I've often said that the right guitar will find you, not the other way around, and if you don't recognize it when it happens, you'll forever regret it. Well, a few weekends ago, the right guitar found me, and I'm glad I was paying attention.
I have a big birthday coming up (one of the ones that end in zero) and my wife wanted me to get something special, so I was given a generous budget of $400 to get whatever I wanted. Since I'm not a professional gigging musician, I have no need for a $2,000 custom shop guitar, which means that $400 would buy a nice mid-level guitar that I would be perfectly happy with.
But what's better than buying one guitar? Buying two guitars, of course.
I'm nothing if not cheap, and I have an affinity (no foreshadowing pun intended) for cheap guitars, so I decided to look at the low end of the guitar spectrum and see if I could get two decent guitars for my $400. It's been a goal of mine to complete, in one form or another, the Holy Trinity of Guitars - Strat, Tele, and Les Paul. I already have the Strat, so I needed one of each of the other two to complete the trifecta. Could I do it on $400?
I went to Guitar Center again this past weekend to waste time while my wife got her hair done, and I ended up trying out some gear. I played an Airline Bighorn and a Squier Affinity Tele through a Fender Mustang II amp. I'll share some quick first impressions of each one, starting with the amp.
Fender Mustang II
Fender's Mustang range of solid-state modeling amps has been very well received in the music press, and I've been eager to try one out. I recently bought a Roland Cube 40XL that I love, but the 40-watt Mustang II was on my short list of amps to buy, and after playing it, I know that its place on that list was justified. It wasn't enough to make me regret my Cube purchase, but if I would've bought the Mustang instead, I wouldn't have been disappointed.
When people get to be my age, they go through what most people call a midlife crisis. I don't like to think of it that way. I view it more as a midlife re-evaluation. It's the stage of life where you finally realize that you no longer have all the time in the world to do everything you want to do, so you re-evaluate those goals and figure out which ones are viable and which ones have to be abandoned. It's a bittersweet time as it's sad to see some of your old goals and aspirations die, but it's good to be refocused on the things you really want to do. It doesn't happen at once and the plans often change until you finally figure out what you want.
This re-evaluation happened to me recently. I'm fortunate in that I have a logical, analytical mind, and that I can do a lot of internal analysis without doing anything rash. Many people end up doing crazy stuff like quitting their jobs, divorcing their husbands/wives, and buying outrageous sports cars, boats, motorcycles, etc., only to realize they love their spouse, they liked their job, and the new bike hurts their back. I'm also fortunate because the only part of my life being re-evaluated is music - I enjoy my career, I love my wife, and although I'd love to learn to ride a motorcycle, it's not as important to me as it used to be, so I could take it or leave it.
In typical Epiphone style, the Epiphone Les Paul Ultra Pro is another cheap and cheerful Les Paul rendition for the guitarist on a budget, but now is more versatile than ever! Despite its low price, the Epiphone Les Paul is well recognized as a renowned, respectable guitar. In fact it was used by Oasis' Noel Gallagher in the 90s and has
continued to be used by high-profile players in a variety of environments and
music styles. Les Pauls are famously versatile, which is one of the biggest
selling points, and the new Epiphone LP Ultra Pro gives even more without
sacrificing an affordable price tag.
The most impressive feature you’ll notice is the two ProBucker humbucker pickups, which are built around Alnico magnets with Elektrisola magnet wire. The ProBuckers are based upon the iconic BurstBucker pickups from the Gibson Les Paul Standard, which are designed to imitate the original PAF humbuckers. All this results in the classic, rich, powerful Les Paul tone that we all know and love. But it doesn’t stop there. The pickups can be coil-tapped through the push-pull switches on both volume controls so you get a totally different weapon added to your arsenal.
I play everything from classic rock to folk and everything in between, and when you play the Epiphone Les Paul Ultra Pro you notice how amazingly adaptive it is, and it just sounds really full and clean. If I closed my eyes and played this guitar, unaware of the brand, I would honestly presume it was a top of the range Gibson Les Paul, for more than triple the price. It handled anything I could throw at it from ripping guitar solos to complicated riffs with ease. I was expecting the chambered body to have a slightly negative effect on the tone but other than making it noticeably lighter it was almost identical to a solid mahogany.
The construction of this Epi Les Paul Ultra is much more traditional but remains the quality that we've come to expect. It has a standard mahogany body, which is finished with a quilted maple top. The Mahogany neck is a treat behold with rosewood fingerboard and SlimTaper ‘D’ profile. It is then completed in typical Les Paul style with the ever-popular tune-o-matic bridge and stopbar tailpiece, and the classic Grover tuners give added stability.
I'm struggling to find any downfalls with this guitar other than the minor things that aren't really a big deal, like where it is made. the main difference between a Gibson and an Epiphone Les Paul is that Gibsons are made in America, which is a huge selling point for some reason. And lets not forget with a Gibson you're buying a badge as well. So my advice, get one of these beauties and put a sticker on it and it'll save you over a grand.
I'm a firm believer in getting the best you possibly can for your money, so if you're determined to get a Les Paul it has to be Epiphone and the Ultra Pro is probably the best you can buy. It is priced at around £500 ($599 US) and for what you’re getting it's an absolute bargain. It's a joy to play and obviously looks amazing. It's also a perfect gigging instrument as it's light, versatile and fairly cheap. It's the sort of guitar that if it was stolen or broken then you'd buy another, it's that impressive.
The Fender Kurt
Cobain Mustang was one of Fender's most exciting announcement over the last
few years. His previous signature models - the Jag-Stang and most noticeably the
very successful Jaguar - were Kurt’s preferred instruments although it is the
Mustang that we associate with him most. This is predominantly down to the
Mustang that he trashed in the "Smells like Teen Spirit" video from which he is
most famous. So the prospect of replicating Kurt’s guitar right down to his own
personal modifications was enough to have most guitarists salivating over
it.
Fender's original 60s model was designed as a student
instrument as it is smaller in scale, smaller in body, and slimmer but yet still
contains Fender's famous build quality. It was probably this compact size and
easy playability that persuaded Cobain to play it in the first place. It was
also the first Fender student guitar to incorporate a vibrato system,
apparently every time Kurt wobbled the arm the guitar kept going out of tune so
he modified it to a hardtail.
Fender have rightly kept all of these features in the Kurt
Cobain Mustang but have increased the output by introducing a high output
Seymour Duncan JB humbucker at the bridge, whereas the original only featured
two single coil pickups. This makes the sound smoother yet increases the output
and is capable of delivering the powerful tones that made Nirvana famous.
It would be fair to say the Mustangs don’t really excel when
it comes to tonal versatility. However the cool on/off pickup sliders produce
out of phase, sweet and spiky humbucker tones. As much as you try the JB
humbucker will never cross into metal territory, even on the highest gain
setting. As much as I like this personally it’s not very authentic and is quite
disappointing really.
A cool added bonus is that with the guitar you get a limited
edition 10-inch red vinyl edition of "Smells like teen spirit." It also comes in
three vintage Fender finishes: Lake
Placid Blue with racing stripe, Fiesta red
and Sonic Blue. And if you're a lefty, they are all available in a left-handed
equivalent.
There’s no getting around it, it is a very expensive guitar
and in all honesty I do think it could be more versatile tonally. However
visually its stunning and it takes real time and effort to produce an
instrument that really does reflect a player’s attitude and tone. All in all I
really like the KC Mustang but I would highly recommend you try before you buy.
I've had another weekend revelation: I've decided to give the guitar one last shot, one more chance to see if I really want to be a guitarist, before I make a potential shift to drums as my main instrument.
This revelation came from my first trip to my new neighborhood Guitar Center. My wife was getting her hair done, which is usually an hour-long affair but in this case would last at least two, and fortunately for me the Guitar Center in Des Moines was on the same street as the hair salon, a quick 5-minute drive. So after a quick check-in with the wife, I headed out.
I gave the place a quick look-around and then averted my eyes from the guitars and headed straight for the drum room in the back. And I do mean this literally - I looked down at the floor and avoided looking at the wall of guitars on the left side. I was hoping they had some electronic drum sets set up, which they did. I had two goals on this trip - to check out some electronic drum sets and to see if I still enjoy playing.
Since I've been filling up this blog with album reviews recently, I decided to change gears and talk about guitar stuff today. Over the past few years I've completely revamped my entire lineup of equipment - I have nothing that I had two years ago. Over this time I've bought and sold a host of gear for one reason or another. Now that the revamp is complete, I'm going to go through the list of things I've bought and sold and grade them, and at the end I'll tally them up and see if it was all worth it.
Things I've sold
Gear: Charvel Model 2 Reason sold: It sat in my closet for a long time collecting dust and deteriorating. Proceeds used for: I traded it at Guitar Center for my Stratocaster. Regret selling it: Yes. I had neglected it but I would have been better off taking it to a luthier and saying "fix it." The good thing is that I got my Strat for it, but I probably could have just bought the Strat outright because they didn't really give me that much on the trade anyway. Grade: D. Not a failure because of the Strat but pretty close.
Thought I'd post a quick update today as I laze around on a Sunday afternoon. I'm excited because I will soon get to experience an NGD (New Gear Day) - I picked up an SKB flight case today for my upcoming trip to Vegas.
My wife is going to Photoshop World so I get to tag along. I'll also have a lot of time on my hands to do whatever I want. Last year I brought my Strat with me as a carry-on, but I got too many nasty looks and bitchy comments so I wanted to check it this time. Good thing we're not flying United:
I just have to decide which guitar I'm going to take. I'm about 90% sure it'll be the hardtail RG, but I still may change my mind and bring the Strat again. I've been playing the RG a lot lately so unless things change it'll be making the trip with us.
Speaking of RGs, I'm having issues again with the Edge III tremolo on my other RG. I absolutely love that guitar, but I just hate tremolos. The only one I've ever liked was the one on my old Charvel. That thing was a rock. I'd go weeks without having to tune it. I changed strings recently and after much frustration got it set up and working again. But one day, I picked it up, played it, made one dive bomb and the whole thing went out of tune. Badly. I just put it back on the stand and grabbed the hardtail RG. I know I could get it back to working condition with some effort but I just hate tremolos. I'm glad I have a guitar with a locking tremolo so I could play songs that need it but I will never own another. My own personal sound - whatever that is, I'm still working on it - will not feature anything that requires a tremolo. It's hardtails for me.
So that's it for today. Until next time, keep playing!
After I made this video Saturday morning, I have to admit I wasn't pleased. I really didn't like the way I played and I was rather bummed. But after watching it a few times, I've realized that it's not nearly as bad as I thought, and a lot of the problems are from the way it was put together.
I tried something new with this video. For my other practice videos, I played through my amp and let the built-in microphone pick everything up - that includes the backing track, which I played on my iPod through the amp's MP3 input. This time, I plugged my DigiTech RP90 right into the laptop input. Originally, I recorded the final prodct in GarageBand and planned on replacing the audio. But when I played the captured video in iMovie, my guitar sounded pretty good so I decided to add the backing track in and sync it with my playing.
That's the big issue with this video - I don't think I synced it perfectly so I'm a little off the whole time. It makes my playing sound much worse because it seems like I can't play in time with the music. The backing track, too, leaves a lot to be desired. I wanted to use a backing track so that I wouldn't be fighting with Alex's guitar playing - I wanted to hear how I sounded on my own. The free YYZ backing track I found on the 'Net is extraordinarily horrendous, but it does the job.
So now, for the good and the bad. The good: I nailed the solo, which I've had issues with in the past. The bad: I screwed up two parts of the song. I messed up one of the reggae-inspired chord progressions and I hit the wrong opening note in the post-solo bridge. In the end I didn't do a bad job, but you can be the judge!
It's been over two months since my last blog post. I guess it's about time I write another one.
So why the long break? I got a new job. I'm not proud to admit that I composed a lot of my previous posts at my last job. Even though I wrote them during break times, I wrote them so I had something to do throughout the day that I actually liked doing. See, I hated my old job. I moved from administrative IT work to programming because I thought that was the next logical step after finishing my degree. I was wrong. I hated programming and longed to be back doing server administration, network administration, hell even help desk would've been better.
Fortunately I found another position with a great company as a systems administrator. It's work I love doing, and there's a lot of it to be done, so I haven't felt the need to spend my breaks writing blog posts. To be honest, I really haven't had a lot of break time at all.
So the blog has suffered. I still enjoy it, but since I would rather spend my free time playing guitar instead of writing about it, it's sat idle for some time. I have no intention of abandoning it, but the posts will be fewer and farther between.
Even though I've been neglecting my blog, I haven't been neglecting my guitar playing. In fact, just today, I accomplished one of the goals I set for myself last year - I can play the entire first side of Rush's Moving Pictures. I've known how to play Tom Sawyer forever, but now I can go right through Red Barchetta to YYZ to Limelight. There are some rough spots but the fact that I can just start the album and play along is a tremendous boost to my playing confidence. Sometimes you go along thinking you're not going anywhere with your playing, then one day, things just click and you know you've reached another level. Today was one of those days for me.
I also got a new guitar stand. I know it seems like a simple purchase, but now I can have all five of my electric guitars out at the same time, so whatever guitar I'm in the mood to play is right there, ready for me to just grab, tune and play. It's important to match guitar with mood - anything to get you playing more is a good thing. Now I don't have to waste time putting one guitar away and taking another one out before I sit down to play. Sometimes I just didn't feel like going through the hassle and ended up either not playing or not putting my all into my playing time. Now I don't have to worry about that at all.
I also don't have the urge to buy new guitars anymore. Sure, there are tons of guitars I'd like to have, but none that I feel I need to have. There's a difference. With my current rig I feel like I have everything I need. The latest Ibanez purchase is going well. I don't miss my Gibson at all - in fact I never think about it. The only thing I need to do now is update my amp. I've outgrown the Line 6 and I want to finally have a good amplifier. I've always had nice guitars but I always had crap amps to go along with them. My wife and I talked about it and when my 40th birthday rolls around (it's a lot closer than I'd like it to be) I'm going to get a good amp. I have a few in mind that I'd like, plus something new might come out in the next few years. I definitely want a tube combo amp, nothing too powerful but not a lightweight, either. The ones I like now are the Fender Hot Rod Deluxe and the Blackstar HT20.
I don't know how many watts of power I'd need - the Fender is a 40 watter and the Blackstar is a 20 watter (hence the name). Tube wattage is much different from solid state wattage - a 5 watt tube amp can blow away solid state amps up to about 60 watts depending on the amp. All you get with higher wattage tube amps is more headroom - the higher the wattage, the louder the amp can go and still sound clean. Who knows, maybe a 5-watter is all I'll need, in which case I'd be looking at either the Blackstar HT-5 or the Marshall Class 5. When the time comes, I'll have to just play as many as I can and see which one speaks to me.
Last weekend, I finally got around to taking a trip to Guitar Center to see about trading in my Les Paul Junior Lite for a new Ibanez. Well, as you can tell from the title and the picture on the right, the trade was a go and the new guitar came home with me.
My original goal was to come out of there with a guitar, a case, and a strap. Luckily I was able to do that, but not without a little help from some dead presidents.
You see, it was President's Day weekend here in the good ol' U.S. of A. which means, in the proper American tradition, that retailers everywhere held sales and specials in order to separate the masses from their hard-earned cash. Guitar Center was no exception, and fortunately for me, the very guitar I wanted was on sale for the ridiculous price of $279, a whole $70 off regular price.
It's fortunate because I ended up not getting as much as I'd originally hoped for my Gibson. Originally I thought I could get about $500 for it, but I noticed right away when I was cleaning it up for the trade that it had a lot of dings and scratches on it. I knew I probably wouldn't get what I thought, and I was right - they offered me $390 for it. Now normally I might not have went for the trade, but because of the serious sale, I pulled the trigger and was able to get the guitar, a hard case and a strap, plus about $24 in my pocket. Nice.
The two Ibani.
So I've been playing it a lot since then and I have to admit it's probably the best guitar I've ever played. Even though it's almost identical to my other Ibanez, there are two major differences - first, it has a hardtail, which I like better, and second, it has different pickups. Instead of the HSH setup on Triumph, it has an HH setup with Ibanez' V7 and V8 pickups. These are the same pickups that were in the purple Ibanez I played last year and they sounded as good as I remembered. The V stands for "Vintage" and they are voiced much more like a vintage PAF but with a little more power. Suffice it to say, I like them much better than the INF pickups that Triumph has.
I haven't named this guitar yet, but it has quickly become my desert island guitar - the one guitar I'd pick if I were stranded on a desert island. If I were to have a signature Ibanez, this would be it. I can easily say it was the best trade I've ever made.
And yes, I picked the transparent black one. It looked so much better in person than on Guitar Center's Web site.
I've had some spare time this week so I've been making practice videos. I made three, each one with a different guitar. The first one is me playing Jacob's Ladder by Rush with my Ibanez, the second one is me playing Pigeon Camera by The Tragically Hip with my Strat, and the last one is me playing The Trees by Rush on my DGW Contender. Enjoy!
In my last post regarding Les Pauls and how they don't fit me, I ended with a question as to what to do with the one I have, my Les Paul Junior Special. It's a fantastic instrument, but it's not one that I see myself playing much if at all in the future. I've had it for a while, though - over 12 years - so parting with it won't be as easy as it was when I traded my Telecaster for my new Ibanez.
But, after careful deliberation and discussion with my wife, I've decided that I'm going to do it. I'm going to bring it to Guitar Center and trade it for the guitar I really want, a hardtail Ibanez RG. Or at least I'm going to try. I see no reason why I shouldn't get as much as I got for my Tele, if not more. It's a genuine, made-in-USA Gibson, and a rare one at that. They were only made for a few years - based on my research, they were made between 1998 and 2002 - and very few of them were black. Most of the ones I've seen on the 'Net in pictures or for sale are either cherry or natural. But, if they don't give me enough for the guitar, I'll bring the Gibson back home with me, no harm, no foul. I think it'll work, though. If I get what I got for my Tele, I may even have enough for a case.
Another bonus, too, is that I don't have to shop for a guitar. I know exactly what I want, and according to their Web site, they have some in stock. I want a hardtail version of my Ibanez, and I found almost exactly that - the RG3EXFM1. There are only two minor dissimilarities - it's a flamed maple top, not quilted like mine, and it doesn't have the center single coil pickup. Actually, though, I prefer the H-H setup anyway, so that's a bonus in my eyes. The only thing I have to choose is the color. They have two colors available - blackberry, the same color as mine, and transparent gray burst. The only decision I have to make is what color to get. If they only have one left in stock, well, that decision is made, but if not, whatever one looks best in person is the one that comes home with me.
They're both nice colors, though, so I'd be happy with either one. Don't take my word for it - see for yourself:
So you see, either way I win. I'll let you know if it works out. I hope it does, because I really want another Ibanez. They've become my favorite guitars. If I were a professional, I'd try to get an Ibanez endorsement contract. Really. I like them that much.
Ever since I waxed nostalgic about the Les Pauls I've owned and sold, I thought that some day I'd have another one, whether it be an official Gibson/Epiphone or a good quality copy like the ones made by Agile. The more I play, though, the more I'm learning what guitars fit me and which ones don't. Which made me come to a realization:
Les Pauls don't fit me.
Why? It all has to do with the body shape and, more specifically, the location of the lower body arch. I don't know the exact name of it, but it's the curve on the bottom of a guitar where you rest it on your right leg (or left leg if you're a lefty) when you play sitting down. There are two ways to sit with a guitar. One is the way I explained above; the other is similar to a classical guitarist, where you put the guitar between your legs with the lower curve on your left leg.
The designers of the Les Paul apparently had the latter position in mind when designing the guitar. The bottom curve is offset closer to the neck so that when the guitar is held in the classical seated position, the bridge is closer to the right leg, putting the playing area just about dead-center. The downside of this is that when the guitar is held in the right-leg position, the playing area is shifted even more to the right, which for me is very uncomfortable.
Contrast this with Fender guitars. On Strats and Teles, the bottom arch is more centrally located between the neck and the bridge, which makes the playing area perfectly placed for right-leg playing. This also holds true for Strat-based guitars like my Ibanez.
So what does that mean for me? Well, I'm a right-leg player. I try to play holding the guitar in the classical style but it just feels wrong to me. So when I play a guitar sitting down (which is most of the time) I set it on my right leg. Which is fine when I play my Strat or my Ibanez or my Durango. However, when I play my Les Paul Junior, it feels uncomfortable - it hurts my shoulder after a while because I have to hold my arm back further. So I end up switching between the right-leg position and the classical position, but since I don't like the classical position, I end up going back and forth until I just say, "Screw it" and use another guitar.
After coming to this epiphany, I naturally came to the conclusion that a Les Paul would not suit my needs. There are a few other guitars I'd like to have, and I would like to get one more guitar someday to round out my collection, but a Les Paul will not be one of them. The irony is that the whole Short List started with my desire to replace the Les Pauls that got away. I'm glad I went through the process of picking the right guitar instead of caving to my nostalgia or I would've ended up with another guitar that wasn't the right fit, like what happened with my Telecaster.
I also have a tough decision to make about my Les Paul Junior. It's a beautiful guitar and it does hold some sentimental value, but it spends most of its time in the closet because it's not comfortable for me to play. Like my old Telecaster, the Junior has real world value that could be used to acquire the gear I want if I choose to go that route. Sentimental value has a strong pull, though, so this won't be as easy as it was for the Telecaster. I only owned that for about eight months before selling it and getting my Ibanez. I've had the Junior since I bought it new in either 1998 or 1999.
Hey everyone, just thought I'd check in at the ol' blog. I haven't done much here since the big Contender review, so what have I done for the past week?
Well for one thing, I've been playing. Another big plus in the Contender's favor is that, even after I pulled all my guitars out of the closet (save for the Hondo) and cleaned them up, I still grab the Contender first. I think I've officially been won over by its short scale goodness. In fact, when I played my Strat for the first time after using the Contender for so long, it felt absolutely huge! I got used to it and remembered just how nice of a guitar it is, but I found myself missing the shorter scale. I had planned on putting the Contender away for a while so I could rotate my guitars, but I couldn't leave it in there. I had to take it out again because I missed playing it so much.
I also decided that I want to make playing fun again. My biggest shortcoming on the guitar is (still) my lack of song knowledge, so to compensate for that I went out and bought the Humongous Guitar Songbook. Sixty-four songs, and I actually like most of them. Sure, there are some duds, but for the money it can't be beat. I plan on loading up on these types of songbooks and learning as many songs as I can. I'm still going to do some of my exercises and maybe go over some of my theory and scales, but I think learning these songs will make me a better player. It did once before, back in my Amethyst days, so I'm sure it'll work again.
I fight the urge to look at/want to buy new guitars every day. With the addition of Triumph and Shorty, I should be focusing more on playing and less on gear, but I love guitars so much and there are still more that I'd want. I think back to the unlucky loser, the Sterling JP50 that nearly won the Short List, and I wonder what it would've been like if I bought that one instead. I also still would love to get another Les Paul style guitar, not to mention a hardtail Ibanez, or even the Schecter Omen 6 I liked so much. Then there's the ever-present pull of the Chapman Guitars ML1, which is getting closer to sold out every day, and that's a limited run, so after they're gone, they're gone for good. In fact, if I had the money lying around, that would be the first guitar I'd buy, just to make sure I got one while I still could.
Anyway, I digress. I have a great set of guitars that should last me a while. Many people only have one or two guitars, but I'm lucky enough to have four good ones and one chock full of sentimental value (if nothing else). I want to work on my playing for a little while now and possibly look to upgrade the rest of my rig - i.e. amp and pedals - at some later date.
When I first got the Contender in the mail, I didn't know what to make of it. Was it a kid's guitar? A travel guitar? A beginner guitar? So I played it for a few weeks as my main guitar to find out.
DGW specializes in short scale guitars. The Contender has a 24 inch scale, compared to traditional Fender (25.5 inch) and Gibson (24.75 inch) scales. This scale puts the frets closer together, so it's easier to make some of the stretches necessary to play scales or more complex chords. It also decreases tension in the strings to the point where light gauge strings (9s) feel extremely loose. Less tension makes it easier to bend strings and it also makes heavier gauge strings feel lighter. The Contender I got feels like it has 10s on it but it's as easy to play as any of my other guitars strung with 9s.
After unpacking it, I immediately noticed the quality of the guitar. It is extremely well made. I couldn't find a single blemish in the finish, which in this case is a nicely done two-tone sunburst. The neck was even more impressive. Usually affordable guitars made in China have poorly finished necks, but the Contender is obviously made in one of the better Chinese factories because the finish and fretwork are exemplary. The fret ends were finished so well that I was able to slide my fingers up and down the sides with some force behind them and still not feel any sharp edges. The finish itself is a nice satin finish, which according to their Web site is gunstock oil, and it has 22 medium frets.
The hardware is also very solid. It has a Strat-style hardtail bridge (which I love as I'm not the biggest fan of tremolos) with a string-through design, a volume and tone control with metal knobs and a three-way blade switch. The pickups are Wilkinson AlNiCo humbuckers which are a surprise at this price range. They aren't the most powerful pickups - they can do metal, but they aren't happy about it - but they have a nice vintage tone that's perfect for classic rock or even country. I don't know if it's the pickups or the construction - it has a three-piece alder body and a bolt-on maple cap neck (maple fingerboard on maple neck) - but some of the tones are almost Strat-like, especially in the middle and neck positions.
Shorty is much smaller than Triumph
The body isn't contoured like a traditional Strat but instead it has a slightly carved top and a back contour that runs around the entire body. This makes it pretty comfortable while resting against your body, but not quite as nice as a Strat. Still, with the body being quite small - about 2/3 the size of a traditional Strat style guitar, as you can see in the picture on the left - it's comfortable for sitting and standing and it's extremely light. The only drawback to this lightness is that it's slightly neck-heavy. Not as bad as a Gibson, but there is some neck dive when standing.
Speaking of Gibson, the neck reminds me a lot of a Gibson neck. It has a pretty wide profile, wider than my Strat. It's definitely a wide C-shaped neck and with a 12-inch radius feels a lot like a Les Paul from the 50s. Despite this, it's still very easy to play, largely because of the shorter scale.
I was enjoying my time with the Contender but I still didn't completely understand it. I spoke with Jimmy Carabbia, founder of DGW, and he put the guitar into perspective. The Contender was designed not to be a student guitar but to be another option for those wanting to play guitar. Carabbia comes from the world of BMX bike racing, and he compared the Contender to a custom race bike. You buy a race bike to fit you, and if traditional guitars don't fit, you need another option. His goal is to educate people about scale length and give them another option. There aren't many 24-inch scale guitars available, and the micro guitars from Squier and Ibanez have a 22.5" scale which causes tuning and intonation problems. He attended a NAMM show and realized there was nothing like the Contender available anywhere, so DGW was born.
The best example he gave me, though, was Brian May from Queen. He's a big guy - about 6'2" tall, although he's probably 6'6" with his hair - but his famous homemade Red Special guitar has a 24-inch scale. So although the Contender would make a good guitar for younger players with small hands, it's obviously a guitar for anyone who just might prefer a smaller scale guitar.
The Contender is the end result of one man's quest to build a guitar that fits him. Because of his racing past, his hands have been damaged and the shorter scale better suits his limitations. The Contender is just the first step. In the future, Carabbia plans to add a Tele-style guitar to his lineup as he has received many requests for one.
As for the current Contender, the more I played it the more I liked it. The neck took a little time to get familiar with, both the scale and the thickness. I had been playing Triumph, my new Ibanez RG, and I was used to the thin Wizard profile and the standard 25.5 inch scale. But after a while, I really started to like the Contender. It has a different sound and feel and quickly became the guitar I picked up most often, and not just because I had to write this review. I decided that I couldn't send it back, so I bought it. The fact that it had a sunburst finish, the one I think looks the best, had a little to do with it, too. That's probably the best outcome to expect from a review - I liked it so much that I made it my own.
It may not be for everybody, but the Contender is a guitar that anyone buying a new guitar should consider. It fits the mold for a beginner/child's guitar very well, but it is also a viable alternative for anyone who may want a guitar but doesn't like traditional scale lengths. The Contender is available directly from Durango's Web site, so if you're interested check it out.
For additional info and some tone samples, please watch the supplemental video below.
Things have been quiet here in blogger central for the last few days. I haven't had a meaty post since the Slow Down Music Player review. I wanted to let my faithful reader(s) know that I haven't forgot about you.
So what have I been up to? Well, I've been testing the hell out of the DGW Contender that is now mine. Yes, I bought it. I don't want to give anything away that might be in the forthcoming review, but I couldn't send it back. It already justified its place in my rig yesterday. My wife had a doctor's appointment and I went along, meaning I had about an hour to kill waiting in the car. I had an idea to bring the Contender (I might name him "Shorty") along from the ride, and I'm glad I did. I was able to get a good hour of practice sitting in the back of our Honda CR-V, something I couldn't have done with a bigger guitar. It was a great bonding experience. Nothing is better than when you bond with a musical instrument - it makes it yours, in a more substantial way than when you wrote the check for it.
I'm still waiting on the review until I give it a thorough thrashing, plus I still need to figure out how to make a video for YouTube. It may take me a few weeks to get it all together, but I promise you it will (should) be worth the wait.
I'll also be reviewing the Amplitube iRig I'll be getting for a Christmas present. It'll probably be posted about a week after Christmas to give me a chance to learn it and use it. I'm going to buy the full version of the software so I can have access to all the amp models. I'll also be getting the new Joe Satriani CD, so expect a review of that as well.
So it's been a few weeks now and the new RG is still in tune. I haven't checked it in a while, so yesterday I plugged in the tuner to check it out, and it was still in perfect tune.
Awesome.
I've been playing a lot and I have about half of "Always With Me, Always With You" learned already. I've been using a new iPod app called Slow Down Music Player which has helped a lot. I'll be doing a comprehensive review on it in the next few days.
I also have an Amplitube iRig coming from Santa, so look out for that review as well.
Now that my guitar situation is under control, it's time to dream about my ideal guitar rig. What I have is great for what I do and what I plan to do - record - but sometimes it's nice to imagine what I'd have if I played with other people in a band setting, whether it's full-on gigging or just garage jamming.
Disclaimer: This is only a "what-if" scenario. It is no way indicative of me wanting to spend money on anything. What I have works great for me now. This list is what I'd get if I had to play a gig tomorrow.
Now that that's out of the way, here's John's dream rig.
Amplifier: Fender Hot Rod Deluxe III. Sure, I'd love a 100 watt Marshall stack, but I'm being realistic here. I'm not going to play Madison Square Garden. This is a perfect amp for practice or small gigs. What I love about it is the clean channel. There's no better clean than a Fender clean, and the Hot Rod Deluxe has it in spades. The best thing about a good clean channel is that it takes pedals well, which is important because the distortion on the Fender is very much a bluesy overdrive. To get a good hard rock/metal tone you need to put pedals in front of it. This is why the Hot Rod Deluxe gets the nod in my dream rig - I can get all the metal distortion I need with pedals plus I can get bluesy overdrive with the amp itself. Best of both worlds. Now it's time for the pedals.
Distortion: Boss DS-1 and ST-2 Power Stack. With these two pedals, I can get pretty much any distortion I want. The DS-1 is a classic pedal and should suit most of my needs, but in those times when I need a little more, the Power Stack will do just fine.
Tuner: Boss TU-2. The gold standard of tuners, in my opinion. Nothing else to say here.
Delay: Boss DD-3. Simple, straightforward delay. There are more advanced ones on the market, but this is all I need.
Chorus: Boss CE-2. Seeing a pattern here? Every time I research pedals, Boss is at or near the top, especially a few, the CE-2 chorus being one of them (the DS-1 and DD-3 are the others).
Flanger: Boss BF-2. See above.
Compression: Boss CS-2. See above, again.
Wah: Already have it - my Dunlop Wah/Volume. Great pedal, just never had the right rig for it. I like that it's a combo so I don't need a separate volume pedal. Keeps the board nice and simple.
So there you have it. I don't see me needing anything else. I've learned a few things fiddling around with my DigiTech RP90, mostly what effects I like and what effects I don't like. Whenever I build my own preset, I end up with the same effects every time. I don't need a whammy or tremolo, and unless the amp reverb isn't good enough I don't need one of those, either. I could get any sound I want with what's in this list. If I were a gigging musician, this is what I'd have.
But for now, it's time to get back to the RP to create some more presets.
. Sixty-four songs, and I actually like most of them. Sure, there are some duds, but for the money it can't be beat. I plan on loading up on these types of songbooks and learning as many songs as I can. I'm still going to do some of my exercises and maybe go over some of my theory and scales, but I think learning these songs will make me a better player. It did once before, back in my Amethyst days, so I'm sure it'll work again.
