Guitar of the Week #57 - Oscar Schmidt OE30CH

A challenger to the Epiphone Dot Studio appears.

When it comes to semi-hollow guitars, the champion as far as value is concerned is the Epiphone Dot Studio. However, now you have an alternative that's $100 less, the Oscar Schmidt OE30CH.

If you ever wanted a Gibson ES-335 style guitar for as cheap as you can get it while still getting a decent axe for the money, I don't think you can do any better than Oscar Schmidt's "Delta King" series guitars.

The OE30CH has everything that makes a 335-style guitar work. From a lightweight semi-hollow body to the proper red stain finish to the properly voiced pickups, yes, this guitar nails it.

Better than a high-end ES-335? Obviously not. The question is whether this guitar is as good as the Dot Studio.

I'd actually say it's better than the Dot Studio for several reasons.

First, the OE30CH has body and F-hole binding on it while the Dot Studio does not.

Second, the OE30CH has four controls and the pickup selector on the top horn while the Dot Studio does not.

Third, the OE30CH has fret markers on the fretboard while the Dot Studio does not.

You get more guitar for the money over the Epiphone. The only thing you don't get is resale value. The Epiphone, solely based on brand name alone, is worth more than the Oscar Schmidt is. But in the end, are you buying a guitar for resale value or to actually play the thing?

As a player's guitar, the Oscar Schmidt is the better instrument over the Dot Studio, no question about it. You simply get more.

Guitar of the week #56 - Epiphone Emperor Swingster

A nice lower-cost alternative to a Gretsch.

The Epiphone Emperor Swingster has a cool name and a nice price for what it is.

Let's say for the moment you're really wanting a Gretsch G6120, but you see that price tag and say, "WHOA! Can't afford that!" That's when you start looking at the Swingster because it has a similar vibe for a much nicer price.

The Swingster is a hollow-body that's easy to get along with. It sounds like a hollow-body should sound and the Bigsby vibrato is predictable in a good way.

To note: The necks are different between Swingster and the limited edition "Blue Royale" model. The Royale has a slimmer "SlimTaper D" shape. What that basically means is that if you want a thinner neck, get the Royale version. As for fingerboard radius, it's 12-inch on all Swingsters.

Premium grade Grover tuners are on all Swingsters. The regular Swingster has Grover 14:1 ratio tuners and the Royale model has 18:1 ratio Grover Roto-Matic tuners. I can say with confidence you would be happy with either.

Both guitars have "SwingBucker" pickups with AlNiCo V magnets in them.

The Bigsby system loaded in to all Swingsters is the B30 model.

For what it sells for, you do get a lot of guitar for the money with the Swingster.

And again, if you think the guitar sells for too much, just look at the price of a Gretsch G6120. A Swingster is a bargain in comparison.

Reconnecting with the Stratocaster

You always go back to the basics.

The first guitar shape I ever played was a Strat. It wasn't a Squier, but a friend of mine had this really cheesy silver Yamaha Strat copy where I said to myself, "I have got to get me one of these!" A few weeks later I had a red Squier Strat, and I've had it ever since.

I've tried different guitars over the years with varying pickup configurations. The Jazzmaster, which I still own, was the guitar I thought was going to be my new #1.

Nope.

It's the Strat.

Lately I've been reconnecting with the guitar, playing it more and more, and I might pick up another one soon, which may be another Squier or possibly an SX brand.

Why get another Strat? Because it will be new. Mine is a 27-year-old guitar. Most electric guitars don't survive more than 10 years, never mind 20 or close to 30 as mine is.

While there is the possibility I may have some work done to my '89 Strat soon to make it more playable (more on that in a moment,) it has definitely achieved patina status.

Not only is there patina in the look but also the sound of the guitar. It now has a tone to it that some people would pay big money for.

I did have the most fun on Strat guitars

Back in February 2011, I bought a Squier Bullet Strat in Arctic White, which at the time I write this is still made. I took to YouTube with that guitar and people that have been subscribed to my YouTube channel for years remember it very well.

Why did I trade it out? The same reason I got rid of my first Jazzmaster for another one. I wore out the frets.

Before anyone says anything, no, I do not re-fret guitars. I don't care how "easy" you think it is. It's not easy for me.

And for those of you who say, "If you didn't buy cheap guitars, you wouldn't wear out frets so fast." Wrong. Very wrong.

Here's why:

A quick 101 on fret wire (I may write a full article about this later)

The most common fret wire for guitars is nickel/silver. No matter where the wire is made and no matter what the wire size is, I will wear it down quick.

My only option to have fret wire that lasts longer is to use stainless steel frets. That stuff lasts much longer than nickel/silver does...

...but that fret wire material is, as far as I know, not standard equipment on any Fender Standard Stratocaster, be it Mexico or American made.

In the end, whether I buy a Squier or a Fender, the frets wear down at the same rate, more or less. Maybe the Fender will take slightly longer for it to happen, but it will still happen.

Better to have a $150 guitar with worn down frets after 3 years that you can trade out and not care about instead of a $1,500 one.

And yes, my red Strat's frets are all sorts of worn out, fret dents and all. I may be sending it to a luthier for a complete re-fret, and yes the new fret wire would be stainless steel. I don't know if I am for-sure sending the guitar out for that job or not, but if I do, I will certainly write about it here.

Like I was saying...

...I did have the most fun playing Strat guitars. And it was actually weird that some people on the internet got a little mad at me for trading out the Bullet Strat. Some of my viewers really took to that guitar and liked seeing me with it.

The keyword here however is fun. Now while I really like playing the Jazzmaster, it's not a guitar you can beat around like a Strat. I found that out first hand when I wore out the frets almost too fast on the original red Jazz I had.

Basically, I can't keep buying a new Jazzmaster every 2 years, especially since the damned things are now $400 (Squier put on a major price hike for that particular model.) As much as I love the Jazz, it's now cost prohibitive.

However, I can keep buying Strats, and there are some brands where I can grab one for $150 or less. That's certainly better than $400.

Thankfully, there are Squier Strats and Strat copies that still sell cheap

There's Squier, Xaviere, Rondo brands Hadean and SX, Bacchus, Jay Turser and others. There is no shortage of Strat copies out there. All have their little quirks and slight differences, but in the end, a Strat can be had cheap.

I don't plan on going dirt cheap. There are some $99 Strat copies out there and I doubt there's anything good for that price. But for $150, I should be able to get something decent.

Will I recondition my red Strat as my "#1"?

Some of you out there might ask that question, and the answer is maybe.

Why maybe?

If it's to be I send this guitar off to a luthier for repair, I will have to have him see if the wood is still stable, because I'm fairly certain my Squier's body is plywood.

Now contrary to popular belief, plywood is not bad for a guitar body and never was. Heck, mine has lasted almost 30 years, so I think that pretty much proves it works. However, I don't know how stable the wood is, particularly at the neck pocket.

The neck as far as I can tell is fine, aside from the worn down frets. No issues there. But I've no idea how a ply body holds up after 27 years. If the guitar gets to a luthier, I'll have him remove the neck, check to see if there are any stress fractures, warping or other bad stuff going on there.

If everything checks out, then yeah, I may just simply have my first guitar fixed up to be my #1, conditionally. The condition is I won't take it out to perform with live, but I would use it for studio recording.

Regardless of what happens to the red guitar, there may be a new Strat in the barn soon. And it might not be a Squier this time around.

Why is guitar intonation so important?

Guitar intonation can be the deciding factor not only when buying a guitar from the guitar store, but also be the thing that makes you fall in or out of love with a guitar you already own.

On my first guitar (I still own it), my '89 Squier II Stratocaster, you can guess with fair accuracy just by looking at it that it is intonated correctly.

The vast majority of 6-string electric guitars are designed to be used with a string set that has 3 unwound strings, that being the 1/E, 2/B 3/G, and 3 wound strings, that being the 4/D, 5/A and 6/E.

The saddles from left to right look like two sets of stairs. That is the pattern of a properly intonated electric. It is not a Fender nor a Gibson thing. It's an electric guitar thing. When you see the saddles, be they Fender-style bent steel, Fender-style block, Gibson-style wedges/knife edges or whatever it is, if they appear to be in the pattern of two sets of stairs with an incline of left-to-right from bass strings to treble strings, chances are pretty good the guitar is properly intonated.

Why is it important to know this?

If you go to any guitar store and examine Fender vs. Squier, or to be more specific, American (meaning not Mexico) Fender vs. Squier, it's usually true that all the USA Fenders are intonated correctly and NONE of the Squiers are.

This automatically means the Fender will sound better just for the fact chords will be more in tune when the strings are tuned to pitch. The Squier on the other hand will sound "slightly out" until the intonation has been set properly, as will any other low-cost guitar.

An example of physically seeing bad intonation

What I see in the guitar store sometimes in the used area will be a guitar where one saddle will be much further away or back compared to the others. That guitar guaranteed to sound terrible because it's not intonated properly at all. Whoever owned it previously absolutely did not know how to intonate the guitar properly.

This is not exclusive to used guitars, as this happens on new models too. And not just the cheap new models, either. I've also unfortunately seen my fair share of new Fender Mexico electrics where the saddles were never adjusted for proper intonation. One time I picked up a new-model '70s Stratocaster at a guitar store, and noticed the 1/E saddle intonation screw was almost falling out because it was so loose. The Fender Mexico factory actually delivered the guitar like that, because nobody at the guitar store would purposely set a screw that loose. Bear in mind the '70s Strat sells for over $800 new.

If you're asking yourself the question, "Does this mean part of the cost for an American Fender is just to actually have a guitar delivered that's set up right?"

Answer: Unfortunately, yes. I call it unfortunate because properly set up Mexico Fender models play just as good as American models.

On guitar brands other than Fender, you will sometimes see a sticker or hangtag that states "SET UP IN USA." That doesn't mean the guitar was constructed in America, but it was set up by a USA guitar tech before being delivered to the store. I guarantee that guitar will play and sound properly no matter what the price tag says, even if it's just a $299 instrument. Why? Because a proper setup makes that much of a difference.

Should you even bother trying out a guitar that hasn't been intonated?

Yes, because you may really like the guitar even if chords sound bad due to slight off-notes due to intonation not being set.

All you basically need to know is how to spot bad intonation before picking the guitar up so you know what to expect.

When should you re-intonate a guitar you already have?

Assuming that:

1. You're not doing anything overly drastic such as switching out a 9-42 size string set for an 11 or 12-gauge set...
2. Your saddles stay put and don't vibrate/rattle out of place from regular play, and...
3. The neck wood on your guitar is stable...

...you should not have to re-intonate.

This is not to say that you only need to intonate a guitar you own once, just once and never again. There will come a point when you will need to re-intonate it, even if only for small adjustments.

A guitar you own that "falls out" of intonation is one you will quickly grow to hate. While it won't sound bad, having an instrument sound slightly out-of-tune even when the strings are in tune will drive you nuts - even so much to the point where you won't even want to play it anymore.

For those of you that need a specific time reference, if the setup on your guitar hasn't changed (including string size choice,) the general rule of thumb is to check the intonation once a year.

What can fix intonation problems?

Replacement tuners. This actually fixes tuning and not intonation issues, but can be perceived by the player (you) as intonation issues. Having tuners with proper grip is obviously important.

Replacement string saddles. The replacement saddle itself isn't the cure for intonation here but rather the intonation set screw. If you've got an old string saddle or two that rattles out of place, outright replacing the saddle with new set screw cures that easily. If you find a loose set screw but don't want to replace the entire saddle, teflon thread seal tape works. Yes, the same stuff you use when installing a shower head. It's thin and light enough to be applied to a set screw and work. It also cures screw rattles very neatly as well. However, it's not a permanent solution. The tape will eventually fail. But until you get replacement saddles, it works fine for a temporary solution.

Guitar of the week #55 - Epiphone DR-100

Best acoustic guitar value? It just might be.

I've mentioned the Epiphone DR-100 before just because of how low the price is for one. It's actually cheaper than a Squier Bullet Strat, and I'm not kidding. And shockingly, it's a decent, well-made acoustic.

The DR-100 is an all-acoustic guitar, meaning it's not electrified whatsoever. There's no preamp, no battery and nothing to plug in. If you want to electrify it, buy a Seymour Duncan Woody pickup, although if you intend to record at home, you're better off using a traditional microphone (it will sound better, trust me).

I can say with all honesty that just about anyone would be happy with a DR-100. It's made well, it's cheap, and it's easy-to-play.

All you need to know about the DR-100 is that it's a mahogany body with spruce top; this means it will project nicely, ring notes and chords true and provide years of enjoyment.

Lastly, I will say this is a "chorder" acoustic. With the traditional dreadnought shape, you're not supposed to play anywhere near the 12th fret or above due to the fact there is no cutaway. This is fine because pretty much any note after the 9th fret on a full-size dreadnought doesn't ring out very well, so it's really not a big deal.

In other words, when playing a full-size dreadnought, "think acoustically". Don't do ridiculous soloing nonsense that you would on the electric, and you'll be in a good shape.