Epiphone Limited Edition Bjorn Gelotte "Jotun" Les Paul Custom Outfit
Some guitars you want just because they look cool, and this is one of them.
I have absolutely no idea who Bjorn Gelotte is. Not a clue. All I care about here is the guitar, and the Epiphone Bjorn Gelotte "Jotun" Les Paul Custom really, really gets it right.
It is typically true that white guitars look awful. It's also typically true that a Les Paul without pick guard doesn't look that good either. But this guitar however looks absolutely stunning in white and without the guard.
First of all, I'll note the thing you don't see ordinarily in photos, the gold binding. That binding is all sorts of pretty. It matches up with the gold hardware and gold knobs perfectly.
This is one seriously elegant looking Les Paul. Very ritzy tuxedo style look all around.
How does it sound? I've no idea. What I do know is that yes, it does have active EMG pickups in it (there is a battery cover on the rear of the guitar,) so you can take from that what you will. It also has premium grade Grover Rotomatic tuners on it, which are the best tuners a Paul can have as far as I'm concerned.
The only complaint I have about this guitar is the white "poker chip" on the pickup selector switch as I think that detracts from the overall look. However, that chip can be removed easily, so it's really not a big deal.
Actually, I do have one other complaint. That gold hardware finishing is guaranteed to wear off over time with regular play, particularly where the hand rests on the bridge and on the bass side of the pickups. That's totally normal wear for guitars with gold hardware and there's no way to prevent that.
I'm not a Les Paul guy and certainly not a fan of active electronics, but I still think this guitar is great and would be proud to own one. Very, very nice look all around.
Casio CTK-6200 first impressions
After a very long time of not having a proper full-size keyboard, I finally acquired a new one, and got it for a very specific reason...
...and that reason is that the Casio CTK-6200 is the lowest priced synth you can buy that has a real sequencer in it. I'll talk more about that in a moment.
The first thing to note about the CTK-6200 is that the CTK-6250 is literally the exact same model with a red center console in the middle instead of black. Feature-wise, the WK-6600 has the exact same capability as the CTK-6200, with the only real difference being the WK has 76 keys instead of 61. There is also the CTK-6300IN which has a silver center console. That model is localized to the India market. It is identical to the CTK-6200 save for the fact it has 12 unique Indian rhythms bundled with the unit.
In other words, the CTK-6200, CTK-6250, WK-6600 and CTK-6300IN are pretty much all the same thing. In the North American market, chances are you will come across the 6250 model. I specifically went for the 6200 because I prefer the look of it.
At the time I write this, I've not even owned my 6200 for more than 2 days, so here are my initial impressions of it.
Very good action for full-weighted keys
This is the first synth I've ever owned that has full-weighted keys on it. I always stayed away from them in the past because the action was usually terrible. Not so on the 6200. These keys have a genuinely good feel to them...
...mostly. Yes, they are a bit on the cheap side, but that's typical for the price point the 6200 sells for. Sometimes they feel a little clacky and thuddy, but for the most part they're easy to get along with.
For semi-weighted keys, the king of the hill for "cheap and good" is the Yamaha PSR series. However, none of the lower-priced models have a sequencer in it as far as I can tell, and that's why I didn't get one. That, and the lower-end Yamahas don't come with a power supply while the 6200 does.
The sequencer
The 6200 does have a 16-track sequencer in it (technically 17 when the "system track" is included,) and yes, it is the real deal.
Easy-to-use? No, but that doesn't surprise me at all. I'm able to get along with it because I come from the old school where pretty much all synth workstation sequencers were complicated. The 6200 sequencer gets the job done for what it is.
There really isn't any way to make a sequencer easy because it's not a 1-2-3 process. In the 6200 there is the typical "menu hell" to go through. And even though it can hold 5 songs in memory (certainly better than just one,) the way it's designed is meant for one-shot style playback, meaning not repeating.
I am getting used to the way the 6200 does things. I'm able to compose songs with it and get them sequenced up proper.
The sounds
In this day and age there really isn't any one synth that sounds better than another. What matters is the sounds you get, what you can do with them, and whether they're editable or not.
I'll start with editing first.
The 6200 does have a tone editor, but power synth users won't like it too much. This is where you're reminded of the price point. Upper-end synths allow you to edit things all the way down to a waveform level. The 6200 doesn't go that deep. Also, the 6200 doesn't allow for monophonic sounds, which I know for some would be a total deal-breaker.
However, yes you can save custom tones, and you can modify a whole bunch of stuff, so you do have some decent tone editing capability.
Most people who own this thing will never bother editing tones. Are the stock sounds good? Yes. Better than good, actually. Great. There are a few electronic pianos that have a great Rhodes style sound to them, a Deep Purple-like distorted organ tone, and the 6200 even has a dedicated SYNTH sound category that has a bunch of "computery" style waveform sounds.
Combine that with the fact there is touch sensitivity (which can be adjusted,) and yeah, the 6200 is very usable even if using nothing but all-stock tones.
Patterns?
This is not the 6200's strong suit. True, it has just shy of 150 built-in arp patterns when using the arpeggiator, but using them in the sequencer is frustrating at best, especially when attempting to use it with an automated drum track. Again, this is where you see the price point rear its ugly head.
Good for what it is
Casio calls this a "portable keyboard" and not a workstation. For what it is, you get a lot for the money. Sounds are good, action is good, and the fact it actually has a sequencer is great.
Ultimately, the 6200 leans more towards being a performance keyboard. Not the best thing to learn the keyboard on for total beginners (there are other models for that,) but it sits nicely for an intermediate synth without the intermediate price tag.
How to improve your fret hand strength for free
Guitar players who never learn this one ridiculously simple thing spend a lifetime struggling with a a weak fret hand.
And what is that one thing?
Proper fret hand thumb placement on the back of the neck.
It is unfortunately true that when first learning the guitar, most are never told that where you place you thumb is very important, because if placed incorrectly, chords and even single notes can become very difficult to hold down to the fingerboard.
Your fret hand thumb is the anchor that gives support to your other four fingers. When positioned incorrectly, certain chords are almost impossible to hold down, string buzz happens, and things sound terrible.
Where you place your thumb depends on what you're playing.
For barre chords when using all four fingers on the fingerboard, a common mistake is having the thumb inward and held above the center of the neck. A better way to anchor the thumb is to have it spread outward and held at center or slightly below center of the neck.
For solo notes, it's usually true the best thumb position is over the neck.
Having the thumb over the neck when playing the plain strings for soloing makes for a much better anchor for both vibratos and bends.
It's probably true your fret hand was always strong enough
If you've been playing for more than a year, you most likely have good fret hand strength, your guitar is probably set up properly by that point, and you've also probably figured out what string thickness is most comfortable.
When all that stuff is in check but holding barre chords and bending notes is still difficult, you don't need a guitar with a shorter scale, you don't need to tune down a half-step or full step and don't need to decrease string size.
You just need to make sure your thumb is positioned properly.
Watch videos from famous guitarists and pay attention to the way they place the thumb on the neck. Almost all of them position it the same way. Middle-of-neck for chords, above-neck for soloing.
Squier Contemporary Stratocaster and Telecaster guitars
I predict these will sell well.
Recently I saw that Squier just introduced several "Contemporary" models that look very similar to what Fender Japan was making a few years back. These are China builds, but they're well made and offered in configurations that most Fender models don't even offer.
First up is that Squier Contemporary Active Stratocaster HH. Two knobs instead of three (which is quite nice so you don't accidentally hit the volume knob during play), Floyd-Rose tremolo system, active electronics (the 9-volt battery compartment is in the rear), Squier-branded pickups, and large reverse color-matched headstock. This thing is cool.
Here are 3 other models:
Stratocaster
Squier Contemporary Stratocaster HH
This has the smaller traditional headstock and 2-post tremolo system instead of the Floyd-Rose.
Squier Contemporary Stratocaster HSS
Same as the Contemporary HH but with an HSS pickup configuration. Also available in black metallic and pearl white.
Telecaster
Squier Contemporary Telecaster HH
This is an HH Tele. Available in dark metallic red seen above, pearl white and black metallic.
And there's even a lefty version available!
What do I think of these?
All of them are cool simply for the reason they break away from traditional Strat and Tele designs and dare to be different.
Like I said above, these are like what Fender Japan used to make, and now they're here again in a Squier flavor. That's all good as far as I'm concerned.
It's very cool you can get these right now. And yes, all of them have color-matched headstocks. The models in pearl white specifically take to the matched headstock very nicely.
Why I don't play vintage guitars
There are some uncomfortable truths about true vintage electrics most people don't take into consideration.
But before I get into that, take the Fender American Original '50s Telecaster. I would take this guitar any day of the week over any vintage Tele for one very simple reason. I know it will work. More on that in a moment.
Uncomfortable truth #1: There is no such thing as a mojo in a vintage guitar
Mojo literally means magical, so to say a guitar "has the mojo" is supposed to indicate it has some sort of magical presence about it that makes it sound wonderful. Total nonsense.
Where does the real mojo come from? The player, not the guitar. A good guitar player can take the crappiest guitar and make it sound wonderful. Similarly, a crappy guitar player can take the best guitar ever crafted and make it sound terrible.
Guitar mojo doesn't exist. Never has and never will. Vintage guitars are not old and magical. Just old.
Uncomfortable truth #2: Vintage electrics are for collectors, not musicians
Vintage electrics are fragile, so they can only be played very lightly. You can't even rock out with a guitar that's over 30 years old, never mind 50 or older.
The only thing you can really do with a vintage electric is take it out once a month to play it for a few minutes, then put it back in its case for preservation. That's it. Does that sound like fun to you? Didn't think so.
Collectors are totally okay with guitars that are valuable but not playable. Guitar players on the other hand who actually use their guitars are not.
Uncomfortable truth #3: As of now they DO build 'em like they used to
In previous articles I wrote, I said there really wasn't any way for guitar companies to build guitars exactly like they used to back in the '50s and '60s.
Well, now I stand corrected, because they do.
Fender in particular with its new (as of this writing in January 2018) American Original Series guitars are almost exactly like they made them decades ago. The only real difference is that the fingerboard radius is 9.5" instead of the rounder 7.25" - but that's totally okay because it's what most guitar players prefer.
Want to know the best part about American Original Series from Fender? They're not "relic" jobs. They are all new all around. Freshly finished, non-cracked nitrocellulose lacquer finishes, no wear-and-tear marks, no "make it look old" crapola. These are USA-made guitars that have all the good stuff in them made just like they were years ago (and better as far as I'm concerned.)
Fender even brought back an Aztec Gold Strat for one of the AO series models. Frickin' gorgeous.
While I wouldn't own one personally due to the fact I'm fine with Squier, AO is what Fender fans have been waiting a long time for and Fender delivered...
...which is ultimately why I don't bother with vintage electric guitars.
If it were true that there was nothing new out there built to '50s and '60s specifications, then yes I could understand guitar players fawning over the vintage axes. But that's not the case. You can, right now, for far less than the vintage item, get the exact same thing brand new.
Collectors will collect, players will play
There's always going to be a market for guys with really deep pockets to spend tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars on vintage electric guitars...
...but none of those vintage electrics are player's instruments. They're old and creaky with unstable woods, deteriorating electronics, crumbling plastics and other things that make them collector-only pieces.
The next time you look at a really expensive vintage electric, don't feel bad about not being able to afford it. It's not like you could actually play the thing regularly anyway.
Stick to the new stuff. It works. And you get a warranty.