Cheap import guitar of the week #3 - Chickenbacker (or Chinabacker) 4003 bass copy
The Chickenbacker (or Chinabacker, if you prefer) is a Rickenbacker 4003 copy. For some, this is the only way to actually afford a bass of this design.
If you want a real Rickenbacker 4003 bass guitar, you're going to pay and pay big.
Is the 4003 some magical, super-duper-pooper instrument worthy of its price tag? Rickenbacker 4003 owners say it is, but in all honesty, not really. It's a weird bass with a weird feel, weird controls and a weird tone to it. Rick owners love them, but I personally think the tried-and-true Fender Jazz Bass is a much better instrument. The Mexico-made Fender '70s Jazz is a seriously great bass. The Squier Vintage Modified Jazz Bass '70s is also great. Both are easy players that anyone can pick up and get great bass tones out of.
Or, you can do what I do and get a cheap bass with a P/J pickup layout like the Yamaha RBX170EW I own. (The P/J layout is one of the most versatile as far as passive bass electronics are concerned. Remember, the split-coil P pickup is technically a humbucker, so there's no single-coil noise, and you still get all the great bass tone from it.)
What the 4003 has however over the Fender Jazz is an amazingly cool look to it. The problem is that to get it, you have to pay an insanely high price tag - but not with the Chickenbacker.
Although most bass players won't admit this, they do routinely buy Chickenbacker 4003 copies because they simply can't justify spending one to two grand or more on the real thing.
From what I understand, the Chickenbacker isn't wired like a traditional 4003 at all, and instead has Les Paul style wiring in it. For guitar players, that's actually a bonus because it's a familiar electronics layout which is easy to work on. For bass players on the other hand, not-so much.
You buy a Chickenbacker for one reason. It looks cool. The 4003 style is just a cool looking bass guitar. And since Rickenbacker does not offer import builds as far as I'm aware, the Chickenbacker is your only option for those that want a 4003 for cheap.
Bass players who own real 4003's scoff at Chickenbackers. But you can't deny the very nice price tag, and that's why 4003 copies sell well.
Why do signature guitars keep getting released if everyone hates them?
You can squarely place the blame on Fender for this one.
Take the Premium Steve Vai Signature Series 7-String. What's so "premium" about it? I've no idea. But it has Vai's name on it. This guitar is obviously not the first signature series, and if you were to look back to where this all started, it began at Fender with the Yngwie Malmsteen Stratocaster along with the Eric Clapton Signature Stratocaster. After Fender started doing it, everyone started doing it.
Do signature guitars sell?
This is the part that makes everyone cringe. Yes, they do. And in fact, they serve not one but several purposes.
First is star power. A known artist's name brings attention to the product, that being the guitar.
Second is brand power. Star power + known guitar maker = easy sell.
Third is brand awareness. People may know the artist but not the brand of guitar, but when they see their favorite artist on a specific brand of guitar, that makes the guitar more desirable and sells better. It also helps sell regular run models that look similar to the signature series guitar.
Fourth is an easy paycheck for the artist. You've seen signature guitars aplenty from artists who haven't released so much as a single song in years or possibly decades - yet there are still new guitars with their name on it. You're seeing the reverse of brand awareness at that point. Originally, the brand approached the artist so they could sell more guitars. Now, the brand actually supports the artist financially, so instead of artist bringing awareness to the brand, it's the brand bringing awareness to the artist. And as long as that artist's name continues to sell guitars, the brand will continue to use the name.
A really ugly side of the guitar business
If the guitar business had any respect for artists at all, they would cease producing guitars with that artist's name on them when that player dies. But there's no respect for the dead in the guitar biz. None at all.
What occurs is that when an artist shuffles off his mortal coil, it's usually true the family estate takes over. And since those running the estate appreciate being paid like anyone else, they will happily continue a licensing agreement with the guitar maker to keep getting paid.
The guitar maker could, if they wanted to, cease the agreement out of respect for the artist. Does that happen? Never. Gotta get paid!
As the old saying goes, nothing sells like a dead rock star.
Are signature guitars any good?
There are some signature guitars out there that actually are genuinely good. Here are a few of them.
Squier Simon Neil Stratocaster
This is a Classic Vibe '60s Squier Strat. The CV is already a great guitar on its own. What makes this one different is the one thing you can't get on a CV '60s, that being a Fiesta Red color option. This guitar has it, while the regular '60s has Candy Apple Red. And what's even better is that you don't have to pay extra for it, as it's the same price as a regular run CV '60s. So if you gotta have that Fiesta Red on a great Strat guitar, this is worth getting.
For Jag fans, this is "the Jaguar that should have been", except they don't have to dream about it, because it exists and you can buy it right now.
Basically put, this is a hot-rodded Jag. Gone are the toggle switches on the bottom horn and replaced with a blade selector, top horn switching redone and well as other goodies. Compared to most signature guitars which are name-only with very minor changes, this Jag absolutely has had some major mods done to it. These mods are not only tastefully done, but also benefit the player.
Ibanez NDM3 "Noodles" Wasserman
This guitar is dripping with cool. Very unique, wonderful look, tasteful design, packed with a pair of single-coil pickups and a genuine twang monster. Fixed bridge and straight strings after the nut means this this will stay in tune and you can wail on it all you want.
The NDM3 is just a great design. Stupidly easy to string up, stupidly easy to play, and the best part is that it's for anyone young or old. For what it is, the price isn't too bad, either.
Dean Michael Schenker Kaleidoscope
I know, I know... this guitar is not everyone's preferred look. But then again, that's the whole point of this guitar.
If you want the absolute easiest way to get noticed with whatever band you are in, this guitar will do it. Not only that, but nobody will be able to copy your guitar's look either unless they buy one of the exact same kind.
You will be known as "that guy with the crazy-looking guitar." And that's not a bad thing. Even if you're not in a band and just post videos on YouTube, you'll get noticed when playing this thing.
Basically, this is just your standard hardtail V-style guitar with a wild finish on it. It's an easy player and priced well.
Squier Avril Lavigne Telecaster
I'll end this with the cheapest signature guitar I know of that's worth owning, the Avril Lavigne Telecaster.
Yes, this is marketed as a "girl's guitar", although it is an adult-sized Tele. What makes this guitar worth owning is that it has mods in it that are actually pretty nice. This is a guitar with a single humbucker and one master volume knob. The output jack is actually mounted directly on the control plate, making it really easy to snake a guitar cable through a guitar strap compared to the typical bottom-mounted jack on a regular Tele. The 3-position blade switches the humbucker from rear-coil to full humbucker to front coil. The tuners are in fact die-cast and are pretty nice for what this sells for.
And last but not least, the checkerboard pick guard is sure to grab attention. You won't miss the fact this guitar doesn't have a neck-side pickup, because it's meant to just plug in, go and wail on it. This is a guitar you can play while literally jumping around and you don't have to care because there's nothing getting in the way of your playing.
Squier should, in all honesty, release a non-Avril version of this, such as one with a plain pick guard and neck with dot markers on the fret board (don't worry, there are markers at the top of the neck so you know where you are.) There are plenty of Tele players who would genuinely appreciate the factory mods done to this guitar.
One last thing about the Avril Tele. I guarantee that unless your friends very specifically know the Squier model lineup, they won't know it's an Avril signature model. But even if they do find out, who cares? It's cheap, it's got good usable mods in it, it's ready-to-play and you can beat the crap out of it without worry. Sounds like a winner to me.
Cheap import guitar of the week #2 - Chibson Les Paul
It's time for a Gibson, er... I mean, Chibson Les Paul.
If you ever wanted to know whether or not Gibson was in real trouble concerning whether or not others can make what they make for real cheap, this is it.
Everyone knows that Gibson overprices their guitars, and there are loads of guitar players stupid enough to buy them. Everyone also knows that every year, China keeps getting better and better at copying Gibson design to the point where you simply can't tell the difference.
That telltale "scarf cut" on the neck that gave away a Chibson before? Gone. The headstock logo and diamond design not exactly matching up where it was supposed to? Now it does. Only someone with a really trained eye and a very intimate knowledge of how Gibson necks feel would be able to tell the difference. Otherwise, this one would fool a lot of people.
To actual Gibson owners...
Be mad all you want, because it won't change anything. Even if you get a bug up your backside, attempt to get that guitar removed from the internet and are actually successful at it, it doesn't matter because there will be another right around the corner to take its place.
If you want to blame anyone, blame Gibson for overpricing their poorly-built guitars. It is their overpricing that spawned the Chibson market to begin with.
Would I buy a Chibson?
No. I would buy an I would buy an Oscar Schmidt instead for one simple reason. It's only a few bucks more the same price as the Chibson, and it comes from an American distributor. This means if anything goes wrong with the guitar or if it arrives damaged or whatever, I have a legitimate contact to take care of such matters under warranty.
However, I know some of you are going to see that Chibson and probably buy it. If you do, my advice is to buy with the intent of throwing away the money.
This means that when you buy, approach it the same way as if you were buying a $200 lottery ticket. That lottery ticket may be a million-dollar winner. Or the ticket may be a loser and you end up with nothing. Sometimes you win. Sometimes you lose. When you buy a Chibson, that is the best approach to take. It's a gamble.
Will your gamble pay off where you end up with a great guitar? Maybe. The only way to find out is to go for it and see what happens.
Things I've learned by not listening to heavy metal anymore
For the longest time, I listened to nothing but a diet of metal. Those days are gone.
As a middle aged man, my tastes in music have changed quite a bit since my teens and 20s.
The main difference between a 20s and 40s guitar player is that the 20s guy is trying to be "cool" while the 40s guy isn't. And even if the 20s guy says "I'm not trying to be cool", that in itself is an attempt to be cool. If you don't understand what that means, you're probably in your 20s.
One of the most embarrassing things is seeing a guitar guy in his 40s that's still trying to be a metalhead. It just doesn't work. I've seen them scattered around. There are only 3 types. The first type is the big fat guy who is bald on top and has this nasty looking unwashed silver rat tail of hair hanging from the back of his head. The second is the gangly dude who is way too skinny, walks weird and is a former or current junkie of some kind, be it through drugs, alcohol or both. He has a full head of hair, but it looks like he combed it with a cheese grater. The third is a variation of the second where he dyes his hair jet black and slicks it to the point where it looks like plastic.
Metalhead chicks who get old are even worse. All those tattoos she got in her teens and 20s are now all stretched out and faded, she gained 100 to 200 pounds and has some nasty bingo wings that flap like a tattered flag, flabby cottage cheese breasts, a butt that looks like a worn out sofa cushion and has a big ol' gunt going on, a.k.a. FUPA. You can Google those if you want to know what they are. Be warned, it's not pretty. Don't say I didn't warn you.
When I was at NAMM 2015, I picked up a couple promotional shirts. One of them I didn't want but took anyway, and the second was one that I genuinely thought was a cool shirt. It's a black tee that has this wild graphic on it, and I was sure that I'd enjoy it.
I get home, put on the shirt and then go look in the mirror. What I saw in the reflection was a man wearing a shirt he has no business wearing. I saw a guy with some serious redneck NASCAR crapola going on.
Obviously, I've never worn the shirt in public. And I never will.
I won't say which guitar company made the shirt I thought looked good, but here's another shirt that looks similar to it. If you are over 40, or heck, even if you're over 30 and you think that shirt looks good, think again. It doesn't. Proper men don't wears shirts like that but rather shirts like this so one doesn't look like a complete idiot.
Side note: Not all tees are bad. It's the graphic ones that are dopey. The worst of the worst is the three wolf moon shirt. That shirt is so bad that it became an internet meme, and that's the only reason it's still for sale. It's now considered a joke shirt.
As a guitar player...
The deal with being a metalhead guitar player is there's this unwritten rule that you must listen to only metal, play only metal and do not deviate from that. Ever.
Yes, it is as stupid as it sounds.
Once I realized how stupid it was, that's when I started becoming a much better guitar player. I started listening to all sorts of different music, trying different styles, different scales, different everything, different guitars... it was a whole new world opened up to me.
Were I a metal player, I never would have bought a Jazzmaster and never discovered surf rock, rockabilly or any other number of styles I've listened to and taken inspiration from.
Do I still listen to metal? Rarely. Whenever I do, I literally get a headache from it after only a few minutes and I'm not kidding. I'll listen to a metal song or two just for a quick nostalgia fix, then go back to listening to stuff that doesn't sound like a cacophony of cats in heat.
Cheap import guitar of the week #1 - LED light-up acrylic Stratocaster
I've decided to start a new feature. Cheap import guitar of the week. This is the first one. I don't know if I'll be doing this every week (it depends what's out there), but I'll do my best to make this a weekly thing.
There are a lot of guitars out there that are import-only that never see the inside of a guitar store. These guitars are wacky, weird, and most importantly, cheap.
For my first cheap import of the week feature, I'm showing something flashy, that being an acrylic Strat with LED lights all over it including directly inside the fretboard.
Now if you've been following my blog posts for a while, you know I have no love for an acrylic-bodied guitar for basically one reason. Weight. Unless the guitar is chambered (which this one isn't), it will weigh a lot, so it's required to wear a well-padded strap if you take this thing to a gig.
However, this is a very cheap light-me-up that's sure to grab attention. For example, if you're playing a gig with this, you will get noticed more because this thing lights up, and that's the whole point of owning it. Cheap gimmick? Yes, but who cares? If you're trying to get noticed, you use whatever you can to be seen, and this guitar will certainly get you noticed.
Also, it's pretty much guaranteed you will be the only guy or girl anywhere with a light-up Strat that covers both the body and the fretboard markers.