Should bands even bother with physical media anymore?

Does anyone care if a band releases physical media anymore?

Maybe.

Let's talk about the compact disc for a moment.

Ever since the CD was introduced in the 1980s, audiophiles have always, repeat, always hated the format. And I know exactly why they hate it. It's because digital audio is "squashed," and the fidelity is vastly inferior compared to other media formats.

Today, the music CD is for all intents and purposes a totally dead format. Nobody plays CDs in cars anymore, instead opting just to play music directly from a smartphone or small portable player. Who would want to deal with discs when you can stuff so much more music on something so much smaller where the audio quality sounds the same if not better when using a file data format like FLAC?

Every audiophile knows, or at least should know, that nothing sounds as good as a freshly pressed vinyl record, provided you play it on a quality turntable. That is the gold standard of recorded audio, so to speak. Nothing before or since has been able to reproduce the how good fresh vinyl sounds.

I won't get into why vinyl sounds so good because I could write a tome on it, but in short, it is the audio that sounds best to humans.

Now aside from all that, from a band or artist's perspective, there are 3 things you need to know about vinyl:

1. Vinyl is the only physical audio media format worth paying for.
2. Audiophiles purposely seek out vinyl because it's just that damned good.
3. Vinyl is the only truly collectible audio format.

Some bands make compact cassettes, because there is a company out there who still makes them. All well and good, but... no. Bad choice.

You can obviously still make CDs. All you need is a computer with a CD burner for that.

But then there's vinyl.

On Amazon, vinyl shows up more than you might think.

So what's so damned cool about vinyl?

Well, I mentioned the collectible reason above, but there's something else.

The artwork.

There are vinyl collectors who don't even own record players. They buy vinyl records just because they look cool.

Out of every audio media format that's ever existed, a record album cover is, as far as I'm aware, the largest amount of space where a band can put dedicated artwork on it.

For example, on the Alice Cooper School's Out vinyl record, that actually looks like a real school desk and even opens up like a school desk.

If you're an artist or a band looking for something cool to sell, consider vinyl

There are certain things artists and bands can sell that are cool. T-shirts is one of them. Can't go wrong with that. There's also other little novelty items like mugs and little stuffed bears you could sell too.

But the vinyl... now that's a collectible right there, even if it's just a single and not a full album.

If you search Google for "create your own vinyl record", there are companies out there who will manufacture your record right now. And that's cool.

To answer the title question of this article, yes, bands should bother with physical media...

...but only if it's vinyl. To hell with the CD. I'm glad that media is dying. Optical discs are good for movies and data, but audio? Nah, that time has very much passed.

On a final note, I was never into vinyl, said honestly. But I totally respect the format, and just from a collectible point of view, the vinyl is just so damned cool. I am one of those people that would buy it just for the artwork.

Guitar of the week #67 - Gretsch FSR Two-Tone Electromatic Double Jet

Wow, what a looker.

There are regular Gretsch Electromatic Double Jet guitars normally seen in black, red and gold (the gold one in particular in amazing,) but then there's the special run Surf Green and White version, and wow, does it look good.

How many guitars do you know that could get away with a surf green front and white sides and back? And with gold hardware? It's only something Gretsch could do.

Gretsch has a knack for color. On any other guitar, this would not work, but on this Double Jet it totally does. And it's not a bad price, either.

Sleeper watch: Casio AQS800WD

This is a sleeper in Casio's lineup and I have to talk about this one.

For the first time I'm actually recommending an analog-digital timepiece. Ordinarily, I think ana-digi watches are awful. But this one is packed with so much stuff for such a good price that it's tough to pass up.

The first thing I'll mention is that this watch comes in many flavors. All the cases are the same but there's a huge amount of choice here. If you look at the Casio AQS800W models, you'll see black dial with "racing" orange or white numbers on the dial with the resin strap. If you look at the Casio AQS800WD, this is the sleeper piece.

Here's a rundown of the specs:

• 47.6mm lug-to-lug, 42mm case size, 10.6mm thick (quite slim for what this is)
• 100M water resist
• LED night light with afterglow
• World Time, 31 time zones with DST on/off
• 5 alarms
• Stopwatch
• Two countdown timers up to 99 minutes, 55 seconds with auto-repeat
• Full auto calendar up to year 2099
• Solar powered with battery charge indicator (very nice touch.) Battery lasts up to 10 months on full charge with no exposure to light
• Power save function (also a nice touch)

Now as for why the AQS800WD is the sleeper (the D indicates a metal bracelet), this is the feature:

• Neo-brite luminous hands and markers

I'll explain why this is so cool.

While true that having a backlight function and luminous hands/markers is redundant, the fact it actually has it on a watch packed with so many features is simply incredible.

Basically, the AQS800WD is a world traveler's watch, a diver's watch and a runner's watch all in one.

It is not easy to find a watch that does all this stuff all at once. If you were ever to call any timepiece the Swiss Army Knife of watches, the AQS800WD is it.

Are there any negatives? Yes, because no watch is perfect.

First, it doesn't have a second hand. The seconds are counted on the digital display. Yes, this means this watch does not tick. Or rather, it does tick, but only once per minute.

Second, the digital display is itty-bitty. Not the easiest thing to read. But the analog display is obviously very readable.

Third, between 6 and 7 o'clock or whenever the minute hand is between 25 to 35 minutes, the digital display is partially blocked. Not really a big deal, but slightly annoying.

Fourth, the bezel doesn't rotate. However, this is okay due to the fact the watch features two timers which is what a rotating bezel would be used for.

The resin non-metal version

From the models available, you're going to see orange-text, white-text and the insane all-red case version.

I have to admit, it's a very cool look for one reason: It totally looks like the tachometer gauge of a fast sports car. That's just badass.

With the resin version, you lose the metal bracelet and luminous hands/markers. Otherwise, it's functionally identical to metal version.

It should also be noted there is a huge weight difference between the metal and resin versions. The metal version is 89g in weight while the resin is just 33g.

Does the metal version have a metal case? No. The case is still painted resin, and that's why the watch weighs 89g and not over 100g.

Which should you go with?

In all honesty, both are great but the AQS800WD is the one with everything plus the lume.

What's my pick?

The silver dial version, which is the AQS800WD-7EV model.

The look of this one is spot-on for me as it's very monochromatic. Blacks, grays and silvers are all you see with no varying colors, save for the lume at night.

Yes, it's the same watch as the two above, just with a different appearance. Like I said, this particular model has a lot of variations to it.

The AQS800WD is obviously a sports watch first, so it's not like you could wear it with a suit, but for pretty much everything else you can think of, this is a great daily beater with some nice style to it.

Fender Limited Edition Pete Townshend Stratocaster is a miss

I saw this appear in my inbox, and here are my thoughts on this guitar.

There are some signature Fender guitars that are genuinely very good instruments like the Eric Johnson Stratocaster, but then there's not-so great stuff like the Pete Townshend Stratocaster.

Here's all the things that make the Townshend Strat not-so good.

Style

Torino Red body with a super-white pick guard (and I mean that as all 3 plies are white), no tint on the neck and that extra knob behind the bridge makes this thing look weird.

Electronics

The Townshend Strat has both regular (or rather semi-regular) pickups with use of Lace Sensor Gold Strat pickups.

But there's more.

It also has a "two-post Fishman Powerbridge tremolo bridge". This allows the guitar to produce acoustic-style sounds. And this of course requires a battery to make that work.

Where does the battery go? In the back "behind" the rear access plate. It is not exactly what one would call the most graceful modification.

There's also a TBX tone control on this guitar. This isn't a good combo when mated to the Lace Sensor Gold pickups. Why? It's not necessary. The Sensors have more than enough treble response on their own. If anything, there should have simply been an option installed to bypass the tone control entirely.

Neck

Just plain weird.

The spec sheet on Fender's web site states 21 frets but I see 22.

The neck shape is "Soft V", which is a vintage style shape, yet has a modern 9.5-inch radius fingerboard.

The nut width is 1.65", which is vintage style.

The fret size is tall/skinny vintage style.

The neck plate has a micro-tilt adjustment.

Summed up: A weird half-modern/half-vintage neck with a micro-tilt adjustment and frets that will probably buzz out with the slightest note bend.

A bunch of not-so good ideas rolled into one guitar

You know those guitars sold by guys on eBay that claim any change done to a guitar is an "upgrade"? That exactly describes what the Townshend Strat is. This guitar is full of "upgrades" that really don't improve anything.

If you want an example of different and good, see the Fender Offset Telecaster. Great guitar. Simple electronics and a very good player's instrument.

As for the Townshend Strat, however... no. Just about every single not-so good idea you could put in a Strat is present in this guitar.

Guitar of the week #66 - Fender Special Edition '50s and '60s Stratocasters

Oh, wow, did Fender absolutely nail it with these guitars. And I'm going to show them all to you.

Never in my life have I seen a run of Fender Stratocaster guitars where every color is absolutely spot-on awesome...

...until now.

Someone at Fender should be given a raise for the guitars I'm about to show you. But before I do, some quick specs.

These are Mexico-made Strats with vintage appointments. This means 21-fret necks, 6-screw bridges, "aged" plastics, slotted tuners, tinted necks, and truss rod adjustment at the heel. This is nothing you haven't seen before.

A guitar labeled as a '50s model means it has a maple fretboard. A '60s model means a rosewood fretboard. This is also nothing you haven't seen before.

As for the fretboard radius, that I don't know.

As for the electronics, that I don't know either - but - if it follows the specs I think it does, the '50s models have AlNiCo III magnet pickups and the '60s models have AlNiCo V magnet pickups. Switching is typical S/S/S style with no tone control wired to the rear pickup, which is period-correct wiring.

What makes these special?

The colors. These are the automobile-inspired colors that made the old Fender Strats so unbelievably cool looking. Every single color here is a winner.

I'd honestly love to own every one of these and I'm not joking. They all look good.

Here they are:

• Fender '50s Stratocaster in Rangoon Red
• Fender '50s Stratocaster in Jetstream Blue
• Fender '50s Stratocaster in Apple Green
• Fender '60s Stratocaster in Canary Diamond
• Fender '60s Stratocaster in Lilac

How come only 3 maple board and 2 rosewood board?

There is another rosewood board finish option, but the price is almost doubled if you want this one: Fender '60 Stratocaster in Daphne Blue with matching headcap

Why is this one so expensive? It's not just because of the headstock matching color. There's a nitrocellulose finish on both the body and neck. Not cheap.

Who cares about signature models and fancy electronics crapola when you can get cool Strats in cool colors?

Fender has had its missteps, but someone over in Scottsdale actually grew a brain and said, "Why don't we release some colors that made our guitars cool to begin with?"

And so they did.

Yes, I know they're not USA models, but who cares. I know some of you out there have been waiting a really, really long time for Fender to release some Strats in the some badass colors without having to pay a Fender Custom Shop price tag to get it.

They finally did. Go buy one.

What's my favorite? The '60s model in Canary Diamond. Love that yellow, love the vintage look. Works with the dark fretboard perfectly. My second favorite is the '50s Apple Green. Also a killer axe.

If anyone at Fender happens to read this, email me and send over a '60s Canary Diamond. I would happily play the bejeezus out of that thing.