Ridiculous: Ibanez Altstar ALT30
Well, at least it's not expensive.
I will first give credit to Ibanez for at least trying something different. But the Altstar in Purple Iris Burst gets a little too wacky.
Firstly, yes there are other colors that look a lot better than the purple thing above. Black, Brown Burst and Open Pore Natural to name a few...
...but the purple one is the wackiest of the bunch.
Purple on a guitar either totally works or totally doesn't. This one totally doesn't.
I'm sure the guitar is built well, but the combination of purple with brown at the bridge and jagged style inlay markers... yeah, this is going a bit too far with "alternative styling".
Ibanez is no stranger to wacky designs nor purple, and sometimes they get both done right. A great example of this is the Ibanez Paul Gilbert Signature FRM300PR in purple. Polarizing shape, to be sure, but the purple treatment is done very well there.
As for the purple Altstar, no. Doesn't work. But fortunately there are better color options to choose from.
SX Hawk in Lake Placid Blue is good
Good guitar. Priced right.
The SX Hawk from Rondo in New Hampshire arrived. After some setup and what I call standard Stratocaster fixes, the guitar now sounds and plays right.
I'll mention these fixes first before getting into the guitar and what I think of it.
My Standard Stratocaster Fixes
When I first set up a Stratocaster type guitar, I of course change the strings, adjust the string saddles, adjust the neck relief and so on.
After that, however, there are a few additional things I do, if necessary.
1. Replacement of the string tree spacer
On many Stratocaster type guitars - including ones made by Fender themselves - for some stupid reason it's common practice to have the B and high-E string tree spacer way too short. What this does is place those two strings almost flush to the headstock, thereby increasing the break angle from the nut and making the strings feel too tight when tuned to pitch.
If you look at just about any string tree kit, you'll see the tree (as in the string guide) itself, screws and usually two spacers. One spacer is taller and the other shorter in case you have a two-tree setup.
I use the taller spacer. Too-tight B and high-E string problem solved, and the B and high-E strings stay in their nut slots just fine as they should.
These spacers can be found at Home Depot or Lowe's, by the way. They're usually in nylon in a white color. But if you can't find them there or can't find the right size, just by a string tree kit with two spacers and use the taller one.
2. Getting the pickup springs to shut up
The vast majority of Stratocaster type guitars use springs under the pick guard to hold up the pickups. A standard practice is to replace the springs with a small length of surgical tubing. This specific tubing is used because it's softer and easier to work with compared to a different type like aquarium tubing.
However, my solution is much simpler and allows to keep using the existing springs. Teflon tape, also known as shower tape. As in the stuff you use when installing a shower head in the bathroom. This stuff is dirt cheap and available at any department or hardware store. Take the spring, wrap 1 or 2 layers of Teflon tape over it, done. Reinstall pickup springs.
This tape is thin, cancels out any noise those springs may make, is plenty flexible, lasts a very long time (basically the life of the guitar) and allows adjusting pickup height exactly the same as before. There's no difference except the spring ringing is gone.
3. Getting the rear claw tremolo springs to shut up
Two options here.
If the tremolo isn't used, wrap in Teflon tape just like the pickup springs.
If the tremolo is used, take an old guitar string, bend in half so you create a loop at the bend point, tear off a piece of paper towel, then use the loop you made to pull the paper towel through the spring. All the ringing will be muffled by the paper towel and you can still use the springs normally. In addition, the paper towel is completely hidden by the spring itself since it's on the inside of the coil. Job done.
My take on the SX Hawk
This is the guitar you buy when you want a Strat with a thicker neck with more shoulder that doesn't feel like a boat oar. I just talked about thickness vs. shoulder recently concerning guitar necks, and the Hawk has both.
With Fender, you'll notice that you only get a "deep C" thickness when you step up to the American Professional II model Stratocaster. It costs a lot of money to spend just to get a neck with some chunk to it from Fender.
With Squier, it is actually their cheapest model that has a neck with chunk to it, the Bullet.
So you're left with the choice of either going expensive or dirt cheap if staying within the Fender brands of Fender or Squier...
...or you can just get an SX Hawk, which is what I did. Thicker neck, flatter fretboard (either 12" or 14" radius), jumbo frets, cheaper than a Squier Bullet with close to the same build quality as a Squier Classic Vibe Stratocaster.
Is the Hawk perfect? No. Setup was needed. The springs had some nasty ringing going on, so I took care of that. The B/high-E string tree spacer was too high, so I replaced that. And then it was good.
The best compliment I can give the guitar is that you're getting way more than its asking price. I like it, the weight is right, the neck feels right, the sound is good enough for what it is.
My only real complaint is that the pickups don't have all that much personality to them, so a pickup change may be in my Hawk's future.
Given how low the price of the guitar is, one could argue that this guitar was made to be modded. It's certainly good enough as-is, but the Hawk is also a fantastic project guitar for modding.
Other things I can say about the Hawk is that the tuners are just as good as any other mid-tier guitar out there, controls are smooth and everything works. I also didn't find any finish flaws anywhere, and the Lake Placid Blue has the right shade of blue and right amount of metallic flake to it. Looks great.
The Big Question...
...is whether you like a thicker neck with more shoulder to it or not if you're thinking about getting one of these.
This best way you can answer this question is this: Does the Squier Classic Vibe Stratocaster neck feel too thin? If the answer is yes, then get an SX Hawk. You will have to set up the guitar yourself and might have to do a few little things to it that I mentioned above, but it's still a great guitar all around.
Guitar neck thickness vs. shoulder
This is yet another reason why you can't determine how a guitar neck feels by numbers and/or letters alone.
I've talked before about electric guitar neck shapes. The ones I'm going to talk about here are C, D and U.
In very basic terms, these are how those three neck shapes work:
C: Semi-circle.
D: A wider C with a flatter back.
U: A deeper C. Sometimes much deeper. Not to be confused with a deep C profile.
Some believe that the shoulder of the neck counts more than the actual thickness of it where playing comfort is concerned.
These are my thoughts on that.
Better to have "squat" shoulders than hardly any shoulder at all?
Thin D and U have what I call squat shoulders. Thin C has little shoulder to it.
My fret hand complains whenever I play a neck that has a thin C shape. Not during play, but afterward. I get a dulling pain/soreness just under the index finger palm-side. That's my hand saying "don't play that shape". When I don't and stick to thicker necks with actual shoulder to them, my fret hand doesn't complain at all and I'm fine.
But if I played a thin neck with squat shoulders, such as the Gretsch Electromatic Jet with its thin U shaped neck, would just the shoulder without the thickness be enough to keep my fret hand from complaining?
I honestly don't know. I'd have to own such a guitar, set it up to my liking and then play it for some time (at least a week) to see if my fret hand would complain or not.
What I do know however is that from limited experience (as in trying the guitar out in the guitar store), my fret hand seems to like the Jackson "speed" neck profile, which to the best of my knowledge is a thin-ish D shape. This neck is even on the cheap Jackson JS Dinky.
Does this mean I'll get a Jackson JS Dinky at some point? Maybe. It's certainly less in price by several hundred dollars compared to the Gretsch, but doesn't look as cool. I do wish Jackson would put their Monarkh headstock on a Dinky model. That would look oh-so nice. The Monarkh has one of the best looking headstock designs I've ever seen, but unfortunately is on the totally wrong body shape. Definitely needs to be put on a Dinky model. Maybe call it the Monarkhy. Okay, bad idea for a name, but if anybody from Jackson reads this, please, make a low-cost (as in entry level) Dinky with the Monarkh headstock on it.
Aside from that...
Shoulder (unless I find something that proves otherwise) isn't enough
Thin with no shoulder is no-go territory for me.
Thin with squat shoulders such as with a Gretsch thin U or Jackson thin D? Maybe.
Thick with shoulder? To date, this has always worked for me.
However, this is not to say that I would be 100% comfortable with an "early '50s" Gibson D neck shape or "late '70s" Fender U neck shape, both of which are seriously chunky.
What I am saying is that I don't get along with modern thin C neck shapes, and that maybe I can get along with a thin neck as long as it's not a C. Time will tell from guitars I try (and possibly buy) in the future.
The last of the old school Garmins
I'm writing this on the last day of 2021, Dec 31, New Year's Eve. I had some ups and downs with Garmin GPSes this year.
Yes, I bought a Drive 52. This is the very last of the old school Garmin GPSes for cars. It has a matte screen (and is in fact the very last matte screen model), still uses the mini USB plug and not the USB-C, and also uses the 17mm ball mount. What this means is that my existing mounts and charge cords will work with it, whereas with the newer DriveSmart 66 will not.
Is the 52 good? Yes. It works with the GTM36 or GTM60 to get traffic data with no phone required. Everything is legible and all the annoying alerts can be thankfully turned off. The only one remaining annoyance is that any location marked as a favorite always appears on the map whenever driving by it with no way to turn it off. The workaround is to use a POI list with a 100% transparent icon.
Goodbye 2021
This year involved me being "just done" with certain things.
Just done (sort of?): Guitars
The most guitars I ever owned in my life was 7. It's now down to 3. Two are fully functional (my two '89 Squier Strats) and one is the non-functional '93 Fender USA Stratocaster which I will someday put back together.
The 4th Strat will arrive in January '22, a new SX Hawk for reasons I said before, and hopefully that will be a good one.
While variety is the spice of life, Strats just work and that's why I went back to them. I actually tried to do this with a Fender back in August, but it just didn't feel right no matter how I adjusted it - never mind the fact I had to play 5 of the things just to find one that didn't have issues.
Just done: Watches
Casio W218. I bought one with a fabric strap, didn't like the strap, bought a resin strap version, liked it, and then bought a second one a week later. I liked it that much that I got a backup. Both were just a hair over $16 each. The cost is $16 to $20 at the time I write this.
The W218 display does not have LCD washout, the night light is great, it's very light and very legible. It also looks G-SHOCK like in appearance. Can't beat that for the price it sells for.
Just done: GPS
New in the barn this year is the Garmin Drive 52. Prior to that I tried the Garmin DriveSmart 55... twice. It was a mistake both times because that unit just runs too hot.
I should have bought the 52 in the first place, as that is the last old school Garmin that exists. It uses the older style USB power port, has a matte screen for minimal glare and just works great.
I've got a bunch of Garmin GPSes in my possession, and my favorite is the nuvi 2599. Big fonts including big highway exit numbers, the fastest of all that I own... great unit. However, it lacks one thing the 52 has, which is a Turns list that shows on the map while navigating. I do own the DriveSmart 50LMTHD which does have that feature, but the no-go for that is that the highway exit number display is tiny, making it almost unusable.
The Drive 52, while not having fonts as large as the 2599, is legible. Moreover, all annoyances can be disabled easily. I'm specifically speaking of notifications for school zones, curves, railroad crossings, and so on. All that crap can be disabled and you can just drive without the thing bleeping and blooping at you constantly.
There is the DriveSmart 66. Nice, but I can't use it. It has a new mount style and USB-C is required. This means my existing mount and all my Garmin cords (including the ones with traffic data reception) can't be used with it. But I can use all my older stuff with the 52, hence why I got it. It's like the 55 but in a matte screen and doesn't run hot. It works.
Looking to the future...
I'm considering doing a live stream on YouTube. I've had the ability to do that for a while now but have never tried it.
If I do decide to go for it, I'll definitely need a headset with mic and a new webcam. And I'll have to spend some good coin on the headset because I need the type with the big cups. It also has to be wired because worrying about batteries just to use a headset is stupid.
This is my last entry for 2021. You'll see the next in 2022. Hopefully, '22 will be a great year.