ESP is doing the best fade guitar finish right now
We've all seen sunburst, but it's not all that often you see a fade.
Take the ESP LTD M-400 in a finish called Solar Fade Metallic. This is one of the best finishes I've seen offered in a while, epsecially considering the fade is present on both the body and the headstock.
Is this the only fade available? No. You can get two more. A Viper-400 in Pinkberry Fade Metallic, and the MH-400FR in Blue Pearl Fade Metallic.
The Pinkberry finish - and I'm being very truthful here - honestly makes the Viper look like a totally new model. It's the same Viper shape you've seen for years, but that finish makes the guitar look like something straight out of the future.
Is the fade present on the front and the back of the guitar? Depends on the model.
On M-400, fade is on the front and back of the body but only the front for the headstock. On the M-400FR, the back is blue on both body on neck but not faded like the front is.
The Viper however gets the full fade for both the front and back. And it's frickin' gorgeous. That's the show-stopper finish.
As noted a moment ago, Pinkberry Fade Metallic makes the guitar look futuristic. Compared to the old style bursts, flame tops, quilt tops and such, that fade finish... wow.
Are these guitars all show? No. The Viper and M-400 have Seymour Duncan pickups, and the MH-400FR has EMG pickups in it. Better electronics and hardware are both present in all three models, so you're not paying for just a fancy finish.
I'm glad to see this from ESP LTD. They definitely needed something to spruce up the model line, and oh yeah, they nailed it with these models.
How to fix the "one hour off" problem in a Garmin nuvi
I had this happen on two Garmin nuvi 30 models I acquired, but it can also happen on a number of other nuvis as well.
This is, as far as I know, the only documentation that exists for this. I had to figure out how to fix this stuff myself.
Here's what happened:
I acquire a Garmin nuvi 30 from eBay. It arrives, and the battery is absolutely stone dead. This did not surprise me since most people who sell used GPSes haven't turned them on in years.
Battery is charged, still works. Good. I then update the firmware. That also goes through without a problem.
Then I notice the clock is off by one hour. Hm. Weird. It shouldn't do that since the time is acquired from the GPS signal itself. I am in the Central Time Zone, but that shouldn't matter?
I plug in the GPS to my PC, go to the nuvi's hidden .System folder, make a copy of the gmaptz.img file (that's the time zone map) as a backup, then delete it off the nuvi. After that, I update the nuvi again to download the latest time zone map. Nope, still didn't work. The clock is still off by an hour.
I set the GPS to simulation mode, then purposely did the "Set Location" thing to make the nuvi think it was in Sacramento California to see if the off-by-one-hour would carry. It did. Now I know that the unit isn't recognizing Daylight Savings Time at all.
I did some searching. Only one discussion is on this topic, but with no info on how to fix it since none was ever found.
There was however one part of the discussion that said if it wasn't the time zone map, it might be some other file that went screwy and was causing the problem. This was all I had to go on.
In my possession I had a nuvi 50LM which had no issues with the clock showing the correct time. I just outright guessed the nuvi 30 had the same file system as the 50, and that if any files were corrupt or not working right, I could just copy over the right files from the 50 to the 30, all would be well and the clock would show the correct time.
I was right. That's exactly what it was.
The fix
In the hidden .System folder is a subfolder called GPS. In that folder are 3 small files. They end with .BIN if I remember correctly.
I backed up the nuvi 30's files completely first. Then I started copying over system files from the 50 to the 30.
Once I copied over those 3 little files from the GPS folder from the 50 to the 30, that did it. On the next boot, the 30 acquired a GPS signal and ta-da, DST was recognized. I was good to go. Clock problem solved.
There were no issues with normal operation of the nuvi 30 after copying these files.
It happened with a second nuvi 30!
I own two nuvi 30s because I like the model. With the second one I received, the exact same clock sync problem happened. The fix was also exactly the same. Copied over 3 files from the .System/GPS folder, reboot the unit, done. Clock sync worked after that and DST was properly recognized.
Both units had never been upgraded since they were originally bought, so the firmware was many versions behind. It's possible the firmware update corrupted the files in the .System/GPS subfolder somehow? I'll never know for sure.
I previously owned a 40LM and the clock sync issue never happened, but I bought it new in 2012 and up until the day I sold it I always was on top of firmware and map updates.
I currently own two 50LMs, both bought used, and they never had the clock sync issue either.
Only the pair of 30s I bought ever had this problem, but it's possible it may happen on some other 2011-2013 models?
How to avoid all this crap?
Well, obvious answer here. Use a modern Garmin DriveSmart instead.
A bad guitar string can cause buzzing on just one fret
I had this happen on my guitar. I'll tell you what happened, how it happened, and how I determined it was the string that was the problem.
My strings were getting old on my Schecter, so I installed a new set. After doing that, I wanted to make a small bridge height adjustment.
There are two ways of adjusting bridge height on the Schecter I have. Method 1 is to loosen the strings and use a flathead screwdriver from the top to adjust the bridge's set screw height. Method 2 is to put a capo on the first fret, loosen the strings so they get flappy enough to lift the bridge off the posts slightly, then turn the set screws with the hand.
I use method 2. If I use a screwdriver to turn the set screws, even when the strings are loosened, this will cause screw slot damage. Little dents will happen. The exact same thing would occur if I used a flathead screwdriver to adjust the stop piece height on a Gibson Les Paul. Sure, those big slotted stop piece screws make it appear you can just loosen the strings, stick a screwdriver in there and make your adjustments. I would never do that because again, that will cause screw slot damage. On a Les Paul, I would capo the first fret, loosen the strings enough to where I could slide the stop piece out, turn those screws by hand to make my height adjustment, then put the stop piece back and tune up the guitar again.
In either situation whether it's a bridge or stop piece height adjustment being made using method 2, strings have to be real loose to make said adjustment.
This is where a mistake can be made almost too easily. And I made the mistake I'm about to describe.
After I loosened the strings on my guitar, I somehow managed to bend the 6 string (as in the low-E string) in such a way where it developed a small permanent bend in it - but - it was so small and so slight that I didn't even see it.
I finish my bridge adjustment, tighten the strings to pitch, then come to discover I have some nasty fret buzz at the 11th fret on the 6 string and only the 6 string.
At this point I freak out. My first thought is that I've not even had this guitar 6 months and it's already developed a high fret.
I grab a metal dowel from my fret leveling kit because I needed to confirm how bad the high fret was...
...only to find I didn't have a high fret at all. The frets are all leveled just as they should be. There was nothing to fix.
At this point I'm confused. There's definitely a buzzing problem on the 6 string at the 11th fret.
I take a closer look at the 6 string, which I had loosened to check for a high fret, and then I saw it. A small "hump" in the string, exactly at the point where the fret buzz was happening.
The next day, I bought a new pack of guitar strings, put them on and the fret buzz was 100% gone.
Was it my fault?
I'm saying it is even though it might not have been.
I think what happened is that I somehow put a bend in the 6 string when I loosened it along with the others to made a bridge height adjustment.
However, it is also true that guitar strings that sit on a store shelf a long time can exhibit the same problem. Even though the strings are obviously coiled when in the pack, if coiled too long they may get malformed and never uncoil correctly.
It is possible I may have just had a bad pack of strings where the 6 string had a malformation in it. As noted above, I didn't even see that little "hump" in the 6 until I looked very close at it.
Fortunately, I had the proper metal dowel to confirm my frets were fine and that it was the low-E string that was the problem. That leveling kit saved my butt yet again. I didn't have to level any frets, but having those dowels confirmed 100% that the fret wasn't the problem.
Fender (or Squier) needs to release a standard reverse headstock Strat
I find it interesting that Fender doesn't do this. They should.
Just for kicks I went through both Fender and Squier's entire lineup of Strats just to see how many reverse headstock models exist.
On the Fender side, there is one production model and three from Fender Custom Shop. The production model is the Jimi Hendrix Stratocaster. The three custom shop models are the Jimi Hendrix Voodoo Child Strat, Jimi Hendrix Voodoo Child Strat Journeyman Relic and the Dick Dale Signature Stratocaster.
On the Squier side there is the Contemporary Stratocaster HH.
As you'll notice, none of these are traditional build Strats. All of them have custom stuff in them.
Given the fact that most guitarists think reverse headstock Strats are cool, and that cool factor matters for guitar sales, why isn't there a "plain" Fender or Squier Stratocaster with a reverse headstock?
This is what I suggest to Fender if they happen to read this: Do a short run of Mexico-build Player model reverse headstock SSS Strats as a test and have Guitar Center/Musician's Friend sell them. Call it the Player Reverse. Three solid color finish options. Sunburst, Buttercream and Tidepool. 1-piece maple necks only. Use necks with the larger headstock and the transition a.k.a. '70s style logo treatment. No need to reinvent the wheel here.
If it's a Squier, release as a short run Classic Vibe model. Take the Contemporary HH model, put that back to a traditional build style with traditional SSS pickups and tremolo, offer in 1 or 2 colors with 1-piece maple neck.
I think either of these would sell well. Flipped headstocks on Strats just look cool.
Is a 3.5" screen Garmin GPS still usable?
Answer: Yes. I use one myself as a daily driver.
The very last 3.5" screen Garmin car-specific GPS ever released for North America was the nuvi 30 in 2012. The 30 was launched with hardly any fanfare, lived for a short time, disappeared, and we never saw another 3.5" car GPS after that from Garmin.
I own two nuvi 30 GPSes because I like them so much. If my main 30 ever busts, I have a backup.
The 30, just like any 3.5" Garmin GPS, works the same as widescreen models, with the exception all of them have the ABCDE keyboard layout and no QWERTY. But that's literally the only difference. The 3.5" is functionally identical to widescreen models otherwise.
What makes the 30 great are two things. First, just like the 50, it has that glorious daylight-readable screen that was the best generation of screens Garmin ever put on a car GPS. Second, the screen touch response is far superior to that of the 40 or 50 of the same generation. For whatever reason, 3.5" matte screens always had better touch response compared to wide 4.3" and 5.0" matte screen models, and the 30 is no different.
Text too small?
The map text is fine, but in the Favorites list the text is a bit "scrunched".
Because the 30 model has such good screen contrast like the 40 and 50, it's easily read during bright daylight driving. For night driving, obviously there are no problems with legibility there.
Again, on the Favorites list is where the smaller text gets a little annoying. But it's not a deal-breaker.
Map too small?
In Track Up or North Up map display mode, yes, too small. But in 3-D mode it's just fine.
The 3-D display option has big thick on-screen map arrows and increased text size that can be read easily on the 3.5" display.
Works?
Yes, the 30 works very well as does just about any Garmin 3.5" with updated firmware and maps, even if it's free OSM map data.
Good enough for 2019 and beyond?
Yes.
A Garmin nuvi 30 or any other 3.5" model for that matter is a means of car navigation only used by nerdy folk who appreciate simple, reliable GPSes.
You have to be nerdy to use one of these things. If you buy one, it will be old, it will need its firmware updated and will need new maps (usually handled by a free OSM map image).
I was willing to go through the process of doing all the updating to get a nice, reliable 3.5" GPS with a truly daylight-readable screen. The 30 doesn't do traffic nor Bluetooth nor Wi-Fi nor connect to a phone and never did. All it does it navigate. And it does a damned good job at it.
Alternative?
Seek out a Garmin Drive 52. It's a 5" model, but it's the last one with a matte screen that's truly daylight-readable.