Epiphone Les Paul Special I P90 proves what's really collectible and what isn't
In my experience, there are a few hard truths when it comes to collectible guitars.
Any guitar promoted as a collectible from the start really isn't a collectible. An example of this are any of those high-end Fender Custom Shop "Heavy Relic" guitars.
Electrics that are sold as being collectible from the moment they first appear on the market are already overpriced from the beginning.
First of all, unless a kid was born with a silver spoon up his ass, there's no chance whatsoever that a kid would receive one of those Fender Custom Shop guitars as his first guitar. Not happening.
Second, custom shop guitars like I mentioned above have zero player's value as they're nothing but furniture.
Third, and most important, there's absolutely nothing magical about those multi-thousand dollar guitars.
"Guitars can be magical?"
Yes. Certain guitars are magical in the respect that they bring back fond memories of days gone by...
...but only the ones that people could actually afford back when they were new.
Ultimately, it is the cheap guitars that end up being magical years later and not the expensive kind.
"The one you remember" is usually the most difficult to find
Take the Epiphone Les Paul Special I P90. I own one of these, bought new for $89.
I did a search for this guitar just just to see if it was still available, and yeah, it is, but not the TV Yellow version. That guitar in that color is absolutely 100% gone. The yellow version didn't even last 7 months on the market. Very short run.
Maybe Epiphone will re-release the guitar in that specific configuration in that specific color again at some point in the future, but probably not for a while. I may be mistaken and they may release it again next year, but the point is that the 2012 models are now literally extinct.
Now of course you know there were a whole bunch of people who happened to be in Guitar Center when the guitar was there and they bought one, and it was probably a parent who bought one for their kid as their first guitar. That kid will play the guitar for a while, probably beat it up, not take care of it and eventually sell it. Years later, that kid will become an adult and kick themselves for originally selling that guitar and go out on eBay and try to find another one exactly like his first. Same year, same color, same configuration, same everything. At that point, whoever has one can command a high price for it because people are willing to pay big money for rare guitars - especially if it was a guitar the buyer used to own as a kid.
I'm not saying the '12 Epi Les Paul Special P90 is some masterfully-built guitar or anything like that. But I knew from the moment I saw the listing for it that it would sell real quick. And it sold out fast.
You know in 10 years that the kids who play these guitars today and eventually get rid of them will seek them out again when they become adults. Why? Because they're going to be looking for the stuff that recaptures their childhood; that's where the magic is, and that's why the cheap guitars are the true collectibles.
Remember, Fender Strat used to be "the cheap guitar".
Have you renounced your metal citizenship yet?
Metal music is cool and all that, but one thing that has always ticked me off about the metal community is how snobby many are. Anyone who's into metal music knows what I'm talking about. Metalheads just love their classifications where something is "totally metal" or "somewhat metal" or "not metal enough" or whatever. Very annoying.
I listen to a ton of different stuff for three reasons. First, I enjoy it. Second, I don't like being pigeonholed into liking just one thing and only that one thing. Third, it makes me better as a guitar player.
For example, I like the song The 2,000 Pound Bee by The Ventures. A lot. That song (or songs, rather, as there is a part 1 and 2) was the first commercial release that featured the fuzz effect on the guitar. And it's awesome. I also like Six Days on the Road by David Dudley. Total country trucker's song. And it's cool. I also dig the "Outlaw Country" sound like Christine's Tune by The Flying Burrito Brothers, and I'll even listen to Love's Theme by Barry White every now and then, because it's a great song.
And yes, I will mix this in to listening to metal songs.
There was a time in my life when I listened to nothing but metal. Metal, metal, metal all day long. After a while that gets really boring real quick. And I'll tell you exactly why it gets boring.
If all you do is listen to metal, metal, metal, what happens is that it all starts to sound the same. Every riff, every chug, every "face-melter" scream, every fast drum track, every solo... all of it. Totally boring if that's all you listen to.
And yes, the exact same thing can happen to any other style of music that exists. However, metalheads make it a point for whatever stupid reason to only listen to metal and absolutely nothing else. That's stupid. And what's even more stupid is that if you dare go outside of the only-metal rule, you're actually made fun of for it, as if you "betrayed the community". Whatever.
From the guitar player's perspective, nothing will put you in a rut faster than only listening to just one kind of music exclusively. There will be days you'll pick up your guitar and just not be able to come up with a single new idea, and you will get bored and put the guitar down. It will happen...
...unless you're willing to listen to other stuff. And I don't mean other styles of metal music. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about actually listening to totally different genres like jazz, country, disco, orchestral, big band, swing, rockabilly and so on.
A whole new world of inspiration is opened up when you ditch the metal-only "rule".
In addition, also from a guitar player's point of view, a whole new world of guitars are opened up by ditching the metal-only rule.
For example, if you dared showed up to metal band practice with a Squier Mustang, you would instantly be made fun of for showing up with that because it "doesn't look metal enough". Because the guitar doesn't have a "badass" look to it, well then, it just "sucks" then, right? Wrong. You play what you want because you're the one spending the cash to buy the guitar.
I stopped being a metal-only guy years ago, and to be honest I wish I had done it a lot sooner.
Like I said, metal is cool and all that, and I do listen to metal music from time to time, but it is absolutely NOT the only thing I will listen to, nor do I base my guitar buying decisions off of it either. And neither should you.
On a final note, here's why you should renounce your metal citizenship:
Think of your favorite food. Now think if that's the only thing you were ever allowed to eat. How long would it take before you got sick of eating the same thing? Not long at all. It doesn't matter how you prepare the food, what temperature it is when you eat it or how it looks when served to you because it's the same thing over and over. Day in and day out, same thing. Totally boring.
As the old saying goes, variety is the spice of life. Well, you can't have any variety if you're always listening and playing the same stuff now, can you? Of course not.
"Metal 'til I die" is a joke, because those who sincerely believe that are already dead inside. Try other styles for a change; it's not a sin to do so.
Cheap guitar report for May 2013
Something I didn't even realize until just recently is after all this time, I own the two most popular guitar shapes in existence, that being the Stratocaster and the Les Paul shapes. That doesn't mean anything, but it feels kinda cool.
So anyway, here's how my 'yellow brigade' guitars have fared out.
Problems, if any
I have owned the Squier Bullet Strat for a total of 849 days (2 years, 3 months, 4 weeks, 1 day), and the Epipihone Les Paul Special I P90 for a total of 166 days (5 months, 2 weeks, 1 day).
The only problem the Squier had was that one of the 12-fret fret markers sunk into the neck in the first month I owned it, replaced under Fender warranty. No problems since.
The Epiphone hasn't had any problems at all.
Setup and re-setup
The Strat's advantage over the Epi Les Paul is that it's a true "set it and forget it" guitar. Once you have the neck adjusted and the saddles set up, the only time you'll have to set up the guitar again is if you change string gauge (such as from 9-gauge to 10) or if the guitar was subjected to some significant climate change, like being stored in a cold basement or something like that. I've only had to make minor saddle adjustments, and only because I switched from D'Addario to Dunlop strings, which have a different string tension that required minor saddle height adjustment.
The most annoying thing about the Les Paul is the wraparound bridge on the specific model I have. The annoyance is that when you take off the bridge when doing a string change, the height adjustment screws are totally exposed and turn way too easily when doing a cleaning.
I'll explain that a little more in detail.
Okay, so you've got your Les Paul with the wraparound bridge, go to do a string change and take off the bridge like you're supposed to. Fine. Then you take a dry cloth and do a body wipe-down just to keep the guitar clean before putting the new strings on, wipe where the screws are and whoops, you just turned one of the adjustment screws two full revolutions. Yeah, it's that easy to turn them, because when the bridge is off, they're loose. Not loose in a bad way, but without the wraparound bridge there for tension, yeah, they can be spun around pretty easily.
The fix for keeping the screws from spinning while cleaning around them is just to put your finger on top of the screw and hold it there while you wipe with a cloth around it with your other hand. Easy enough.
As for why the screws are so loose when the bridge is off, it's mainly because of the wraparound bridge design. Traditional Les Pauls with the bridge + tailpiece have height adjustment screws that have notably more tension to them even when the bridge is off. Or at least they should.
Tuning stability
As for which guitar stretches out strings and tunes up quicker, that would be the Squier Strat, no question. A "decked" bridge combined with a stiff maple neck with 25.5-inch scale makes for quick tuning. The Paul on the other hand is a 24.75-inch scale, and since I'm using 9-gauge on it, that in combination with the mahogany neck means it's one of those "guitar has to sit overnight to get stabilized tension" guitars...
...which brings up a point that I haven't mentioned before. There are some who say that in order for a guitar to have strings stretch out properly, it has to sit overnight, while others say that's not necessary. In my experience, if the guitar is a 25.5-inch scale with a maple neck (i.e. Stratocaster or Telecaster), strings can be stretched out and keep tune proper in just minutes. However, if the guitar is shorter than that, like a Jaguar 24-inch or a Les Paul 24.75 inch, and/or the neck is mahogany and not maple, yeah it needs to sit overnight before strings hold tune properly.
Will this work for you? That I can't say, because it depends on your playing style and what strings you use. I ordinarily use hard picks and play hard, so I bang up strings pretty good.
Breaking-in-period
It took about 6 months for the Strat to break in properly, and for the Paul it took about 4 months before it "felt like mine".
Ordinarily, it takes me a bare minimum 90 days for any guitar to "feel right" for me. As I've said before, I have never picked up a guitar (no matter the price) that felt perfect on the first try. Will that ever happen? Maybe, but I doubt it.
A guitar isn't "mine" until I've really put her through her paces, so to speak. My finger oils have to be worked into the neck, I have to get used to her character and it's absolutely not an overnight thing.
I take a risk every time I buy a guitar, and the risk is that after time, I may hate it and want to get rid of the thing for something else. I've done that several times with other guitars I've owned, but both the Squier and Paul are definitely staying in the stable. Both of them are worn in proper, and both look better than when I originally bought them just because they're now banged up a bit.
On the Squier, yes the color has changed. The Arctic White (which I call banana yellow) body now "looks more like a Fender" because it doesn't have that shiny-new "plasticy" look to it anymore. The pick guard is also slightly darker.
On the Paul, not enough time has passed for its color to change, but I'm certain at one point the body will develop a spot either from my forearm or pinky finger where I anchor when playing certain stuff - and that's fine because it's an "earned" spot.
Conclusion...
Both guitars are great players, broke in properly to the point where I don't feel I'm 'fighting' with either of them, and I'm sure they'll continue to provide a lot of playing goodness for a very long time.
The time we can't go back to (early 1990s metal)
Some stuff concerning music scenes and styles are timeless, while others get dated, stay dated and never return.
One of those "never-return" eras is that oh-so brief period in the very-early 1990s where metal ruled the day. And the best example of this is the video of Nothing Else Matters by Metallica because it basically shows everything that was perceived to be cool back then.
That video is a real time capsule and shows what every rock band back at that time wanted to be. A bunch of guys in a studio with gear everywhere just recording stuff, and then hanging out.
You get to see how music used to be recorded, as in on reel-to-reel tape where the machine is loaded and getting prepped for recording. Nobody records that way anymore because digital is just so much easier.
Because Metallica at the time had a ton of money to blow, you see a whole lot of ritzy, expensive guitars used, and other guitars you ordinarily never see the band play. In the video, a Gretsch White Falcon is seen as well as a butterscotch Fender Telecaster and even a Gibson 12-string double neck. And yeah, you also see your fair share of ESP guitars that the band favored at the time (and still does as far as I know), but a Gibson Flying V sneaks its way in there along with a Jackson Rhoads V.
Guitars are guitars are guitars and yeah we all get that. But as for the style, oh yeah, very dated.
The standard "trying to look like a badass" metalhead look of the early 90s was to wear a black t-shirt, blue or black jeans, black boots or running shoes and the heavy black leather coat with as many shiny bits on it as possible.
And yes, it was the biker's coat that completed the look. But at the same time it's what made metalheads of the early 1990s look so stupid.
Now as far as motorcycle-use purposes are concerned, yes, the biker's heavy leather coat does have legitimate reasons to exist. However, a bunch of kids bought leather biker coats back in the day just because they saw James Hetfield wearing one as seen in the video. But see, here's the thing: James actually rides and that's why he wore them. But kids didn't know that and just bought the coats because they thought they looked cool...
...and buying a leather biker's coat but not owning a motorcycle so you can use the coat for its intended purpose is just dumb.
Nobody wants a repeat of the bullshit that happened in the early 90s with metal
What happened in the early 90s with metal is something that at the time was just plain awful. You had to sound and dress a specific way to be "considered metal". Metalheads of the time were so unbelievably stuck-up that you'd think they were all participating in some warped beauty contest. Many metalheads back then were just as bad as the glam rockers in many respects.
Yes, there there is the threat of a brand new crop of stuck-up metalheads doing the same crap the last generation did where they want to do that warped beauty contest nonsense all over again, but fortunately those morons are called out for what they are.
And as far as the younger metalhead crowd that says you need $4,000 worth of guitar hardware (guitar + amp + effects, etc.) just to get a metal sound, my response to that would be a bird flipped in your face.
I've proven time and time again you don't need expensive guitars nor do you need expensive amps/effects/whatever to get metal tone. I can get metal tone on a bone stock Squier that sells for under $150 new, can do it easily and posted videos to prove it.
Early-90s metal is not a time you want to come back, trust me. "Fitting in to be a misfit" sounds stupid, right? That's because it is. Don't do that. Do your own thing instead. Dress how you want and sound how you want, because that's the only way to fly.
I am a Squier snob
There are times when I butt heads with people online concerning guitar snobbery, mainly because I play Squier guitars and champion the cheap axes over the expensive ones. I have been told both by snotty kids and snobby adults to "play a real guitar" many, many times. Of course, they don't know I own not one but two "real" Fender Strats, one of which is an American model. But that doesn't matter to the snotty kid or the snobby adult, because all they see is Squier. They see that logo on the headstock, instantly make a judgment and that's that.
I'm a Squier snob, which is to say I'm a "reverse guitar snob". Instead of literally buying into all the b.s. about tonewoods, pickups and other fancy crapola that ultimately means nothing, I take an entirely different approach to guitars. Whenever I spot something I want, I say to myself, "I wonder what I can do with that thing?" And if it's something I feel I can get good sounds with, I'll play it, and if it plays nice, I buy it.
I am also anti-complicated with guitars almost to a fault. If the guitar is complicated, I want nothing to do with it. More on that later.
A few universal truths about modern Squier guitars vs. Fender axes
There is basically no such thing as a "cheap" Squier guitar anymore
You really have to look hard these days if you want to find an electric that's junk. And by 'junk', I mean something that just feels totally cheap when you first pick it up, and then falls apart in less than a year. With new Squier axes in particular, it's honestly not easy to find one that fits those characteristics.
Could you find a Squier in the past that did feel cheap and fell apart quick? Sure. But not anymore. Or to be more specific, not since 2006, because if I remember correctly, that was the year Squier stopped using plywood bodies (unlike other companies who still use them even on super-expensive models).
The only thing "cheap" about a Squier is its price, and that's only for baseline models. Guitars like the Classic Vibe Telecaster are for all intents and purposes midrange guitars now. Yes, really.
"Made In USA" is simply not a selling point anymore
I could understand paying a premium for a Japanese guitar. Why? Because it costs money to have the thing shipped all the way over here to America, and Japanese luthiery even on a mass-produced level is known to be some of the best in the world.
What's the difference between a mass-produced Made-in-USA compared to a mass-produced guitar made in an Asian country? Answer: Where it's made, and nothing else.
When I see a "Made In USA" decal on a guitar and the ultra-high price tag that goes along with it, I know I'm not paying for "quality". What you're really paying for is a $500 guitar with $400 tacked on for employee benefits, $50 for shipping and handling and another $100 for middleman (read: guitar store) costs, markup and who knows what else.
The price point Squier guitars sell for is in fact what American mass-produced guitars should be selling for in America. But instead, all of the extra you pay is for basically nothing but red tape. And that's not what American-made guitars are supposed to be about, yet they are.
Said another way: The fact I can buy a China-made Squier Strat guitar with all the international shipping and duty fees added in for 90% less than the American version even WITH taxes included is just plain dumb.
To note: The highest-priced Squier solid-body you can buy right now ($400) is still 55% less in price compared to the lowest-priced American solid-body Fender model ($900).
Do you get better "quality" with the Fender? No. Do you get more for your money? No. Is the 55% higher price tag for the American model worth it? Absolutely not.
Fender's overcomplicated way of making USA guitars ruins the mystique of the instrument
No, I am not saying "they don't build 'em like they used to". Not at all. In fact, USA-made Fender guitars today are built much better compared to years ago. You can be rest assured that with a Fender, you're getting a well-built guitar...
...but the same can be said for Squier.
What used to make a Fender magical was its simplicity. Just a curvy French-inspired design with plain white pick guard and knobs, a few bits of hardware, plain electronics, a few cool color choices and that was it; it didn't need anything else.
The modern mass-produced USA Standard Stratocaster, simply put, isn't magical at all because of all the crap Fender changed and added in. And the bloated price tag doesn't help, either.
Did it need "Custom Shop Fat '50s Single-Coil" pickups? No. The pickups should have been just plain standard issue. Did it need a "No-Load Tone Control?" No. Did the tuning machines need to be "Deluxe Staggered"? No. All of that stuff should have been reserved for the Deluxe models only. The Standard should have been, well, Standard. No special treatment, no special circuits, no special anything.
Simple guitars are the most magical, and the American Standard Strat is anything but simple. The American Strat has a bad case of Added-In Crap Just For The Sake Of Justifying The High Price Tag Syndrome.
There are three things I appreciate on modern Strats. First is the "C" shape neck, second is the medium jumbo fret wire and third is the 9.5-inch flatter radius compared to the old 7.25-inch. Yes, that means I only appreciate the neck improvements and nothing else. No micro-tilt, no 2-point bridge, no special truss rod, no special pickups, etc. Just plain Strat and nothing more. And the only way to get a guitar with just those modern neck improvements and none of the other crap is to purposely buy a Strat not made in the USA. No "Plain Standard" American-made model exists. It should.
Yes, I am saying that simple, plain design is the best kind and is what made a Strat a Strat originally. The modern USA Strat, while built far better compared to how it used to be made, doesn't have the magic that it once did due to its overcomplicated crap.
My Squier snobbery does stem from the strong desire to play simple-build Fender-designed guitars
It is amazing to me that if you want a "plain" Strat made in the USA, you have to contact the Fender Custom Shop to have one custom built. That's so stupid that it almost defies belief, yet that is exactly what you would have to do to get the real-deal simple USA Strat.
This is how my phone call would go with a Fender Custom Shop luthier:
FCS: How would you like your Stratocaster designed?
RM: Standard issue American body with urethane-sealed finish, Standard Stratocaster single-coil pickups, 6-screw vintage-style bridge with high-mass tremolo block, brushed block saddles, 21-fret neck with 9.5-inch radius and medium jumbo fret wire, standard electronics with no special switching or special circuitry, cyclovac nut, standard non-staggered sealed tuners.
FCS: Um.. that's our Mexican Standard.
RM: Right. I want one of those in an American version.
FCS: Okay... if that's what you want..
Sounds dumb to spend $2,000 for that, right? Well, that's what I'd have to do to get a simple, plain American Strat. It's either that or purposely buy vintage. And many players go vintage for that reason...
...or you say to hell with the Fender models and buy Squier instead to get that simple Strat design, manufacturing country of origin be damned. At the end of the day it's all about how much cash you have to pay, right? Right.
Why pay more for simplicity?
Answer: There's no reason to, so I don't.