@@Tijuanabill All manufacturers have their fanboys 4 sure. How else can you explain Gibson's continued popularity given their decades long reputation with having mediocre QC,.on top of everything American made costing $200 - $300 more then the other major makers. Hopefully these supply chain issues will get solved soon.
I have a guitar with a man-made material fretboard and even that is giving me a little bit of sprout. It takes some special skill for the manufacturer to accomplish that. Btw - great show! No “Know your gear” at the end, so I’m having some withdrawal symptoms.
That’s because manufacturers don’t want their greed disclosed. They don’t like honesty or open forums that tell the truth. So thanks for being compassionate to your fellow musicians.
“Companies don’t get angry… people at the company get angry” With some reflection, one can see this is easily one of the biggest gems of this episode. Huge “insider” point of view. One can learn much about how to navigate through these corporations from Phil. Keep going!
Bought a Player Tele this year and as soon as it acclimated to the dry heat of our house the fret sprout was insane. I've never experienced that before.
Re: Fret Sprout - very cold climate is also very bad. This Winter was so cold in Minnesota for extended periods that my relative humid was under 20% for weeks even with humidifiers running - fret sprout on everything that wasn't in a case or had a sealed neck. The satin finishes were the worst. Fixed one a day with Stew Mac fret leveling file, fret end file, fret eraser and a mile of blue tape.
Late to the party here, but as a drummer (just started learning guitar), MANY drum companies are having QC issues. I recently spent close to a thousand dollars US for a snare. It took three tries for the company to get it right. It's a sign of the times.
2021 bad? I've had excellent luck with Epi acoustics, Squier CVs! Frets, finish, feel, tone, attention to detail. Indonesia seems to be the new Japan. As Phil has pointed out previously, with affordable CNC, geography no longer matters. Work ethic still does, though. Thank you, Indonesia!
I live in Northwest Pennsylvania and deal with very low humidity during the frozen Winter months. Not only do furnaces dry out the air, it's already low when outside is below freezing. My house is 20 to 30% relative humidity right now. Guitars I've fixed fret sprout on numerous times are again feeling a tad sharp. This place becomes a tropical rain forest in the Spring/Summer, which return the sharp fret ends and other related issues back to normal.
My Quilter Superblock US has a built-in compressor; it's a wonderful thing. That head cost me about $220 (open-box) and I ended up selling my tube amps after getting it.
I wouldn’t say I’m hoarding tubes, but when I bought a new tube amp a few months ago I got the full story on tube shortage from the shop owner. Went to tube depot later that day and bought full backups for both my tube amps. Hopefully I’m good for a few years while things settle down.
You are, tube degradation is extremely slow. “ Fresh” tubes is one of the more clever myths that a few key resellers, rebranders were able to sell to the guitarsphere
07:56 Over the past four or so years I’ve lived in New York, Texas, North Carolina, and Minnesota… Pretty varied climates. Yet almost every time I’ve put my hands on a Player Series guitar there has been fret sprout. Meanwhile, most Squiers above $300 feel perfect, with the higher-end Squiers even having rolled edges…
I have a (ESP budget line) LTD tele style guitar made in Vietnam. It never developed any fret sprout. but they didn't level and dress the frets at the factory.
The fret sprout issue is not because of the supply chain issues in my opinion. The wood they’re using now was purchased a few years ago. It’s been a brutally dry winter in most parts of the country - very little snow. On top of that, they’re using pau ferro and laurel now for fingerboards which aren’t as oily as rosewood and dry out much faster.
Your amp Rack looks stellar bro, especially with the new addition and to the bad cat right above... You work hard Phillip, you deserve all those tasty morsels..
To the person who mentioned a tilted pickup: if you want to get rid of the tilt, try raising the pickup all the way up - that was recommended to me by a customer service person from a guitar manufacturer, and it worked. You usually do that by turning the two screws on either side of the pickup, in the middle (not any of the four screws at the corners of the pickups - those are usually just holding the pickup ring in place).
The tube situation is no joke. I bought the Monoprice Stage Right 15W tube amp last year and it came with JJ tubes. Last month the amp started exhibiting weird noises and sure as shit it soon wouldn't produce any sound at all. After troubleshooting it, checking cables, etc I opened it up to check the tubes and one 12AX7 had gone. I checked prices at all the big box mail order companies and Reverb and a full Blues Jr. JJ set like the Monoprice takes was $75+. I dragged my feet because my other amps were working fine but I checked yesterday to finally buy them and most individual tubes are sold out on Sweetwater, etc and the independent tube sites (Tube Depot, etc). I was able to order a full set of three 12AX7's & two matched EL84's for about $100 including shipping. I checked again today for shits and giggles and the set I bought is now sold out. Even if Russia didn't place an official stop to exports the sanctions and import bans was going to make getting anything out of there nearly impossible. I wouldn't be surprised in the least if regular 12AX7's reach $50 each. One thing the world's recent history has shown is that corporate greed has gone completely out of control. It won't get any better unfortunately.
I live in Canada, the shit hole that is in Southern Ontario, and ordered a vintera 50s seafoam green Strat and the frets necks everything about the guitar is beautiful. My first real fender and it plays and feels the part. I feel lucky I guess to not have these fret issues.
It’s late 70s vintage but I love the built-in compressor on the Norlin/Gibson/Moog Lab Series L5 solid state amp. An early version of modeling amps, it can really get some great tones.
Hey Phil, You should do a "Sharpen My Axe" with the Mystery Kramer Focus. Throw in some top shelf electronics and a set of your favorite Blackstock pickups and use it in your next Rockin' 1000 show.
I walked into GC prepared to buy a top end MIM Tele the other day and it was unplayable because of the fret sprout! I live in the Mid-Atlantic with decent humidity.
I really want a Jason Isbell tele, but no one seems to have one in stock, and I’m fairly certain the fretwork would be typical MiM Fender if I blindly ordered one. It’s frustrating.
Might have gotten lucky but my last two MIM have been outstanding! Got a road worn Tele that was perfectly setup with spot on intonation- perfect intonation when you’re working with brass barrel saddles is pretty impressive 😄
Appreciate the props u give casino...they're good guys who just have alot of fun.. 😂..they're honest good people in my years experience of following them and same as your channel Phil.. don't always make alot of friends being honest. But truth hurts sometimes and when done with empathy and compassion and optimism then criticism can really inspire...people.. companies...to do better...keep that edge Phil...great work you do..
yeah I think JJ tubes are like generic low price bulk buy tubes that are tested for quality and then relabeled. Should you remove the paper like JJ sticker before use? I bought a used tube amp that has JJ's and the paper sticker is still on them. Presumably over the original generic part number.
Hi Phil, At Christmas time, I bought a Gibson Slash Les Paul Anaconda Burst online in Australia. Right out of the box, Tuning issues. After a visit to a local tech. The Cut on the nut was the issue. You would think Gibson, after all these years would get that right.
Gibson deliberately cut the nut high - if they cut it too low there’s no fixing it, so they cut it high for people who play with a very high action and leave it on the other 90% of the population who play regular/low action to get the nut cut by their tech. Sucks but kind of makes sense.
I have two Gibson LP Studios from the 90's that were a real bargain at the prices I paid for them used. I was able to play both before buying them as they were local purchases and found out later that the quality was pretty good for these particular years. I also have two 2007 American Strats - one mahogany and one ash that are great guitars, both of which were ebay purchases in 2011 & 2013. Buying those on line were a bit of a gamble but turned out to be great purchases.
I’ve noticed since I moved from MA to FL, it seems like my guitars dont stay in tune for as long and the frets get dull faster (probably because my hands sweat more down here). I’m assuming it’s the constant hot humid weather in my area. Up North the weather changed all the time but the house was always consistent. Here, it’s definitely more humid more often and it creeps into the house out nowhere. Other times it’s just hot and dry for days. I get a lot more fret buzz on my instruments too and it seems like the neck and bridge need constant adjusting now after just a week or so. I need to apply lem oil way more often. I mean, I’m not complaining, I love finding any reason to escape whatever I’m doing and play with my instruments lol I feel like it’s helping me get to know them better. Back home I could set and forgot all my instruments and they’d stay tuned for a long time, even with constant use. Not so much anymore. Sorry for the redundancy lol I can say though, I’ve never had an issue with fret sprouting, at least not yet. I’ve been looking into cases with some humidity control for when I’m not playing them. I’m more worried about the elements taking their toll in my stuff over time.
My gramps bought a mim tele last year. You could shred cheese with fret sprout. Unacceptable at the price range. Claim humidity all you want, but theres ways to mitigate this, and it appears they're doing none of them.
Its not Sweetwaters fault. I just got a PRS SE Mira from them and the fretwork is awesome. Its a manufacturer issue. Some companies just dont care about QC.
I get it when execs are sensitive over illegitimate criticism or cheap shots. But if a company is going to market their products to the masses, they need to put on their big boy pants and have thick enough skin to hear frank assessments of those products. But a lot of management people are under a great deal of internal pressure to support product decisions that are sometimes made above their heads and despite their own personal preferences. And yet, when those upper management decisions result in crappy products or problematic details, ANY criticism will often be aimed at management people that were not totally responsible for them, and thus ANY public criticism will be blamed upon them - and thus they often lash out at critics. The best musician / product channels have ethics like a good journalist - they stay independent and never do paid / fawning types of placement. It's called integrity and builds trust so important to their YT subscribers. As long as the criticism if fair and professional - well, you have to call things as you honestly see them.
Regarding mim fenders, I'm not sure if it's fret sprout or simply a poor fret job, I think it's the second. I bought a tele back in 2019, my avg rel. humidity is 60% let it rest and acclimatize, still could feel sharp frets. Went to a store and tried a mim strat and the same. I'm a fender guy all the way but I see many comments on these, all leads me to think quality is being compromised at least on the player series
Bought a Kepma Elite acoustic w/o their built in reverb Ala Yamaha. New manufacturing techniques. Tap tuning w computers. Largest selling guitar in China. Only came here after much hounding by 2 St. Louis Music alumni. I paid more for this than equivalent gits. May wanna check out. Impressive.
1:49:45 - Line 6 / Kemper... if you are reading this, there is a definite market for a modeling unit that only has about 10 patches instead of 500. Make one for less than $500 MSRP and I guarantee you'll sell more than you can make.
The tube issue will pass. Maybe buy some power tubes if you can find them, but preamp tubes go bad as well. I wish I'd kept my Fender Mustang IV, just in case.
@@mr.astrophysics9115 yes actually I checked all the guitars on bottom two rows all mid to low range. every single fender mim had horrible sprout compared to other lower end models. I bought one about a year ago it was nowhere near as bad it has very minimal sprout but does have some
Bought a MIM Tele over a year ago. Sharp fret ends. Just got a PRS SE Mira, awesome fret work. Luckily i now know how to fix the Tele myself. But still, i will never recommend a current MIM Fender to anyone.
@@Bobcatspiritdude yeah, its just a shame they took so long to give them a 2 point trem on the strats and 22 frets. That stops me from buying and old version. Now the player plus is better, but im not paying a grand for those appointments. Not when other companies are doing it much better for much cheaper. Its sad the road Fender is going down.
@@Bobcatspiritdude I picked up an older MIM Telecaster Custom a couple years ago on Craigslist for way too cheap and it's probably the best setup guitar I have. I just changed strings. Lucky, but clearly a well done neck from the start.
@@-Thunder I've played hundreds of guitars .....and one of the nicest playing guitars was a Mim Strat And that was back in 2003 ! So I'm guessing it was much older, because someone let a. Newbie high school guy borrow the Strat , an older Squire Tele ( which i luckily bought 💪😇👌 ) And a fender Tweed tube amp . Anywho- that Strat played so beautifully- And u suck at playing guitar But ,what I did know how to play , was effortless..... and I felt connected to the guitar It was magical ! ! ! Anyways , I tried to purchase the Mim Strat but he said no . I would up with the Tele , and paid $100.00 for it ! Long story longer I Wish I still had her .. And the older guitars are the 💣 ! ! !
Fyi...on the subject of SS amps that have "compression like affect", the only one I've found was the old Lab IV, when I say old, I mean 80s and early 90s. It wasn't true compression, however it did have this spongy quality to it that was basically a pseudo compression effect that was produced naturally in the amp. Anywho ...thats my 2 cents...if anyone has found a recent SS amp that does similar please lmk.. cheers!
I just sold my 2020 Gibson J-45 acoustic. It was unplayable between the 9th and 12th frets. Buzz City! Such a disappointment. Just tried a 2021 J-45 standard at GC yesterday--SAME PROBLEM! Played a $300 Parkwood acoustic that sounded and played better. To be fair, they had a 2019 Gibson J-45 Studio that was made to perfection. So, Gibson is batting .300 for me lately.
i am already saying the covid era guitars are the worst ones. gibson and fender are sending out tons of sloppy guitars. gotta look real hard to find something made well
Hey Phil, I appreciate your channel very much but can you change the title of the PRS S2 McCarty video “And Sold my Core” tagline after saying you didn’t sell your Core. Thanks for the honesty, all the best!
Hi all. Phil, you do a great job. Has anyone ever asked you to do a clone of Jimmy Page's Les Paul? I heard him tell a story about he had it made for sustain. Also I am looking for a video of you upgrading a guitar. I think it was a Squire bullet. You out a double stack Single coil Pearly Gates pup on the bridges and the neck pick up sounded really 70's. I can't remember what the names of the neck/middle pups are. Thanks.
Unfortunately companies the world over do not enjoy being called out on their bullshit. In addition they all say they welcome feedback. However what they actually mean is they welcome positive feedback only. Its really fun to absolutely call out blatant liars to their face using their own information and facts against them, especially when they automatically assume you have no idea about what you speak of.
May want to pick up some strings by the price of nickel right now. Wheat is super high also and used to make a hell of a lot of food stuffs. With gas prices everything is going to go super high. They say we will own nothing and be happy though lol.
Phil, i have an Epiphone G-1275 Cherry doubleneck. Would you be interested using it for Sharpen My Axe? If not, what would you recommend to make it better?
I'd be curious if quality control in guitar manufacture is actually worse now than it was in the past, or if people just complain more. If you want to find a review stating that any particular piece of gear is terrible, there is a RUclips video to support that position. Your reviews seem reasonable to me, but there are some other review channels that have value, but their opinions need need to be taken with a mountain of salt.
LOL Fender just knocked the squirrels off their guitar wood couple days ago.🤣
That was funny. Thank you for the laugh
$900 for a guitar that cuts your hands is pretty crazy though
@@Tijuanabill All manufacturers have their fanboys 4 sure. How else can you explain Gibson's continued popularity given their decades long reputation with having mediocre QC,.on top of everything American made costing $200 - $300 more then the other major makers. Hopefully these supply chain issues will get solved soon.
@@PhillipMcKnight there is an imposter pretending to be you lol .
Longer story slightly shorter lol
Happy Birthday to your wonderful wife who humors you & helps you pursue your hobby and in doing so allows us to benefit from your wisdom!
Been watching these videos for 2 years. I finally get it. We need you. I will become a patron for the first time. Do what u do.
I have a guitar with a man-made material fretboard and even that is giving me a little bit of sprout. It takes some special skill for the manufacturer to accomplish that.
Btw - great show! No “Know your gear” at the end, so I’m having some withdrawal symptoms.
That’s because manufacturers don’t want their greed disclosed. They don’t like honesty or open forums that tell the truth. So thanks for being compassionate to your fellow musicians.
I always love watching these in the background!! And also thank you for getting me into guitar repairs DIY!
“Companies don’t get angry… people at the company get angry”
With some reflection, one can see this is easily one of the biggest gems of this episode. Huge “insider” point of view.
One can learn much about how to navigate through these corporations from Phil. Keep going!
Nope, bad Fender fret sprout here in Pennsylvania, too. 😢 (Love ya, Phil! God bless!)
I had to return a mim fender Nashville tele. Was looking forward to this guitar for a while, but it was bad, too bad to keep.
Bought a Player Tele this year and as soon as it acclimated to the dry heat of our house the fret sprout was insane. I've never experienced that before.
My 1999 USA Series Stratocaster is incredible. Its been ultra reliable, solid and plays like a dream. I've had zero issues with her.
Re: Fret Sprout - very cold climate is also very bad. This Winter was so cold in Minnesota for extended periods that my relative humid was under 20% for weeks even with humidifiers running - fret sprout on everything that wasn't in a case or had a sealed neck. The satin finishes were the worst. Fixed one a day with Stew Mac fret leveling file, fret end file, fret eraser and a mile of blue tape.
Late to the party here, but as a drummer (just started learning guitar), MANY drum companies are having QC issues. I recently spent close to a thousand dollars US for a snare. It took three tries for the company to get it right. It's a sign of the times.
NJ here, mexican strat fret sprout is indeed horrendous
2021 bad? I've had excellent luck with Epi acoustics, Squier CVs! Frets, finish, feel, tone, attention to detail. Indonesia seems to be the new Japan. As Phil has pointed out previously, with affordable CNC, geography no longer matters. Work ethic still does, though. Thank you, Indonesia!
Happy Bithday Mrs McKnight, I hope you've had a lovely day.
Bought pickups and tubes months ago. Nice to know Ill be good to weather the latest shortage storm in this regard.
I bought a squire fender hollowbody starcaster reissue 70s. The quality is tops!!, plays wounderfull. Why haven't people like it also??.thanks.
I live in Northwest Pennsylvania and deal with very low humidity during the frozen Winter months. Not only do furnaces dry out the air, it's already low when outside is below freezing. My house is 20 to 30% relative humidity right now. Guitars I've fixed fret sprout on numerous times are again feeling a tad sharp. This place becomes a tropical rain forest in the Spring/Summer, which return the sharp fret ends and other related issues back to normal.
My Quilter Superblock US has a built-in compressor; it's a wonderful thing. That head cost me about $220 (open-box) and I ended up selling my tube amps after getting it.
I wouldn’t say I’m hoarding tubes, but when I bought a new tube amp a few months ago I got the full story on tube shortage from the shop owner. Went to tube depot later that day and bought full backups for both my tube amps. Hopefully I’m good for a few years while things settle down.
.....GREAT IDEA MAN !!!!!!!!!!!!! I NEED TO DO THE SAME but strapped for cash currently !!! Just my damned luck..lmao
You are, tube degradation is extremely slow. “ Fresh” tubes is one of the more clever myths that a few key resellers, rebranders were able to sell to the guitarsphere
@@michaeltaylors2456 Ok but I hardly consider one back up set as "hoarding". But maybe you also only own one roll of TP at a time, I don't know.
@@mattc2674 uh ok, you talkin to me ?
The 3 string is a popular guitar here in Miami. I believe it's originally Cuban and called a "Tres"
Thanks for being honest and bringing a behind the scenes side of things. It's refreshing.
Guitalele is like a guitar capoed at the 5th fret. Really fun and useful! 🎶
07:56 Over the past four or so years I’ve lived in New York, Texas, North Carolina, and Minnesota… Pretty varied climates. Yet almost every time I’ve put my hands on a Player Series guitar there has been fret sprout. Meanwhile, most Squiers above $300 feel perfect, with the higher-end Squiers even having rolled edges…
I have a (ESP budget line) LTD tele style guitar made in Vietnam. It never developed any fret sprout. but they didn't level and dress the frets at the factory.
The fret sprout issue is not because of the supply chain issues in my opinion. The wood they’re using now was purchased a few years ago. It’s been a brutally dry winter in most parts of the country - very little snow. On top of that, they’re using pau ferro and laurel now for fingerboards which aren’t as oily as rosewood and dry out much faster.
Your amp Rack looks stellar bro, especially with the new addition and to the bad cat right above... You work hard Phillip, you deserve all those tasty morsels..
Happy birthday Mrs. Know Your Gear!!
fan fretted make a lot of sense on basses, a 37' scale for the b string is amazing, bear that in mind when ordering a new bass
The Yamaha THR amps have a great compressor in the software editor. It changes that amp in great ways.
To the person who mentioned a tilted pickup: if you want to get rid of the tilt, try raising the pickup all the way up - that was recommended to me by a customer service person from a guitar manufacturer, and it worked. You usually do that by turning the two screws on either side of the pickup, in the middle (not any of the four screws at the corners of the pickups - those are usually just holding the pickup ring in place).
Yea, don't do this, especially on single coils.
The tube situation is no joke. I bought the Monoprice Stage Right 15W tube amp last year and it came with JJ tubes. Last month the amp started exhibiting weird noises and sure as shit it soon wouldn't produce any sound at all. After troubleshooting it, checking cables, etc I opened it up to check the tubes and one 12AX7 had gone. I checked prices at all the big box mail order companies and Reverb and a full Blues Jr. JJ set like the Monoprice takes was $75+.
I dragged my feet because my other amps were working fine but I checked yesterday to finally buy them and most individual tubes are sold out on Sweetwater, etc and the independent tube sites (Tube Depot, etc). I was able to order a full set of three 12AX7's & two matched EL84's for about $100 including shipping. I checked again today for shits and giggles and the set I bought is now sold out.
Even if Russia didn't place an official stop to exports the sanctions and import bans was going to make getting anything out of there nearly impossible. I wouldn't be surprised in the least if regular 12AX7's reach $50 each. One thing the world's recent history has shown is that corporate greed has gone completely out of control. It won't get any better unfortunately.
LAB amps had built in compressors. Played one for years in wedding bands.
I live in Canada, the shit hole that is in Southern Ontario, and ordered a vintera 50s seafoam green Strat and the frets necks everything about the guitar is beautiful. My first real fender and it plays and feels the part. I feel lucky I guess to not have these fret issues.
I always appreciate the honesty, and it’s pretty scummy that those people lied to you about paying for advertising their products
It’s late 70s vintage but I love the built-in compressor on the Norlin/Gibson/Moog Lab Series L5 solid state amp. An early version of modeling amps, it can really get some great tones.
Hey Phil, You should do a "Sharpen My Axe" with the Mystery Kramer Focus. Throw in some top shelf electronics and a set of your favorite Blackstock pickups and use it in your next Rockin' 1000 show.
I walked into GC prepared to buy a top end MIM Tele the other day and it was unplayable because of the fret sprout! I live in the Mid-Atlantic with decent humidity.
I really want a Jason Isbell tele, but no one seems to have one in stock, and I’m fairly certain the fretwork would be typical MiM Fender if I blindly ordered one. It’s frustrating.
My OCD can't let it go...Episode did Not end with ...Until next time Know your gear. This will haunt me all week Phil. Great show as alwways
When your head is way down there, the banner ads sometimes cover you up. :)
Might have gotten lucky but my last two MIM have been outstanding! Got a road worn Tele that was perfectly setup with spot on intonation- perfect intonation when you’re working with brass barrel saddles is pretty impressive 😄
I am already thinking of going back to solid-state.
This might be the kick in the pants I need to go get a Super Crush.
Appreciate the props u give casino...they're good guys who just have alot of fun.. 😂..they're honest good people in my years experience of following them and same as your channel Phil.. don't always make alot of friends being honest. But truth hurts sometimes and when done with empathy and compassion and optimism then criticism can really inspire...people.. companies...to do better...keep that edge Phil...great work you do..
yeah I think JJ tubes are like generic low price bulk buy tubes that are tested for quality and then relabeled. Should you remove the paper like JJ sticker before use? I bought a used tube amp that has JJ's and the paper sticker is still on them. Presumably over the original generic part number.
Hi Phil,
At Christmas time, I bought a Gibson Slash Les Paul Anaconda Burst online in Australia. Right out of the box, Tuning issues. After a visit to a local tech. The Cut on the nut was the issue. You would think Gibson, after all these years would get that right.
Gibson deliberately cut the nut high - if they cut it too low there’s no fixing it, so they cut it high for people who play with a very high action and leave it on the other 90% of the population who play regular/low action to get the nut cut by their tech. Sucks but kind of makes sense.
I have two Gibson LP Studios from the 90's that were a real bargain at the prices I paid for them used. I was able to play both before buying them as they were local purchases and found out later that the quality was pretty good for these particular years. I also have two 2007 American Strats - one mahogany and one ash that are great guitars, both of which were ebay purchases in 2011 & 2013. Buying those on line were a bit of a gamble but turned out to be great purchases.
Loving the content Phil! always a fan of good information and great content. Cheers!
Really liked the part where you discussed guitar reviews (as well as the video you referenced).
I’ve noticed since I moved from MA to FL, it seems like my guitars dont stay in tune for as long and the frets get dull faster (probably because my hands sweat more down here). I’m assuming it’s the constant hot humid weather in my area. Up North the weather changed all the time but the house was always consistent. Here, it’s definitely more humid more often and it creeps into the house out nowhere. Other times it’s just hot and dry for days. I get a lot more fret buzz on my instruments too and it seems like the neck and bridge need constant adjusting now after just a week or so. I need to apply lem oil way more often. I mean, I’m not complaining, I love finding any reason to escape whatever I’m doing and play with my instruments lol I feel like it’s helping me get to know them better. Back home I could set and forgot all my instruments and they’d stay tuned for a long time, even with constant use. Not so much anymore. Sorry for the redundancy lol I can say though, I’ve never had an issue with fret sprouting, at least not yet. I’ve been looking into cases with some humidity control for when I’m not playing them. I’m more worried about the elements taking their toll in my stuff over time.
I have the Beat Buddy pedal. You can disable the intro fill feature. It takes a few seconds, easy.
My gramps bought a mim tele last year. You could shred cheese with fret sprout. Unacceptable at the price range. Claim humidity all you want, but theres ways to mitigate this, and it appears they're doing none of them.
Just recieved a MIM strat from Sweetwater and definetly has some fret sprout.
That sucks to hear.
I just looked it up. The Fender factory is in Ensenada Mexico. The "average" relative humidity in Ensenada is 82%
There's yer problem :)
@@PhillipMcKnight Its not bad, and thanks to your vidz I will have it fixed in no time. However I was surprised to see it on a roasted neck.
Its not Sweetwaters fault. I just got a PRS SE Mira from them and the fretwork is awesome. Its a manufacturer issue. Some companies just dont care about QC.
@@todd0864 for sure not a Sweetwater issue. And Honestly its not that bad and the rest of the strat is flawless.
I get it when execs are sensitive over illegitimate criticism or cheap shots. But if a company is going to market their products to the masses, they need to put on their big boy pants and have thick enough skin to hear frank assessments of those products. But a lot of management people are under a great deal of internal pressure to support product decisions that are sometimes made above their heads and despite their own personal preferences. And yet, when those upper management decisions result in crappy products or problematic details, ANY criticism will often be aimed at management people that were not totally responsible for them, and thus ANY public criticism will be blamed upon them - and thus they often lash out at critics. The best musician / product channels have ethics like a good journalist - they stay independent and never do paid / fawning types of placement. It's called integrity and builds trust so important to their YT subscribers. As long as the criticism if fair and professional - well, you have to call things as you honestly see them.
Phil...you should wear that naughty list like a badge of honor!!!!
...Fender Mexican necks are made in CORONA, CA. The fretboards are now made of PauFerro wood instead of Rosewood. Maybe that's the issue??.........
Lol, I have a 2015 and a 2017 Gibson Les Paul studio and I love them both! I realize that maybe I just got lucky. They're not going anywhere!
Woot woot! Great show!
Thank you John
Regarding mim fenders, I'm not sure if it's fret sprout or simply a poor fret job, I think it's the second. I bought a tele back in 2019, my avg rel. humidity is 60% let it rest and acclimatize, still could feel sharp frets. Went to a store and tried a mim strat and the same. I'm a fender guy all the way but I see many comments on these, all leads me to think quality is being compromised at least on the player series
Happy Birthday to your wife🎂🎂
just bought a Godin Stadium HT
Bought a Kepma Elite acoustic w/o their built in reverb Ala Yamaha. New manufacturing techniques. Tap tuning w computers. Largest selling guitar in China. Only came here after much hounding by 2 St. Louis Music alumni. I paid more for this than equivalent gits. May wanna check out. Impressive.
1:49:45 - Line 6 / Kemper... if you are reading this, there is a definite market for a modeling unit that only has about 10 patches instead of 500. Make one for less than $500 MSRP and I guarantee you'll sell more than you can make.
The tube issue will pass. Maybe buy some power tubes if you can find them, but preamp tubes go bad as well. I wish I'd kept my Fender Mustang IV, just in case.
I went to guitar center in PA and every mim fender had horrible fret spout
@@mr.astrophysics9115 yes actually I checked all the guitars on bottom two rows all mid to low range. every single fender mim had horrible sprout compared to other lower end models. I bought one about a year ago it was nowhere near as bad it has very minimal sprout but does have some
@@jakerichard4813 I dunno, Simon says you didn't. I was trained as a child to trust what Simon Says.
Phil, have you tried the Leo Jaymz Les Paul copies? If yes, what do you think of them?
The Fender Champion 50 XL has a Compressor with the Fender Clean set up !!!!
solid state amp w compression- fender princeton stereo chorus (red knob)
one of the best gigging amps ever made, imho
ymmv tho
Bought a MIM Tele over a year ago. Sharp fret ends. Just got a PRS SE Mira, awesome fret work. Luckily i now know how to fix the Tele myself. But still, i will never recommend a current MIM Fender to anyone.
The older ones like 80's + 90's were beautiful 🎸's !!
@@Bobcatspiritdude yeah, its just a shame they took so long to give them a 2 point trem on the strats and 22 frets. That stops me from buying and old version. Now the player plus is better, but im not paying a grand for those appointments. Not when other companies are doing it much better for much cheaper. Its sad the road Fender is going down.
@@Bobcatspiritdude I picked up an older MIM Telecaster Custom a couple years ago on Craigslist for way too cheap and it's probably the best setup guitar I have. I just changed strings. Lucky, but clearly a well done neck from the start.
@@-Thunder I've played hundreds of guitars .....and one of the nicest playing guitars was a Mim Strat
And that was back in 2003 ! So I'm guessing it was much older, because someone let a. Newbie high school guy borrow the Strat , an older Squire Tele ( which i luckily bought 💪😇👌 ) And a fender Tweed tube amp .
Anywho- that Strat played so beautifully- And u suck at playing guitar But ,what I did know how to play , was effortless..... and I felt connected to the guitar
It was magical ! ! !
Anyways , I tried to purchase the Mim Strat but he said no . I would up with the Tele , and paid $100.00 for it !
Long story longer I Wish I still had her .. And the older guitars are the 💣 ! ! !
@@Bobcatspiritdude I have a 90s model and 2005 models and they are pretty much exactly the same
I finally got my 5150 iconic half stack and it’s freakin amazing
On the contrary The Sterling by MusicMans I bought last year was MILES above some of their older guitars of the same models
You completely did not answer the guitar cleaning?
Love the show Phillip 👍👍😎
You can Change the BEAT BUDDY INTRO TO A COUNT IN !
Fyi...on the subject of SS amps that have "compression like affect", the only one I've found was the old Lab IV, when I say old, I mean 80s and early 90s. It wasn't true compression, however it did have this spongy quality to it that was basically a pseudo compression effect that was produced naturally in the amp. Anywho ...thats my 2 cents...if anyone has found a recent SS amp that does similar please lmk.. cheers!
Phil it cost me 94.00 to fill up yesterday in Texas. Go figure? 2 years ago same truck 36.00
Hey Phil. Love your content. Is there a first kit you would recommend for a novice for repairs and maintenance?
Hi Phil, regarding the free tanks of gas you want to giveaway. You can get prepaid cards at the gas station. They exist here in Australia at least.
The best buddy came with the ability to turn that off when I got it 4 years ago
I just sold my 2020 Gibson J-45 acoustic. It was unplayable between the 9th and 12th frets. Buzz City! Such a disappointment. Just tried a 2021 J-45 standard at GC yesterday--SAME PROBLEM! Played a $300 Parkwood acoustic that sounded and played better. To be fair, they had a 2019 Gibson J-45 Studio that was made to perfection. So, Gibson is batting .300 for me lately.
Hi Phil, did you get rid of the Hughes and Kettner?
I have a Fender Lead III that feels like you could use the neck to saw down the next tree with...
One HUNDRED percent the Anderton's channel had a MARKETING Pro come in and "advise"
I have a quilter solid state amp and I love it 😀
i am already saying the covid era guitars are the worst ones. gibson and fender are sending out tons of sloppy guitars. gotta look real hard to find something made well
I agree. EVERY covid-era guitar I have touched has not been good.
Happy Birthday to momma McKnight!
QC is an issue but it's still the exception rather than the rule... rushing everything to keep up...
I miss my Arbor explorer from 1982 era . Cant find them anywhere for resale
Hey Phil, I appreciate your channel very much but can you change the title of the PRS S2 McCarty video “And Sold my Core” tagline after saying you didn’t sell your Core. Thanks for the honesty, all the best!
I did sell that core
@@PhillipMcKnight Ah! Ok, I was confused at 52:47 you said you didn’t? Thanks 🙏
Hi all. Phil, you do a great job. Has anyone ever asked you to do a clone of Jimmy Page's Les Paul? I heard him tell a story about he had it made for sustain.
Also I am looking for a video of you upgrading a guitar. I think it was a Squire bullet. You out a double stack Single coil Pearly Gates pup on the bridges and the neck pick up sounded really 70's. I can't remember what the names of the neck/middle pups are.
Thanks.
I got a dean select v. And they went way to heavy with the radius block. Kiesel for me from now on. Good necks and fretwork.
Unfortunately companies the world over do not enjoy being called out on their bullshit. In addition they all say they welcome feedback. However what they actually mean is they welcome positive feedback only.
Its really fun to absolutely call out blatant liars to their face using their own information and facts against them, especially when they automatically assume you have no idea about what you speak of.
Ok guys. Fender hot rod deluxe or fender twin reverb deluxe?
May want to pick up some strings by the price of nickel right now. Wheat is super high also and used to make a hell of a lot of food stuffs. With gas prices everything is going to go super high.
They say we will own nothing and be happy though lol.
Phil those people at companies that got mad at you need to grow up and learn something about business and let there product speak for it's self.
Phil would be such an awesome manager
HAPPY BIRTHDAY !!🎉🥳
SS amp with compression? How about the Quilter Aviator Cub? Is the limiter a compressor?
Vintage tubes are the way to go. They’ll always be chest options too.
Phil, i have an Epiphone G-1275 Cherry doubleneck. Would you be interested using it for Sharpen My Axe? If not, what would you recommend to make it better?
I'd be curious if quality control in guitar manufacture is actually worse now than it was in the past, or if people just complain more. If you want to find a review stating that any particular piece of gear is terrible, there is a RUclips video to support that position. Your reviews seem reasonable to me, but there are some other review channels that have value, but their opinions need need to be taken with a mountain of salt.
for preamp tubes is it possible people will make kits to replace them with FETs? or do i misunderstand how equivalent they are?