Cheap import guitar of the week #11 - SX Furrian Maple Neck Ash NA
While I am a fan of the Squier CV Tele, this is the next best thing if you're really stretched for cash.
The best under-$400 Telecaster that exists right now is the Squier Classic Vibe 50's Telecaster in Butterscotch Blonde; it's a guitar so good that many believe it is the best guitar Squier makes - and that's no joke. The CV 50's is a no-brainer purchase, and I can even recommend buying it without trying it first. Yes, it's that good.
What's the next best thing after the Squier CV 50's? The SX Furrian MN Ash NA. It's under $150 new and is a darned good guitar.
Better than the Squier Affinity Tele? Yes. Not only it is cheaper than the Affinity, it has better hardware and better wood selection and a belly cut in the back of the body, which is a big deal. Some guys don't like the Tele body because of the lack of a belly cut. The SX has it, just like a Strat would.
Now to note, what I mean by "better wood selection" is that in a natural finish, that ash body just looks really good on the SX. It's a nice hunk of wood that will look good on your guitar stand, and you'll also like it when playing it.
As far as a well-built Telecasters go that are south of $500, Squier is the king with the CV 50's. You can't get a better Telecaster for that kind of money.
SX takes up the lower price point with its Furrian MN Ash NA. For a well-built Telecaster south of $150 new, nothing can touch the Furrian.
Furrians sell out quick and routinely go out-of-stock because they sell so fast. If you want a good, cheap Tele, get one now.
Double Take, and how my bass playing has improved
Above is a new song I released, Double Take (because there are two camera shots in the video), and I have a few words about how my bass playing is better now along with how it got better.
Video: Double Take
I'm no stranger to bass guitars and bought my first one back when I was a teenager for $368. It's long gone now and that's fine because I neglected that bass big time.
I currently own a Yamaha RBX170EW, and I take care of my bass a whole lot better these days. :)
The difference between the way I play bass then compared to now is that I'm 100% about the finger style. Playing bass with a pick is something I used to do all the time, and now I don't do that at all and play using only fingers.
My preferred style of bass play is Bernard Edwards. You probably have no idea who that is, and that's okay. He was the bass player for Chic (pronounced like "sheek".) If you listen to Le Freak by that band, you can hear where the inspiration for my present bass tone comes from. Instead of a ballsy, in-your-face punchy sound, I now prefer short-attack notes with "honk" to them. With the P/J pickup layout, I purposely turn down the P pickup slightly so the J comes through, then roll the tone off. In addition, I also employ the use of ghost notes (percussive mutes) and spacing out my notes to get more flavor in the mix, so to speak.
I, obviously, am not that great of a bass player. But I was really happy to get at least a somewhat-Bernard sound going on with what I have.
My Bernard-style of play works really well with the less-distorted sound for guitar I'm using these days.
When I get bored of the guitar, I pick up a bass
Although the RBX170 is my bass of choice, I'd probably just be as happy with a Squier Affinity P/J or a Squier Precision Bass. Heck, I'd probably even be happy with a really cheap SX bass.
I'd be lying if I said I don't get bored with the guitar from time to time. I do. When I do, I grab the bass.
What I learned a while ago is that the cure for guitar boredom is not more guitars. When guitar boredom happens, a different guitar doesn't help. What I need is something different, and a bass certainly qualifies. It's bigger in every way, has a very different sound and requires (for me, anyway,) a very different playing style. That's different, which is good.
If you get bored with the guitar sometimes, get a bass of your own. That, and real bass guitar always sounds better for your recordings compared to keyboard bass.
Cheap import guitar of the week #10 - Chibson B.B. King "Lucille" guitar
This one is being posted by request.
Someone emailed me and mentioned that there are China copies of the Gibson B.B. King "Lucille" guitar. This guitar, like many (if not all) of the other ones I've posted so far, is cheap to buy..
For comparison on price, check out the cost of one of these in an Epiphone flavor. The China copy Chibson is, of course, significantly less in price. As for the real-deal Gibson price, yeah, it's up there.
Personally, I don't like "Lucille" because it is a bit of an electronics nightmare, and you really have to know what this guitar does before buying one, no matter whether it's a Chibson, Epiphone or Gibson.
Now while I won't get into the super-nitty-gritty details of what this guitar does, what it does have (or at least is supposed to have), is stereophonic output. That's not the problem. The problem is the Vari-Tone knob. Most guitar players have no clue what this does.
"Lucille" has electronics that are, as far as I know, based off a Gibson ES-345. What Vari-Tone electronics do is allow you to have selectable capacitors that "color" the sound differently. The differences in sound are subtle, and it's nothing like a Stratocaster's 5-way blade selector. On a Strat, when you use the blade, you are physically changing which pickup you're using. With a Vari-Tone, you're not doing that and instead letting a different capacitor change the sound of the guitar.
I cannot describe in words what the change in tone sounds like when you have selectable capacitors. You have to have a bit of a trained ear to really know what to listen for.
On the Jazzmaster and Jaguar, for example, both those guitars do in fact have a selectable capacitor, but only one for one setting, that being the rhythm circuit controls on the top horn. When you switch to that circuit, there is in fact a separate capacitor there that cuts off some treble, and the change in tone (at least to my ears) is very obvious. But again, that's just one separate setting. "Lucille" has 6.
If you like "Lucille," then by all means, go ahead and get one. I personally wouldn't in any flavor just because of the ridiculous amount of electronics it takes to make one work (meaning if one ever needed electronics repair, that would suck).
What I would suggest as an alternative that's relatively cheap and has way simpler electronics is the Epiphone Dot. If you like the larger archtop style but want something a whole lot simpler that can actually be worked on, the Dot is the guitar you want. Far easier to swap out/repair electronics and has a standard monophonic output jack.
If you want a "real" Lucille...
...you have to go Epiphone or Gibson since only those two brands do the electronics correctly as intended.
Cheap import guitar of the week #9 - Chibson Les Paul 1956 with P90 pickups
The Chibson rides again... this time in a gold top flavor with P90 pickups.
Oh, yeah. This one is nice. Nice and cheap. As in under $300 cheap, usually with free shipping. Doesn't get better than this when it comes to a Gibson Les Paul copy.
Now of course, since this is a China copy, and considering how cheap it is, don't expect a perfect guitar out of the box. However, from the customer reviews on copies like this, this is a safe one to get.
A Paul with P90s is a nice thing to have. I owned one at one point. You get a very nice "growly" sound, while at the same time having your clean tone come out a lot clearer. The single-coil pickups make a big difference here.
The gold top look with gold knobs and white-color singles? Classic. Definitely a good looker.
This is one of of the best-selling Paul copies, and it's easy to see why. Get one.
Want something nicer?
Of course you do, and you probably want a warranty with your guitar too. See what Epiphone has with P90s. They're really knocking it out of the park in a good way these days.
Cheap import guitar of the week #8 - Chwashburn Paul Stanley PS1800
I'd actually prefer this over the real thing just because I could beat it up.
The real-deal Washburn Paul Stanley PS1800 guitar is expensive. No, it is not an Ibanez, meaning not a PS120 Iceman. This is a Washburn.
Washburn does make some fine guitars. Truly, they do. The PS1800 is higher in price because of "PAUL STANLEY", but when you look at other models, such as the Washburn XMDLX2TNG, you'll be shocked at how low the price is for a genuinely good guitar. Seriously, check it out. And it's not a knockoff, but rather a real-deal Washburn.
The China knockoff version (meaning not Washburn, not Ibanez and just a copy) would be a nice guitar just to thrash around with something different without spending a lot.