Are cheap guitars more fun?
There is the Epiphone Les Paul Special I P90. The price? Cheap. As in under $150 cheap. And I got one because I've been wanting a P90-equipped guitar for a while now.
I am a guy who prefers cheap electrics over expensive ones for various reasons, but the best reason is that cheap electrics are just plain fun to play.
What makes cheap guitars fun?
Cheap
When you get a cool guitar that doesn't cost a lot, you immediately feel a lot more comfortable with it. And comfort has a lot to do with fun factor. Guitars that don't cost a lot takes off a lot of pressure. With expensive axes you have the feelings of "I have to polish this thing and keep it pristine clean all the time" or "I always must put this in its case when I'm finished playing it" and so on. Not so with cheap electrics.
Carefree
Want to use a cheap gig bag instead of a hard case? Go right head. Want to leave your guitar on its stand instead of constantly having to put it in its case when finished playing? Go right ahead. Want to let the guitar get dirty? Go right ahead.
It's like I said, a lot of pressure is taken off your mind when you have a cheap guitar. And that feels great.
No, I'm not saying you should totally neglect your cheap axe and let it go into ruin. But I am saying that it's okay to let it get banged up and dirty since you hardly paid anything for it to begin with.
Hackable
Expensive guitars aren't meant to be upgraded, but cheap guitars are. If you want to switch out the bridge, pickups, nut, electronics or whatever else you can think of, then do it.
Again, this has a lot to do with comfort. You will feel much more comfortable hacking up a cheap guitar than you would an expensive one.
Much easier to build your "guitar army"
Three new cheap guitars can be had easily for under $500. Think about that for a moment. Three guitars. And you can mod/hack them up any way you wish. Buy a couple of Squier Stratocasters and an Epiphone Les Paul, and you've got enough guitar goodness to last you a good long time.
As I've said before, it's not a sin to own multiple guitars. Not only is it more fun, but it can be cheap. And it's also cool to be able to pick up one of your other guitars should you have a string snap on you.
Humbuckers vs. Single-Coil - which is better?
I'm going to answer the question in the title of this article right up front: The answer is neither. A humbucker is not better than a single-coil, nor is a single-coil better than a humbucker.
Instead, I'm going to talk about why "all-in-one" guitars are a bad idea.
There have been many attempts over the years by various guitar manufacturers to produce a guitar that gets every type of pickup sound there is, and all of them have failed. Why? Because there is no way to produce one guitar that sounds like every guitar.
Even though I just purchased a Fender Modern Player Stratocaster HSS which allows for 7 pickup selections including splitting the bridge humbucker to single-coil, I still go back to my "plain" Squier Bullet Strat which has a traditional Stratocaster SSS layout and switching system. Why? Because the the traditional SSS layout has a bridge pickup with staggered pole pieces and is mounted on an angle which makes it sound different than a split humbucker mounted vertically straight with flat pole pieces.
My Fender MP Strat may be the most versatile out of all the guitars I own, but that's doesn't mean it does everything.
I personally believe you need three electric guitars to cover almost everything tone-wise. One in SSS layout, one in HSS and the third in HH. The SSS is best as a Squier or Fender Strat. For HSS there are many guitar makes to choose from, and the same goes for HH.
My advice to you is this: Don't seek out a guitar that does it all, because it doesn't exist. It's not a sin to own multiple guitars. In addition to that, owning just one guitar is pretty boring.
Do Stratocaster and Telecaster guitars have naturally buzzy necks?
Fret buzz is when you play your guitar and the strings literally make a buzzing sound; this buzzing can happen whether strings are played open, or maybe your Strat neck only buzzes when playing chords on certain frets.
There are some Strats and Teles by Fender or Squier you'll play that have absolutely no fret buzz problems at all, while other same-brand guitars - even the expensive ones mind you - buzz all over the place.
Why is this? Well, I'll list off the obvious and non-obvious reasons why a Fender or Squier neck will buzz out on you.
The obvious reasons
Neck needs a truss rod alignment
If the neck relief isn't set properly, the strings will buzz like crazy. Check your neck relief to make sure it's proper. If you have absolutely no idea how to align a truss rod, head over to your local guitar store and have the in-store guitar tech do it. It's not expensive.
Bridge saddles are set too low
If the truss rod is properly aligned and you're still getting fret buzz, raise the saddles slightly and this may cure the problem.
Note: You can have both the truss rod and the saddles set up properly at the same time if you have an on-site guitar tech do it in the guitar store. In fact it's usually a good idea to have the tech do both at the same time, and he won't charge you any extra for it.
Pickups are raised too high
This is an easy one you can do yourself. Pickups that are raised very high can cause string buzz. Grab a screwdriver, lower your pickups a few turns and the buzz may go away.
REMEMBER: Standard Strat and Tele pickups are low-output by nature, and while raising them does increase output volume, the drawback is that you may get string buzz because of that. If the output is too low for your liking after you lower your pickups, consider getting a BOSS CS-3 Compression Sustainer pedal to compensate for that.
The non-obvious reasons
Saddle type doesn't adjust high enough
With Strats and Teles you either have bent steel saddles, Telecaster-style two-strings-per-saddle (usually made of brass) or modern block saddles.
Here's a few links to some guitars so you can actually see what I'm talking about:
The Squier Bullet Strat has block saddles on it.
The Mexican-made Fender Standard Stratocaster has bent steel saddles on it.
The Squier Classic Vibe Telecaster '50s has Telecaster-style two-strings-per-saddle saddles on it.
From a top-down view, you may not see the difference between the block and bent steel, but trust me, they're very different.
The least-buzz-prone saddle type is block.
Why is the block saddle better for fret buzz prevention? Because you can raise them higher than bent steel saddles. If you look at the top of a bent steel saddle where the "hump" is that the string rests on, once you raise the saddle as high as the screw length is, you can go no further because the screw will fall out. With a block saddle you have extra vertical mass for the screw to go through and can therefore raise the saddle much higher if you need to.
In plain English: With block saddles you will never have to set them super-high because you have a lot of vertical height adjustment at your disposal. But with bent steel, on some Strats and Teles you may wish you had just a few more millimeters of vertical adjustment to kill fret buzz, should your Strat or Tele be buzz-prone.
Bridge is set too flush to the body
This only applies to Stratocaster type guitars.
If you take off the rear plate of your Strat, you'll see a tremolo block, 3 to 5 springs connected to that block on one side, the other side with hoops that are hooked to the tremolo claw, and two screws connecting that claw to the body.
Note: The tremolo claw is called a claw because the 5 flaps where the spring hoops go around are bent back on purpose in claw-like style so those hoops stay put.
The part to pay attention to is the tremolo claw screws. Those two big screws control how much "float" the bridge has on a Stratocaster.
The DEEPER the tremolo claw screws are into the body, the more the bridge will be flush to the body and the tighter it will hold its position. The SHALLOWER the tremolo claw screws are, the more the bridge will FLOAT above the body and the looser it will hold its position.
Most Strat players - including myself - don't prefer a floating bridge because it's annoying to keep in tune.
However, having tremolo claw screws that are screwed in too deep can cause string buzz.
You can cure this problem by loosening your tremolo claw screws to where the bridge just starts to float - and I mean barely. That tiny amount of float may adjust the angle of the string over the saddle just enough to cure string buzz problems.
You'll have to experiment to see how much or little you need to loosen your tremolo claw screws before your bridge starts to float a tiny bit.
And remember: Any time you adjust your tremolo claw screws, you'll probably have to adjust your saddle heights and possibly readjust your intonation slightly as well. When you adjust how much the bridge floats, your strings will probably go wildly out of tune and buzz all over the place at first. That's totally normal. Adjust what you need to and hopefully the buzz problems will go away.
"I've done all of the above and I still get fret buzz. What can I do?"
Let's say for the moment you did every single thing above. You took your guitar to a tech, who adjusted the neck relief and saddles properly. Then you lowered your pickups, switched out to block saddles and adjusted your bridge to have a tiny amount of float...
...but the damned thing still has fret buzz.
You basically have two more options at this point.
1. Have a luthier perform a fret leveling
This isn't cheap to have this service done, and you'll be without your guitar for a while because it's a slow job. There's also the huge risk that your guitar will play like a completely different instrument when you get it back - and it may not be something you like. In other words, a fret leveling may ruin how the guitar plays when in your hands. Sure, the frets will be perfectly leveled, but the leveling may take away the character of the guitar.
2. Change the nut
A guitar tech can do this, and it's an easy job. In addition, if the strings rest too high when sitting in the nut, this can be adjusted by filing away excess (it's suggested to have the tech do that) until you get them to the height you feel comfortable with.
Changing the nut fortunately doesn't change the playing characteristic of the guitar, but it may change other things, such as sustain of the string. And yes, there is such a thing as "too much sustain".
My suggestion if considering a nut change is this: If you're totally happy with the way your guitar plays and sounds but you're buzzing out like crazy and think installing a new nut will cure the problem, seek out a nut material that is exactly the same as what you have right now so there will be no surprises.
"I have a 'perfect Strat (or Tele)' that was set up professionally. Everything is correct, and there is absolutely nothing else I can have fixed, modified or replaced on my guitar - yet I'm still getting fret buzz. What now?"
This is where the bitter truth hurts.
Some Strats and Teles will naturally have necks with fret buzz and there's not a damned thing you can do about it simply because of how certain Fender electric guitar necks are made.
Fender and Squier necks are curvy by design. Vintage spec is a "V" or "soft V" shape (the back of the neck has a bit of a point to it in the center line) with a 7.25-inch radius fretboard, and modern spec is a "C" shape (the back of the neck is rounded more like the shape of a letter C) with a flatter 9.5-inch radius fretboard. These designs are for all intents and purposes the roundest necks you could play...
...and rounder necks sometimes gets a bit buzzy on the frets; that's just the way it is.
I'm sure some of you out there have picked up an expensive (as in the over-$1,200 range) Strat or Tele in the guitar store, strummed a few chords, heard string buzz and then shook your head in disbelief. You probably thought, "How can something this expensive buzz like that?" Chances are pretty good that expensive Fender axe was properly set up, and the fret buzz it makes is just part of what the guitar is supposed to play like.
Am I saying that certain Fender guitars are supposed to have fret buzz? No. But I am saying that certain Strat and Tele setups are more buzz-prone than others.
For example, a new Fender American Vintage '57 Stratocaster built to total vintage spec with the soft V-shape neck, 7.25-inch radius, bent steel saddles and smaller frets like they made in the old days will probably buzz out like crazy. And it's also probably true the cheap-as-hell Squier Bullet Strat with the modern C-shape neck, 9.5-inch radius, block saddles and medium jumbo frets will buzz a lot less, if at all.
Does this mean the cheap-ass Bullet is better than the '57? No. But it does mean that modern Strat dimensions mated with modern hardware is sometimes the better choice for you, the player.
Strats and Teles are not "automatic" guitars and never have been
On a final note, I know for a fact that Strats and Teles can be challenging to get a good sound out of. Nothing about either guitar is "automatic", and you have to really work at it to wrangle a good tone out of them.
What I'm saying here is that Strats and Teles are quirky by nature; this is why whenever a heavy metal player picks up a traditional 3-single-coil Strat or two-single-coil Tele, he'll play it for a few moments and then say, "This guitar plays and sounds like crap. I hate it." The reason the metal dude says that is because Strats and Teles are totally out of his element. If the guy is totally used to playing super-low-action Ibanez RG guitars with super-flat fretboards and pickups with super-hot output, of course he'll hate the Strat and Tele. He'll encounter a little bit of fret buzz and instantly judge the guitar to be a complete piece of crap because of that...
...and that's okay. Some guys and gals just don't like Fenders and Squiers. But there are others like myself that like the personality of Fender design. Once you come to understand the beast that is Fender design, you start to enjoy the guitars they make a whole lot more.
Rich's Bad Guitar Lessons: Fake Pedal Steel Sound on a Fender Stratocaster
Note on the video: It's long. Almost 24 minutes. However it's worth your time to check it out because if you were wondering how I got that pedal steel sound out of a Stratocaster, the video will show you exactly how it's done.
There are a few things mentioned in the video, and here are the links to them:
I have an article explaining in detail the difference between staggered and flat pole pieces in pickups here.
The guitar being played in the video is the Fender Modern Player Stratocaster HSS.
I strings I mentioned are D'Addario EXL120.
The compressor pedal I briefly mentioned is the BOSS CS-3; a favorite of many guitar players.
we all live in a capital i
I discovered something amazing on Netflix. Sesame Street: Classics. It starts with 1974 and goes from there.
I've watched a few episodes and I can't even begin to describe how unbelievably heartfelt it all is. When I was very little, my mother had a standing rule that during the day that the TV would be on "nothing but channel 2", which was (and still is) WGBH Boston, a public television station. As such I watched many, many, many hours of Sesame Street. And it worked, because I was reading before everyone else in kindergarten. In fact, I was - and this is no joke - scolded by a teacher because I was reading books before all the other kids were. Fortunately my father was involved in the Board of Education for the town and that teacher very quickly let me read whatever I wanted after that once my father found out I wasn't allowed to do so because of some ridiculous "everyone at the same pace" rule. Sesame Street taught me to read, and that's the 100% truth.
One of the animated shorts from the first season features the song Capital I, written by Steve Zuckerman. You may not know who he is, but you know his work. He has a huge number of television credits including Full House, The Golden Girls, Friends, Everyone Loves Raymond and many more.
I'm just starting to watch the '74 season, and Capital I is in the first episode. Although I remembered 99% of the shorts and skits from when I was a kid, this one was new to me and it just blew me away. I love the song so much I'm actually thinking of learning it on guitar. Yes, it has a total hippie vibe to it, but that just makes it all the more awesome. My only complaint about it is that it's under a minute long.
Capital I sounds like a very serious song, but it's not. It's just a simple acoustic tune with seriously powerful bellowing vocals in front of it. On a kid's show. Sesame Street back in the day had so much balls to broadcast great stuff like this.
Here are the lyrics. You can totally read between the lines on this one. Or at least I can.
We all live in a capital I
In the middle of the desert
In the center of the sky
And all day long we polish on the I
To keep it clean and shiny, so it brightens up the sky
Rubbing it here, and scrubbing it there
Polishing the I, so high in the air
As we work, we sing a lively tune
It is great to to be so happy on a busy afternoon
And when we're through with the day's only chore
We go into the I, and we close the door
Capital I
Capital I
Capital I
Capital I
Now there's two immediate interpretations that pop into my head here. If you replaced I with eye, this could be read as a mind journey, or complete escapism. The lyrics go way, way deeper than they appear on the surface. Like I said, it's just really ballsy stuff. And very, very clever.
I was born in the '70s, but the mid-70s seasons were rerun like crazy during the late 1970s and early 80s when I was watching Sesame Street most heavily. And to say these shows remind me of my childhood is a huge understatement. Some of the animated shorts as well as the puppeteering skits touches on memories I haven't thought of in many years.
Back when my father was alive I talked with him about Sesame Street, he told me about times when I was so engrossed in the show, just sitting there, watching, and he'd watch me mouth along to what the show was teaching. Dad knew what was going on. I was learning. While I thought it was just a way to pass the time, my brain was getting filled with knowledge. And like I said, it worked.
To truly appreciate 1970s era Sesame Street, you basically have to be from my generation. Those who are younger than I won't get it - but that's okay. I'm not saying my generation is any better or worse than another, but the children's television we had was freakin' AMAZING.