What kind of guitar "gets you respect?"
"Respect" in the guitar community is a bit of a weird animal.
The definition of respect is to hold something or someone in high regard, or consider something or someone honorable, or can be interpreted as simply being polite.
In the guitar community however, "respect" means one thing. Bragging rights. That, at best, is an empty respect because it does not reflect a player's ability to use the instrument, but rather encourages people to gawk and stare at a fancy collection of hardware.
For example, a guy who buys a Gibson Les Paul Standard is given no legitimate respect. He is known as "the idiot who owns a Les Paul". If that same guy buys an Epiphone Les Paul Standard, he is also given no legitimate respect either, as players will say, "So when are you going to buy a 'real' Les Paul?" If you buy the lower-cost guitar, it's not 'real enough'. If you buy the high-cost guitar, you're an idiot. You just can't win.
What kind of guitar truly gets you respect as a player?
In my experience, there are only three types of guitars that get you real-deal legitimate respect as a player.
1. Acoustic guitars
An example of a small-body acoustic in parlor size is the Fender CP-100. Price? Cheap, but that's not the point.
The point is that it is not a fancy guitar. It does not shout out "LOOK AT ME!" whatsoever. This is a simple, classy instrument. And that's what makes it good.
Anyone who watches someone play this will not be concentrating on the headstock logo. Instead, the audience would concentrate on the player, and that's legitimate respect.
(By the way, if you're never tried a parlor-sized acoustic, seriously, try one. Great little player guitars. Cheap and good, even for many famous-name brands.)
2. Unpopular models of guitars
When I say "unpopular models," I'm not talking about guitars that are not liked, but rather guitars you just don't see very often or hardly ever at all.
The Squier VM Tele Deluxe is one of those guitars. You never see these things. It's a Tele body with belly cut in the rear, dual humbucker pickups, SG-style switching with 4 knobs and a 3-way toggle, and to top it all off, a Strat-style neck with the big 1970s-style pegboard on it.
This particular guitar is a Squier version of the Fender Classic Series '72 Telecaster Deluxe. And that Fender is also an unpopular model because few would think to get a Tele in that kind of configuration. It is the type of guitar for those that like Fender design but want something different. The Deluxe is definitely different.
Nobody is going to say "get a 'real' Fender" if you play the Squier above, because they're probably not aware of the Fender '72 version at all. So again, legitimate respect is given to the player rather than to the instrument.
3. Semi-hollow body guitars
When you want a guitar where nobody will give you any grief about what brand or model you're playing, that's where the semi-hollow body pretty much rules the roost.
A smaller semi-hollow is the Epiphone ES-339, but you could also go larger with the Ibanez AS53. Whether you get an Epiphone, Ibanez or other brand, it doesn't matter because the semi-hollow conveniently escapes the typical nonsense that guitar players blab about concerning what makes a guitar good or bad.
As far as electrics are concerned, there is nothing classier than the semi-hollow. Most semi-hollows are not overdone nor underdone as far as how they look. This is the kind of guitar you can play anywhere from a small band to a full orchestra environment and it totally fits right in.
There are some players out there that take the commentary of others seriously. I don't know why they do, but they just do. If you're that type of player and want a guitar where other players will not get whiny about what instrument you're playing, get a semi-hollow.
It can safely be said that nobody will blurt out the oh-so typical "get a real guitar" nonsense when you play a semi-hollow. In addition, you won't be labeled as an idiot for owning one either, so you're in safe territory.
There are a few immediate benefits to owning a semi-hollow that shut the whiny players up:
- It's not a Stratocaster.
- It's not a Telecaster.
- It's not a Les Paul.
- Nobody cares where it was made.
- Nobody cares what you paid for it.
There are more reasons, but you get the basic idea here. The semi-hollow is the type of electric that escapes all the typical crap that guitar players blab about.
Another big benefit of the semi-hollow is that it's "ageless." What that means is that any player regardless of age can play one and not be considered a dork.
For younger players, riffing on a semi-hollow is just fine and you're not seen as a poser. For older players, riffing on a semi-hollow doesn't make it look like you're chasing after your youth, but rather playing just for the enjoyment of it.
Is the semi-hollow the "safest" electric one could play? Yes.
On a final note, with certain semi-hollows, you do get some bragging rights.
There's no Les Paul that looks as good as an ES-339.
It's got serious class, and it's about, oh, $2,200 less than a Gibson Les Paul Standard. You could be standing on stage right next to a guy with a Les Paul and you'd get all the stares because the 339 just looks that much better.
the real world 1992 on mtv
1992. Seems like a really long time ago. That's because it was.
In 1992 I was in my late teens. Things were very different back then. At the time, my only online experience was from a thing called Bulletin Board Systems. Also, I was absolutely and totally hooked on television.
Even though cable television had been around since the very-early 1980s, I didn't get a chance to experience it until the very-early 1990s. And in 1992, MTV in an attempt to break into the world of television programming (instead of playing music videos all the time) launched this new show, The Real World. It was a smash hit.
Did I watch it? Of course I did. I thought it was great. It was very low-budget, daring and most importantly interesting. TV shows were usually very high-budget things, but then this show comes along with no scripts, no costumes or anything of the sort. It was - and this is really important to note - edgy without trying to be edgy.
MTV has two and only two claims to fame. The first is popularizing music in video form, and the second is the invention of the "reality television" programming format. And wow, did they hit a grand slam with The Real World. Have they ever topped it since? Nope. Nothing they've done since then has come even close.
I just saw 3 of the original cast members in a video interview, and it pretty much slammed home the fact that 1992 was almost 23 years ago. It's not that the original cast members look bad or anything (they truly don't,) it's just that they're older. These people were in their 20s when the show was filmed, so they're all in their 40s now.
Accepting that the show is almost 23 years old is a bit difficult to accept.
Soon enough, I will officially cross the border into middle-aged territory. Does that mean anything in the grand scheme of things? Not really. The only time my age actually bothers me is when I find out that a show I used to like is now over two decades old.
Side note: How come the older seasons of The Real World aren't on Netflix? One would think that MTV would be happy to get some reuse out of them, as I'm sure Netflix would be more than willing to host the content. Weird.
After not watching television regularly for almost 9 years...
Up until the mid-2000s, I was absolutely glued to the television. But then I moved to Florida, and after I got my first apartment, I thought about whether getting a cable television subscription would even be worth having. I decided it wasn't, and instead use only an internet connection from the cable company and nothing more.
That was almost 9 years ago. Since that time I have probably watched less than 20 hours of television total. And no, I'm not kidding. I don't watch television. I have a rabbit ears antenna set and don't even use it. In fact, that antenna has quite the layer of dust on it now.
Technically, I'm not what's known as a cord-cutter because I'm still wired to the cable company, but only for internet.
However, there will come a point when I just dump cable completely and get all of my internet access through a tethered smartphone connection.
Note that I said "will come a point" and not "may come a point." Wireless speeds these days are getting very fast, but the problem is that there's still overpricing and data choke to deal with - but that will change.
Right now, if I wanted to, I could buy a brand new 4G LTE capable phone for $29 and outfit it with an unlimited plan for $40/month. However, the problem is that only the first 1GB of data transfer is at 4G LTE, and then it's throttled. That sucks.
When 5G comes along and those stupid data caps are lifted, that's the point where I dump cable. I estimate this will be available probably around 2018. Maybe sooner?
ANYWAY...
...the point is that I don't watch TV. The only time I ever see it is either if I'm over at someone's house visiting, or if I'm watching it while sitting in the lobby area of the auto place while getting an oil change on my auto.
Do I miss television? Nope.
What I do miss is how television used to be. But of course those days are long gone and not coming back, hence why I have Netflix.
Back when I was a kid and people in their 40s seemed really old to me, they all watched television. Tons of it. Back in the late 70s and early 80s that was The Thing To Do. Even if what was on TV wasn't that good, you still watched it anyway.
Now my generation is hitting that age milestone.
Will we be the same as our parents were concerning our television watching habits?
I seriously doubt it, for 3 big reasons.
1. Television isn't cheap anymore and hasn't been for years.
For those that remember, there was a time in the early 2000s when a ton of people were getting satellite dish television. Why? Because for a basic cable television plan, without internet mind you, the cost was over $100 a month.
What most people did was dump the cable subscription, got a dish and an antenna, and flip-flopped between what they wanted to watch that way.
You can still do this for about $20/month, however there were a lot of people that got burned on contract agreements with these dish companies. Many said to hell with them and just gave up satellite TV altogether. Customer service across satellite television companies was always crappy at best.
2. There truly is nothing good on anymore.
Back in the day, you could list off a few favorite shows. You'd have 2 or 3 really good ones that you loved, and 2 or 3 more than were "okay" that you only sorta/kinda liked, but watched them anyway because they had some interesting moments.
But now? You may have only 1 to 2 shows that are in the "okay" category, and every single other freakin' thing on every single freakin' channel is nothing but garbage.
This leads to...
3. You don't get what you pay for.
You will get more enjoyment out of going through a few YouTube videos, watching Netflix and reading web sites (like this one) and forums than you would watching cable television these days.
Smarter cable companies are getting the hint and acting on it
Brighthouse, my cable internet provider, offers an app that allows you to stream TV content to computers, tablets and smartphones. Smart move. There's a lot of content on that app, including programming from HBO, Showtime, Disney and a lot more. Like I said, smart move, because that's how more people are getting their visual entertainment these days.
Brighthouse is also getting into what they call "TV everywhere," again for content streaming instead of getting it through cable. What they're doing, once again smartly, is offering the customer better choice of not only what they want to watch but how to watch it. They know that the more content they can get on to tablets and phones, the better. And I totally agree with this, because then you do get what you pay for.
But... will that be worth paying for considering how crappy television content is these days? Brighthouse has no control over quality of content as they're just a provider (with the exception of news like Bay News 9).
This is what I predict:
In the future, television will be nothing more than a smaller part of the internet
You might be asking, "Isn't it that way now?" Well, it is if you don't have a cable or satellite TV subscription.
However, for many others, they are still paying for a television subscription even if it's part of an "entertainment package."
My prediction is that at some point, possibly in the near future, there will be no more television subscriptions. Instead, TV will be shelved back to just being an internet "add-on" of sorts.
Think of it the same way as you would renting a streamed movie or TV show from Amazon now. A 3-day rental for most titles is 5 bucks. And heck, there quite a few titles on the link where you can watch for free with ads in them, which is basically the same way television is now, so there's really no difference...
...except the fact you're watching exactly what you want to watch, when you want to watch it and didn't have to pay extra just to see it. And that's a big deal.
So to close, no, we won't be watching TV anywhere near the same way our parents did. We also won't be paying for crap programming either. My generation has been burned so many times concerning TV that we're at the point that unless what's on is exactly what we want to see when we want to see it, we're not buying.
1992 really was a different world back then. But it's now almost 23 years later, and we're a lot smarter concerning what we want to spend - or rather not spend - concerning visual entertainment choices these days.
Buying vs. building a guitar
A real-deal guitar Stratocaster body by Fender is something that you can buy right now if you wanted.
But should you?
Well, before we get into that, let's answer The Big Question up front:
Do you save money by building a guitar yourself from ready-made parts?
Answer: Yes and no.
No, if you want "everything Fender".
Before even before installing pickups, after purchase of the body and a Fender-branded neck, you've almost spent 400 bucks.
Yes, if you don't buy Fender-branded stuff.
An unfinished (meaning unpainted) Strat body can be had for under 60 bucks. A neck can be had for 35 bucks. A loaded (meaning all controls, wiring and pickups) pick guard can be had for under 25 bucks.
BUT...
...it's still cheaper to buy a complete cheap guitar, and then using basic tools and low-cost upgrades to spruce it up.
Examples of what I mean by "basic tools"
- 0000 steel wool - The lightest/finest grade steel wool you can buy. Good for fret polishing and other minor things where only the smallest amount of metal filing is required.
- Fret leveling kit - Not luthier-grade, but cheap and easy to work with.
- Fret file crowning tool - This one is luthier-grade. You'll get a small amount of sticker shock when you see the price just for this one tool, but it can save you hundreds of dollars compared to paying a guy to do the work.
Examples of what I mean by "low-cost upgrades"
- Fender Tex-Mex Strat pickup set - Well south of $100. Not hum-canceling, but a great pickup set regardless.
- 3-pack of CTS 250k pots (audio taper) - Very easy upgrade, and cheap. Comes with the appropriate washers and nuts, which is nice.
- Copper shielding tape - Not so much an upgrade, but rather just common sense to use it. The 10-foot roll I have linked is all you need. That will easily cover an entire Strat pick guard underside, the pickup cavities and control area, and even the rear cavity if you wanted to shield that too (not that you need to.)
The tools matter more than the upgrades do
With properly leveled/crowned/polished frets, you can make even the crappiest Strat or any other kind of electric guitar play like a dream.
What matters most on a solid-body electric is the neck. If the neck isn't good, the guitar is bad, plain and simple. As long as the neck feels good in the hand, has a truss rod that works properly and a fingerboard with properly leveled/finished frets, it can be made to play great without any need to do advanced guitar building/reconditioning stuff. Before even thinking about upgrading electronics, get that neck playing great first.
On a final note, for any fret work you do, try it on a throwaway guitar first where you're allowed to make mistakes. Get the absolute cheapest electric you can find and work on that first before working on your main guitar. Along with a fret job it will probably also need a new nut (it's cheap), but that's okay because it's worth it to learn how to do nut replacement along with fret work.
What does "student guitar" mean?
Sometimes you will see a guitar labeled as being "student." What does that mean?
A Squier Bullet Strat could be qualified as a "student" guitar; there are two reasons why it would be labeled as such.
- Low price.
- Slightly smaller than "full" size.
Where did student-size electric guitars start?
While there have been many guitar makers that have offered student-size electrics, the company best known for it is Fender.
As the electric guitar exploded in popularity in the 1950s and on into the 1960s, Fender decided to offer a few electric models that were smaller, purposely priced cheaper and had only the simplest electronics.
An example of this is the Fender Music Master.
The Music Master was a dirt simple 3/4 scale guitar. Some came with two pickups, but many just had one. Scale lengths came in short scale 24.0-inch or really short 22.5-inch.
These were marketed as beginner guitars. Small, cheap and affordable.
Is the Music Master just a simpler version of a Mustang?
Basically, yes. The Mustang (still available new today in Squier and in Fender flavors), has a split pick guard with metal covering for the knob controls and a vibrato system, while the Music Master had just a single-piece guard and no vibrato system.
Were there ever 22.5-inch scale Mustangs?
Yes. Fender did make a handful of Mustangs with the super-short 22.5-inch scale, although I personally wouldn't own one because that's very itty-bitty.
How does student size relate to a Stratocaster shape?
This is where things get interesting.
A student-size Stratocaster shape guitar is not 3/4 size, but rather 7/8 size.
In plain English, that means the body and only the body is slightly slimmer.
As far as I'm aware, all Squier Stratocaster guitars have a 7/8 body, and this is the primary reason why tremolo blocks from an full-size Strat bridge system will not fit correctly and stick out from the back of the body.
The neck however is almost exactly the same size as an full-size Strat. Same 9.5-inch fingerboard radius, same modern C shape, same 25.5-inch scale length. The only thing that's truly smaller is the nut width (only when compared to USA Strats, since Squier Vintage Modified and Mexico-made Fender Strats have the same nut width.)
Are slim-profile Squier bodies truly student guitars?
Only in the respect that they're low-priced.
Today's student guitars don't follow the original 3/4 sizing that the Music Master did. In addition, you get the same full electronics capability that the full-size Strats do, whereas originally you didn't.
What is a "true" student-size guitar?
The Squier Mini. That guitar has a 22.75-inch scale length and is "hardtail" (no vibrato system.) That's a small guitar made for people with short arms and small hands.
So yes, Fender still does make a true student-sized guitar. It just happens to be a Squier brand in a Strat shape instead of the Mustang shape, and simply labeled as Mini, as in miniature.
Is a 7/8 size a "kid's guitar?"
Absolutely not.
The Squier Mini is a true kid's guitar. But something like the Squier Vintage Modified Stratocaster? That's an adult-size guitar.
To say a 7/8 body is "for kids" is like saying 17-inch wheels on a car are "training wheels" compared to 18-inch when they're obviously not.
Reality check: Many Strat players prefer the 7/8 body size
This is something I mentioned before but will bring it up again.
If a guitarist has been playing Squier Strats for a while, then "upgrades" to a Fender Strat, there is the very likely possibility he or she will hate the feel of the full-size Strat body.
It's not that the full-size body will weigh significantly more than the 7/8, but the added thickness can be uncomfortable.
In seated position, if you notice a full-size Strat profile "digs" into your body more, or if when playing standing the body seems to slide around more in a way that just doesn't feel right, chances are you actually like the 7/8 size better simply because that's what you're used to.
Guitar players that discover they prefer the 7/8 size Strat body are both delighted and disgusted at the same time.
The delight comes from the fact that their preferred body shape is from a brand that's very affordable.
The disgust comes from the fact they know there is no Fender Strat that exists they will ever be able to truly enjoy - unless they spend major cash on a Fender Custom Shop build and specifically instruct the shop to use a 7/8 body shape and fabricate a custom short tremolo block that will fit in it.
This begs the question: Should Fender build a 7/8 size Strat?
I think they should. Not an American nor a Mexico model, but a China-made model. There are already China-made full-size Fender Strats like the Modern Player Series (and yes, that is absolutely a full-size Strat). I don't think it would be too difficult to introduce a Fender-branded 7/8-size Strat. Just call it the Stratocaster "S" model, with S meaning slim or student.
I figure it like this. If Fender made a 7/8 Strat that's Fender-branded, it should be marketed as a "high-end student guitar" of sorts. All the good Fender bits and bobs, just in a slightly smaller body size with low pricing. A China-made Strat in that flavor would fit the bill quite nicely. Have it as a street price of around $350 to $375 (slightly below Modern Player) and it would be a winner and sell well. I'm sure of it.
Is it required to bend notes when playing a guitar solo?
There's the mystical belief that in order for a guitar solo to sound good, you must bend notes.
Wrong.
Note bending is a staple of electric guitar solos. However, it has never been required to do so. One can perform a guitar solo using nothing but notes played "straight." Or, better yet, skip the solo entirely.
What a lot of guitar players don't seem to understand is that most people don't like the sound of a bent guitar note. To a non-musician, it almost sounds like a wounded animal crying in agony, especially if you don't bend the note right and end up being off-key.
If you must bend notes however, here's a few tips.
Master the single semitone bend first
Everyone starts with the two-semitone bend. Don't. Single semitone bends are a whole lot easier. Start with those first.
If you require a 2-semitone bend, just move up a fret at the appropriate time and bend from there to get the note.
Know your string metals and cores
I've mentioned this before but will mention it again.
Strings with a hexagonal core (e.g. D'Addario) will always be tougher to bend compared to round-core (e.g. certain DR string models) because a hex-core is a stiffer string when tuned to pitch. If you keep trying to bend stiff strings, you will not only not hit the note, but probably damage your fingers and also snap strings often.
Also, the more nickel is in the string, the easier it is to bend. Strings labeled as "pure nickel" like Fender Original 150 are the bendy-friendly kind. You lose treble by using more nickel, the strings will go dead quickly, and sometimes they go out-of-tune more often, but they bend a lot easier.
Flatter fingerboards are more bendy-friendly
The rounder a fingerboard is, the more you encounter what's known as fretting out.
If you're all about the bends, you'll get along a lot better with a 12-inch-or-greater fingerboard radius. If the number is lower than 12, such as Fender 9.5-inch or vintage 7.25-inch, you will fret out. A lot. It doesn't matter how well your neck bow and string height is set up. Rounder fingerboards just fret out. There's nothing wrong with that; it's just the nature of the way they play.
Yes, there are certain Fender and Squier models that do have 12-inch fingerboards. The Squier J5 Telecaster for example does have a such a radius.
On the Gibson/Epiphone side of things, all of their guitars unless stated otherwise have 12-inch-or-flatter fingerboards.
Try solos without bends
Again, remember, most people don't like the sound of a bent guitar note. The more you can solo without semitone bends, the more pleasing to the ear your solo will be.