Line 6 Updater actually works really well
I just updated firmware on a guitar amp for the first time ever, and it actually went very well.
The guitar amp I own is a Line 6 Spider V 60. Line 6 as a company is pretty good about releasing firmware updates for both their software and electronics products, so I decided to go ahead and download the Line 6 Updater from their software page and give it a go.
Before I get into that, I am ordinarily the type of person who sincerely believes in, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." This means if for anything electronic, if it for whatever it is (phone, computer, software, etc.) works just fine, don't screw with it.
This is a little different however in that when you update a Line 6 Spider amp, you sometimes get added features you didn't have before. For the v1.05 update on the Spider V 60 amp, the factory patches have been improved, and you get a new "Phones Mode" global setting that now allows the headphones jack to act either for headphones or a stereo line out. This in effect gives the Spider V 60 amp a new way to output direct-to-mixer whereas it didn't have this feature before, totally for free...
...so I said okay, let's do this.
I downloaded the Line 6 Updater software and ran the firmware update. It took about 2 minutes for everything to complete, but it did work on the first try with no screw-ups.
I can now say confidently that yes, Line 6 Updater actually does what it's supposed to do and actually works.
Color me surprised.
How it's done
Line 6 did make this really easy.
Connect the amp via USB to your computer. No software drivers should be needed. However, if you do need the drivers, you can get those and install first from the Line 6 software page.
Run the Updater installer.
You will be prompted at some point to create a Line 6 account. This is free, and optional. I went ahead and did it.
Look for the latest update to your Spider amp and click on that.
The software will tell you what firmware you have installed on the amp right now. If it's a number lower than the latest version, then install the latest version.
That's basically it. Just let the software do its thing and leave the amp on and running until all is completed.
Casio W59 is better than Casio F-91W
Bigger buttons = better watch. At least when comparing the W59 to the F-91W.
For small-wristed folk such as myself that prefer smaller digital timepieces, the go-to brand is Casio for that sort of thing. And the go-to watch in that brand is, of course, the F-91W.
However, as good as the F-91W is for a simple and good wristwatch, what works against it are its buttons. They work, but can be annoying to press as they are just a smidgen too small.
Choices of other Casio models that have the same functionality as the F-91W that have bigger buttons are the W800H, the F105W, and the one I'm talking about that I just bought, the W59.
Here's the thing about each of the three models and why I feel the W59 is the best of the lot.
W800H: Nothing wrong with this watch at all. It's the strap. Too long. For larger-wristed folk, this is the ideal good cheap Casio digital because it has everything you'd want from an F-91W with a larger case, and in addition shows the full date with year on the main display. I would own one of these myself were it not for that long strap.
F105W: I own this one and it's about the same size as the W59, but my complaint is that the color of the LCD is a gray that's slightly darker, most likely to accommodate it's "electroluminescent" backlight. It does have bigger buttons compared to the F-91W, but that slightly darker display annoys me.
And then there's the W59.
When you want an F-91W with bigger buttons that are easier to press, this watch nails it. Slim profile, ultra lightweight case, proper beep tone that can be heard easily, and you get slightly better water resistance at 50M instead of the F-91W's 30M. That doesn't count for much, but hey, it has it.
There's also something else about the W59 as well. Style. This model carries the same late-1980s look as the F-91W does with its blue border and red text on the display. Also, the W59 strap actually looks better because it has that cooler looking textures to it.
Where legibility is concerned, W59 is really good. Because it has the older style night light, the LCD color is a lighter shade of gray that makes for great contrast. Very easy to read the time, just like the F-91W.
After wearing the W59, I do consider it better than the F-91W. Same functionality, same great legibility, same great reliability, bigger buttons. Works great.
Fender American Performer series guitars
Fender just released a new line of American guitars, the Performer series. Nice for what they are, but there are some models better than the rest.
The new Performer series comes in Strat, Strat HSS, Tele, Mustang, Jazzmaster and some bass flavors. My favorite is the Telecaster Hum.
Here's my overview:
Worst of the lot is the Jazzmaster. That may sound odd coming from me since I like the Jazzmaster guitar, but believe me, I have a good reason. It has a Stratocaster bridge on it, and a Stratocaster back plate too. The guitar is just plain weird. Fender should have just kept this one as a hardtail top-loader.
After that Jazzmaster, things get better.
The Mustang is cool. Really cool, actually. My only knock against the guitar is the fact Fender decided to eliminate the pickup slider switches and instead put in a 3-way toggle pickup selector. I can forgive that however since the rest of the guitar is just plain great. This is an "affordable" American short scale and it's done right.
The best part of the Strat is the return to a 6-screw bridge. I've never liked the 2-point. The styling is great, the choice to use the "transition" silver Fender logo is cool, and this guitar gets it right all around. My only knock against this one is the use of 2 string trees. Minor nitpick at best, however.
On the HSS Strat, Fender smartly offers this guitar with a push-pull knob to switch the humbucker to a single-coil and back again. Very nice. Good choice.
For the Tele, there's really not much I can say other than yeah, it's a good Tele and I dig the '70s styling of it. It's the same simple guitar it's always been, and that's what makes it great.
The Tele Hum however is the winner of the lot. The Vintage White looks absolutely fantastic. This one having the humbucker at the neck really captures that '70s custom Tele vibe. The guitar thankfully does not have the ability to switch the humbucker to single-coil - and believe me, that is totally correct. A humbucker at the neck position in a Telecaster should be "all humbucker," and this one is. You get the knobs with knurled sides, you get the brass saddles, you get the great tuners, it's all there.
Are these guitars just rebadged American Special series?
No. There are changes to each model so that all of them are actual new-model guitars.
My only confusion here is that Fender now has this odd thing going on where the Performer and Professional series are quite literally only $350 apart from each other in price.
What this has done is cheapen the Professional Series. You see the Performer Series, then see a Professional Series, then notice the $350 difference between the two (which is not a lot,) then wonder if the Performer is too expensive or the Professional is too cheap...
...and both those thoughts are correct. Performer should have had a price of $999 to put a $450 difference between it and the Professional, because $350 is just too close.
Performer Series are all great guitars, but the goof was in the pricing structure. If Fender knocks back Performer by $100 to a $999 price point, that will give the proper price point gap between models and make them all winners.
LED Christmas lights are still terrible
I'm glad you can still buy incandescent Christmas lights.
Recently, I watched a video where the guy described fairy lights as the best kind to have. They're called twinkling lights, and they're wonderful...
...but only if you get the incandescent kind and not LED.
I was fortunate enough to locate two 100-count of these in an Ace Hardware. It was the last two boxes the store had, so I was lucky to get them at all. And yes, they are wonderful and have that perfect warm glow for what Christmas lights are supposed to look like.
This is the exact set I bought. The online price for these things is a few bucks higher compared to the in-store price. My price was $7.99 a box locally, online price is about 5 bucks higher.
Worth it? Yes. As I said, these are what proper Christmas lights are supposed to look like.
Why LED is still awful for Christmas lights
Although LED uses less electricity and doesn't give off any heat you can feel, the light color and glow is just plain wrong. It's too bright and the colors aren't what they're supposed to be.
Proper Christmas lights are not supposed to be ridiculously bright since the entire purpose of them is to be decorative. They should have a soft, warm glow to them. White lights should have a silver or gold tint to them, and colored lights should have deep colors and only in red, gold, green and blue.
LED white lights have this beaming effect when lit and have no warm glow at all.
LED colored lights also have no warm glow and for some ridiculous reason have purple bulbs that just look terrible.
The LED version of twinkling lights also gets it completely wrong. They have an on/off blink like a switch, again no appreciable nice glow, and just look stupid.
I know why LED Christmas lights are still bad. It's because they have not caught up to where house lights are just yet.
For those that remember when LED light bulbs first appeared in the market, they were all one color. Stark, bright white. The kind that hurts your eyes just to look at it. After a few years and many complaints by consumers, bulb companies started producing "soft white" LED bulbs that are much more pleasing to the eye.
Christmas lights in the LED variety haven't come around to making string sets with softer light just yet. Eventually they will, but definitely not this year. When I perused all the Christmas LED lights, all of them were the same. Stark light, no warm glow, no fade in/out twinkling like the old sets had... yeah, someone has to go back to the drawing board there.
Presently, LED works best for outdoor Christmas light use, but definitely not indoor.
Best to stay with incandescent for indoor use until someone creates an LED set that has the right color, correct glow and hopefully correct twinkling effect too.
Line 6 Spider is more than good enough for metal guitar tones
I'm starting to believe naysayers of this amp really don't get how amps work.
I own a Line 6 Spider V 60 amp and am very happy with it. However, one thing I've seen a lot of is, of course, metalheads that say the amp sucks and can't do metal tones at all.
I beg to differ.
Metal is a music style I hardly even play anymore, but with just a few quick edits to a preset, I was able to get a fairly decent metal guitar tone out of the Spider V. With a Telecaster. A single-coil Telecaster. A Squier Bullet cheap-as-dirt Telecaster.
This something I was able to do with very little effort. One guitar, one Spider V amp plugged in direct over USB, nothing else.
Again, I used a cheap Tele. Can you imagine how this would sound if a rock guitar built for metal tones like the Schecter Hellraiser C-1 was used? Or maybe an Ibanez RG421AHM?
Believe me, the Spider V sings with some simple preset editing. Don't let anyone tell you different.
And remember, the Spider V Remote software is free by Line 6. It's on Line 6's software page. If editing presets direct from the amp is too much of a bother, just plug in to a computer and do it there instead.