All posts by Kage

2004-2014 a musical retrospective in pictures

Got this from Walmart in 2004.

So back in 2004 I got this from the local Walmart. We were spending the summer “camping” from place to place. What really happened was the landlords were atrocious alcoholics, and were about to go through a horrible divorce that my family and I got accidentally caught up in. So I spent my 18th year listening to a lot of music that summer. This is what is left of those and what I bought up until 2014.

Insane Clown Posse Hell’s Pit.

I found ICP, accidentally in the 90s. Never a big fan of rap, but I enjoyed the styling they did. I’ve had most of their albums over the years. This one was awesome. 4 stars

Coolio Gangsta’s Paradise

Bought this just for the title track. Gangsta’s Paradise is a metal song done in rap styling. The rest of the album is so-so. I don’t like rap much and the LA vibe was even worse than the east coast. Never been a fan of laidback sounds for the most part. Misfits and Black Flag are an exception to this rule. 3 out of 5 stars

Ozzy’s greatest hits

I had we sold our soul for rock and roll in the 90s, and I even saw the reformation of Sabbth in the 90s when my family and I went to OzzFest 99 for my 13th birthday. Naturally, the prince of darkness was right up my alley. I loved the 2001 album he did with Dreamer. This is all the best in one place. 5 out of 5

Dream 2001

Ok, So pop isn’t my thing. However, back in 2001 Sprite had points. You saved so many you got something. Well, after upteen nose bleeds from Sprite up’ing my blood pressure, this was the only album they had that seemed ok. It wasn’t worth it, but it’s not a horrible album. I haven’t had a sprite since then for a reason. 3.5 out of 5

Rob Zombies Hillbilly Deluxe

Second time I bought this album. Loved it in the 90s, dug it even more in 2004. Saw him at Ozzfest 99 and he upstaged sabbath. Not an easy accomplishment. 4 out of 5 stars.

Iron Maiden Number of the beast.

First heard of Iron Maiden thanks to the Tony Hawk games. Bought this in 2004 and loved it. Sadly I haven’t listened to this album since, just Run to the hills and Number of the beast. Interesting side note, We were at the Wendy’s in Saco, Maine and I had this album playing. I turned around while my family was ordering the food and when I turned back around, a bunch of ambulances were across the street. In between the time I started listening to the album and turned about some guy on a bicycle was hit by a semi truck. Horrible tragedy and still sticks with me to this day. 4 out of 5 stars on the album though.

Van Halen Best of both worlds

Can’t pick between Hager and Roth? Well, now you don’t have to. Besides, no one bought this album for either, well, if you’re a guitarist anyways. You bought it for Eddie’s guitar playing. Great album. Fun fact, this album almost had a tour for it. Roth and Hager could not get along, so even though I had the money to go, it never manifested. Leaving me with a 80s style sad musical story instead of the “I was there one.” 4 out of 5

Lynard Skynard Thirty

I never listened to much Skynard back in the 90s. I knew of them because my parents liked a few of their songs. So expanding my musical horizons, I bought this. Lots of really good tunes and a few are more fun to play on guitar than it might seem. 4 out of 5

Best of The Rolling Stones

Another I didn’t listen to much in the 90s. Great stuff. 4 out of 5

The Ramones Greatest hits

My sister bought this and she ended up giving it to me because she got another copy. It’s the Ramones, do you really need a reason? Nothing but bar chords and down strumming on every song, but it paved the way for the genre. Gababa hey! 4 out of 5

Life after Death, BIG

Big up to Brooklyn! Gave this a listen back in the 90s, bought it again in 2004. Not a horrible album and a dark concept is so metal. Haven’t listened to it since though. 3.5 out of 5

Dre 2001

Listened to this a couple times in 2001. Not horrible, but i also haven’t listened to this or many tracks out it since. My favorite being Murder Ink, for sampling the Halloween theme. John Carpenter is great even in Rap. 3 out of 5

Rammstien

It’s a Rammstien. Du hast is an epic song! Couldn’t understand any of it back then, and now that I know German, thanks to Duolingo, it’s even better. 4 out of 5

Marylin Manson Smells like children

First Manson album I ever bought. Not the last. Sweet Dreams was dope. Kinder grinder remix went hard as fuck. If you weren’t moshing, you weren’t paying attention. 5 out of 5

Marylin Manson Antichrist superstar

Another album I bought twice. Worth it in every single way. Varies from Smells like Children, but interesting nonetheless. 1996 is my favorite from the cd. 4 out of 5

Marylin Manson Mechanical Animals

The cover was worth buying this to see the look on the Best Buy employees face. First got it for my 12th birthday in 1998, along with a copy of Parasite Eve that I would play on my brother’s PlayStation. Good album, but not his best. 3.5 out of 5

Eminem The Eminem Show

One of the very few rappers I actually have enjoyed over the years. Eminem’s various stylings in the key of rap has always made for him to be relevant and interesting to us non rap folk. 4 out of 5

The Red Hot Chili Peppers Stadium Arcadium

Never been a fan of the RHCP. It’s was too laid back for my taste. I did like Flea from Back to the Future. Caught a single off the radio in 2007 and bought this. My first and only RHCP album. It’s a magnum opus. Nearly every song is a hit. Still a 5 out of 5.

Lord The Arocklypse

They won Eurovision and boy was it amazing. Naturally I had to run to eBay and buy some of there albums from Europe. This is the 2008 American Release that I bought day one. 5 out of 5

Van Halen 5150

Police code for a crazy person. Had this on vinyl as well, which I picked up at a yard sale. Got it on cd too. Very good, albeit pretty retro synth. Still fun. 3.5 out of 5

Fozzy Do you wanna start a war

Already reviewed this one. You can read that review here. https://bestinyourgirl.com/2014/10/11/do-you-want-to-start-a-war/

{OG text. I’ll update this later with the link as my phone is running super low on battery.}

Not pictured because I lost them over the years, Metallica The Black Album, Guns and Roses Greatest Hits, Tom Perry’s Greatest hits. Bought all those around 2004 and I bumped The Black Album the most and now I can play a majority of the album on guitar too.

Overall an interesting time frame.

Edit: minor update to the text, corrections and added said link.

Fashionably Late Movie Reviews: Rambo: Last Blood (2019) review

INTRODUCTION: So a fun fact. When I was born, my father actually considered naming me Rambo, after this movie. Interestingly enough, I wouldn’t see any of them until I was in my early 20’s, in preparation for Rambo 4, in 2008 ish. While I didn’t review Rambo 4 back then, I decided to give this one a review.

PLOT: an aging baby boomer actor, needs a comeback, er, I mean, John Rambo, retired and living on a ranch near Mexico, finds himself up against Mexican Drug Cartels, after losing someone close to him.

CHARACTERS: Glib as fuck villains, but the depth between John Rambo and a young woman whom isn’t his daughter, but treats in a similar fashion, is there and a great part to the set up.

DIALOGUE: Very good, including a great part right before the finale. It’s as good as as the “When you’re pushed, killing is as easy as breathing” from part 4.

VISUALS: Stunning.

FX: Excellent

MUSIC: Works, but not necessarily Iconic. In fact, some of it reminds me of the Terminator films.

SUBTEXT: None

CONCLUSION: The original Rambo is an iconic and poignant movie about a young Vietnam veteran that had trouble reintegrating into society, post war and spoke to the ills of the US government to do better for their men and woman on the front lines. It then delved into a mediocre action series that was the butt of jokes. If you ever played GTA:Vice City you’ll fondly recall the soundbit of Rockstar games mocking Rambo “your wife needs you.” Says his commander. He replies with “I’m not married” and then the officer says “You are now, to America!” Which I believe was making fun of part 3. Among other mockery of this character. Which is sad, given how good part one is. However, what could have been another boring addition to a needed action series like part 4, they bring back John’s PTSD affliction, as he pops his medicine out the bottle. It’s good they recon’d this. Making Rambo very sympathetic to the audience, that he isn’t a one dimensional action character. Mixing with the chemistry Sly had with the actress that is a sort of daughter, it hits you and makes you seeing Rambo go, well, Rambo on everyone’s sorry ass worth every second, especially the last kill. Worth every second!

5 out of 5 stars.

Electric Lady Land Studio by Jimi Hendrix, a review

Me attempting the Voodoo Child intro by ear.

INTRODUCTION: Jimi doesn’t need a introduction, but this review needs to be prefaced by something, because this isn’t really an album, so much as an audio scrapbook of Jimi’s various attempts at creating his music. As such, this can’t really be reviewed in a traditional sense, since we have the complete versions of most of these songs already released.

ALBUM: This album is for anyone that is interested in Jimi. However I think the primary appreciative audience of this album is musicians or budding musicians that want to learn more. Listening over the course of three days gave a small glimpse into a great mind and some of what he was thinking when it came to music. A lot of the changes to songs are very subtle. One of the more interesting aspects of this is the small snippets of Jimi and his crew bantering before laying down a track. While an interesting look behind the man who captured audiences for generations, it would be time and money better well spent buying the deluxe edition that comes with a dvd detailing more on Jimi. Just the album alone, while worth the $29.99, will leave you wanting more like I did. Overall a cool concept in general.

4 stars out of 5

Unqualified Dating Advice from a Middle-Age man: For Gen Z and younger.

INTRODUCTION:

Well, I’m middle age. There is no doubt about this, as my grey hairs have accumulated more. Granted, the first Grey hairs I ever had was as a teenager, at 16, but now the bottom of my beard is white and the sides of my head look like I belong at a Grateful Dead concert, but much like Jerry Garcia, I will get by.

So I have been around long enough and experimented with people in a plethora of ways. Nothing weird or unscrupulous. As such, I have shifted through a lot of data that, mostly was originally meant for Pre-Crime: The Future is Now V1, 2018 available on this website. I’m working on V2, which hopefully I will compete by 2025.

Now, I was fairly knowledgeable in my youth. I mean, I was a predominantly A student, but there is still some things even I didn’t know until I was in my 20s. Take for instance Friend Zones.. Didn’t know that was a thing until that Ryan Reynolds’s movie came out. I was 19 when it came out, didn’t see it until I was 21. if you asked me when I was a kid, what that was, I probably would’ve thought it was a hidden Sonic The hedgehog level that only game shark or game genie could unlock, you know, back before the video game industry made you pay for unlockables instead of earning them or using aforementioned machines to cheat your way to them. I was a polarizing teenager, you either loved me or hated me, there was really no in between. Still isn’t for me, but at least in my advanced years, it’s hopefully for more than just typical dull bullshit, I guess that depends on where I go though.

So this is primarily written towards Gen Z, whom will likely take the most from it. While most of it will, hopefully be ever green, I can’t garuntee it. So anyone born post Gen Z can take what works for them and everything else with a grain of salt.

Typical everyday Gen Z are going to be the ones that get the most from this book. If your parents are Gen X, thumbs up. If you, unfortunately have parents my age, or the millennial personality, you’re probably not going to get too much out of it. Although there will always be exceptions to the rule, so you’re welcome to try the data out for yourself, but the most woman are probably going to be put off by your toy buying ways. If you’re a chick reading this, you’ll be in slightly good luck as there is something’s that I noticed that Gen Z girls can slightly improve on, nothing too drastic as I seen your moms make similar mistakes when I was growing up and your dads too!

FRIEND-ZONES

So we’re starting here. It’s important because it going to be the place that influences pretty much everything in your life. How? Well, while I never really understood this, some people of both male and female varieties take things personally. Even Ryan Reynolds’s character did. Pre-crime 2 will dive deeper into what seems to make up the mind set of this type of individual, but thankfully, we don’t need that here.

So basically a friend zone is when you, the man, make a mistake by not being manly and striking while the iron is hot. Thus you get micro penalized for it. It’s kinda like hockey, you get ejected from the game and into the penalty box with no predestination of time you’re going to be there.

Thankfully for you, there is a way out of it. It’s called “Not giving a fuck.” See, as in the movie, sometimes you’re making yourself too available and well, simping. You got the L rizz and no cap, you ain’t coming back from that. Best way to get the W rizz is get away from her for a bit and don’t pedestalize the woman in question. Girls, same goes for you and the boy you like not seeing it in ya.

Why is this? Because you’re coming off subservient to the individual. It’s one thing to be low key, it another to be lowly. Men and woman have different strengths and weaknesses, but one of the universal traits is undesirable humility. There is Humble and then there is lowly stature. Even the science backs up the idea of healthy functioning narcissism vs Narricstic Personality Disorder or the opposite of feeble mindedness.

Granted you’re occasionally going to come across people , which while they aren’t way more common in my age range than it seems to be in yours, so delusional that anything less than that level of mental illness is seen as humble, simply because it’s not as bat shit insane as they are. Avoid these people!

I know a majority of you are smart enough to see this as a red flag, but that doesn’t always help. For example, when I was 22, met a woman through an adult education system. We barely knew each other, we’re not talking like know each other by years here, but days. Less than a month I would reckon and she was all like “tell me you love me.” What in the blue fuck? She had skibbity L toliet rizz. Thankfully she eventually fucked off, but weirdest year of my life. The biggest give away should have been the weird fucking spelling of her name, it was redneck as fuck. Needless to say she was not very mindful, not very demure. Got to yeet them outta there!

Back to the friend zone in question, there is also nothing wrong with being friends with a woman in general as plenty of other things can prevent you from getting with said person. Remember, being friends with a homosexual that is a lesbian for a man or a gay man for a female isn’t a friend zone, it’s security in yourself. While not everyone will appreciate your lack of insecurity at a young age, as you get older the right people will.

While there may be more nuance here and there, the basic gist of how one ends up in a friend zone has been covered as well as how to get out of said friend zone. It’s important to cover the basics more than the subtle parts, since a majority reading this are probably very highly intelligent and part of intelligence is solving the problem yourself, this will help you in the future by understanding your own life experiences and sorting them as you are apt to.

The Gen Z Stare

This is something I noticed as I walk around to get whatever provisions I may need, and by that I mean booze. Lot of booze! Ok, maybe not that much but it sounds a lot better than going out for a fuckin hamburger, of which I desire to be double and with fries. A side…uh, aside, this isn’t the first time I have seen this problem arise. The first time I was 19 back in 2005. I noticed a male and female in their 30s, attempt to engage one another but it seemed awkward. I didn’t really think much of it until I noticed Gen Z doing this too! Well, to my luck, a Gen z girls TikTok randomly appeared in my feed once, confirming what I suspected was a bad attempt at flirting. See, men and women are similar creatures but do things drastically different and for different reasons. This comes from both not understanding how the opposite side works. See, looking a woman in the eyes for a man is a good thing. If you’re going to check them out, do so from a distance, but once they are within 6 feet of you, you know Covid distance, you can’t check their tits out anymore. You got to square up and look them in the eye. That said, while women appreciate that, they also seem to think that is flirting. It isn’t. Flirting takes a lot more than just the confidence to look someone in the eyes and talk to them. You need your basic pleasantries too, but while a woman may see that as more, a man is going to become confused.

It gets worse from here with other things I have observed from young gen z girls that confuses me when I observe them out and about. That’s one of the reasons I am writing this, it’s downright frightening to think some of this innocent behavior could have disastrous consequences for them, from narrasitics idiots and sociopaths. While I do not have children, it’s still frightening to think about the idea of a daughter of my own having such negative things come upon her.

I assume some of their malign ideas come from seeing idiots my age in their 20s as it certainly didn’t come from Gen X, as that’s not how they operated in the 90s and 00s for the most part. I feel like Madmen might also be partially to blame here. Jon Hamm might be a great actor, but Don Draper is no alpha male. The 60s only worked because it was so outlandishly toxic that people just delt with other wise douche bag behavior. This wouldn’t have flown back in my day as we have this thing called sexual harassment policies in work and school. One such behavior I observed, was something I first saw as a teenager back in 2000. It was ass slapping behavior. This stuff should never be done outside a bedroom. The right guy will see it as a shit test and avoid it, the wrong guys will probably do worse. Thankfully it’s not at pandemic levels, but as I said, what if it was my own daughter inviting toxic behavior? Obviously something needs to be said. Thankfully most of the Gen Z guys seem to be on the level and not being uncouth. If I had a daughter I wouldn’t be mad if she brought a gen z guy home.

ONLINE DATING: I’ve checked out some of the Gen-Z social media and if you’re looking for a partner, forget it. These sites don’t seem to have anything of value to sell you, even now. These sites and old ones like OKCupid are trash and offer Millennial style “personalities” at a fraction of the age the echo boomers are. Probably best to be avoided as much as possible.

COMPLIMENTS

Ok, so another observation I’ve noticed, although not as horrible as the above that could really get you into a horrible time, is compliments. I known by now that woman thrive on compliments. One of my suspicions on what fuels engagement on social media. The more feminine the individual, man or woman is perceived, the more likes and retweets they are apt to get. That said, the real world doesn’t work like social media, thankfully for us. However, this is a good way to see if the individual you’re dealing with, may or may not be narcissistic. I’ve noticed some individuals, if not having their compliments reciprocated, will take it overly personally. Pre-crime Vol 2 will have the answer as to why that is, but that’s not important here.

I understand that some people need compliments, however one needs to be selective in how they give them. I’ve seen people incidentally love bombed into a frenzy over an innocent compliment. Not something you would want to court.

For the woman, the more feminine the male in his youth, the better he will probably understand you. However the more masculine ones won’t get it.

FLIRTING

Now that we got that out of the way, we can deal strictly with flirting.

I’m not the king of the flirt, it’s not a masculine trait. However, it easy to pick up on from most people. It’s never cocky to think someone could be flirting with you, if you’re a guy, but you need to know the difference between her being nice and her hitting on you.

Smiles are great, they could be an in. However, that’s not a great way to jump into the sac, you got to slowly tear back the wrapper, so to speak and get more details on such.

If a woman smiles and keeps walking, just let it go. If they were interested in a conversation they would have stopped. Like the TLC song says “Don’t go chasing waterfalls, stick to the rivers and the lakes that you’re used to.”

Assertion vs non assertion is the next part of this point. It’s not assertive to incidentally detain someone to turn it into a win. It is assertive to be able to parlay a natural conversation from friendly to more.

Remember, assertion is when you have the right. Being a dickhead is when you don’t have the right. In other words, being a male Karen is the latter, not the former. Look at Boomers and Millennials, they think they’re assertive when they’re not. This is why millennials are part of the most arrested generation of all, cause they’re toxic or hostile in most engagements. Do the exact opposite of everything they do, cause almost none of them know how to actually engage a human correctly to make connections that are lasting. They are really good at making it look otherwise though.

For woman, you got to do more than the Gen Z stare. Take a hint from that 80s movie, Ferris Bhuler’s day off. He talks about playful hits, sometimes called “love taps” as a way of showing interest. I’ve seen that work occasionally. Innocent touch to a guy can prime a man towards smaller reciprocal touches, like hand holding. This does give you an invite into base running as the old cliche goes.

DATING:

Now we’re going to see why I call this “unqualified” dating advice. The last time I went on a date, I was 12 and it was with my “girlfriend” at the time. It was such a horrible thing that I’m still single going into my 40s, because I’m happier that way. However, I have been able to get laid enough without dating. We however are not going to focus on getting laid with this, rather look at dating rationally.

The main point of a date is basically to see how you and said individual square up, right? Why then, does dating always either end up in a boring business meeting at a restaurant or one that’s too fun and doesn’t test your potential mettle as a couple? Traditional dating, for lack of a better term, sucks. Not to quote Gordon Gekko, the Wall Street character, not the 90s PlayStation character.

If you’re looking for a partner, the ballet or a play, your typical restaurant, probably not the best choice. Ice skating could be a good choice, you’ll really find out their character.

Basically what I’m trying to say, is that you need an environment that allows you to sync up and get on the same page, but still has enough of a challenge to see how you would engage as a couple.

OLDER DATING: I’ve slept with older woman and in some cases it was better sex than I ever had with millennials, baring one. Listen to my first podcast on one night in 2013 with a millennial to know what I’m talking about. Most your peers seems decent, don’t waste it on woman that bitter, angry, dried up Karens. Same for the woman in Gen-Z. However I won’t fault you if you choose to do so. Your body, your choice.

MARRIAGE: To quote Ozzy Ozzborne “Don’t ask me, I don’t know!” Never been married, don’t see the value in it.

Marriage is more a temporary contract for having kids than a NPD level of delusion that this is your forever mate, that it has become. Who knows, maybe they actually are, but is it right to force such a burden on it? Think of your friendships, did you enter into saying “we’re going to be friends 100 years from now?” The answer was probably no. So why do that with marriage?

The way I see it, you get married for the sake of having a family, keep it to a manageable 18 years. After that, you’re both free to go, or you can renew your love and stay married. So much easier than having your marriage be the equivalent of that Kiss song, forever.

Personal opinion, but I think moving away from the traditional marriage set up, could reinvigorate it and create a stronger, lasting set up. think of the bullshit with in-laws and holidays with travel, ect. Don’t forget money problems. So many things add stress that wears at the “love”. So maybe treating it as you would during divorce, where you just co-parent would be most beneficial to you and your spouse.

Remember, I’ve never been married so take this how you will.

KIDS: ok, now I’m highly unqualified here. You’re on your own. I would say this, in order to love your children fully, you must be able to love your partner, quirks and all, because kids are a blend of both of you. If you hate it in your spouse, you’ll hate it in the child. Also, don’t parent like an idiot boomer or millennial and you’ll probably be fine. Good luck!

CONCLUSION: I went over as many relevant things as I could think of. I left some more “advanced” stuff out because it requires me to understand your specific situations. However, given the fact the advice is free, well, you get what you pay for. This is stuff I’ve observed in others and or, delt with in my past. I really don’t know if it will apply to you or not, but at least you got it for free. In the future, I may need to extrapolate to this, but it seems to be fine. If you have any questions, feel free to ask your parents. If this works for you, consider sending me bitcoin. Peace!

New Years Kage: 2024

Damn! What a weird and interesting year it has been. It started off slow and ended with the death of a CEO by a dude whose name is similar to a Nintendo character. to be fair, most of 2024 was still predictable as most other years, but the things it’s notable for, Woha!

However we need to unpack the Lugi case. I’ve been paying attention and think the hoopla around this is preposterously dull. This man is no hero for what he did. I understand why people think he is a hero, however he isn’t.

I have very little patience for criminal activity. I wanted to make detective when the was a child, so this shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. Obviously I never became a cop, but I’m still very much against bullshit, as evidence by past writings.

The reason so many people are cheering this guy is because it seems like an act of self defense because a rich and successful person killed another rich and successful persons, but here in lies the problem. They were both extremely well off, so why was the motive a lack of health care access for his back problems? he could have easily paid for all his healthcare. He was an Ivy league graduate for fuck sakes!

The media around this isn’t helping and on top of that, he seems to be being treated with kid gloves by even the justice system. I reiterate that this man is no hero, but the common trash people act as if he is. Why? Because they’re sympathetic? My grandmother died of breast cancer in the 90’s. She was diagnosed when I was 3, in 1989 and suffered from it up til I was 11 years old. A child’s mind sees that amount of years as very slow. So for 8 years, all I saw was her suffering.

What did the government do? Nothing! She worked until she was psychically unable to and couldn’t get he SS disability benefits. Did I kill anyone over it? No! So while I can be sympathetic to what people are going through, I don’t care and don’t want to see common trash people cheering this dumb mother fucker. With luck, a gangbanger will shank him in the shower. And everyone who cheers this dumb shit will, hopefully, die a horrible death as well.

Happy 2025!

Kagemas: Squier Debut Stratocaster

So I wanted to do something radically different this year than I have done in other years. I’m 1.4 years away from turning forty and so I’m going to make the most of my midlife crisis. Which, technically, thanks to millennials dropping the life expectancy back to being 70 something, happened in 2021, when I turned 35. So I did a thing, thanks to accidentally finding this social media thing called “Neighborhood” and it’s ment to be local to your area. I hopped on that and created a musician group. 4 of us are looking to get together and jam. So I might have accidentally started a band. So far, my middle age life has been the most stereotypical I’ve ever been in my life. Just need a mustang now and I’m all set.

So since I may have accidentally started a band, I figured I would go out and buy a new guitar for the occasion and decide which one is right for what we’re going for. $100 bucks shipped was nothing to sneeze at. Yeah, people downgrade the Squier, it’s not a real Strat, they say, While I never had the ultimate Strat I always wanted, which is to say the Jimi Hendrix Woodstock era Strat, I’ve heard enough players play them and think that a Squier is still a pretty good value.

First thing, out of the box, this thing looks primo. I got the matte black and white pick guard, because Jimi Hendrix apparently thought they photographed better and they were alleged to be his personal favorite Strats.

Tuned it up and plugged it into a mini Marshall travel amp.

NECK: no frets sticking out, beautiful bare wood c neck profile. I could move my hand freely. The tuners aren’t horrible, but the tuning did take a bit, given I kept seemingly under tuning or over turning. Not that big of a deal. There was no bowing and everything else seemed fine. Intonation seems fine.

BODY: Fine! Not a single dent or scratching on it. Very well built.

SINGLE COILS: Ceramic style, as they call them. All worked. Unlike the Squier affinity I got for free, where the bridge pick up was the weakest, the opposite seems true of this one, it’s almost like it is made for lead guitar playing.

WHAMMY: This is where my criticism comes in. I got a Squier affinity for free. Sadly it was because the player in question had died. His daughter came across my father and literally just gave him close to 1k dollars in equipment. I had to go out and get a whammy for it and the bridge broke. So I have to replace it, hence I bought a whole new guitar instead, and will fix that bridge later. While the whammy worked and sounded great on that guitar before it broke, the new one whammy is kinda underwhelming. Maybe it needs to settle in more. I’ve only had it for under a month, so time will tell on that one.

OVERALL: This is a great product and think something can be had by beginners and new players alike. I like this is a smaller neck, makes my barre chords better. I have not undone my pick garud, however, videos show it’s routed for either humbucklers or single coils, cause Squier knows you’re probably going to mod it. Squier did such a great job that I’m thinking of picking up the 60s vibe Strat next. It’s a toss up between that and an Ibanez Gio. If you’re looking for a cheap, but well crafted guitar that not gonna break the bank for practice or giving this as a gift, I think you’ll be happy. Also comes with a free subscription to Fender which is quite the amazing tool for a beginner.

4 out of 5 stars.