Epiphone Les Paul Standard 60s (and 50s) is a game changer
Epiphone was already doing it right, but now they're doing it really right.
Of all the NAMM product introductions that happened this year, Epiphone is what stuck out to me the most with their Original series guitars - mainly for the Les Paul Standard 50s and Les Paul Standard 60s models. The model pictured above is the 60s, but the 50s is also awesome.
Now of course the big deal with this guitar aside from its awesome hardware (with USA pickups, by the way) is that Epiphone finally addressed the elephant in the room with these guitars, the headstock.
Yes, the headstock.
It's different now. In a better way? Yes. It's now more Gibson-shaped. The wings are a little more flared out and the top "points" rounded out.
For years, guitar players have been complaining that the Epiphone headstock shape just outright sucks. It's now been fixed, and it's better.
Or to be more specific, I think it's better. There are still, incredibly, some out there who think the new shape is "ugly". These people need a smack across the face, because much like the new Squier Classic Vibe Stratocaster has the best Strat look Squier has ever had, these new Original Les Paul models is the best Epiphone has ever had.
Right now is a great time to be an Epiphone fan. I predict these guitars are going to sell very well.
Fender HM Strat is not a Stratocaster
But it does have a ridiculously flat fretboard.
The HM Strat by Fender isn't a new guitar but rather one that's been brought back from the late 1980s as a limited run.
"HM" literally means "Heavy Metal". This guitar was designed to be a shredding machine, and the new limited run version has a few things about it that are unique to the model.
This guitar was never called a Stratocaster by Fender and still isn't with the new one. It's "Strat", or to be more specific, "Strat by Fender".
The things unique to this model is an ever-so slightly shorter 25.1" scale length, an ever-so slightly skinnier 1.66" nut width (when compared to the American Stratocaster), and a ridiculously flat 17" fingerboard radius.
Originally, the HM Strat ran from 1988 to 1992. I remember these back when they were new. Nobody wanted them, especially after glam rock died when grunge music became the popular rock music of choice. Had this guitar been introduced just two years earlier, it would have sold much better, but the HM Strat was a little late to the game.
Is there anything cool about this guitar? Not really, save for one thing. Fender grew some balls to even make this again, even as a limited run model. This guitar absolutely does not have any classic Fender style to it whatsoever, and it's more or less the anti-Fender Fender guitar. That is its best selling point. Anyone can buy a Stratocaster. But it takes a special kind of guy with some rebelliousness in his blood to buy an HM Strat.
Squier raises the price on Classic Vibe Stratocasters
Well, it was fun while it lasted.
One of the best things about the new second generation Squier Classic Vibe Stratocaster was that the price was actually lower than the previous generation...
...but not anymore. As of January 2020, the price went right back to the old, higher price.
Yeah, that's sad.
One of the big reasons I even bought a new Squier CV Strat was because of the lower price tag. I personally felt that at $349.99, you were legitimately getting what you paid for. But at $399.99, that's just a hard sell. It was that higher price that kept me from buying one originally.
Learning how to fix your guitar is becoming more important
All guitars wear out with normal play, and that's normal.
With Squier, it used to be that you played one for a while, and when it wore out, you just traded it out and got another one because they were affordable.
But $400 is not affordable. That is right on the edge of lower mid-tier territory, pricewise.
This being true, if you don't know how to repair your guitar, my advice is you'd better start learning if you want to avoid re-buying guitars in the future.
Working on the bridge hardware and electronics is easy. It's the neck where things can get tricky.
I recommend looking up YouTube videos on the following subjects:
- Leveling frets
- Crowning frets
- Installing a shim in a guitar neck (to adjust pitch angle)
- Installing a guitar nut
I may at some point release my own videos or a book on these topics, because I can assure you that it is totally worth spending 50 to 100 bucks on basic tools to save yourself from spending hundreds on replacement guitars later.
In fact, what I would recommend is buying yourself a dirt cheap Strat clone to practice basic guitar repair skills on. Learn how to install a nut, level frets, smooth edges, install a nut, and so on. Take the whole guitar apart and learn it all.
This will be a very good way to spend your time, because in the long run it will save you a lot of cash. You'll be able to fix your existing guitars and be able to extend the life of them by years if not decades.
How to choose the right guitar octave pedal effect
Octave is a guitar effect that's often misunderstood. But once you have the right pedal for it, then it's actually a usable effect.
Take the Donner Harmonic Square. It's an octave effect done right for two main reasons. First, it has both wet and dry blend controls. You totally need that. Second, it's very easy to get which type of octave effect you want with a big knob right in the middle; it is definitely an octave effect done right.
I would actually recommend the Donner over the BOSS OC-3 Super Octave for the reason the Donner is easier to use. However, the OC-3 does have one huge advantage over the Donner. It can be used for guitar or electric bass. Yes, bass guys do use octave sometimes, and only certain octave effects work with it. The OC-3 is one of them and can handle the higher frequencies of electric guitar and the lower of the bass.
But if you don't play bass, the Donner is the better option unless you absolutely need a pedal that can operate by battery, which the OC-3 can.
The worst octave pedals...
...are the kind that are "1-down" only. Fortunately, almost nobody makes these anymore. These are very basic octave effects that only have a single octave down option and no "top" option.
The best octave pedals...
...are the kind like the Donner where you can not only quickly choose the octave you want but also have it act as a harmonizer.
It used to be that harmonizer and octave pedals were two totally separate things. BOSS in fact still makes the PS-6 pedal, which is specifically designed as harmonizer-only. It's not easy to get along with but it does do the harmony thing very well. In fact, it does it too well. Most players want something much simpler. And that's where pedals like the Donner are much more usable.
Octave works very well for...
Distorted/Overdriven/Fuzz Guitar solos. If you specifically use the neck side pickup on your guitar, a guitar solo that uses overdrive or fuzz with a 20 to 25% octave effect has a very nice sound to it.
Muted "thumpy" single-note rhythms. You can get that baritone-guitar-like sound without the need for a baritone electric guitar with an octave effect. It takes some tweaking to do this, but it is doable.
'60s inspired guitar sounds. When you start experimenting with octave, you'll find sounds you never knew your guitar could do - and it will sound like it came straight out of the 1960s era. That's not a bad thing.
If you haven't tried the octave effect, try it
Just make sure you get the right octave pedal. The Donner is a great example, but of course there are many others.
Hidden gem: Jackson Dinky JS22
I tried one of these recently, and was rather impressed with it.
A while back I was all about the Ibanez GAX30 and AX120, but then had to give them up because the neck shape didn't agree with my fret hand. This is not to say the guitars have bad necks because they don't. The AX from Ibanez is a great guitar, but the shape (the "shoulder" of the neck shape specifically) presses on my palm in a way that is absolute no-go territory for me.
Since that time I did buy a Strat, but I'd still like to get a good inexpensive HH guitar at some point. While at a guitar store recently, I picked up a Jackson Dinky JS22 and whoa... this is actually pretty darned good.
This is Jackson's version of a basic inexpensive Strat, more or less. But for the price you actually do get a lot of guitar for the money.
"Basic" defined: Two humbuckers, two knobs, 3-way switch with no push-pull on the control knobs, Strat-style vibrato system, standard nut, standard tuners, no locking nuts.
It's the other parts of this guitar that make it stand out. And what I mean by that is this:
Arched top. This means the top of the body has a slight "hump" in it and isn't flat. Regular Strat guitars don't have this, but the Jackson does.
Neck binding and headstock binding. Standard Strats don't get binding at all, but again, the Jackson does. It looks nice.
High fret body cut in the rear.
Look where the neck bolt plate is and you'll notice the curved cut there. That's to allow better access to the higher frets. You get this on the Dinky JS22. This used to be something you had to pay a lot to get. Not here. This is affordable.
12" to 16" compound radius fingerboard. Again, something you used to have to pay a lot for to get. Dinky JS22 has it for way, way less.
Negatives?
There are a few, but they're not deal-breakers.
First, the body has a "planky" feel to it. It's not as comfortable as the traditional Stratocaster body shape. There's nothing particularly wrong going on, but you can feel the less-round shape.
Second, the tuners "go blind" because of the Jackson headstock shape. This means that when sitting with the guitar and you go to adjust a tuner, you literally can't see them because of the headstock's downward angle. There's not much that can really be done about this as the shape is a Jackson design staple that they've been using pretty much forever.
Third is the vibrato system. I didn't test this because the vibrato arm (a.k.a. whammy bar) wasn't in the guitar at the time I played it. But it didn't have to be because I know it would not have worked well. Why? All the strings travel on an angle from the nut to the tuning posts. Vibrato systems work best with strings that have straight travel from the nut to the posts, or are stopped at the nut with locking nuts. What Jackson decided to do here is slap on a vibrato for the sake of doing it since this model doesn't have a Floyd-Rose style tremolo system. What Jackson should have done here is not have any vibrato at all and just made it a hardtail.
Again, none of these things are deal-breakers considering how good the rest of the guitar is.
Will I be picking one up in the future? I might unless someone sends me one first. (I'll happily link to and promo any instrument retailer or guitar company that sends a guitar my way, email me and ask.)