Is it possible to be a one-guitar guy?
Possible, but unlikely.
I recently recorded a video of me playing my Jazzmaster (one of two); a guitar I've not played in some time. I figured it was time to take it out of its gig bag and do a little strumming on it.
These days I pretty much exclusively play Telecasters. But there are times when I think to myself "Gee, I'd really like something with a vibrato system on it", and out comes the Jazzmaster.
Now of course, it is totally doable to buy a Telecaster with a Bigsby system on it for Jazzmaster-like vibrato, but I'm not doing that. Why? Too heavy. A Bigsby on a solid-body makes for an uncomfortably heavy guitar, so that's not doable for me.
The only way to be a one-guitar guy is to sacrifice features
There have been many over the years who have tried - and all failed - to build the ultimate do-everything electric guitar. Both players and luthiers alike have stuffed every kind of mechanical and electronic doo-dad you can think of into a guitar, but in the end, that only leads to an overly complicated mess every time.
If you want to be a one-guitar guy, you purposely have to sacrifice features, play a simple guitar and stick with it; this is why I appreciate Telecaster guitars so much.
Does that mean I will eventually play nothing but Teles? Nope. I'm not about to get rid of my Jazzmasters, because you can't get Tele tone out of a Jazz and can't get Jazz tone out of a Tele. I use both.
I am not willing to sacrifice features to play just one guitar for the rest of my life
Sometimes I want dual-coil pickups, hence why I own a Squier Vintage Modified '72 Telecaster Thinline. Sometimes I want a surf sound, and I have Jazzmasters for that. Sometimes I want country/rock tones and I have the Squier FSR Bullet Telecaster for that.
I'm not saying to hoard guitars, because that's dumb. But I am saying that certain guitars just do certain sounds very well, and the only way to get the sounds you want is by owning those particular axes.
For guitarists that actually are one-guitar guys, I'm envious of them. It does take a real commitment to do that.
Maybe one day I'll eventually settle on one guitar and use only that. But that day hasn't come just yet. :-)
How to make the most out of a Samsung Galaxy Stardust
I finally got a smartphone, and this is how I make the best out of it.
It's no secret that I am very anti-contract where phones are concerned. And while true there are carriers such as MetroPCS that do not require an annual contract, Tracfone is still the best deal going as it allows me to have a smartphone "plan" for a grand total of $13.77/month after taxes (when purchasing a 60-day time card.)
Since 2014 I've been using an old-as-dirt Samsung S425G slider phone. And now in April 2018 as I write this, I've finally got myself a smartphone, the Samsung Galaxy Stardust.
The best feature of the phone is this: FREE, when purchased through Tracfone directly. This is what I was waiting for before I made the jump, and it finally happened. The phone had a total cost of $0.00. All I paid for was the time card to get the service active. A cost of zero is what the phone is worth since it's such a disposable electronic to begin with.
There are a few things I did that makes the Stardust easier to live with, so let's get into that.
Making it easier to type
When texting, the vertical mode has key buttons that are just too small. Rotate the screen while typing a message and they get a lot larger.
Using the screen like this to text with is far easier compared to vertical, and typing mistakes are greatly reduced.
Getting the best battery life
A common complaint about the Stardust is that at first the battery life is great, but then it gets bad in less than a year. I know exactly why this happens. User error. Someone buys the phone and installs a bunch of junk on it that constantly runs in the background, so of course the battery life will be bad with all that crap running.
This is how to get the best battery life out of a Stardust:
1. Turn off all the background garbage
Press and hold the home button. Select "Close All." Press and hold the home button again. Press "Task Manager." Press "RAM" at top. Press "Clear memory". Press the home button again to return to the home screen.
Done.
2. Enable power saving
Launch Settings by swiping down from the top and pressing the gear icon. Press "My device." Scroll down to "Power saving mode" and press it. Check off "CPU power saving" and "Screen power saving". Press the home button.
Done.
3. Disable other stuff when you don't need it
Swipe down from the home screen.
The 5 biggies seen here. Mobile data, Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth and Sync. The rest don't affect the battery too much. Having those 5 disabled will give you the best battery life.
"But I need some of those turned on..."
If you do, that's fine. Just remember to turn them off when not needed.
For absolute best possible battery life, also disable the sound and set to Mute.
Knowing the capabilities of the rear camera
I have a Samsung WB350F; a traditional digital camera that will absolutely kick the crap out of any smartphone camera for one reason. Lens. Megapixels mean nothing if you don't have a good lens in front of it.
When you take a photo with the Stardust at full 5MP resolution that ends up in a pixel resolution of 2560x1920, the quality, in all honesty, is pretty good.
Now to note, even though the Stardust's camera does have a macro mode, it is nowhere near as good as my WB350F with its significantly better lens. The photo at the top of this article? That was taken with the WB350F in macro mode and that's why it's so crisp and clear with such good color definition. You won't get that out of the Stardust.
However, for non-macro photos where the subject is at least 5 feet away, the Stardust works fine when set to its highest 5MP photo resolution. For any setting less than 5MP, digital grain is easy to spot. But when at 5MP the grain is significantly diminished.
It's still true that even now in 2018, the vast majority of photos you see on Twitter and Facebook are 2MP at "best quality." Sometimes you see 4MP, but not that often. So basically what that means is that the Stardust even with 5MP is totally okay for social media duty and will be at least up until 2020 (and probably a few years beyond that.)
Speed
This has already been covered above. If you want the Stardust to run as fast as it can, disable as much as possible and remember to clear the memory.
For example, I tested out HERE WeGo which is a "heavy" GPS app. It worked fine. But when finished using it, I disabled GPS afterward and cleared the memory so there wasn't anything in the background left behind eating up the battery life.
I use this phone how most people would (probably)
I needed basic smartphone communications that allowed me to talk, text and take photos, and I needed it dirt cheap. I got that with the free Samsung Galaxy Stardust from Tracfone.
If I needed something for mobile gaming or other heavier apps, there are tablets and more powerful phones for that, which I didn't need.
If this phone cost me anything, then I would have cause to complain. But being the cost was $0.00 and all I'm paying for is to keep the phone in service, I really can't complain about it.
The Stardust is a real smartphone, it does talk/text duty just fine and it takes decent photos for what it is. And with a little research and experimentation, I found how to get the best performance and battery life out of it. Again, can't complain. It works.
Jackson gets it right with the Warrior WRX24 guitar
This is the first Jackson Warrior I've ever seen that I actually like.
...even though it's not my kind of guitar.
I'll explain.
Angular guitar shapes are not my thing, nor is gold hardware, nor is a Floyd-Rose style locking nut tremolo system. But that doesn't take away from how cool this looks.
When you do a search for the Jackson Warrior guitar, ordinarily you only see them in black or white. And truth be told, it looks terrible in either of those two finishes. Very toy-like and dopey looking.
But to see it in WRX24 model form in natural with gold hardware, that is more like it. Now it actually looks good.
Yes, it does cost a fair bit more than a regular Warrior, but in all honesty, this one is actually worth it. The wood tones chosen look great, the body, neck and headstock binding look great, and the gold totally works here - even on the tuners.
The best part about this guitar is that it is priced well south of $1,000. Totally looks like a custom shop guitar without the custom shop price.
Is the guitar any better than a Warrior JS model? Yes. Better woods are used (obviously,) the neck is a 3-piece maple/mahogany/maple with graphite reinforcement (works very nicely to battle humidity changes,) 12-16" compound radius fingerboard, Floyd-Rose Special double-locking tremolo, it's got all the toys.
The one knock is that it does used Duncan Designed pickups - however - the price more than makes up for it. As I said, this totally carries the custom shop look with all the goodies for a real nice price.
This may not be my style of guitar, but it's a genuinely good axe. This is what the Warrior model should have been to begin with. A rock guitar with a nice elegance to it. Good stuff all around.
The worst thing about owning a Squier electric guitar
Squier guitars are great, but there is thing about them that's very annoying that can't be avoided.
I own several Squiers, and they're great guitars...
...except where tuners are concerned.
I don't hide the fact that the tuners are the one weak point of Squier electric guitars if they're the sealed type. The vintage slotted type as seen on the Vintage Modified and Classic Vibe Series Squier electrics have tuners just as good as Fender, but where the sealed a.k.a. "closed" tuners are concerned on Affinity, Bullet and a few other Squier models, they're not-so great.
I was asked on my Facebook page what would be a good set of tuner replacements for the Bullet Telecaster. My answer was that I had no answer because I did not know the measurements of the pegboard hole where the tuner is inserted - and that before shopping for any tuners at all, measure that stuff first.
A modern Fender pegboard hole diameter is supposed to be 13/32", which is exactly 10.32mm metric, meaning 10mm will fit as it is ever-so slightly smaller. If your Squier guitar has the type of tuner that is secured to the headstock with a nut on top of the pegboard (like Bullet and Affinity,) it is probably a 10mm hole. PROBABLY. You must take a tuner out and measure that hole first.
A vintage Fender pegboard hole diameter on the other hand is supposed to be 11/32", which is exactly 8.73mm...
...but as I said above, if you have one of the Vintage Modified or Classic Vibe Squier guitars, believe me, there is no reason to switch out the tuners. Swapping them out with a Fender slotted set will not improve tuner performance at all.
However, if you want to switch out those slotted tuners for sealed like the mini Grover Rotomatic, those should fit the 11/32" hole as I do not believe a "metric version" of the slotted tuner exists, not even for Squier. But again, measure that pegboard hole before buying; it's an absolute requirement.
Will drilling be required for Squier tuner replacements?
Usually, yes. Not for reaming the pegboard hole but rather for securing screws on the back of the pegboard. The Grover minis for example do have one securing screw on the back, and one new small pilot hole for each tuner will need to be drilled.
Does this mean there will be small, ugly exposed screw holes left behind on the back of the headstock? Yes. Some guys get around this by filling the holes in with wood filler and then color match to the wood as best they can. Another option is to paint a thick black "stripe" on the area of wood where the tuners go, and fill in the area with black filler (which actually works quite well to conceal the holes.)
In the end, yes, Squier tuners can be upgraded. But it's never been an easy process. I know of no drop-in solution that works with Squier guitars.
10 electric guitars in 2018 for under $400
For 2018, the lower end of the electric guitar range is pretty much carrying over from 2017, with one exception. Epiphone is not making a showing here simply because their bread-and-butter guitars bust over $400 now easily. But fortunately there are still some other great choices for under $400. Here are 10 of them.
Gretsch G5439 Electromatic Pro Jet
Just a hair under $400, but it's amazing you can get something so cool and so retro for the price. I'll put it this way: If you get this in Silver Sparkle, that's a color you absolutely do not see that often, and this Gretsch in that color just looks dreamy and inspiring. You play this thing out, and oh yes, people will definitely notice it. Granted, it takes a certain type of guitarist to appreciate a sparkly guitar, and if you're that type, get the Gretsch.
Fender Squier Classic Vibe '50s Stratocaster
This Squier is literally a penny under $400 with the Classic Vibe Strat. Still one of the best Strats for the money you can buy. Yes, there are cheaper Squier Strats available, but darned few as good as this one.
Squier Classic Vibe '50s Telecaster
I've said this before but will say it again. This is one of the best guitars Squier makes, and many believe it is the best guitar from the Squier brand. It's a rock-solid Tele that has all the goods Tele players look for.
Revstar is one of those guitars that's easy to miss, but owners of this axe rave about it. It's just a simple guitar with a pair of high-output humbuckers and a simple layout, a back-to-basics guitar. This is priced the same as the Classic Vibe Squiers above, but it does have seriously good build quality.
Where truly good value 7-string electrics are concerned, Jackson basically owns this segment. You simply cannot beat how much guitar you get for the seriously low price. If you want a 7-string, want a good guitar and want it cheap, get this one.
The JS32 Dinky 6-string is for the player that wants a fast-playing guitar with Floyd-Rose style tremolo system for little money. That's what this is. It's a guitar made to beat the crap out of, and if you wreck it, it hardly cost you anything to begin with.
I genuinely want this guitar, especially in the Satin Metallic Light Blue shown here. This is a basic Schecter with dot inlays, great neck, great ergonomic shape (Schecter really knows how to shape their guitar bodies,) and just plain looks and performs great.
Think of this guitar as being similar to the C-6 Deluxe above but with added goodies. This one has body binding, recessed volume/tone pots, gloss finish and fancier fretboard inlays. This is also a great axe just like the C-6 is.
Ibanez AM53 Artcore Semi-Hollow
As much as Jackson owns the low-cost 7-string segment, Ibanez owns the low-cost semi-hollow electric segment. Where the semi-hollow is concerned, you can't beat what you get for the money here. It's everything a semi-hollow is supposed to be, and even has nice body binding too!
Last on the list here is what you go for if you like the Jackson JS32 Dinky above but don't like Floyd-Rose style tremolo systems. Also of note here is that this is one of the cheapest new axes you can get with an HSH (humbucker-single-humbucker) pickup configuration. This is a rocker guitar that's meant to be used and beat up. And you'll be happy to do it considering the price point at the time I write this is under $200 new. Yes, really.
Rich's pick
Schecter C-6 Deluxe, no question. Right look, right price, through-body hardtail, curved top, rock-solid build quality, just plain good. My only complaint about this guitar is the output jack as it's one of those flat-to-the-side styles that's real easy to yank a cord out of. But other than that, total winner.