay. You'll find the rosewood version, sure, but not the one-piece maple.

You can take a neck with a 1.65-inch nut width and the strings will match up even on a body and bridge designed for 1.685-inch, because that's only 0.035ths of an inch (or .89mm) difference. So for those wondering if you can take a Mexican neck and slap it on an American body, the answer is yes, you can. And the neck pocket will usually have a nice, snug fit. The only shims required would probably be nothing more than two business card's width. Maybe just one.

My problem is that there are no CBS-style Mexico one-piece maple necks with the big headstock available right now (at the time of this writing) for a decent price. Two brand new models, the Deluxe Lone Star and Deluxe Roadhouse, do in fact have those necks. But since they're brand new, nobody has started parting them out on eBay yet, so you can't buy one individually. Not yet, anyway.

So... where do we go from here?

Now I'm at the point where I'm thinking to myself, "It would probably be cheaper and easier just to buy an entire Squier Standard guitar rather than just the neck."

I headed over to the used listings at Guitar Center and did a search for Squier, not expecting much. But, as luck would have it, there was a Squier Standard Stratocaster in Metallic Black with the one-piece maple neck.

And yep, I bought it. No, I don't have the guitar yet. It's in Pittsburgh at the moment and will be shipped out to Tampa where I will pick it up in a week or so.

I paid about 24% off the new price, all told (tax + shipping included, and cheaper than a new Affinity with tax included). And yeah it is the best price going. On eBay, there was only ONE GUY selling one for less, but it was a "no returns" sale, so that was out.

If you just said to yourself, "Shoulda bought it off Craigslist...", there is nobody selling a Standard model with the one-piece maple neck locally. Yes, I looked.

Guitar Center is basically the only place right now where I can buy this very specific guitar used from anywhere in their network, try it, and if I don't like it I can return it for a full refund. I made damned sure to ask this while on the phone with them. And they said yep, if I don't like it I can return for a refund. I'm assuming I get at least 14 to 30 days to try it out, which is more than enough time to decide if I like it or not.

In addition, I also specifically instructed them to inspect the guitar once it arrives at the store. I specifically do in-store pickup because they check they guitar on arrival, and if it arrives broken, I can get the refund without ever having to go to the store.

Supposedly, the Squier Strat I bought is "4-out-of-5 star" rated by GC, meaning the only thing wrong with it should be a few finish scratches. That's fine since it's used. But if there are any major issues with it, nope, I'll take the refund.

Why a Squier Standard?

A Squier Standard Stratocaster is the absolute closest thing measurement-wise to an American Standard model without it being American.

What I mean by that is this:

• 22-fret neck with 9.5-inch radius and medium jumbo frets
• Through-the-post tuners with nut on top (the good kind)
• 2-point tremolo system
• 3-ply white-black-white pick guard
• Full-size body (as far as I know)

Remember, the Mexican Standard is a 21-fret and not 22. So the Squier Standard matches more towards the American model for that reason. Yes, one fret does make that much of a difference. I personally prefer 21-fret, but 22-fret is what my USA came with originally and I was trying to match that as closely as possible.

Now the idea I had here was to - assuming I like the guitar enough to keep it - take off the neck, attach to my USA Fender and see if it fits right. If it does, sand off the logo, apply the Fender '71-style logo and that's that. Done deal. After that I just part out what's left on eBay.

But here's the funny part. I might like this guitar enough to use it as-is, look and all.

The Squier Standard is one of those "sleeper" guitars that actually has some premium hardware in it.

• Pickups: Not the standard cheap stuff. All pickups have alnico magnets.
• Metal hardware: Real-deal chrome all around.
• Tuners: True die-cast and very smooth-operating that hold tune well.
• Saddles: Proper full-block saddles, similar to the American Deluxe model, which are actually far superior compared to those absolute piece-of-crap bent steel saddles.

Squier Standard has pro-grade Strat saddles that will always outperform those craptastic bent steel pieces of garbage. Maybe they don't "look vintage", but they sure do work better. Once your string heights are set, you'll love the fact the strings will stay put and will not slide all over the place. Even if a bent steel saddle has a notch for the string to sit in, sorry, but that's just not good enough. It's gotta be full-block or don't even bother. Also, you get way more height adjustment with full-block compared to bent steel and there is never any threat of a saddle height screw falling out during adjustment.

The Squier Standard Stratocaster is in fact good enough to be used as-is without modifying it at all.

For a while now I've been wanting an electric with a one-piece maple neck on it that I can play regularly. While I do already have a guitar with a one-piece maple neck (my Squier II Stratocaster), that's my first guitar and I purposely don't play it just to preserve it since it has sentimental value to me.

I did entertain the idea of buying an Squier Affinity Telecaster to get a guitar with a one-piece maple neck on it (and did try one out). I also tried out a Squier Jazzmaster just because it's so different from the kind of guitars I usually play (it's a great guitar, by the way).

Ultimately, I gave the Tele and the Jazz a miss because at the end of the day I'm a Strat guy. Yep, I admit it. True, I own a Les Paul, but no matter what guitar I own, I always go back to Strats. The kind I like, that is...

...and once I got the '71-repro decal, that's where I got the idea to "rebuild" my USA Strat. But hey, who knows? The Squier Standard might be good enough as-is.

I've absolutely no idea if I'll like the used Squier Standard Stratocaster in Metallic Black or not. But I'll find out soon enough.

Why I don't like black guitars, and why I bought this black guitar

Yes, the guitar is black. And yes, I've said many times I don't like black guitars. However, the difference with the Squier Standard's version of black is that it's black metallic, meaning there are little reflective flakes in the paint. I'll explain why that's important in a moment.

Why do black guitars suck?

Because no other finish will show every single freakin' scratch faster than gloss black will (and most black guitars are gloss black).

The reason gloss black shows scratches so quickly is because there's nothing to hide them. Even the tiniest hairline scratch will stick out like a sore thumb on gloss black.

Oh sure, you could keep a polish cloth in your case or gig bag and keep rubbing those tiny hairline scratches out caused by your hands or pick. But as you keep doing that, spots were you rub out scratches the most get dulled, meaning everything else will be nice and shiny except those areas where you keep rubbing scratches out.

The solution to this problem? There is none. All gloss black guitars do it.

There are certain black finishes that don't do this however.

• Metallic black: Metal flakes in the paint mask hairline scratches well.
• Flat black: It's flat, so it does not reflect scratches.
• "Transparent" black: Actually more of a gray, hides hairlines scratches well.
• "Worn black": Similar to flat black, except it's not flat but rather has a dulled-on-purpose finish. Hides scratches well.
• "Burst" black: Similar to transparent and again more of a gray-ish thing. I call them "ghost" finishes. Does show scratches, but not too bad. An example of a burst black is the Parker PDF100, and you'll understand why I call it a ghost finish once you see it.

Metallic, out of all other black finishes you could get, hides scratches best. Why? Because the metallic flakes are the best at hiding scratches since they are in fact more reflective than the actual scratches are.

The only way a scratch gets noticed on metallic black is if the scratches are deep and obvious. Otherwise, the flakes mask hairlines scratches easily.

So anyway... assuming the guitar doesn't arrived wrecked into Tampa, I'll give my report on it once it's in my possession.

And if it's good enough to be used as-is, I will use it that way and won't sand off the logo or anything like that. If that's how it is to be, I'll just keep the guitar, enjoy it, and get a neck for my USA Strat another day.

the impossible logo

I received a waterslide decal in the mail recently. Yes, it is the impossible logo, as in my absolute favorite Fender Stratocaster logo of all time, the early-1970s "swoop" STRATOCASTER lettering in combination with the "swooped" WITH SYNCHRONIZED TREMOLO beneath it.

Did I pay for this? Nope. I was having a phone conversation with a professional luthier I know, we got to talking about Stratocasters, I mentioned my favorite Strat logo treatment, and he just happened to have one (a few, actually), so he mailed it to me. I'm not saying who the guy is because I don't want to get him in trouble.

When I get the money, I plan on using the logo on a reproduction CBS-style replacement neck for the busted one on my 1993 USA Standard Stratocaster (the '93 neck has a popped truss rod). So to anyone who thinks I'm going to slap on a logo and sell the guitar, you can be rest assured that will not happen as I will only be using the decal for personal use only.

I called the early-1970s waterslide decal the "impossible logo" because there is only one Strat model made by Fender right now that has it, and that's the Yngwie Malmsteen Strat. Unfortunately, that Strat comes with a dopey scalloped fretboard, and I have zero interest in that.

You might think, "Well, okay. What about the Classic Series '70s Stratocaster?" A fine choice, but it does not have WITH SYNCHRONIZED TREMOLO on the logo.

Yes, I am very, very particular about this. :)

Now on top of that, the '70s Strat has that huge U-shape neck on it, which I don't really like (U is a really thick neck shape). I prefer the modern C-shape.

Basically put, I'm forced to go with a repro logo just to get what I want, as Fender does not make any Strat that has the early-1970s logo treatment I like except for the Malmsteen Strat which I don't like because of the dopey scalloped fretboard.

My Strat will never be a true '71, nor is it meant to be

I am absolutely not looking to recreate a '71 Stratocaster, because in all honesty, I can't. Well, not without paying a ton of money for it.

Fender collectors know that in the CBS era when the big swoop logo with the tremolo wording was used, "F tuners" were used along with F spacing.

What does that mean? It means you can buy F tuners right now, but they will not fit a modern Strat neck because the spacing between the holes is different. And being that you generally cannot get a CBS repro Strat neck with F spacing, you either have to order a neck with no pegboard holes precut and drill them yourself, or have a luthier do it. Not cheap.

What's an "F tuner" exactly? Think of it as a Kluson-style tuner but with two major differences other than the spacing. The rear covers have trapezoid-shaped plates (meaning not square or rectangular) and the tuner buttons are somewhat squared off, similar to modern Fender tuners (meaning not oval-shaped).

Anyone can slap on an early-70s logo on a pegboard, but without the F tuners and F spacing, if you see Kluson-style or modern tall posts, that's a dead giveaway it's a fake.

For my repro neck, I'm not even going to try to hide the fact it's not a '71, especially considering the body is Midnight Blue, a color not even offered in '71. I plan on installing vintage-style tuners on it because I've no interest in having F spaced holes just to get those specific F tuners (which in all honesty aren't that great at all).

I also have no interest in having '71 electronics, which at the time was only a 3-way blade and not 5-way.

All I wanted was a modernized Strat with the old early-70s logo. Now I have the logo. When I have the cash for it, I'll get the Warmoth neck.

Why do any of this?

The '93 USA Strat I have was an 18th birthday present from my father. And even though by the time I'm done with the guitar the only original components will be the body, bridge system, pick guard, rear cover plates and original "football" output jack, that's fine. The guitar will be functional again with the electronics I want and the look I want.

No part of this guitar other than the logo will even come close to a '71. And that's fine. It'll just be my USA Strat, the way I want it. And that's what matters. My dad passed away a while back and I know he would not want me to throw out something I could otherwise repair and make usable again, so the guitar will be rebuilt and made functional again. And it'll be awesome when it's done.

Casio SA-46 review

My little Casio SA-46 arrived today along with its power adapter, which you need if you don't feel like running it off batteries.

The entire bottom is bright green just like the button on top and not just a wraparound stripe. I think it looks cool.

As far as how to set this thing up, there is no setup. Either put in batteries or plug in the adapter, turn it on, adjust volume, and that's that.

There was only one issue with this unit which solved itself very quickly. The volume slider was scratchy. I moved it back and forth a few times and all the scratchiness went away. Other than that, everything is a-okay. All keys are level and work, all buttons work.

The difference between the SA-46 and SA-47 model is that that instead of the green button saying "PIANO - ORGAN", it instead says "PIANO - HARMONIUM/ORGAN". According to the manual, preset 16 on the SA-46 is "REED ORGAN" while on the SA-47 it's "HARMONIUM". That's the only difference between the two models. Otherwise, they're identical.

And what is a harmonium? It's also a reed organ. In fact, it would not surprise me if preset 16 is exactly the same sound on the SA-47 as it is on the SA-46, with just the name of the preset being different and different lettering printed on the outer casing. The only reason I can think that the SA-47 even exists is for specific markets where a keyboard with a printed "HARMONIUM" on it is some kind of selling point.

I can tell you that the SA-47 is available nowhere, so if you ever come across one, buy it and just keep it in the box as that will be a guaranteed collector's item because it is not on Amazon or even eBay. At some point Casio will stop making the SA-46 and SA-47, which at that point means the 47 model in particular will be sought after by Casio keyboard collectors. If I knew where to buy a 47 now, I'd get it myself just because it's so difficult to locate.

The SA-46 model that I just received is a bit of a rare bird itself because all you see here in America ordinarily is the larger 44-key SA-76 version due to the fact the SA-46 is not technically a US market model, even though as you can see from the photos that everything on the keyboard is in English.

How would this fare out for its intended audience?

Since most people who read this will probably be parents looking to buy this keyboard for their kid, I'll answer that question now before getting into the other stuff.

The SA-46 is a well-constructed unit that will take just about any punishment a kid could throw at it. While not waterproof (it would probably not survive if submerged in water), it could most likely handle juice being spilled on it. Casio designed this thing to be easy-to-clean, so if a kid gets peanut butter or juice or whatever their grubby little fingers put on it, that can be easily cleaned off with paper towels and Windex.

A little keyboard is one of the easiest and cheapest instruments you can buy for a kid, especially if you don't know if the kid will stick with the instrument or not. At the time I write this in October 2013, nobody makes a better little keyboard for kids than Casio. Don't even bother looking for other choices because Casio is the only one making kid-friendly keyboards that are any good right now. If you were looking for someone to say, "Yes, this is the 'first keyboard' you should buy your kid", then I'll say it. Yes, this is the one. Whether the small 32-key SA-46 with green bottom or the 44-key SA-76 with orange bottom, Casio is the only game in town. Remember, no power adapter comes with it (but does run off batteries). If you want to plug it in the wall, you need the ADE95. And no, don't do that "I'll just buy an adapter at Radio Shack if I need it later" thing. Just get the Casio adapter because it is an absolute perfect fit and is designed so that a kid can't just yank it out and bust the thing.

So if you wanted the "Is it good for kids?" question answered, the answer is yes as that's whom it was designed for.

Okay, that being said, moving on...

How does it feel?

Solid. The plastic casing is lightly textured (as in not shiny, which is a good thing to avoid fingerprints) and feels good to the hand. The rubber buttons feel good too.

The keys feel good for their size. Not too springy, not too firm, not too light. They're just about where they're supposed to be.

How does it operate?

Without reading the manual, mostly easy to figure out.

With reading the manual, really easy to figure out.

I say this because there are a few things you need to read the manual for. For example, fine tuning the SA-46 is possible by pressing TONE and PATTERN at the same time. You also need to read the manual to know what all the preset instrument and pattern names are.

How does it sound?

It sounds really good. Yeah, it does have some those cheesy sounds in it as all little Casio keyboards do, but there are a few in particular that are really good.

I bought the SA-46 for two reasons. Strings and a square wave sound. Very retro, very cool. And they are just as good as I thought they'd be. The straight-from-the-80s presets 40 STRING ENSEMBLE and 68 SQUARE LEAD are worth buying this keyboard for alone.

There are several other sounds that surprised me concerning how good they are.

• 03 ELEC. PIANO 2 sounds like it comes straight out of a Yamaha DX7. That's a good thing.
• 06 CELESTA is really nice. Not cheesy at all.
• 07 GLOCKENSPIEL is absolutely amazing. Crisp, clear. Wonderful small bell sound.
• 09 MARIMBA, same thing. Great sound.
• 10 XYLOPHONE, also very good.
• 12 DRAWBAR ORGAN actually sounds like an actual organ. Nice.
• 13 PERC. ORGAN, same thing. Nice organ tone.
• 28 ACOUSTIC BASS is a good one as far as bass tone is concerned.
• 29 FINGERED BASS is also good.
• 33 SYNTH BASS 1 is another straight-from-the-80s sound.
• 39 HARP you could consider a "video game 90s tone". Cool.
• 40 STRING ENSEMBLE is that awesome 80s string sound as noted above. A reason to own this keyboard.
• 41 SLOW STRINGS is the same as 40 but padded, so it's good.
• 43 VOICE DOO sounds absolutely nothing like a doo should sound like, however it has its own quality to it that makes for a nice sound to have.
• 45 ORCHESTRA HIT is frickin' awesome. A 90s sound for sure and sounds like it came straight out of a Sega Genesis. Very cool.
• ALL HORN SOUNDS: Everything from 46 to 67 are tones you would hear in children's television programming. For people that compose for-real children's music, the SA-46 would be a godsend because it absolutely has "that kid's television sound", as in television made for kids 4 through 9. When you hear it, you'll know exactly what I mean. The SA-46 would be unbelievably good for - and I'm not kidding here - composing professional kid-television music with. Yes, the horns have totally got that sound to them.
• 68 SQUARE LEAD is the main reason I bought the SA-46. Yep, it's dry, square and near-perfect. Why near-perfect? Because you can't make it monophonic. But that's a minor complaint.
• 74 SPACE CHOIR is another 90s sound (or late 80s) and I dig that one.
• 78 SOUND TRACK is where we have yet another straight-from-the-80s sound. A bit softer than STRING EMSEMBLE and slightly padded.
• 84 THUMB PIANO is a very cool tone. Kind of a different marimba of sorts, but cool.
• 96 HELICOPTER is exactly what you think it is, a sample of a helicopter rotor. And it sounds pretty good.
• 97 TRAIN is the sound of a train going over tracks. Way better than I expected it to be and very realistic.
• 98 LASER GUN. Holy 1970s, Batman, it's a laser beam sound from 1970s movies! Yes, really! How cool is that?!

In the end what you're getting with the SA-46 is actually a really nice blend of 80s and 90s sounds. I can say with confidence that pro-level synth guys would find this little Casio a charming little guy, even though it has no MIDI.

Side note: If the SA-46 had MIDI and velocity-sensitive keys, I have absolutely no doubt that keyboard players would be buying it left and right like crazy. And yes, the chassis does have enough room in the back for a couple of MIDI ports. If Casio released a special MIDI version of this keyboard with velocity-sensitive keys and called it the SA-46MV, a lot of players would buy it. I'd even bet Casio would totally own the small keyboard market if they produced such a model. One can dream...

But even without MIDI or velocity-sensitive keys, I dare say that this thing is way more usable than I originally thought. Little Casio keyboards have really come a long way.

Polyphony considerations?

The SA-46 has 8 note polyphony, and I think all sounds use one note at a time per key played, but I don't know that for a fact because I just got it and haven't experimented with it enough just yet. But like I said, I think all sounds are one-note-per-key-pressed.

How do the internal speakers sound?

Quite good, actually. The project well and have a nice range to them. Not "bongy" or tinny-sounding. I don't know why there's two speakers because the keyboard is 100% monaural. Then again it's nice to have both left and right because it does make for a keyboard that projects sound better. And yes, you can crank up the volume on this thing to maximum and only hear very little break-up.

Side note: You can use the headphone output jack, split left/right, and just take one side to feed into a mixer and hear everything the keyboard is outputting. No need to use both.

Complaints I have

Before I rattle these off, bear two things in mind.

First, this is a 50-dollar keyboard.

Second, I've played a lot of low-end Casio keyboards over the years and I remember several of them having features the SA-46 does not have, but should.

Complaint #1: No all-keyboard drums.

The drums are purposely set to use 5 dedicated round rubber keys above the keyboard, and the sounds played are all too loud. Also, no access to open hi-hat or crash cymbal. That's crappy.

Casio keyboards of yesteryear used to have a preset that was nothing but individual (meaning separate-sample) drums that used all the keys, and that's what Casio should have done here instead of using the 5 dedicated buttons.

I assume the reason for the decision for the 5-key thing is so kids have a really easy time determining where the drums are when they just want to mash buttons and hear drum sounds.

Complaint #2: No transposing.

Fine tuning yes, transposing no. This should have been the exact opposite where the fine tuning was ditched and replaced with a transpose option instead.

Complaint #3: No power-on light (but compensated for)

The only way to know the unit is turned on is by looking at the LED display as it has no power light whatsoever, however, the unit does auto-power-off after around 5 or 6 minutes if no key is pressed.

Casio was smart to put in the auto-power-off feature because kids have a nasty habit of forgetting to turn things off when they leave them.

Auto-power-off can be disabled by pressing TONE and then powering on the unit.

Complaint #4: Number pad should have been designed differently.

The number pad is designed like a computer numeric keypad with 789 as the top row. Casio should have designed it the other way around with 123 on top. Why? Because that's how a phone keypad is designed.

Kids these days know phones before they know computers. And given that more kids are using phones and tablets exclusively and not even touching PCs, the number pads on the SA-46 should have started with 123 on top and not 789.

I myself expect the numbers to be phone-style and not computer keyboard style just because of their size which is similar to a phone.

Final Verdict: GOOD!

I may have my complaints about it, but they're really minor, especially considering the thing is only 50 bucks.

I'm happy to own one. I bought it for the sounds, but I also got a good dose of "this is the keyboard from my childhood" nostalgia too.

And amazingly, I'll be able to create actual real music on it. The SA-46 is just a cool synth to own, as is the SA-76 which is basically the same thing with more keys.

So yeah, a big thumbs-up from me. Well done, Casio.

Classic rock speaker breakup tones with the ZOOM R8

I've been messing around with the modeling settings on my ZOOM R8, and one thing I've noticed is that it does a "speaker breakup" sound quite well. And part of the reason for that is because it has something the DigiTech GSP1101 does not have: A boost effect.

Boost is a really old guitar effect that originally comes from the late 1960s. In fact, you can pretty much get exactly what they used to use in the 60s with the LPB-1 pedal. Basically speaking, boost is literally signal boost that you can adjust. On a clean channel it increases volume, and on a drive channel it increases gain. However, it's important to note that boost is not distortion. A lot of people think it is. It's not. It's just a signal booster.

Being I had this new boost effect to play with, I tried it out. And yeah, I like it. What I find is that it gives me a lot more control over the gain on a drive channel just by using the volume knob on my guitar.

The way most overdrive effects work is that even at lowest listenable volume (from the guitar and not the from amp), the signal is always overdriven no matter what.

With boost on the other hand, you can be clean at lower guitar volume and overdriven when you turn up the guitar volume.

Where the ZOOM R8 does this very right is that in the way it does amp modeling, I can hear simulated speaker breakup just like a real-deal Celestion speaker does when you increase the guitar's volume (when the amp is turned up, of course).

In addition, when I roll down the guitar's tone knob, I get what I call "proper mud", as in a decreased treble sound that's "smooth" for lack of a better description. It just sounds really good.

The only downside to boost? You hear string drag noise a lot more, so you have to adjust playing style for that. But that's okay.

I'm digging that boost effect. Good stuff.

Why I like simple little synthesizers

What I believe is the first ever SA model of Casio synthesizer is the SA-1. The SA series have always had 100 sounds in them. Over the years there have been many SA models released of varying colors, shapes and sizes.

For Casio synth history buffs out there, the SA (originally released 1989) came after the PT (originally released 1985). The first PT was the PT-1. Monophonic, four sounds, 10 rhythms and the ability to record up to 100 notes. The fact the PT-1 can record 100 notes is actually a fairly advanced feature for an '85 ultra-low-budget synth.

My journey with synths has pretty much gone down the same route as with guitars. I started basic, then went "pro" level, then realized most of the "pro" stuff is junk, then back to basic again.

There are a few things I know to be true about synths.

Any synth can sound good with external effects applied to it

It is possible to get what's known as the "Vangelis sound" (as in the synth sounds from Blade Runner) out of a cheap Casio if you apply the right effects to one. No, it won't sound exactly like Vangelis, but the point is that with the right effects you can get fairly close to it.

The fact of the matter is that most synths, much like guitars, sound pretty crappy with no effects applied. And if a synth has internal effects, they're usually awful.

Take the absolute crappiest you know of (or said more correctly, what you think is the most crappiest), and then plug it into a DD-7. Listen to how awesome it gets just by adding that one effect. Night and day difference.

If you wanted a synth that has awesome internal effects, that would be the newer Korg SV-1, as that thing has a fantastic delay in it and a real-deal tube for natural overdrive (yes, really). But it'll cost you well over a grand to get it. Going with a DD7 for delay and a "warm"-style overdrive like the Dyna Drive is a much cheaper alternative.

Easy is good

A modern version (even though discontinued in 2010) of the absolute king-of-the-heap in the world of pro-grade analog synthesizers is the Alesis Andromeda A6. It's a beast. A very expensive beast. It is true analog in every sense of the term and can be tweaked to an insane level. You could call the A6 a "Moog killer" and be 100% correct...

...but good luck figuring one out because it's annoying to program. The A6 is one of those beasts that has every possible option you could think of because it's got some serious teeth. But it also has a seriously wide learning curve to it.

Let's compare this with a totally different (and digital) synth from 1985, the Korg DW-6000. The 6000 is really easy to figure out, and the addition of a BOSS RV-5 reverb pedal effect really helps this synth to get amazing sounds out of it.

So, which is more fun to use? The cheap DW-6000 or the ridiculously expensive A6? The answer is the DW-6000, because it's easy to learn.

My only complaint about the DW-6000 is its size. Small for what it is (and light), but still a bit bulky.

If size were not a consideration for me, I would seriously consider picking up one of those 1980s digital DW Korgs, because not only are they dirt cheap but also easy to repair. Usually, the only thing wrong with them is a few solder connections on the inside that get knocked loose. Easy fix.

What most guitar players want is a keyboard with good strings, waves and bass

There's a lot of guitar players who would like to put synth in their songs but hardly know anything about keyboards other than just the beginner-level basics. And they have an idea of what synth sounds they want but don't know what they're called.

Fortunately, this is really easy to figure out because it's four things. Strings, waves, bass, pads. And the pads are optional.

• Strings: The synth sound similar to what you'd hear in Van Halen's song Jump.
• Waves: Old-school "8-bit video game" like sounds.
• Bass: A keyboard sound that sounds like a bass guitar.
• Pads: Best described as "slow strings" that when played gradually fades up in volume.

Pad when talking about synth tones literally means "a padded sound", as in a sound "softened" on either end.

The little SA-46 I'll receive later this week I know for a fact has the first three listed above, and might even had a pad sound or two in its strings tones as it does have 10 of them.

In other words, guitar players usually want anything but a piano sound out of a synth. They want a synth that sounds, well, synthy. And when you add in an effect or two to that synth, hell yeah it sounds awesome.

A "no pro" attitude works for synths the same way it works for guitars

It's really easy for a synth guy to get caught up in all that "pro" gear snobby nonsense just like guitar guys do, and there's no need to do that.

Fortunately, it's like I said, any synth can sound better with the right effects applied. If you play guitar (and you most likely do if you read by blog), just take your exiting guitar effects and run a cheap synth through them instead of the guitar. You'll get a good sound out of it.

I've seen Casio and Yamaha keyboards on Craigslist for as little as 25 bucks. These things are everywhere, so go get one. I personally went new with the SA-46 because I like small keyboards and it's tough to find those on Craigslist (nobody ever really thinks to sell them there).

Go cheap, apply effects, play happy.