Peavey Session has a secret hidden weapon
If you want the best gigging guitar for the cheapest price that has a better-than-average level of build quality, it's the Peavey Session for one very specific reason...
...the neck.
Before I get into that, Peavey has absolutely one of the coolest headstock designs ever put on an electric guitar. The "wave" at the end really sets it apart from other designs and it's very well thought out. Also, the Session has a beveled body, recessed control knobs (you'll never hit them accidentally,) and body binding.
But the neck is where the magic happens. It's a 5-bolt, but it gets even better than that. There's a graphite composite nut and a compound fingerboard radius also. But that's not the cool part either.
The cool part is the neck has dual carbon fiber inserts for added reinforcement.
Let me explain how important this is.
A problem that anyone who gigs regularly faces routinely are neck shifts, be it from humidity, hot stage lights and so on. This is what makes the Gibson Les Paul such an awful gigging guitar, as the mahogany set neck on it shifts so easily that at times it's almost unplayable.
With Fender guitars, you have the option of blowing a bunch of cash on a model with a quartersawn maple neck, such as the Eric Johnson Stratocaster.
But then there's the Peavey Session. It costs way less and actually has a neck that is better suited for gigging compared to a Fender that costs hundreds more.
There are not many of these out there, and the Session is without question a gem of a guitar because you get so much for the money.
Yes, the Session is an out-of-production instrument, but there are still a few out there selling for new. If you can locate one, grab it just to get that oh-so sweet reinforced neck. As I've said before, a neck is ultimately what makes a guitar any good or not. The Session has got that great neck on it.
What's the next best thing if you can't get a Session?
Another diamond in the rough is the Jackson JS22 Dinky. It doesn't have carbon fiber inserts, but does have a neck with graphite reinforcement.
Is the JS22 as good as the Session? No. The Session has way more going for it. But if you want a cheap axe with a neck that can handle the rigors of gigging relatively well, JS22 gets the job done...
...but try for that Session first. It's worth getting.
Not all gold is good
Sometimes gold is tacky and good, while other times it's just plain tacky.
I said before that gold works with a watch. True? Yes. It's tacky but catches the eye when done right.
This is the quick story of gold done wrong.
There was another gold watch I very briefly owned, the Casio A159WGEA-9. It's basically a slightly-larger A158.
I returned the watch originally because I found scuff marks on the bracelet right out of the box. This was actually a blessing, because the particular style seen here just doesn't work for me.
The checkerboard pattern on the dial is unique and different, but what I was hoping for is that the darker squares would be more of a brown than an orange in person. That didn't happen. The darker squares are decidedly orange. Also, this is one of those models where Casio purposely used a yellowed LCD panel instead of light gray, which I don't like.
The gold was standard Casio fare for a digital, but that dial and yellowed LCD panel just wrecked the look of this one.
Why did I originally want the A159 in gold?
Model A159 is not a North American release watch but rather only seen in Japan and Europe. To see anyone wearing an A159 model is rare in the USA, but to see anyone wearing a gold tone A159 basically never happens.
When you don an A159, you have exclusivity through obscurity. You can't just to go Walmart and pick one of these up. Getting that kind of exclusivity in a very reliable timepiece is just plain cool.
Unfortunately, this one didn't cut the mustard because of a few scuffs. But again, that was a blessing in disguise because even though this is gold with exclusivity to it, it steps over the line from tacky good to tacky bad.
However, if you don't mind the look of this one, grab it. Instant exclusivity for cheap. It didn't work for me, but might work for you.
GPS Test Plus Navigation is totally worth the money
This is a phone app I actually consider worth its $3.99 price.
I've said before that GPS is one of the best things ever as a driving assistant. For driving, I'm still of the opinion that the dedicated GPS is the best thing to use because it's built for cars. This is why I use a Garmin DriveSmart 66 regularly and keep a Garmin Drive 52 in the glove box as a backup.
On the phone, I have a secondary backup GPS, the HERE WeGo app. It's free, but I'd only use it if both my Garmin GPSes failed.
There is however another GPS app that I liked so much that I bought it. The free version is GPS Test. The paid version is GPS Test Plus Navigation.
The name "GPS Test Plus Navigation" doesn't mean the app has maps, because it doesn't. But it will navigate "as the crow flies." No map loading whatever is needed with this. It's instant.
What this app does is basically turn your phone into a trail GPS, because sometimes all you need is a simple, fast loading pointer. That's what this little app does very well.
Where this works best is marking things that do not have an address, such as marking where your car is in a large parking lot, or marking a camp site, or beach site, etc. This is so good for marking stuff like that. Yeah, there's Google Maps and the aforementioned HERE WeGo, but those are best used for addressable locations you drive to. GPS Test Plus Navigation is for the stuff that doesn't have an address where you need to be pointed in the right direction and get there by foot.
Is the app as good as a true trail unit like a Garmin eTrex or Garmin GPSMAP? No, not even close. A 4-dollar app is nowhere near as good as an actual rugged trail handheld GPS...
...but for what it is, you get a lot for 4 bucks with the app. I can honestly say it's money well spent.
Ibanez AX120 - best cheap SG alternative?
This guitar is an absolute steal. You get a lot of guitar here for a very little price.
The Ibanez AX120 is shockingly dirt cheap but it totally has the goods where it counts. It's just a basic-but-good electric with two humbuckers, 3-way toggle, two volume controls, two tone controls. There is no coil split nor coil tapping here, but that's just fine. Pickups are of the ceramic magnet variety.
Body is poplar, fretboard is - and this is interesting - treated New Zealand pine.
Scale length is 628mm (24.7 inch), and fretboard radius 305mm (12 inch).
I really dig the look of this guitar. The body is weighted proper with the front strap button AT THE HORN so there is no neck dive. The body edging looks great. The bound neck looks great. The block fretboard inlays look cool.
The only flaw I can find is that the headstock design is a little on the boring side, and that's it. And for my personal tone tastes, I'd probably switch out the pickups and pots for something brighter, similar to my Squier Thinline.
But heck, even as-is... wow. You get so much for so little here. Good job, Ibanez.
The only watch I've ever been complimented on
It really is all about the gold.
I originally bought my A500WGA-9 as my "I live in Florida, I'm over 40 and don't care" watch. When it came in the mail and I got a first look, I almost returned it because this as gold as gold gets for a digital timepiece. The only other digital Casio with this much gold on it is the A168WG-9. I could have bought that one, but didn't because a) it is the most common gold digital watch, and b) the A500 has a much more advanced feature set.
Is the A500WGA-9 tacky? Yes. And that's part of the reason why I bought it. To even dare wear this thing means you have questionable fashion sense.
I obviously didn't return the watch, but I was afraid to wear it in public initially because wow, does it look tacky. But I braved it and wore it anyway.
A few months after wearing it around, it happened. I was at a Dunkin' Donuts getting a coffee, and the girl working the counter actually pointed to my wrist and said, "I like your watch."
That was the first and only time I've ever been complimented on the timepiece I was wearing. And it came from a girl. A nice looking girl.
I wasn't even trying to show off. I just thought to myself, "I bought this thing and decided to keep it, so screw this, I'm wearing it." And at the time I received the compliment, I had grown accustomed to wearing the gold Casio and wasn't even thinking about it.
Things I learned from the compliment:
- My tacky gold watch wasn't as tacky as I thought it was.
- It's when you're not trying to show off that you get truly noticed.
- Gold works.