Great PRS bargain - SE ST22
Low resale value = you win.
For three years, that being 2015-2017, a 22-fret version of the SE Standard existed.
You will be amazed by how low the price is for one of these.
Why so low? Easy answer. Everybody wants the 24-fret version, which you can get for a nice price.
Now I admit, the SE ST22 is a very barebones guitar. Two knobs, one pickup selector, fixed saddle positions with minimal intonation adjustment. But given the almost rock-bottom price for some of these, you can forgive the lack of features.
What's different with the 24-fret version, other than the fact it has 24 frets, is a Strat-style bridge with vibrato. Some PRS guys don't like that and prefer a top-loader, which you do get with the 22-fret version.
I'm not a PRS guy, but for me personally, I'd take the 22 over the 24 just for the top-loader reason alone.
Another really nice perk is that this guitar is not that old. At the time I write this, the oldest one you could possibly get is just 7 years old. In guitar years, that's barely a drop in the ocean where age is concerned. And what that means is you can find very pristine examples that basically aren't broken in at all and play like brand new guitars.
On a final note, does PRS still make a 22-fret SE new? Yes, but only in semi-hollow flavor, and with a Strat-style bridge.
If you want a top-loader solid body PRS SE in 22-fret flavor, the 2015-2017 SE ST22 is what to get.
This ZF Telecaster is as crazy as it looks
Some high-dollar fancy dan stuff here.
Firstly, I'll get this out of the way right up front. The Fender Custom Shop ZF Telecaster is not cheap. But at the same time you're getting something really special.
Secondly, if you like the idea of this guitar but want something without Fender Custom Shop pricing, consider the Charvel San Dimas Style 2 FR, where you get 22 frets instead of 21...
...and that's where I'll start with this Fender.
Yes, they put a Floyd-Rose system on guitar with a mid-60s profile "C" neck (with 12" fingerboard radius) that has just 21 frets. However, you do get a quartersawn neck for added stability, a very nice feature.
Bear in mind I prefer 21-fret necks, but on a guitar with a Floyd-Rose on it? Definitely different.
I actually really like the overall look of this Telecaster. Obviously very modern, but is built to be a player's guitar first, and I like that. It's really nice this guitar isn't "loud" in appearance.
The pickups loaded into this Fender are ones I'd actually choose myself. Seymour Duncan SH1 '59 for the neck side, Texas Special for the bridge side (which can be had as its own set).
And yes, the neck side humbucker does have coil tap thanks to an included S-1 switch.
You do have to part with a big wad of cash to get this guitar, but again, it is special and it's built as a player's guitar.
I'll also remind again that the Charvel alternative exists, and I'm going to end this with a few words about that guitar.
That Charvel does have a rear belly cut, does have 22 frets, is USA built, the Floyd-Rose system is "Original" (the best version of it that can handle the most abuse), and its neck is "faster" than the Fender with a 12"-16" compound radius.
Is the Charvel as special as the Fender? No. If you want special, you want the Fender. But if you want a modernist Telecaster shape guitar that plays like greased lightning, then the Charvel is the better option.
Can you get away with not shielding an electric guitar?
This is an electric guitar subject you're not supposed to talk about, but I'm talking about it.
Over many years it has been pounded in our brains that for any, and I mean any electric guitar, it must be shielded. No ifs, ands or buts about it...
...but do you have to?
Before answering that, there are guitar players that "build" (as in part together) guitars and never bother shielding the electronics. Is that due to not knowing how to do it? No, because shielding is easy. Is it due to cost? No, because copper shielding tape is cheap. Is it due to laziness? Also a no.
The main reason some don't shield is because it can alter the way the pickups sound.
Truth be told, if your solder connections are done properly, your cable management is in order, your output jack is a Switchcraft, the grounding is good, and you're using thicker modern wiring (as in formvar coated wires, a thermoplastic resin, and not cloth coated stuff)... you may in fact be able to get away with no shielding at all.
Does this mean you will end up with a guitar that has massive amounts of electronics buzzing?
Possibly not.
A good example of this are entry level Squier Bullet Strat guitars. Yes, they are shielded, but just barely. Many of them only have cheap shielding tape covering the volume pots and maybe the pickup selector with no conductive shielding paint in the electronics cavities whatsoever.
For the ones with a humbucker pickup on the bridge side, I seriously doubt you would hear much more electronics noise if you simply removed the shielding entirely since there's barely any to begin with. The single-coil pickups would most likely blast out electronics noise, but the humbucker would probably still sound okay without too much noise. Or at least okay for a dirt cheap humbucker pickup.
Is there truly a difference in tone when the electronics are not shielded?
Some guitar (and bass) players swear that the "purest" tone you can get is when there is no shielding and the pickup is wired directly to the output jack. Yes, I mean no tone control, no volume control. When you plug in, that guitar or bass is "always on 10" all the time. If you want volume control, you would have to use a volume pedal.
Guys who put together guitars and basses this way sincerely believe that anything interrupting the signal, which they believe includes shielding, takes away articulation from the pickup. And what that means is the belief that shielding somehow "disconnects" the pickup from outputting its true potential, so to speak.
Then there are other guys who put together a more standardized electronics setup with volume and tone controls, add the shielding, and the guitar to their ears doesn't sound right. The shielding is removed, and they hear a positive difference in tone, so they just leave the guitar that way.
Am I brave enough to no-shield it?
With a single-coil Strat, no.
However, I have entertained the idea of parting together a two-humbucker guitar.
I play mostly clean tones these days, and it would be interesting to see if not shielding the instrument at all would result in something I'd enjoy playing.
Would I do the wired-direct-to-output-jack thing? No. I like having volume and tone controls. But I would wire mine in a minimalist way. Two pickups, one pickup switch, one volume, one tone.
And if with no shielding it blasted out noise, well, that's not really a problem since I can just add shielding to quiet things down.
Remember that shielding is never mandatory. If parting a guitar together (particularly with humbucker pickups), try it without shielding first as it might work for you. If not and things get too noisy, add the shielding in.
Why spend Fender Jim Root money when you could go Squier?
A modern style Tele that brings the thunder.
I was inspired to write this one per a discussion I had on Twitter about this guitar.
The Squier Contemporary Telecaster RH looks like an odd duck in the Squier lineup - until you realize this is the next best thing to the Fender Jim Root Telecaster without having to spend Fender money to get it.
Firstly, RH does not mean Right-Handed, even though it is. RH means Rail Humbucker, which is what is loaded into the Squier on the bridge side, meaning it's technically an HH. However, if you've never experienced a pickup with rails in it instead of pole pieces, the immediately advantage is absolutely no drop in volume no matter how hard you play.
I'll explain.
When you pluck a string, it obviously vibrates. The harder you pluck, the wider the vibration gets. When the string vibrates widely enough from very hard plucking, the strings (particularly the wound ones) can get away from the pole pieces they hover over, causing a momentary volume loss. Pickups with rails don't have this issue. Every pluck, no matter how wide the vibration gets, never has a volume loss. The sound gets louder with harder play, just as you'd expect it to.
Second, there is a belly cut on the rear, meaning the body won't cut into you during play when seated or standing.
Third, there is a sculpted heel on the back for very easy higher fret access.
You also get jumbo frets, sealed tuners, graphite nut, and although you can barely see it from the photo, knurled flat-top metal knobs (those are the best Tele style knobs).
This Squier is a modernist Telecaster for sure and is made for hard rock and metal.
My style of guitar? Not at all, but I'm glad it's in the Squier lineup. At first I didn't really get why it exists, but then when I compared it to the Fender Jim Root model, then I understood. I'm not saying the RH is the Squier version of the Root Tele, because it's not. But for a rock/metal specific Tele, this Squier delivers in all the right ways and needs no upgrades at all.
Three colors for this guitar. Pearl White (seen above), Shoreline Gold and Gunmetal Metallic. I actually do like the gold one. You wouldn't think blacked out hardware would work with the gold, but it actually does.
Lekato Looper Review with audio import tutorial
Transparency notice: Lekato sent this looper pedal to me for free for review. Consider this a sponsored article.
Lekato reached out to me and asked if I wanted to review a product of theirs. I said yes, and I'm glad I did.
Full disclosure: Lekato sent me the pedal for free. While they did not pay me, they did send me a pedal at no charge, so you can consider this a sponsored review.
You can find the pedal here, and they also have an Amazon store where they have a whole bunch of other recording and guitar stuff.
This is going to be different than other looper pedal reviews in that it will also include an audio import tutorial. But before getting into that, let's talk about the looper pedal I chose.
For the price this pedal sells for, you do get your money's worth. The pedal worked out of the box and it's very easy to get along with. Loopers are supposed to be easy, and this one definitely is.
The case is metal and the pedal overall has good weight to it. This combined with the rubber feet on the bottom means it won't go sliding all over the place, which is nice.
The footswitch, knob and button are actually really nice. Usually it's the case where the footswitch is too stiff or too loose. The Lekato pedal got the footswitch just right on theirs. It can be operated by hand (for on-the-desk use) or by foot with no problem at all.
It is easy to read the pedal display from a standing position, which is a huge plus.
I do like that the pedal has undo and redo. Many loopers have undo. but not too many at this price point have redo. This one does.
The "sync" feature (which means "start recording when it hears audio") is a nice thing to have. I consider it mandatory on any looper, this pedal has it, and it works great.
The only thing I can think of that some may not care for is that the pedal I chose supports a maximum of 3 loops, however, there is a 9-loop version. Does it cost more than the 3 loop version? Yes, but the price still stays nice and low. If you need more than 3 loops, get the 9; it appears to operate the same as the 3 does.
This pedal is quiet (meaning not noisy), operation is easy, and again, you get your money's worth with this. Other loopers that sell for way more than do way less.
I can genuinely recommend the Lekato looper. It's better than other loopers that barely have any features at all, and for the features it does have, you won't be spending hours learning this thing. All it takes is a few minutes. Again, it's easy, and easy is good.
Importing audio
The video tutorial below shows the start-to-finish process of importing audio into the Lekato looper, but here is a basic rundown to make an audio file work with the pedal:
Download and install Audacity.
Bring an audio file into Audacity, be it MP3 or WAV.
Resample to 48000Hz by clicking Tracks > Resample, select 48000Hz, and click OK.
Mix stereo to mono (if necessary) by clicking Tracks > Mix > Mix Stereo Down to Mono,
Set the bit rate to 24-bit by clicking the audio track header > Format > 24-bit PCM. If you can't find this, the video below shows it.
Export to WAV by clicking File > Export > Export as WAV. The file name has to be named 1.wav, 2.wav or 3.wav for the Lekato pedal to read it properly.
Copy the WAV to the Lekato pedal.
Power on the pedal, select the loop and play.
Again, if you are unable to follow one or more steps above, watch the video below. I go through every step of the process.