Les Paul Telecaster hybrid
It's a Les Paul. It's a Telecaster. It's both!
Take the Agile AL-2500 TC, which is a combination of Les Paul and Telecaster designs put into one guitar...
...and it's cool.
This is a guitar that neither Fender nor Gibson could ever build, because if either of them did, the guitar community would go absolutely berserk. Both the Fender and Gibson purists would scream bloody murder if either of them "stole" designs from each other.
The AL-2500 TC is a Les Paul with its body shape made of solid mahogany, and that the neck is installed glue-in set neck style.
The AL-2500 TC is a Telecaster everywhere else. The strings mount through the body, the bridge and bridge pickup is total Telecaster, the neck is a P90 style, the knob control area is total Telecaster, and the neck is a 25.5" scale instead of a Gibson 24.75".
The only thing about the guitar that is neither Tele nor Les Paul is the fretboard radius. It's a super-flat 14".
Good guitar? Yes. Good price? Very much so.
Another guitar that "borrows" a design with no apologies...
...is the Jackson Monarkh. Yes, that is the way the model name is spelled and it is not a typo.
I've never liked the design of this guitar. Yeah, it's a good player, and there is a scoop cut in the back for very easy high-fret access. This guitar is a screamer. But I can't get past how much the headstock "argues" with the body. The body is very round and the headstock is very angular. Doesn't work. Not for me, anyway.
I actually really like the headstock design, truth be told. But just not on this guitar.
Are hybrid guitar designs a good idea?
Any hybrid guitar design is a good idea as long as it works. If the guitar does what it's supposed to do and makes for an instrument that's comfortable to play and sounds right, then it's good.
Both guitars above work. Sure, you'll draw the ire of guitar purists and snobs, but who cares? Play what you like.
Of the two above, I like the Agile better because it has single-coil pickups in it, and the headstock design agrees with the body shape a whole lot better.
The 3 best guitar forums on the internet
Most guitar forums on the internet are just plain awful. But there are three that are decent where you can actually discuss things on a civilized level.
To those who have never done the forum thing before
Larger forums have been around a long time and predate Facebook, Twitter and even YouTube. Heck, some are approaching the age where if the forum were a person, it would be almost old enough to drink.
As technology progresses on the internet, forums don't. The basic forum way of doing things was established in the late 1990s, and very little has changed. Older forums are the classic definition of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". There is a learning curve, and yes you can master it even if you've never used one before.
Are all guitar forums "related" to each other?
No, but many of the larger ones are. Two of the three below list themselves as "sister" sites to each other.
As you explore guitar forums across the internet, it is typical you will find these connections here and there. Totally normal.
It is also typical you will find forum regulars that bounce between forums, almost as if they're having one giant conversation across multiple sites.
The 3
These are the three where I've found the community to be actually helpful.
- TDPRI (discussion about the Telecaster guitar)
- Strat-Talk (discussion about the Stratocaster guitar)
- My Les Paul (discussion about the Les Paul guitar)
What is the best use of guitar forums?
Guitar technical information, guitar historical information and troubleshooting assistance.
With the three forums above, every single thing you could ever want to know about Stratocaster, Telecaster and Les Paul guitars is there. There is no stone unturned. There is no topic about those guitars that hasn't been discussed. Every model year, every pickup, every wood species ever used on production models, every little tidbit of info you ever wanted to know, all of it. It's there.
One could arguably say that if the guitar information you're looking for isn't contained within those three forums, it doesn't exist.
Why use old style forums when there's Facebook and Reddit?
The main reason is the ability to go back through 10+ years of archived discussions to find the information you're looking for.
A standard piece of advice anyone who uses forums regularly says is, "search first before you ask". So that's what you do. You sign up an account, start searching, and more often than not you'll find the info you were looking for.
Old posts can be found on Reddit and Facebook, but you'll run into broken threads often. With forums, the thread structure is kept over the years, and the only broken stuff will be images and linked external sites that no longer work. But the text is still all there, and that's what matters.
It is worth your time to get an account at one of these old forums, if for no other reason just to search old discussions for information purposes.
Cool things happen when you turn DOWN the guitar overdrive
An exercise in going for a Deep Purple sound shows how cool a guitar can sound with minimal overdrive or distortion.
Recently, I was on a Deep Purple kick and decided to record a song. This is actually the first time I've gone for a Ritchie Blackmore sound using a Telecaster, and it totally worked.
But it's how I made it work that's the important part.
A common mistake a lot of guitar players make is using too much overdrive and/or distortion, resulting in a muddy tone that sounds terrible. For rock tones on Stratocaster and Telecaster guitars with only single-coil pickups, using less overdrive works a whole lot better - if note drop-off is accommodated for with compression.
I've said a bunch of times and will say it again that having a compressor in your collection of guitar effects is a very, very handy thing to have. In the effects chain, I always put it first. The only time I wouldn't is if I used a wah-wah pedal.
Part of the reason some guys chase after specific amps with tubes is to get natural amp compression. But even if you have a tube amp that has that tone, it has to be cranked up real loud in order to hear it. Using a compressor can get you "that sound" without blowing out the windows.
Using my DigiTech RP360, I'm able to set up exactly what I want, which includes putting the compressor first in the effects chain, albeit a digital one. So whether you use traditional analog pedals or digital means, the way to set up compression is the same.
When the compressor is engaged, the overdrive can be turned down and I still get a decidedly good rock tone. Yes, it's totally true I let the Telecaster "twang out". I didn't even attempt to hide the twang of the guitar and let all the trebly, clacky sound come right through. It worked out just fine.
I will eventually complete the song as it is unfinished. But I really wanted to show off the low-overdrive cool sound of the Telecaster played in a Blackmore-ish style.
Ibanez SA460QM has luxury guitar features for cheap
This is definitely an Ibanez that's a diamond in the rough.
It continually amazes me how sometimes certain guitar makers release guitars that are packed with luxury features for so little money, and the Ibanez SA460QM is one such example.
Now when I say "luxury features", that refers to both things that are for appearance and for function. Some guitars are built just for ornamental reasons and others for just utility. But this one has both.
For appearance, the two standouts here are the body binding with abalone ornamentation (as in a nice shiny/sparkly line that follows the body binding,) and matched burst headstock to the body. Ibanez could have just painted the headstock black and that would have worked, but they went the extra mile and matched the burst seen on the body. Very nice touch. And of course, the quilted top really works here.
For utility, that's basically the entire rest of the guitar. This axe features my favorite output jack ever on top of the body (think of it as a modernized Stratocaster jack, it's really nice,) bridge made of good steel, a well-balanced pickup set, great tuners, a body with arched top, and near-perfect body balancing (you'll never get neck dive on this guitar.) The neck is a bolt-on, but there is no neck plate, which is something usually reserved for higher end guitars. And the bottom horn is also scooped for easier high fret access. This axe is just loaded with goodies.
The best feature however is that this is an every-player guitar with nice luxury bits while still being just a great guitar overall. The SA460QM suits any player age, any play style and fits in any genre. That can't be said for many guitars, but can be said for this one.
Oh, and the price. For what you get, it is truly not expensive.
Pick this one up. It's a keeper.
Casio AW80 is the best cheap gentleman's ana-digi watch
This is the only ana-digi I own. And it's a good one.
The Casio AW80 is an ana-digi watch that's cheap and comes in many flavors. Resin strap, metal bracelet, fabric strap, white dial, black dial, silver dial, blue dial, black bezel, bronze bezel, red bezel, blue bezel, some with arabics, some with partial arabics, and so on, and so on. The one in particular I have is the 5BV model with the bronze bezel and tan fabric strap secured with Velcro. The 1BV is the black version of that and the 3BV a green version.
A very easy way to tell AW80 models from one another is that AW80 means resin strap, AW80D means metal bracelet, and AW80V means fabric strap with Velcro.
Every AW80 works exactly the same, as they all have module 2747. This module features 3 alarms with one snooze, countdown timer, chronograph, world time feature that supports many time zones, DST recognition, full auto calendar, hourly signal.
The oddball feature of the AW80 is Telememo. Yes, it has it, just like some Casio Databank watch models. The AW80 allows up to 30 records that can contain name and number data. Will you ever use this feature? Probably not. But then again, maybe you will. It would be particularly good for storing passcodes to electronic gate systems (ex: you drive up to a gate and a passcode is needed to open it) or anywhere where you have to punch in a short code and need to be reminded of it. None of the Telememo records you input on the AW80 are protected, but who would ever guess your watch had a Telememo feature to begin with to look for such information?
I will tell you the #1 complaint about this watch. The night light. The light is bright and can be easily read in the dark, that's not the problem. The problem is that only the analog face is illuminated and not the LCD panel.
The #2 biggest complaint is the way the analog clock is set. It's not automatic. You have to manually set it, and in the way the analog works here, the minute hand ticks forward every 20 seconds instead of every 1 minute. Yes, weird, but that's the way this watch does things.
Note that a seconds hand does not exist. This is fine because you can toggle between showing day-date and digital time that shows seconds on the LCD panel.
The #3 biggest complaint is the crystal. It's acrylic and domed. But then again, for this price point it's not like you're going to get a sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating.
Why is the Casio AW80 the best cheap gentleman's watch?
Reason 1: It's a 40!
The 9-to-3 measurement of the case is 40mm. Amazon lists this incorrectly as 38mm. I measured the case myself. It's absolutely a 40mm...
...which is considered by many to be the perfect watch size. Not too big, not too small. And because the dial is designed where there's a lot of bezel before the dial actually starts, this results in a look that has near-perfect proportions.
Consider the Rolex Submariner unless stated otherwise is a 40mm. The reason the proportions of that watch work so well is because the dial is smaller to accommodate for the surrounding dive time bezel.
While the AW80 doesn't have a rotating bezel, the design character is similar and it totally works.
Reason 2: Very legible dial
Time and date is very easy to read on the AW80 regardless of which model you get.
Legibility is only an issue for the smaller segments of the LCD panel. Namely, SIG and SNZ on the left (for hourly signal and snooze alarm) and AL1 and AL2 on the right (for alarm 1 and alarm 2.)
And yes, between the hours of 5 and 7, the hands do get in the way of the LCD, but that's a common issue with all ana-digi watches. The question is whether or not the LCD is unreadable when the analog hands are over the display. And that answer to that is the LCD is still plenty readable even when the hour and/or minute hand is directly over the panel.
Reason 3: "Hidden" side buttons
The button design on the AW80 is amazing. They're large and easy to press, but at the same time don't stick out in an ugly way. If I didn't just mention the buttons, you wouldn't have even seen them in the photo above.
Reason 4: Countdown timer
I mentioned this above but will again because having a watch with a countdown timer is very useful. Many people use this feature as a cooking timer. I personally can't wear a watch these days without a countdown timer on it.
Reason 5: Forward or reverse number scrolling
A lot of Casio watches only scroll digital numbers forward. Using the countdown timer as the example, if you want to set a timer of 20 minutes and accidentally scroll to 21, you have to press and hold a button until the minutes scroll all the way to 59, back to 0, then back to 20 again.
On the AW80 you can scroll forward or reverse. So if you accidentally set a timer to 21 minutes when you wanted 20, all it takes is one button press to go back 1 digit.
Reason 6: Ritzy looking amber night light
The night light, while it doesn't illuminate the LCD, is a dual bulb in a gold-like amber color. It just looks good and has a nice warm appearance to it, similar to gold Christmas lights (that's a good thing.)
Reason 7: Styled right
The AW80 is the right size and right weight. But what makes it a good gentleman's watch more than anything else is its reserved styling.
On the dial of the AW80 - at least for the 5BV model - are 3 printed features. Illuminator, 10 Year Battery, and WR (Water Resist) 50M. But the way it's done is not loud. It's much more subtle, thankfully.
All the printed stuff on the AW80 is purposely kept low-key, even including the Casio logo itself which is kept on the smaller side. The AW80V models in particular actually have the "busiest" dials with big hour numbers, 24-hour time smaller hour numbers, arrows at 12-3-6-9 and a detailed minute track. But amazingly, it all works and doesn't look like clown shoes.
How does the Casio AW80 compare to other ana-digi watches of a similar price?
The closest match to my AW80 is the Timex Expedition Chronograph T45181. That timepiece definitely has a more outdoorsy appearance to it, and the bezel does in fact rotate. It also has a nylon strap, which by the way has a width of 20mm, making for easy strap changes to an alternative strap of your choice if you wish.
What throws people for a loop is that this particular Timex is actually a 39mm. Yes, that means the Casio is technically larger than the Timex by a small amount.
However, the point is that as far as ana-digi watches go, the T45181 is a nice option. The curved LCD panel just looks cool. Obviously, the watch has the famous Timex Indiglo nightlight. But like the Casio, it only illuminates the analog dial and not the digital panel.
The best part about the Timex is that the crystal is recessed, making it less prone to scratches compared to the AW80's domed crystal.
Ultimately, I still choose the Casio. The digital portion is larger and the watch lays flatter on my wrist, which is important to me, given I have skinny wrists. I also think the AW80 just looks better than the Timex does.