Simple vs. complicated guitars

Is having a complicated electric guitar any better than a simple one? Let's find out.

Take a B.C. Rich "Perfect 10" Bich 10-string; it is one of the most complicated electric guitars you can buy, and in fact is on my list of guitars you should never buy, mainly due its ridiculous gaggle of electronics.

It could be argued that I also play a complicated guitar, the Jazzmaster. The Jazz is a 2-circuit guitar that confuses the crap out of a lot of players. While it's nowhere near as complicated as the 10-string Bich is, players do get that deer-in-the-headlights look when they see the Jazzmaster's 6 controls.

One of the simplest electric guitars I know of is the Epiphone Les Paul Junior. One pickup, one volume control, one tone control and nothing else.

The only guitar I know of that's even simpler than the Les Paul Junior is the Kramer Baretta Special (also inexpensive); it only has one knob.

Which is the better of the two?

The simple guitar, obviously. The less crap on a guitar you have to worry about, the more you can concentrate on making music with it instead of fiddling around with the controls that serve to distract you more than anything else.

Also, the simple guitar is the best for stage, because bringing out a complicated piece of equipment into a performing environment just generally isn't a good idea. You will even notice that several "signature" guitars from various guitar brands exist where all the complicated stuff has been engineered right out of it, and all that remains is usually just one pickup and one or two knob controls. Fender "Jim Root" guitars are designed like that.

Is a super-simple guitar the best guitar?

This depends on the type of player you are.

If you are the type who loves to experiment with effects, a super-simple axe is the best kind because you can "tune" all your effects to a guitar with a tone that does not change. When "tuning" all your effects, this is actually really important because if the guitar's tone changes, all your effects need to be "re-tuned" again.

If you don't use tons of effects, the super-simple guitar is not the best. Instead, you would prefer what many thousands of other guitar players like, the simple two-pickup guitar.

An example of this is a guitar I just featured recently, the Fender Mustang 90. Or you could go with a Telecaster. Or maybe something cheap and good with humbuckers like an Ibanez GRX20.

The 2-pickup guitar with one volume control, one tone control and no vibrato system is the best for most players. A guitar like that is the no-hassle axe many players go for. In addition, the 2-pickup 1/1 control guitar is easily ready for stage use, even if the guitar was bought new for under $200.

In the end, you can go for the super-simple axe if you like, but it's probably true not having a front (as in "neck") pickup will bother you. It would certainly bother me.

As for complicated axes, yeah my Jazzmaster falls into that category, but then again, so does a Les Paul Standard because of its 5 controls (4 knobs, 1 switch). And there are a lot of players who do forget which knob does what on a Les Paul.

I personally love the Jazzmaster in all its complicated goodness, but there are times when I really appreciate the simplicity of a Telecaster, which is why at some point I will be buying another one.

My recommendation is that if you want something simple, stick to the 2-pickup 1/1 control layout; it's a tried-and-true formula that works very nicely.

Guitar of the week #81 - Fender Mustang 90

Less fancy and overall better this time around.

Let's talk about the "Little Fender That Could", the Fender Mustang. There is a model that a lot of guitar players will very much like, the Fender Mustang 90.

This guitar is a very basic axe. We have two "MP-90" pickups (more on that in a moment) and 22 medium jumbo frets on a short scale 24-inch neck. Controls are just one volume, one tone and a pickup selector. There is absolutely no vibrato system. The strings are Telecaster-like thru-body mount.

This is a really different Mustang compared to how they're traditionally supposed to be.

What's a traditional Mustang? Strangely, only Squier makes one at the moment. If you want the "phase slider" switches above the pickups and the vibrato system, you have to go Squier.

The production run Fender on the other hand is really, really simplified. But as I said above, some players will really like this guitar.

What makes the Mustang 90 a winner are two things. The neck and the pickups.

The neck has a smooth, silky satin urethane finish on it. If you thought a short scale neck was easy-to-play, this is even easier.

Then there are the MP-90 pickups.

"MP" means "Modern Player". For those of you that remember, there was the China-made Fender Modern Player Mustang which is now out-of-production.

I have heard the MP-90 pickups before. Not in the Mustang but in the Fender Modern Player Jaguar (also out-of-production). It is a good pickup. You will hear good response and a raspy tone, which is typical of the P90 pickup.

To be blunt, I really didn't care for the look of the Modern Player Mustang. It was a fine guitar, but when I saw it in person, I just didn't care for it. It didn't matter whether it was in Sonic Blue or Honey Burst, it just didn't work.

The Mustang 90 on the other hand gets it right.

On the headstock, the "transition" Fender logo (which is different than the "spaghetti" logo) really works here. The pearloid pick guard works nicely. The black-cover pickups are a much better choice instead of white.

Basically, what I'm saying is that the Mustang 90 ticks all the right boxes in the looks department and is a straight-up good guitar for pretty much any style of music.

It is the suits-any-music-style thing that makes the Mustang 90 good.

If you liked the Fender Jaguar but found yourself fighting with the vibrato system and considered the sound too trebly, I can absolutely say with 100% confidence that you will like this guitar better. If short scale is your thing, the Mustang 90 is one of the best things going. It is totally a plug-in-and-go guitar.

If you are not sure if the Mustang is for you, try out a Fender or Squier Jaguar first. Don't even bother plugging it in. Just noodle around on the neck and see how it feels. If it feels good, you'll like the Mustang. If it doesn't, consider an Epiphone ES-339 P90 instead (a Les Paul-sized version of the ES-335 with P90 pickups in it at a nice price).

Bonus: Makes for an EXCELLENT first guitar

The Mustang 90 is one of the very few Fender-branded guitars that I can say works amazingly well as a first guitar. Because it has no vibrato system, regular sealed tuners (which makes for easier string changes) and a smaller body, oh yeah, this is absolutely a fantastic starter axe.

Ordinarily I would never recommend a Fender as a beginner guitar and suggest Squier instead. However, Squier does not make a guitar like the Mustang 90. There is no guitar in the Squier lineup that has a short scale neck without a vibrato system, and that's where the Fender really shines through. Furthermore, the only way to get the simplicity of the Mustang 90 in a Squier (as in the one volume/one tone setup) is with a Telecaster.

Purists may knock the Mustang 90 as being too simplified, but I think it totally works. There are 3 colors available, all good (although I like the red one best).

Guitar of the week #80 - Hagstrom Super Swede Special Run

This is truly a swingin' axe.

Take the Hagstrom Super Swede. This guitar is from a brand you've probably heard of before, and it's available in a very nice finish called Champagne Sparkle. In addition, it's got shiny hardware that works very nicely with the color.

The single-cutaway shape certainly won't be confused with a Gibson Les Paul because of the extra chrome bits on the body, distinctive headstock shape, and distinctive tuner buttons.

Think of this guitar as to what would happen if you put Gibson and Gretsch design together, as this guitar does take design cues from each and makes it work quite well.

Is the body and neck bound? Yes.

Does the sparkle finish cover the entire body both for the front and back? Yes.

Are the pickups real-deal P90s? Yes.

Quick specs

Remember, this is a Hagstrom, so this is good stuff.

• Mahogany body
• Carved maple top
• Mahogany set neck
• "H-Expander" truss rod (allows for super-low action)
• Resinator fingerboard with 15" radius (yes, 15, that's not a typo)
• 22 medium jumbo frets
• GraphTech TUSQ nut
• "Long Travel" Tune-O-Matic bridge with Hagstrom stop tailpiece
• 18:1 tuning keys

Like I said, you do get the good stuff when you buy Hagstrom.

The Swedes know how to build guitars

Hagstrom is a Swedish brand and they've been around since 1958 if you can believe it. If you know this brand at all, you're probably thinking, "Wait a minute. I thought Super Swede models only came with humbuckers". Ordinarily, yes they do. But the one pictured at top is a special run model in Champagne Sparkle with P90s.

...meaning when you look around, one will pop up with glorious P90s in it even now and then. But it should also be said the humbucker versions are glorious too.

Is blues guitar dead?

I think this was predicted back in the '90s.

There was a show called In Living Color that ran for 5 years from 1990 to 1994. The character of blues great Calhoun Tubbs was introduced in the first season. Calhoun's whole shtick was that he'd been a blues player for over 75 years, and every song he ever wrote sounded the same.

Does all blues guitar music basically sound the same?

Yes.

Here are 5 reasons nobody wants to hear you play the blues:

1. Blues is depressing

Blues is by its very definition is a depressing form of music. Last I knew, nobody likes being depressed.

2. You are not Stevie Ray Vaughan and nobody wants to hear a clone

There's the Stevie Ray Vaughan curse where a guitar player pours a bunch of time and money into becoming the perfect SRV clone. One who does this says it is for his own personal enjoyment, but that's a lie. He does it to impress other guitar players. As I've said before and will say again, never play guitar to impress other guitar players. Do. Not. Do. That.

Here's a good reason never to bother with learning SRV songs and styles: Have you ever noticed SRV himself ran out of material real early?

Look at Little Sister and Pride and Joy. SAME SONG. The only difference is one is played at a different speed than the other and THAT'S IT. Otherwise it's the same riff and same chords.

You'll also notice SRV had little variety in his soloing style. Not only did he keep playing the same riffs in the same key over and over, he also played the same solo lines over and over as well.

If SRV ran out of things to write with blues on electric guitar, what makes you think you can do any better?

3. People hate guitar solos

Blues guitar music is full of solos. Tons of them. Even more so than metal, and that's saying something. Not something necessarily good, but saying something.

Take out the solo for any blues guitar song and see what you're left with. Not much.

Even worse is the fact that blues guitar solos, much like blues guitar riffs, pretty much all sound the same. "Pentatonic hell", if you will.

4. Every single thing that could be done with blues guitar music has been done

There is absolutely nothing you can play with blues that has not been done before by other people at least 100,000 times.

And this leads to...

5. The internet peanut gallery will always accuse you of sounding like someone else

You've bought the guitar gear. You've learned the riffs. You've learned the solos. And after months if not years of practicing, you've finally become good. You put a song together, record it, and it's the most awesome blues song ever...

...but when you publish it, it's absolutely guaranteed some idiot will say, "Nice song. Sounds just like [insert famous blues guitarist here]." But you know it doesn't. It sounds totally original, right?

Wrong.

In reality, the idiot who posted the comment was right. See #4 above.

So is blues dead?

Some parts of America will most likely always feature blues music. Chicago, Austin, Memphis and so on will by tradition have their blues scenes for a long time to come.

Unless you physically live somewhere that has an established blues scene, then yes, blues is totally dead.

For example, Tampa Florida where I live has no blues scene that I know of. When you think "blues", the city of Tampa is obviously not the first place that comes to mind. Maybe that will change in the future, but I seriously doubt it. Tampa, much like just about every other major city in America, will never see any kind of blues scene.

Should you stop playing blues?

You can play whatever you want because I'm not the boss of you. But don't ever plan on making a career out of it unless you live in one of those towns with an established blues scene.

On a final note, I'll just say that if your goal is to make a living playing guitar, stop playing blues right now and start playing country music instead. Country sells. Blues doesn't.

Guitar of the week #79 - Gibson Firebird Zero

Well. This is different.

The first thing I'll say about this guitar is that the price is right, especially for USA-built guitar that has a nitro finish on it. I can tell right up front that the Zero is priced very aggressively to gain interest; it certainly got my attention.

What we have here is a poplar body Firebird shape, a glued-in neck with a SlimTaper shape (like an SG) that has 22 frets, simple 3-way pickup switching, USA-made "double slugs" pickups, mini-button tuners, and my favorite part, an adjustable wraparound bridge.

I've owned a Les Paul with a wraparound bridge before, but the one I had was the non-adjustable kind where the intonation points were permanent. I really like the idea of a wraparound bridge but really don't like the non-adjustable style. Without question, the adjustable wraparound bridge is my favorite feature of the Zero because being able to fine tune your intonation is definitely a good thing.

My second favorite part of the guitar is that all the strings have a straight path to the tuning posts. This means very little "kinking" in the nut when the strings get old and promotes greater tuning stability.

My third favorite part of this guitar is its simplicity. This is a back-to-basics rock machine. Two pickups, no vibrato, no coil tap/split, two knobs completely out of the way of the pickup area. All good...

...and it also means that for modders, swapping out the pickups is actually really easy since the wiring is so simple.

There are two negatives I can see with the Zero design.

First is the output jack. It's on the front and right on the corner of the pick guard. You just know some people are going to knock that when a cable is plugged in and crack that right off.

Second, this guitar is just begging for strap locks because of its shape. Fortunately, strap locks are cheap so it's not a big deal to buy some separately.

Does this body shape have a neck dive problem? I don't believe so. True, the top horn is nowhere near the 12th fret, but the body is a good chunk of wood that sticks out far away from the horn, meaning it should balance out evenly when wearing the guitar standing.

My visual nitpicks

I have two.

The all-black pickup treatment is a little dull. It would have been nice to see zebra humbuckers or some chrome covers.

I do wish the fret markers were anything other than dots. Blocks such as on the Gibson SG Special T or trapezoids that are seen on any Les Paul Standard would have worked amazing here.

HOWEVER... this leads to my next point:

The Zero is priced amazing for what it is

This is a totally accessible, totally awesome Gibson USA rock machine. You just can't deny how good the price is. Any complaint I have about this guitar is canceled right out because of its aggressive pricing.

Do I predict these will sell out quick? Yes. I've no doubt of this whatsoever. Designed right, outfitted right, priced right, USA-made. It really doesn't get better than this.