Saying goodbye to Telecasters and Jazzmasters
It happened...
...I have no more Telecasters nor Jazzmasters. All traded out.
Here's how things went down:
My standard rule with guitar acquisitions is if one comes in, one must go out because I don't hoard guitars.
When I bought the Ibanez GAX30, I traded out the Sonic Blue Squier Jazzmaster.
When I bought the Ibanez AX120, I traded out both my Squier Bullet Telecaster and Squier '72 Telecaster Thinline.
Yes, I bought both Ibanez guitars within just a month's time, because I think they are just that good.
I'll have more details on the AX120 later this week. While it may look similar to the GAX30, there are several things about it that are quite different, so watch for that.
Why?
Once I experienced that lovely 24.7" scale neck on the AX series Ibanez, I was absolutely amazed at how much better my fret hand felt playing it compared to a 25.5".
I know the 24.0" short scale exists with the Squier Mustang HH and Squier Jaguar. In fact, I briefly owned a Jag, but hated the position of the bridge as it was always getting in my way. The Ibanez with its 24.7" scale and its bridge positioning just suits me much better.
When I got the GAX30, my Telecasters immediately got put away and I barely even touched them. After a few weeks, I picked up one of my Teles, started playing, and... wrist strain. Not bad, but noticeable. Just minutes after going back to the 25.5" scale, my wrist told me that it was time to part with the Telecasters.
And so I did. The Telecasters went out and I got a second Ibanez AX, this time the AX120 model.
Why didn't I get the AS63 or GART60, which also has the 24.7" scale? Price and appearance. The AS63 doesn't have the block inlays. The AS73 does, but that's out of my price range. The GART60 was within my price range, but again, dots on the neck and not blocks.
As said above, the GAX30 and AX120 look similar but are definitely different, each with a distinct tonal character. I'll be covering the differences soon.
What changed enough for me to jump ship?
My playing style changed enough to where I needed a shorter scale guitar, but it had to be one that felt right, looked right and was priced right. The Ibanez was it. They had the right guitars at the right price, and I jumped on it. I have no regrets.
At this point in my guitar playing life, I don't know if I'll ever go back to 25.5" scale again. And that's not just for Fender and Squier designs but any guitar of that scale length.
Is 25.5" bad? Of course not. But my fret hand doesn't agree with it.
Would I go back to a Telecaster if one were offered in a 24.75" scale?
Maybe. But the problem is that nobody builds one for a reasonable price.
Yes, I could buy a "Gibson scale" conversion neck, slap it on a loaded Tele body, and ta-da, 24.75" scale length Telecaster. But the cost involved with that? About $600 or more, all told...
...and I'm about to spend that kind of cash just to get that shorter scale neck. With an Ibanez AX, the cost is $150 to $200 - for the whole guitar. And it's a darned good guitar at that.
Rivolta Mondata II - better tone than a Les Paul, with 24 frets!
This is a guitar where if I had the money for it, I'd buy this right now.
Rivolta is a brand from Eastwood Guitars. Ordinarily, when you think of Eastwood, you think of weird, wacky guitar designs that are more novelties than anything else.
However, Rivolta is not like that. The designs for this brand are much more civilized and just outright cool. And the Mondata II is not only a pretty face but a crazy-good sounding guitar.
This has "that killer Les Paul tone" that Les Paul players chase after but can never seem to quite get - and the Mondata II has it right out of the box.
Yes, it has a 24-fret neck. The vast majority of the time, if a guitar has 24 frets, the neck side pickup has to be pushed back and that totally wrecks the tone of the guitar. But the Mondata II's tone is still there. That's quite a feat.
It's true the guitar is not cheap (it's not insanely priced either, still lower than the cost of a USA Strat), but it's able to deliver two things that are very valuable. Great sound the moment you start playing it, and 24-fret access that's usable and not a tone-wrecker.
It doesn't get much better than that.
One of the ugliest guitars I have ever seen
I've seen some ugly guitars in my time... but this one... wow.
Yes, this guitar is really for sale at the time I write this. [Edit: No longer for sale, but enjoy the pictures below.]
There are more photos of this beast below, but before getting to that, I'll describe what this thing is.
It's a Telecaster copy that has what looks to be a body made 100% from acrylic. The front half is mostly clear, except for the horn on top which appears to be have been hand-shaped to a dragon with the first of two chicks seen.
The first chick is sitting on the dragon's back and holding a sword, so that's cool. However, she has webbed hands, and that's not cool.
The second chick is behind the bridge, and the ocean below her appears to have eaten her leg. How sad.
The rear part of the guitar has been shaped to resemble dragon scales. However, I cannot tell if those scales are painted or if each scaled has been shaped by the "artist".
On the back of the guitar, is there a third chick? No. It's actually the second chick where you can see the paint through the clear acrylic body. From this view we can see the guitar appears to have been wired properly, and the neck is a bolt-on, typical to Telecasters.
Lastly, this guitar supposedly lights up, although I can't be certain. The title of the instrument claims it's an LED. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't... who knows?
Someone needs to buy this guitar just for the goof of it... but that someone won't be me.
Enjoy:
Chender Yngwie Malmsteen Stratocaster
This is absolutely the cheapest way to get a scalloped fretboard Strat.
For those of you that have always wanted to try out a scalloped fretboard Stratocaster but didn't have the cash to do it, trust me, you can afford this one. If you can't afford an actual Fender Malmsteen Strat guitar, believe me, it is very easy to find very cheap alternatives.
Is it a China copy Stratocaster? Of course it is.
Will the guitar need some work once you get it? Probably. But even if it does need work, remember, you're getting the scalloped fretboard.
Put in really basic terms, the neck alone is worth the price you pay here.
Should Squier be offering a scalloped fretboard Strat?
I wish they would.
It's painfully obvious that you can buy an Asian built guitar with scalloped fretboard for very cheap. Most if not all Squier guitars are Asian builds.
I'm not even asking Squier to make a Malmsteen model. What I am saying is that they should offer something with a scalloped fretboard on it. Fender has a lot of freedom of design where the Squier brand is concerned, so if they wanted to, they could totally put together a Strat with an HSH pickup configuration and a scalloped fretboard. Alas, there isn't one.
Until Squier starts offering a model of Strat with a scalloped fretboard, people will keep buying the China copies, and often.
When you're sick of Strats, St. Vincent answers the call
If you wanted a guitar that's different, well, here it is.
There are two versions of this axe known as the St. Vincent. The Music Man version is over $2,000. The Sterling version is much more reasonably priced, and that's the one I'm talking about here.
Quick specs: Mahogany body, rosewood fingerboard, 25.5" scale, 9.5" radius, 22 frets, HHH pickup layout.
For anyone that says that they're sick and tired of nothing but Strat and Les Paul shapes, the St. Vincent is your answer if you want something different.
Although the St. Vincent obviously has a unique look, this is a guitar for Strat players that want a different shape, as you will find things here inspired by the Stratocaster guitar.
The tremolo system will be very familiar. Strings go through the body and out the back, and there is a removable plate on the rear with a cutout, just like a Strat.
You've got 5-way switching here, also just like a Strat - with the exception this is 2-knob instead of 3-knob. And that's fine since most players, myself included, prefer 1 knob for volume and 1 for tone because it's easier to deal with.
There is a contour cut on the back of the body, again just like a Strat but with the difference the cut is longer and larger due to the body shape.
The neck can best be described as Strat-ish, with the huge advantage that there is a truss rod adjustment wheel at the butt of the neck (something ordinarily only seen on high-priced Stratocaster models).
There is no single-coil hum on the St. Vincent since all three pickups are mini-humbuckers.
As for how this guitar sounds, the mini-humbuckers have good treble response and have that "sounds like humbucker" tone to them. This is basically what a Strat would sound like if it had 3 humbuckers in it. It's not the same "quack" as a Strat is, but if you can imagine a Stratocaster and Les Paul tones in the same guitar at the same time, that's more or less what the St. Vincent is. Yes, the guitar has a unique - and very usable - tonal character.
The best part about this guitar is that while it looks radically different, you do not have to learn the guitar all over again just to play it. It has good, thoughtful design.
Said another way, St. Vincent is different without being difficult, and it looks cool. I like it.