The weirdness and awesomeness of Fender Japan
In America, we sometimes see a few Fender Japan guitars make their way into guitar stores. Most of the time, it's for a signature model such as the Fender Mustang Kurt Cobain signature model; that's a Japan build 100%.
However, there are plenty of other Fender Japan models, such as the Telecaster TL69, that you will only find in specialty guitar shops, or online-only.
A lot of what Fender Japan makes are home runs. But then there are certain models that are weird for one reason or another.
Here are a few of them. Both the hits and the misses.
Songwriting tip: Start with the bass guitar first
If you want to make the songwriting process go faster, put down the guitar temporarily and pick up a bass.
If the song is over 20 years old, a kid most likely has never heard it and thinks it's yours
House Of 1,000 Pleasures is a song from the band E-Z-O. It's from their debut album, and you probably never heard of it until you heard it here. How did I find out about it? A friend of mine let me borrow a compact cassette of it back when it was new in 1992. And where did he get it from? No idea, I never asked. Probably some other kid he knew.
Why I own a backup GPS, and how to get maps for free
I've been a GPS user since 2005, and recently I bought a backup unit, a Garmin nuvi 255. The price was a little over 30 bucks. Used, of course.
7 things you should know before buying a vintage electric guitar
My standard advice to anyone thinking of buying a vintage solid-body electric guitar is this:
Don't do it.
But being there are going to be those of you who are going to do it anyway, this is a list of things you need to know before buying one.