Pearloid pick guards are dopey but cool
I think pearloid a.k.a. "mother of toilet seat" has come around to the point where it's cool again. It's still dopey due to it being an obvious fake fancy. But when I look at it now, I think yeah, not bad and I like it again. As you see on the Squier Classic Vibe '70s Stratocaster (only on the black one), it can work.
What do I mean by fake fancy? Let's talk about that.
A while ago (possibly about a year?), I bought a pair of Skechers Vigor sneakers because they offer a wide size and have a nice unassuming appearance to them.
The sneakers arrive in the mail, I put them on, and they fit but at the same time they didn't.
I figured these things are new so they have to be broken in. I tried wearing them for a few days but they still felt wrong.
I made a decision at that point.
I rarely buy Oreos or cookies in general, but when I saw the Oreo Space Dunk cookies, yeah I had to get them.
It was actually the appearance that sold me on them because it looks like an '80s arcade. You've got the packaging with the big 3-D SPACE DUNK letters on it, starry night in the background, and so on. The cookie itself has a spaceship on it. It totally works.
I went to buy some strings recently, and the Epiphone Firebird was there hanging on the wall. Yeah, I had to try it out. I have a video of me noodling around with it below.
Even though I don't like tuners on the bottom of the headstock, I actually really liked how this thing played and sounded.
For the longest time I've thought about getting an Explorer style guitar (it would be the Schecter E-1 if I went for it), but there's just more cool factor to the Firebird.
This guitar definitely looks the part. When it comes to a ES-335ish size, sound and feel, I don't think you can do much better than the Harley Benton HB-35.
Yes, this is a real-deal archtop.
Yes, the finish is actual high gloss.
Yes, it has neck-thru construction.
The F-holes are real and not fake, meaning it's an actual semi-hollow.
The price? That's the best part.
