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Phil McKnight
The Know youw Gear Podcast. The Know youw Gear Podcast is brought to you by Patreon members, channel members and viewers who like and subscribe. Thank you for making this possible. Hey everyone. Welcome to the Know youw Gear podcast live, episode 422. Sometimes I'm like, live from Arizona doesn't sound as cool as New York, right? And live from Arizona, the know your Gear podcast, episode 422. All right, we have a lot of things to cover today. So many subjects, so many topics, so many questions. I guess technically a subject and a topic to say, but we got to get through a lot of stuff. So I'm going to move fast, especially on the announcements. So announcements are pretty basic. We do have new merch with new logos. Some of you guys requested some of the logos not have a, you know, S type. Can we do that? Can we stretch style, guitar shape? Some of you guys asked for a Tele shape or a Les Paul shape. And so we did not make those shapes. We made shapes that look like those shapes for legal reasons. But you can check that merch out. I also want to thank the patrons and the channel members and all of you for supporting the channel. If you want to watch this ad free, you have three choices. You can maybe four. Let's see. You could watch it live. There's no ads during the live Broad until it rebroadcasts. You can watch it on Patreon for $5 a month and get all the live ad free ones are ad free ones. Or you can listen to it streaming on itunes, Spotify and all those places. Again, ad free. Or you can just pay for YouTube ad free or get a some kind of blocker thing. So that's it. So that's it. Hopefully you guys will not complain. I'll complain all you want. I don't. I understand. Okay, so let's. Let's get into some of the early topics if we can real quickly. The first topic that I saw was from Jeremy says, hey, Phil, do you still have your Vella? Could you please make it a guitar of the week? I can't make it a guitar a week. I don't have the Vella. I did tell that story once. It's in a podcast somewhere. I bought that guitar from. Where'd I buy the Vella from? I bought it from. I don't remember where. I don't. I bought it. But anyways, I don't have it anymore. It's one of those things. It was probably my second favorite S2 after my semi hollow black One that I keep referring to. And it's not that I regret getting rid of it, I just don't. But I don't. I didn't get rid of it for any, you know, good reasons other than just. There's just too many guitars. I try to keep my personal collection as, like, close to just things that just really mean something to me emotionally, since there's a parade of guitars, you know, coming. I mean, I'm gonna do 52 deep dives just this year. That's 52 guitars that I'm gonna buy, be borrow, or be sent to me by companies. And so life is a prey to guitars on the channel. It's one of the beautiful blessings of this channel is that there's never an end to guitar guitars in sight for me to get this experience. But it does make it harder for me to kind of, you know, take the time to enjoy my personal guitars. So I try to make them have an emotional attachment as much as just liking the way it plays. So that's all. So I don't know. Okay, that was just an early riser question I saw and I grabbed it. I thought I grabbed another one. This one is. I'm trying to grab the easy ones fast. Here's a good one says, this one says, hey, did you see the new Badlands guitar? Max, I guess, did a review of one. It says, I know you got rid of yours. Are you going to review one? And it would be nice to see a deep dive to see if there's a quality, if their quality has improved. Nope, I don't have any plans to do a deep dive of a Badlands. The main reason is, I've explained in the past, is that when it comes to guitars, especially guitars more so than pedals and amps, but all of the above are included. I tell you guys, you hear it all the time. YouTubers like, I don't review anything I don't like. That's not true. I don't review anything I'm not interested in. So I can review something that I don't necessarily like or wouldn't be necessarily for me, but I think it's interesting when I say it's interesting. Maybe it's interesting to me or I think it's interesting to you, or it'd be interesting content and, you know, and I think that's all kind of good reasons to do it. So. So like I said, so I'll do a video of pretty much any product that, that I find interesting in some way, unless I just wouldn't see Myself ever buying one. And a good example of that is I had a guitar center send me the new BC Rich Gunslinger. And you know, obviously that was a huge failure video in my opinion for them. And, and I guess my point is when I went into that I didn't know I was gonna, I was not gonna like the guitar at the end, you know, per, you know, pretty much it was, it's fine, but it wasn't, you know, amazing. And that was kind of the fun for me was kind of learning the experience. There's some companies I just know I wouldn't buy a guitar from. And so I'm not going to do a video of those guitars. And that's a very short list. I don't think it's more than two or three companies. But for those reasons I'm not going to do videos of those products. It's, it's usually tied to like maybe like a. I would put it in the same regards of you'll never see me do a chips in here. It's because I'll. On an ethic level I'm never going to buy a gypsum no matter how good or bad they are. I just don't agree with that, you know, that kind of stuff. So if I just don't agree on a ethics level with something, I'm not going to do it. So that's why it's not going to be a deep dive. Okay. But I appreciate the question and I'm still interested in hearing your guys comments about that kind of stuff. Okay, um, let's. Let's what? Let's go to another topic. Here was a topic. This one's fun. I think it's going to be fun. I'm going to see what I can do with it. This question has been sent to us so many times and so I want to thank everybody who sent the version of this question. So I'm not going to give credit to one person because there's so many, but the question is always about. And especially came up recently with the Herman Lee guitars, you know, is this limited edition stuff real? In other words, is Phil is limited edition? I'm going to give the best version of the question I have here, which is, is limited edition products a money grab and, or is it real? Okay, like are they just making artificial, you know, hype, Artificial fomo, Fear of missing out. And the answer is no. In most cases limited edition is hype. It's not real. You know, in some cases limited edition is a legit issue in the idea that maybe they can only get resources to make ten or a thousand or whatever it is. Sometimes that resource isn't necessarily like. Let's talk about guitars like with Herman Lee's new signature guitar. Obviously I don't think there's an issue getting mahogany or maple to make the guitars. I don't think there's an issue getting go to Bridges for the bridge or Fishman pickups. So there's. Component wise, I don't believe there's anything in the Herman Lee signature guitar that is so unique that PRs can only get 200 pieces of that material to make the guitar. So making a limit is not a, is not a restriction by the materials. And other. And another thing to point out is an interesting fun fact is the Herman Lee guitar case, which is a PRS case, fits a real PRS custom 24 standard 24 as well. It was interchangeable. I thought that was interesting. I didn't know that. So I have that case and I have one of the, you know, and I have the Herman Lee case and I have the universal case. And I misappropriated them the other day when I was putting guitars in and I was like, oh, and they both fit in each other's cases. I wouldn't have known except for when I opened the compartment to get the Herman Lee stuff. There wasn't in the compartment. I was like, where'd it go? I realized I had swapped the cases. So something, something funny. But back to limited edition. And this scam, I guess it's a scam. We're gonna call it a scam. We're gonna be that harsh? We're gonna call it money grabs. So there is a bunch of money grab things and limited edition in that case in herm League, what I think it is is the limited edition was, look, how many are they gonna sell? How many seven thousand dollar crazy, you know, PRS guitars with, you know, a Godo bridge and, and you know, Fishman pickups and stuff. Are they gonna really sell in. In that? And they probably came up with a number and the number was probably like maybe it was 300, maybe it was 250. I think they probably put their best educated guess, especially PRS because PRS is notoriously known for what I thought and always thought that they did the best limited edition stuff ever. What I mean by that is PRS used to do this thing, which I thought was so smart. They didn't cut it to a number, they cut it to a time. It was something that you would notice they would do. And I always Thought that was the best way to do limited edition stuff. Stuff when you do just in time manufacturing. So, for instance, what I mean by that is purs like Musicman. And you know, many brands as you know, do what's called just in time manufacturing, which means they don't make an instrument unless they have an order for it. So PRS is not going to make a Herman Lee signature guitar unless somebody ordered it. Somebody being a dealer, not a customer. Right? Not the end user, the customer. The dealer being the customer. So if they get 200 orders, they make 200 guitars. They used to do it like, hey, we're taking orders for this guitar for the month of, let's say, July. And so if they got a thousand orders, that's how many they made on August 1st. They were like, that's the end of it. You know, more are going to be made. And so I always thought that was really a fair way to do things, because then that way you really know what the market can hold. Because one of the things that I hate about limited edition is it creates a stock market kind of vibe on product. In other words, like, you know, they could have sold 400, but now, because they're only selling 200 now, people are gonna, you know, start scalping and selling them for a premium. And I actually believe that's intentional for a lot of companies to want that. A lot of people will say, but if a company only makes 200 and there's 300 people, they're losing 100 sales. Mike, you could look at it that way, but you could also look at it like they would have never sold 200 if they didn't create this kind of BS secondhand flipping market for it. In other words, they. This is real. This is notorious with a lot of industries. We're not going to call out our own industry on this. Are we going to call out every industry? A lot of industries know that if they make something that is not essentially finite, a resource that's not finite, make that finite. Where it's like, hey, we can make endless amounts of these, but we're going to only make a few. You think, oh, they're limiting how many they can sell. But I would argue they're increasing how many they can sell. Because let's say there's only 100 Herman Lee fans that have $7,000 in their pocket and want that guitar. And so they will sell 100. So how do you get it to 200? Well, you create 100 people who think, I'll buy one of these, put it away and sell it for ten grand. And their whole point is to make more money. Right? And that's exactly what I think happens all the time in a lot of industries. BC Rich581 says. Performance cars, for example. Yeah, it's, Look, I just watched the Beanie Baby movie and that's basically what they called the Beanie Baby bubble. Say that twice as fast. The Beanie Baby bubble. So they said that basically, you know, they've created this artificial demand by Beanie Babies for Beanie Babies by restricting how many they made. And then when they finally opened up the floodgates, it all came crashing down. So, yeah, there's a little bit of that in that game for sure. When it comes to limited edition, I'm not a big fan of that. Like I said, I think the best way to do limited edition is to open up whether you're direct to consumer or direct to the dealers. I think open up a, like a time window and say, hey, anybody who's interested in this, put in your orders and we'll make them. But there is a second half that story that I would be remiss if I didn't tell you, which is sometimes that is the scarcity is really, how much time do you want to allocate to this when you have other things to do? Okay, so a perfect example, that is a story that I don't know if it's 100% true, but it's a rumor that's been around for a long, long, long time. And it revolved around Mesa Boogie. Mesa Boogie made an amplifier called the Blue Angel. And I remember this amp came out and it was really kind of like a more affordable Mesa Boogie. And the rumor was that the amp did so well that Mesa Boogie discontinued it. And you're like, well, wait a minute, if it did really well, why'd they discontinue it? Well, the rumor was they discontinued it because it was selling, they were selling more of those than some of the higher priced, higher profit amplifiers. So they're creating a problem for themselves. This is a problem I've seen happen to some personal friends where they finally get into the big box stores, let's say the Guitar center, the Tolman and the Sweetwater, only to find out that they have a new burden. And the new burden is that those companies are putting an order for a hundred of their pieces or a thousand pieces at a 30 to 40% discount from what they sell direct to consumer. And now they're putting their, their, their customers, direct customers, on hold to fill these orders at a discount. So you can imagine they have employees and they're like, oh, I need to hire more employees. But my employees are busy building things that I don't make as much money on. So it does. There is a cannibalized sales aspect. Thank you for that, Michael Rockwell. It's a good way to put it. Cannibalizing sales is a perfect way to put that. There is that factor that they have to worry about. So Limited Edition could have a, a, a reason that way. Like I said, it's not resources, it's not trying to create an artificial sales environment. It's just physically like, we can't create a problem for us. And also, Limited Edition also works as a marketing tool. Come on, man. Are you really going to talk about the Herman Lee guitar if it wasn't dramatically different and crazy high priced? You know, that's kind of part of the appeal of. It was like, what, what? This is such a crazy thing. Let's talk about this. And there's a little bit of that. And I think that is. Now, of course, I have a theory. And I've said this before. When it comes to Gibson, Fender PRs, you name the brand. Especially those three, especially those three where they tend to always do this, like obviously Mesa Boogie or not Mesa Boogie. Sorry, sorry. I was thinking of Gibson and Mesa Boogie. Gibson did this with, you know, with the, the Kirk Hammett guitars, you know, and stuff. It's like, hey, let's make a really expensive guitar that no one really can afford and everybody's gonna want it, but they can't afford it. And then, oh, we have a new, more affordable version next month. And you're like, oh, how convenient. That worked out, right? But maybe the affordable version, you wouldn't have primed the pumps, so to speak, if you didn't have that unobtainium guitar to get. Plus, if you know the term anchor pricing, where, you know, you kind of, when you're trying to sell something to somebody, you say you anchor them to a price, right? So you, you know, if you say, hey, this guitar is $12,000, but, but I can make this $6,000, in your mind, I just cut the guitar price in half. But what if I made up the $12,000? It's not real. So anchor pricing is great. When you're talking about a, you know, a $20,000 Les Paul or PRS or Fender, you name it, some unobtainium crazy price point with some obtainium crazy guitar. And, and you go, oh, look at this. And you go, that's crazy. And they go, well, we'll make you affordable one for three grand. And three grand should be a shocking price for most of us. $3,000 is an insanely amount, insane amount of money, $3,000. But comparatively speaking, to $20,000, that's a smoking deal, isn't it? I mean, that's $17,000 less. You're like, your brain immediately goes, I could buy me and all my friends, maybe that kind of person. I'll buy all my friends one of these for $3,000. Maybe you're like me and you have like one or two friends. You're like, wow, that's not $9,000, and I still have $11,000 in my pocket. And, and right. And so like I said, so those are some reasons for that. So, yes, it's a money grab thing. Yes, it's, it's a lot of it is, you know, smoke and mirrors and. But there is some reality based into it. So that's why we always have to make our best, you know, kind of our best guess when we're looking at what a company's up to. And, you know, and this ties into a couple things that I've said for years. It's like when companies say like, oh, we can't, you know, the, the hypocrisy of manufacturing to the marketing. You know, this connection. It's marketing's job to sell the idea to that manufacturing is building, so to speak. And so, like, one of my favorite things that the industry does. I'm just speaking on our industry now. But of course, all are guilty of it. It's like, hey, we, we can't make this thing anymore because the component, there's a component in it, right? There's always a thing that's magical. And it's, it's just, there's this. We can't get that part anymore. And it's always funny to me where it's like, oh, we can't make this anymore because they no longer make this part. So you better buy up what we have now or you better pay a premium. See, now we put this original part in there, it's worth way, way more. And it's always seems that way until they run out. And then when they run out, it's like, oh, we found a new part. And ironically, the new part's even better than the old part. Isn't that how it works? Isn't it funny how that works? When they have some of those old parts and they're finite, you have to have them. And when they run out of those parts. They have a new part that's ironically better. It's always funny that it's better. It's like, I know we told you that one part was better and hard to get and we couldn't get anymore, but we luckily found a new part that's way better. It's kind of like there's a story that I love and it's always stuck with me. And it goes like this. It's. It says, so Fender guitars. I'm picking on Fender, but I'm not really picking on Fender. Okay, so Fender guitars. When I was a dealer. I was a dealer when Fender made the decision to no longer include a gig bag with a main Mexico Strat or. Or, you know, made Mexico guitars. I shouldn't say Strats, the bases Tellies. I remember, like, they showed up. There was no announcement. They just showed up. And they're not with gig bags. And you're thinking, what's, What's. What's going on here? You know, I'm. You know, I'm not paying less. What happened to my gig bag? You know, so, of course, like, anybody, I. I called them up and I. I got my rep on the phone and I said. I said, hey, by the way, I'm old, so this is what I think a phone looks like with your. Okay, so I'll be younger now and go, hey, okay, well, be really young. And I go, hey, okay, I'll be really young and I'll do it with my thumbs. Okay, anyways. So anyways, I'm like, hey, what's up? No gig bags, the guitars. And like, oh, we're no longer including gig bags with the Made in Mexico series of guitars. And I'm like, what. What's going on? And I knew it. I knew the answer. I thought I did. I was so wrong. I thought they're gonna say, I knew. The next thing out of his mouth is like, we didn't want to raise prices. You know, I call it Taco Bell theory, right? They don't raise tacos from 69 cents to 79 cents. They just make the taco smaller. And then they make it six, keep it 69 cents. And eventually they raise the price. I'm like, oh, they're not gonna raise the price. They're just gonna take something away. That's not what they said. He said, guitar center doesn't want gig bags anymore with the guitars now. So, you know, this is a rumor, but I'd like to point out because again, I can't prove that this is exactly what happened. But what I can tell you for a fact for legal purposes is a rep, sales rep for at Fender who if I ever had to in a legal case name I could name and probably show the email correspondence as well. Anyways, a representative from Fender told me the story. So if it's a rumor, he made it up. And I think actually somebody else from Fender verified this too. But I'll have to look at my but we'll go off at least the source comes from one Fender representative who said Guitar center requested that none of the guitars have gig bags anymore. And the reason being twofold. One, they said that they lose the gig bags. It's more crap for them to have to track and keep in their back rooms. The second reason is they had just started or acquired or I don't remember if they acquired it or started roadrunner cases. So now they could add on a case or gig bag to the guitar. Interesting enough, I keep seeing this trend with. There's a trend. Here's the trend. The trend is that the manufacturers are now going from cases to gig bags. We know there's an expense there. So we understand that to some degree. I'm not saying a lot of you happy about it, but a lot of you understand it because it's expense. And then some of them are going from gig bags and no gig bags and a lot of them are going to no gig bags, no cases. And that only is funny because of this. It's in the same breath. It's like no one wants a case. That's their marketing. By the way, these companies like, you know, everybody doesn't need another case or gig bag. They have so many guitars now. They just don't need case or gig bags. They stack up. So we're not including that anymore. But they're doing you a favor but not giving it to you. But also coincidentally, at the same time, all the major retailers have acquired or started a case gig bag brand. Right. Two things seem to be at odds with each other. It's like, oh, no one wants a case or gig bag with the guitars. But also if you're a Sweetwater, you own Gator and if you're a guitar singer, you own Road Road Runner. And I don't know if Toman owns. Does Toman own a case company? But it's just ironically, it's like, yeah, you guys know what case are? Gig bags, but we're going to buy a case gig bag company because that makes sense. So this, this all falls in under the. The money grab When I think of the money grab, you know, kind of policies or the money grab kind of vibe that I think we're all getting at. And then I think, one more tirade and then we'll move on subject. Is this because I just. Because I think of this whole thing that they do to us, and I go, I think it's funny how little we give, you know, discussion to it. And this one's my favorite. Probably of all the weird things that companies do that say something matters, but also something doesn't matter at the same time, right? Is the made in the USA stuff. It's like, oh, it doesn't matter if it's made in the usa. But I'm like, right, it doesn't matter. Unless, of course, you make it in the usa and then you put, oh, it's made in the usa. And you put that really huge in print on the front of the product and on the packaging. But if it's not made in usa, it doesn't matter. But of course, on the back, it doesn't say made in China. It says designed in usa. Made in China. Designed in Germany. Made in China. Designed in the UK Made in China. Right. And not to pick on China, we'll just say designed in. Designed in. We'll say designed in Canada and made in Vietnam. Whatever you want to call it, right? It's always kind of funny to me. It's like, oh, it doesn't matter. But yet you seem to really focus on it really, really hard. Because, like, at the end of it, like, where. Where do we care where it's designed? Right? Like some guy. Especially since if you know this, if you're in this industry for any period of time and you know this, a lot of the designs in our industry, they're not what you think they are. In other words, there's not somebody. You probably think there's somebody painstakingly working at a company designing up new ideas all the time. No, they hire end designers all the time. Who? Companies are known for contractually bringing in a designer. Fender does this all the time. They hire somebody to come in and design a product, and then they're gone. That's. That's what they did. They designed that product, and then they go on their merry way. So they're, like, designed in the USA by a contracted designer and then built somewhere overseas. So yardbird68 says design in China. Made in China. Yeah. How come you never see that? When I say never, I'm not saying it's not. I've never. I've never Seen it? Is it out there? Maybe, but it's so mighty. Guitar Mod says, don't drag Canada into this. You know, in all fairness, I gotta tell you, I was thinking that out loud. I'm like, yeah, I don't know of a Canadian brand. In fact, if you notice, I think one of the things I. In our industry, I have to say is that when I think of Canadian brands like Revolution or Godin, which, keep in mind Godin is a. Is a plethora of brands being Norman, Simon, Patrick, Lepatre, Arts and Luthery. What's the. The acoustic amp brand? Something. It's two letters, but you know, anyways, just a few. Name. Oh, of course. Radial. Another amazing brand. Now I think about it, almost all the Canadian brands I could think of are actually made in Canada. There's very few there. I'm trying to think. Somebody in the comments tell me, is there a brand, a Canadian based musical instrument brand that's noteworthy that makes their stuff in China or Indonesia or you know, Korea or Vietnam or wherever? Right. Just pick a, you know, a country that does mass production, that is Matt says Trainer. You know what is Trainer now? Made in. In. In overseas is that that would be the first brand. And is Trainer even in a Canadian brand anymore? Because it's been sold off. So let's try this. Let's ask. Oh, sorry. Okay, let's see. Yorkville Sound owns Trainer Amps. Trainer is a brand of bass amplifiers and guitar amplifiers that is owned by Yorkville and Yorkville. So now we asked to ask who owns Yorkville? Who owns. Why do I think Yorkville is a German company? No, Yorkville Sound is a Canadian. Canadian pro audio manufacturer. Is. Is owned by Long. The Long family. Oh, like. Which is a subsidiary of long, long and McQuade. Ah, is it. Is everything? Is. You ever notice when you try to learn about a company now it's like you have to. You're going down on like a conspiracy. I have like sweat on my lip. Conspiracy theory, right? Like, oh, who owns this company? Oh, this company. Who owns that company? Another company. Who owns that? A relative of this company. I mean, it's. It seems nefarious. I'm sure it's all fine, but it's kind of funny to like, who owns Traynor? Yorkville. Who owns Yorkville? The Long family. Who are they? They're a subsidiary of the Long and Quaid business retail company. Oh. So. So technically the way I would see this, I'm probably wrong is I look at this now the way I would look at when Sam Ash owned Harkey and Samson and stuff like that, so. Samson. Yeah, Samson. So Interesting. So anyways. Interesting. All right. And I've kind of dipped out of your. The comment section, so if you guys are trying to update me. Cool stuff. I'd be missing it. Yorkville sound is a classic Toronto institution. Oh, see, thank you, Joe. I appreciate that. So, yeah, I would like. And then quilted maple, ironically. That's a great name. Says long family owns everything. Yeah, it makes sense, right? I mean, it's kind of like how it's all working everywhere, isn't it? Just one. Isn't it funny how certain people are just. They end up owning it all. They own it all. All right, I think we've killed the subject. I think so. Right, We've done this. Um, yep. I think we're good. All right, next subject. This will be a lot easier. Uh, a lot of you asked me about the new 50% tariff on copper, so for the record, we don't talk politics. If you push politics or talk politics, you'll get ejected out of the comment section. Why? Because it's not fun. We're not talking about that. I just want to make disclaimer and I never will ever pull on you guys the. I don't talk about politics, but I really like none of that stuff. Tariff is a cost increase and we talk about the, the. The industry we love, which is guitars industry and how it affects it. And copper is one of those things, man. Pickups are made of copper. That's a big thing. So let me just tell you what I found out to date and that will help you because I got a lot of emails about this. Hey, what do you think about the 50% tariff on copper? I talked to a couple pickup manufacturers and they all kind of gave the same answer, which is they have. They have no idea at this point what that means. It sounds like a price increase, but the problem is, is that we don't know. They don't know if the, the, the companies that sell them the copper is going to pass the increase or eat the increase or eat a percentage of the increase and what that even means. So I'm just wanting to let you know, it's. The reason I bring it up is obviously, look, tariffs are taxes and taxes suck. And I don't care where you live in the world, no one likes a tax except for the tax collector. They seem to love the hell out of them, but the people have to pay them, not so much. The. My point though, when it comes to this is, you know, since it's guitar pickups and that's something that's really near and dear to our hearts, how does it gonna affect. And is it gonna affect the small builders? I'm sure it's gonna affect everybody. My guess, looking at it like a lot of things is you might see companies absorb a lot of the costs to keep sales moving along, and at some point they'll be passed on to you. What I've learned in the past in this industry about price increases is if manufacturers or retailers absorb them, they only absorb them for a short time. So it's never a case of if you do or do not, you always, you know, do or do not pay the increase. You will pay the increase, but it's postponed. And so we might be a year before we start seeing an effective price increase. So I wouldn't. I'm just saying I don't see foresee seymour Duncan and DiMargio pickups jumping price $10 a pickup or $20 a pickup next month is what I'm saying. So. And that's the important part because the question really is to a lot of us, and when, especially when your hard earned money is like, okay, I got real bills to pay and this is a luxury for me, but this is something that I'm passionate about. You know, it's like, do I have to make that choice right now? Do I have to, hey, do the, you know, do the kids don't go to Disneyland so dad can get some new pickups? By the way, I hope you're not doing that like, sorry, kids, no Mickey Mouse for you. Dad's pit sound sucks. You don't want dad to have bad tone, then he's grumpy. Anyways, I feel like this is going off the rails. Anyways, my point is, is that I don't see the price jumping really, really, really soon. So it gives you a buffer. And then I'll keep you up to date if I hear anything else. And then a couple. Jerry McKenzie says how much copper is used in a pickup in actual dollars? Well, there's. So take a. Take a typical single coil Strat pickup. There could be 7,000 to 8,000 wines on a pickup. A P90 will have 9,000 to 10,000 wines. So a humbucker has about 20,000 wines. Somewhere in there is a. Is a general estimate, so obviously that's easy to. I could tell you on a small spool. Let's talk about a small spool. So this, this would affect like a small pickup builder right away, right? A small spool of Copper. Because when you start making pickups, you don't buy the bigger spools. They're just too expensive. So like here's a good example. Uh, this will give you a reference right here. I'm, I'm trying to give you the practice. Again, this channel is more of a consumer advocate channel. So again, I'm not really worried about the big companies as much with you guys. Here's what you have to pay attention to. Here's a poly coated pickup wire, which is a very common wire that you would buy. 42 or 43 gauge. So 42 would be for your humbuckers, your P90s and your strap pickups. They're sold out. That's not a good sign. That's probably people jumping on it before it was too late. Again, don't, don't panic. Buy yet. 43 gauge would be mostly for like if you're trying to make a super distortion pickup or if you're doing a tele neck pickup. So I see you can see right here, $95. 92 for a spool wire. I think a spool wire like this can make me three to four pickups. I'm doing off memory because I started buying the bigger spools. But in fact I have a couple spools of these. If you watch my videos, you'll see my shop. There's a row of those because I used to buy them in small ones before I started buying the big ones. So I've kind of lost track. But so what could that mean for you? I mean if they jump the price, you know, from $90 to let's say $130, I mean it's $40 more. And then you divide that up by that's to you, hard cost, $10 per pickup, basically. So. Which is huge when you think about in a pickup, when you think about a kit pickup kit and the copper wire, you're probably talking all in. I mean think about this Pre Covid Era 2020. In 2019, you could probably build a single coil pickup easily for 30 bucks. All in all components. Just not your labor and time and not the equipment. But. But yeah, so like I said, it's pretty hefty. We'll see what happens. I like all this stuff. It's all up in the air and it's all crazy. And it seems like everybody should. You should be aware of it. But don't frequent freak out until you know it's time to freak out, so to speak. Does that make sense? So Deja, Deja says throwback guys. Oh, so he's talking about John and the guys at Throwbacks has mentioned that the market is pretty quick to, at reacting to what the big guys say at his press. Oh, okay, so you're talking about the president. United States says it's pre. So they're definitely prepped for the chaos. Yeah, it's gonna be, it's gonna be interesting. Like I said, I just wanted to make you aware of what I've heard. And like I said, I would say the. Barring no changes to this, which seems like it is a daily event of changes, of craziness. Barring no changes, you're gonna get a price increase. We're all getting a price increase. I just don't see that it's going to happen soon. And if everyone's panic buying right now, one thing that could happen is they panic buy, but without the demand, they're gonna be sitting on material. So that's not a good sign either. So I don't know. Okay, so. And again, this is only pickups that are made in the United States. So they can ditch this by just making them overseas too. And they might, they might go to that. You know, more pickups are made overseas than you would ever imagine, especially of manufacturers, like guitar manufacturers. There's a lot of good, there's a lot of high quality, high end guitar manufacturers that aren't actually making pickups in the United States. This is the important part. My wife noticed that on the podcast a lot of you guys will say, hey Phil, will you do a video on this? And I'm like, sure, I'll try and get to that. And you go, hey, Phil, would be really cool if you did a video for this. And I'd be sure I'll try and get to that. And then she goes, you know, why do you say that? And I go, well, because I'm gonna try and get to it. She goes, yeah, but then you don't do it. And I'm like, well, it's not my intention. Some of it I do, some of it I do. And she says, well, why don't. What's the problem? And I told her, so. So you guys know I have 13 videos on the main channel that I are in my queue right now or on my calendar to do. So you can imagine if somebody said, hey Phil, will you do a video about this? I'm like, sure. After the 13 videos I have to do, if no other videos come on my plate, on top of that, I'll get to that. So now the second channel is for instance, I took a day and I just did a bunch of pedal reviews, and they're being edited and put on the second channel. So for those of you like, hey, I wish you would do more pedal reviews, well, guess what? Instead of me going, I'll try and get you one of those, and, you know, I'll get one out to you every couple months. Now I'm like, okay, I'll take a day. And I did, like, essentially, I don't wanna say a month's worth of pedal videos, but I did. So they're gonna sparse them out once a week to you on the second channel. And as you can imagine, I told you guys, most of the time I spend is in the. In the editing. And so those are edited. And that helps me do two things. One, keep control of my editing on the main channel a little bit and also kind of like, you know, do more. Okay, so. All right, so somebody asked about Magatone. Which one is it? It's the M80 baby. This is the baby. It's a baby. It's tiny. That's why it looks small. And somebody goes, those magnetones are expensive. They. They are hella expensive. Okay? They are. Look, you're. You're. No matter what you say, you are absolutely right, how crazy you are. However, this is the thing about them that I want to tell you why I fell in love with them. Okay? This is the important part. The MagnetOne M80 baby is a one channel amp with four knobs. It has an effect slip, which is nice. It's. I think it's 12 watts. Somebody can confirm that low wattage. It's 15 watts. 12 watts, it's $2,000. By the way. Their cabinets are ridiculously priced, and I like the cabinets for the aesthetic of it. But if you're asking me, do you have to have the cabinet. No, no, no, no. It just looks cool because it plugs in and lights up both the cabinet head. So it's not a must have. If you. If you already have a good cabinet, you know, definitely just get the head. $2,000. I will tell you this. If you compare this to, like, let's say the Little Sister by Friedman, that's $1,500. I prefer this even though it's $500 more. Okay. I prefer this to my twin sister, which is technically two channels and $3,000. So I want you to understand to where you guys go, well, $2,000, a lot of money. You're absolutely right. But I'm going to argue this amp and the other one that's $2,500, which is the Super 15 at $2,500 is crazy. But remember, I. The. The. The twin sister was $3,000, so. And I prefer either one of those amps to the twin sister. And the main reason is. Is because the twin sister. What I liked about Twin sister was I had a channel I could set as clean and a channel I could set as overdrive. What I learned with these amps, I don't need to do that. Just set the amp to where the tone is good and then back your volume off on your guitar or use a EQ pedal. And so that's. Frank says Phil, Magnetone or Amplified Nation. Those are two different animals. Okay, so let me, let me put it this way. The Amplify Nation, especially the one, you know, the Wonderland Overdrive and stuff, it's a. It's a super Fender clean with a kind of a heavy grit, you know, aggressive, you know, you know, Fender on steroids kind of distortion kind of thing. And this is a. Just a Marshall. You know, I've said this before, and I'll say it again. If I was going to pick one, I'd probably pick Magnetone. And the reason is, is this is where it's tough and this is where it's tough for me. It's not because both those companies are. I'm friendly with them. It's because the amphination is more. Has more utility to it. In other words, if you only had one amp and you were going to buy one super crazy expensive amp, the amplitation, I mean, clean on that is amazing. The reverb on that's amazing. And the distortion. The Magnetone is a sacrifice. You have to find a sweet spot and work within it. But man, when I'm playing on the magnetones, I play. I just plug in and play. I can't stop playing every time I plug into a magnetone. I don't know. Well, I know exactly what it is. It's everything I love about Marshalls at the volume I can play at, just to give you a reference. And I didn't say this. No. You know, no one asked, so I didn't. I didn't have a way to disclose it. You just heard me play. I didn't mute my. This mic. I didn't mute this mic the entire time. You want to know why? That tone, you heard that volume. Okay, Right now I'm talking at 68.9 decibels. Okay? I know you can't see, so you're just gonna have to Trust me. Okay. I'm not turning off my mic right now. I'll keep talking. Hold on. Well, it would help if I turn this back on. Okay, hold on a second. What happens if I plug this in? Okay. Okay, let's go. That. Turn off the G7. Okay, so this is me talking, talking at 65 to 69 decibels. This guitar is at 68 to 70 decibels. Think of this. On this mic, you can hear. I'm in the room, right. You can hear the strings right on the mic. Right. Just to give you an idea, I'll turn off the volume. Okay, ready? That's how loud I'm running that amp right now, which is why I love it. Do you need a crazy expensive amp? No, but boy, is it fun to play a Marshall sound that actually sounds like a big ferocious Marshall out of super quiet volume. It's a lot of fun. Todd says get it to feedback. I don't think it would feed back. To get it to feedback. I'd have to pretty much I'd have to jack the volume just a hair or I'd have to get the guitar closer to it. So, yeah, you'd lose that because I'm running it too quiet. So that's my, that's my take on that. But I do have some videos if you want to see, especially the video that's probably going to be the most important. So the video I'm doing Next is this M80 versus the 1550, which is when I talked to Magnetone. I think I told you guys this. The request I had for them was could they send me both amps to kind of a beat them to figure out which one I liked better. And so in the video, I will honestly tell you guys which one I think is better and why. And, and, and when I say that, like a lot of things, I'm going to give you two compelling reasons. One why this is slightly better and why the other one's better. And then you'll be able to decide from those two compelling reasons what really fits in your world. I can tell you right now. But if it's all about getting it super quiet, the Baby M80 will get a slight to get the gain you want at a quieter volume. Okay. I hope that all made some sense. Oh, yeah. Tour says I sold my Amphi Nation Wonderland overdrive and bought the bad cat. Era 30. Couldn't be more thrilled. Do you consider the Era 30 top five, goat? Yeah, I mean, it's an amazing amp. You know, the. The era 30. The thing is with that amp is no reverb. So it was like, I wish it had reverb. That's the only thing I wish. And there is a rumor with Bad Cat that they might make a version with reverb, you know, as a combo. And that would be ideal for me. But, you know, it's like it's back to those things. You can't own everything. So. And like I said, I still love my Friedman amps. I mean, there's. Like I said, I still love all my amps. No amp that I have goes, oh, okay, now I don't love the other amp. It's just, you know what I like to play. The magnetone is like, I told you guys, I'm a huge Slash fan. And there's something about that, you know, that, you know, Slash, you know, Joe Bonamassa, like, the Marshall gain sound that they get that I like, where it's not high gain, it's mid high gain. It's really cool. So. But it's not. It's nuts. And then, like I said, we'll get to it. I shouldn't spend too much time here because we're going to be doing the video. I hope I'm saying the name correctly. Yuli says, is the Magnetone better than the new JCM 900? You know, again, we don't like the word better. Right. Because that's not a fair fight. What I will tell you is I bought the JCM 900 and I returned it. I did not do a video because I returned it. Why did I return it? I just didn't get on with that amp. It's just, you know what the JCM900 studio is? It was not fair of me when I bought it. When I bought it, I already knew I didn't love the full size JCM 900, but I thought, oh, with Reverb and the JCM 900 always had a decent clean. And maybe this does something more than the Jason 900. And what I learned from the JC 900 studio is if you don't like the 900, you're not going to like the studio version, the small one. And that's the takeaway I got from it. It's not that it's bad if you do like the 900. I think that you have a compelling reason to buy the 900 studio. But no, I bought it from Sweetwater and then I returned it. And. And so that's it. So comparatively speaking, the only advantage to me would be it's a lot less expensive and it says Marshall on it, which is always nice. But if I'm talking about the studio series amps, I think maybe. I think still like the 100 the most, you know, because if you need more gain, you can always throw more gain in it. But at this point, with the studio series Marshalls, the. The. This. The vintage studio is probably my favorite because just throw pedals in front of it. That's kind of like the thing, right? Because I can never get a Marshall tone at. I'm not running an attenuator on this, you know, so unless you run an attenuator or something. Okay, let's. Let's get to some next subjects and questions. A good time for me to drink some water. Maybe not. Because now the screen doesn't show any questions, which is funny. It's refreshing. Not the water. That was refreshing, too. How weird is this? Why does it show a weird picture? Okay, we'll go with it. Okay. This came from antique rocker. He says, hey, since 1960, what do you feel were the most significant guitar inventions of each decade? Which decade produced the most significant? I have a video on that, so that's kind of tough. Okay, so. And the video I did a lot of research and work on. So let me go to that. I don't even know where I would. Let me go to YouTube. Almost feel like I have to watch my own video to tell you what I thought, but I kind of do. So let me type this in. Okay. And 10 inventions that changed Electric Guitar forever. I put that video out two years ago, if you're interested in that. Luckily for me, I'm gonna pause it is. I probably timestamped it, and I did. I talk about clickbaity jerkness. If I did, I clickbait it with number one. Number two. Number two. Number one. Okay, so. So. So I just want to tell you that video is what you really should watch, because it's what in that video, I can tell you what I learned was out of. I did a video, 10 inventions that change Guitar forever. And what you really, really realize from that video is that there's no significant inventions that changed the guitar movement in any way post, like, 1990. It really just kind of dumps off after that. So when you think about inventions like the tremolo system, obviously a massive invention that, you know, spawned an entire type of music. Oh, by the way, don't want to get too sidetracked, but Michael Allen says, hey, the slash SL5. Marshall does Plexi at a reasonable. It absolutely does. The marshall/sl5 is amazing amp which is crazy why Marshall stopped making it. But anyways, go go back to subject. So the tremolo system I think is a significant invention for sure. The. What else. I'm looking at guitars behind me right now to steal some ideas. Carbon fiber rods, the dual action truss rod. Those are huge, you know, huge innovations that change guitar. Maybe not what you're going after in this question, but that's essentially. Think about this, the truss. The thing about the way I look at it, as someone who's like a repairing guitars or just a fanatic of guitars, things like a truss rod made guitars extremely affordable to the masses. Improving the truss rod. Dual action truss rods made it to where you could argue, you could. I mean somebody probably will. You could argue that they made guitars worse because before they would pick better selections of wood to. To make a neck and now they just kind of make a neck out of anything and stuck rods in it. Same with carbon fiber rods. You can reinforce. You can make garbage wood straight for the most part. That to me is huge because it, it is, it makes guitars that are inexpensive very, very good. Okay. A perfect example would be like when somebody talks about roasted maple necks. That's a modern thing. That would be post 1990. I think roasted maple necks are a huge influence on guitar market. Improving it because that invention sounds stupid, but it's really what it does is I think what we'll hopefully see is all the inexpensive guitars to just get their necks roasted. Because at this point, you know, they'll get it to the. Look at the process down to where they could just take wood that's basically was alive two days ago. This is a joke. And make it more stable and stick some carbon fiber rods in a truss around it and you have a guitar that lasts forever. So I think inventions like that obviously the humbucker is a huge invention that changed everything, right? Huge. Susan says CNC machine scenes. CNC machines. Absolutely. And the implementation, the, the implication. What am I trying to say? Not implication. The implementation. Implementation. Man, that's it. More water for me or vodka. You have to decide what it is. The, the fact that they implemented them so well in the system, in the industry as well, very important. But I think of those inventions as being more. The improvements of guitar. Somebody said stainless steel frats. I think that's a huge improvement to the guitar, I believe. And I mean that's polyurethane finishes, right. Steve Cassidy guitar says poly finishes. I think so. Right. The idea to do a finish quicker and if you notice most of the things I praise are the things that made guitars more affordable. And there is an argument there. A lot of people don't think guitars, you know, like, that's not the sexiness of guitars. You know, the guitars, you know, the vintage guitars are better. Our high end guitars or expensive guitars are better. I, I just don't, I don't believe that, you know, I, I believe that, you know, as, as I've lived so, so far in this life to where like I said this before, when I started playing guitar and I, and I play guitar today, the reason why I love guitar today is because I'm just as happy when I play it as I did when I was 16 years old. The joy that it gives me today is no less. Talk about that. I mean, think about this. There's probably no drug you could take that if you took it every day for your whole life. As is just as potent today as it was, you know, when you started out. Guitar. To me, the joy that I get playing guitar this morning is the same joy I get, I got when I started playing guitar. It is that powerful to me. It has never left me. I mean, sure, I get points where I get frustrated when I'm playing or I burn out, but I'm talking about the joy of guitar. And why that matters is if that's true, which I'm promising you guys that statement is true, then the fact that I play a boutique expensive guitar today and I played a crappy guitar when I was 16, then the guitar doesn't matter. That doesn't matter. It didn't change the way I feel. I don't, I didn't play a guitar when I was, I didn't play a guitar when I was 20 years old and constantly strum chords going, oh, this crappy guitar. If I just had a good guitar, my life would be great. I never thought that. I've never thought that. The desire to want a better guitar, it mostly came from just at some point from real life. Real life things like this guitar hindered me here. It's just, it's good, but it just. If I had lower action or if I could do the tremor would stay in tune better, it would function better for me, then maybe that would be improved. Those steps came very quickly once you got to a, you know, a guitar that just wasn't entry level, it was like, bam, there I am, I'm fine. Every purchase after that. That's just the desire to own a cool thing, man. That's just a desire to own, you know, probably the same thing that makes somebody buy A Rolex watch, besides maybe the whole collectibility, you know, and it's worth money later. But I'm talking about the whole, the, you know, the whole look at me, you know, this is such a cool guitar to own. Look at this. You know, it's Brian Setzer and Lime Gold. It's so crazy. You know, it brings me joy looking at it on the wall. That's how cool it is. But that, that to me is not a real important component of, of guitar playing. And so I've never really found it. I've never really care, you know, like my joke is when they make a guitar like the Herman Lee somebody goes, you know, is a hermit any good? Well, it's $7,000. If it wasn't good, wouldn't it be stupid? The whole idea be stupid. Right, right. You know, you could buy a really good guitar for 700 bucks. I mean really for $300. But $700. And if. So if somebody buys a $7,000 guitar and it didn't even play right, wouldn't you think that would just be beyond ridiculous? Right, Ridiculous. So. So of course, a $7000 guitar is good. Of course a $3000 guitar is good. Of course a 1500 dollar guitar is good. Now when I say that, you know, does some still have issues? Of course nothing's perfect. We're not saying that. But what I'm saying is, is that I don't believe for the most part you buy a $5,000 guitar because this is where the guitar finally gets good. And I hear somebody talk about that all the time. You know, true story just happened to me a week ago and I was just talking about this morning at coffee. I was on the phone with some people at Sweetwater because I'm going to Sweetwater to, to do some content. And obviously some of you guys know that I have to make. I'm doing a podcast interview. And and one of the things was I had in the background as I was talking to them with my wife, I had my Steve I universe swirl, the 1991 swirl that I have. And one of the guys at Sweetwater was like, oh, by the way, check this out. And what he had was a 1990s universe neck because a lot of those universes got destroyed on a RG 7620 body. So. And he had it dipped. So essentially he had, I thought it was actually really cool looking, like adaptation of his, you know, kind of his version of what a universe should be. And he was like, isn't it great? I said, oh, I Love him. And do you love the neck? And. Yeah, we're having this good time. And this morning I was talking to my wife about the difference between, you know, admitting the truth, which is it's just really cool to own a childhood dream, which is the 1991 universe, and being that dumbass jerk that says, oh, but the tone, buddy. Dude, the. Your body that came from another guitar is never going to have the tone that a 1991 universe. Like, that stupidity just drives me nuts. Like a 62 Strat, magic is in the dirt. That's in the scratches in it. Whatever that is. Cool as hell, dude. Do I think someone who has a 60 Strat is cool? Yeah, that's a cool guitar. Like, that's a. That's an iconic, amazing guitar. Do I think that guitar possesses a tone that can't be achieved anymore? No, I think that's silly talk. You should. You should own the thing you love. And if you make enough money, you should enjoy it. You know, I don't get yachts, I don't get fancy cars. I don't get. So when people get money, like when a rock star buys a Ferrari and he drives a giant 10,000 square foot mansion. I'm sorry, I don't relate. Not because I don't have those things. It's just if I had the money, it's not on my list of things I would give a shit about. But when he goes, oh, I got a 1960s blah, blah, I'm like, oh, yeah, that's pretty cool, right? That's a cool guitar. But my point is, and this is my whole point, this whole tirade is I think that we shouldn't confuse, and this is the point of the innovations in guitar, we shouldn't confuse making a good guitar and what makes a guitar just iconically cool or different or unique or fun to own or see, right? And that's the difference. And I've said this before, in fact, here's what's funny. You know, my wife said something to me that kind of hit me hard. And I don't want to give up the, The. The whole thing because it's for a video, right? So obviously I told you I'm going to Sweetwater. We're going there. I'm going to interview the CEO of Sweetwater, just like I interviewed the CEO Guitar center, and we'll see how it goes. Just like the CEO Guitar Center. We'll see how it goes. You never know. I got some hard questions for him. So we'll see. But. But when we're There, you know, hey, I make content, so let's make some good content. And one of the things I was talking about was a guitar. And I was talking about what about guitars for beginners versus guitars for professionals? And my wife said, oh, that's easy. And I said, oh, yeah, it's easy. I go, okay, so when you think of guitar for professional, what do you think? And this is what she said. She said, oh, that's easy. Epiphone. And I said, no, no, no. Like professional players. She says, yeah, epiphone. And I'm like, what? Thinking, have you seen YouTube? Have you seen channels? Have you watched any of my shows? What the hell are you talking about? And my wife says, no. At the store, she sold as many guitars as me pretty much. She goes, working musicians who play bought epiphones. That's what they bought from us. And I'm like, no. She goes, yeah. She's like, the intel engineers, they bought PRSEs and Gibsons and Fenders and Gretches and the working musicians, they bought epiphones. And I thought, oh, my God, I think she's right. Yeah, working musicians buy epiphones and collectors collect Gibsons. And, you know, I guess I've kind of said that in a different way a couple ways on the show. And definitely when I've done interviews or reviews of Gibsons, I say this all the time. I collect Gibsons because they're awesome and they're fun. But, yeah, I guess if I only cared about playing and nothing else and not the cool factor and not the, hey, I work hard and I deserve. I guess if those don't factor in, I'm just playing an epiphone. So the I ate P8 inch. What is this? This is one of those things I gotta figure out. It's I ate P ain't chips. Oh, I figured it out. This is like the license plate game sometimes with you guys. What the hell? So it's I, the letter I ate the number eight. P the number eight again, NT chips. I ate paint chips. I would have lost the game in the car. Keep in mind, because half of you are like, you idiot, I already. It's how you ate paint chips. But anyways, it's I ate paint chips says, hey, what days are you going to Sweetwater? I can't tell you guys. Here's why. So you gotta understand, I'm on a YouTuber world. Let me tell. Let me explain the YouTuber world for you guys. I. I leave in the afternoon. I go straight to Sweetwater. I will get There late at night, I will go to the hotel room, I will wake up in the morning. I will be filming straight from like that morning until the wee hours of the night. In fact, there's a possibility that we'll never get through the R actually itinerary. Then I go back to hotel and I fly right back. So I'm just there for to do. I'm there just to do the interview. But I've also booked in some content, including some deep dives of some things. But I, by the way, some of you guys will be happy. We booked in some deep dive content for the guitars that you guys are like, why don't you ever have those on the channel? So we, we built a remote deep dive work kit that I can take and take guitars and do the guitars there. And so we'll do bonus content too. Because hey, I'm there. I might as well do the bonus content. So that's what's going to happen. So it's. Even if I told you when I was there, you guys, if you. They'll probably, you probably won't see me because I'm going to spend most of my time in rooms hiding, working on the interviews and doing all this stuff. So I wish I had time to, to sit and hang out and be there for a couple days. I just don't have it. It's not in my schedule. It was not, it's not available in my time. This was, you know, it's just like when I interviewed Gabe. It's like when the CEO is available. I mean, keep in mind these guys run billion. They. Between the CEO of Guitar Center. Just. I want you to be aware of this so you understand what's going on now. Interviewing the CEO of Guitar Center. Interviewing the CEO of Sweetwater. Those two CEOs, between the two of them, those two companies, they operate 50% of the guitar retail in the United States. So let's just say they kind of matter. So they, they're not, they're very gracious with their time. But when I say gracious, they're not going to be like, hey, why don't you come hang out for a couple of days and we'll all have hot dogs and ice cream or whatever. So I don't know what, I don't know what people I guess normally eat. I guess in my mind, I guess it's hot dogs and ice cream. Anyways, we're not going to get through stuff if I don't get moving. Let's do this. Let's. Let's unplayed video game says. Hey, inspired by you, I bought a JP13 7 string. I have that guitar. It's awesome. Neck is too thin. They are thin. Love guitar otherwise. Yeah. And keep in mind that's probably one of the thicker ones of the JP series. All the unfinished JP necks or seven string necks are too thin for me. Can you recommend a luthier to rebuild or replace the neck that's thicker? Don't do it. You'll be sorry if you did. If it's the USA one, you just tank the value of it. So you're better off getting like an Ibanez RG any neck. So you know there's no neck. Okay, so you understand. Just. Do you understand the, the concept of the JP and the, the JP and the Majdy? I've already talked to other builders who like Kiesel and I asked if I could get a neck as thin as the JP and they can't do it. No one can do it. No one can get a neck that thin. Mostly because they're afraid that it's too. That once they shave the necks down too thin, the carbon rods could be exposed or you know, not have enough wood between the rod and the, you know, obviously the end of the wood. So if you don't like the neck, I would actually move that, move that guitar on and go find another neck. The good news is this. Every neck, there's no neck thinner than the JP and the majesty necks that I know of. You know, barring some crazy, you know, some builder making something by hand out there crazy that you guys don't know about, but production wise, so I would get out of the guitar and get in any other seven string because all of them are going to be way thicker. So yes, the RG 7620 neck is much, much thicker. So and to give you an idea, I have, I have the original, obviously the original Universe swirl and I've had the original Universe black with green dots, which was more like the RG 7620. In the neck. The original Universe swirls are very thin, much like the Petrucci. In fact, the Petrucci neck carve and my Universe Swirl neck carve are very similar. So which makes, makes me understand why Ivan has made the necks thicker immediately after that. I'm sure there was issues with the necks being that thin. Old man Francis. Happy Friday, Phil. And the chat almost over for me. 11pm in the UK. Anywho, Phil, are there any ways to convert a 6 screw strat to a hardtail? Sure of Course, you don't have to do it physically. You don't have to like take the bridge off and then bolt in. I mean, you could fill it in with wood and glue it all in there and try to seal it, but I wouldn't do that. What I would do is I would just put five springs on it, compress the springs down, is not as hard as they go, but pretty much as hard as they can go. So the bridge was just against the body, as hard as it could go. And, and then shove foam in that thing so you don't hear those springs. And that's going to be pretty darn close to a hardtail, especially if you put some foam underneath and above those springs. You know, it's one of Those like, that's 90% of the way there. Is it the same as a hardtail, sonically? Well, no, because there's, you know, there's a hollowed out piece of wood there and there's springs, even if they're muted. Is it going to sound like a hardtail? Yeah, operate like a hardtail. As far as far as anyone's concerned, you know, you wouldn't, I wouldn't worry about it. Then I would be like, it's fine. And that's what I would do. Christian says, hey, have you noticed an increase in other youtubers dropping videos on Fridays around podcasters time? I have, I definitely have. Coincidence. I, I don't know, I don't know when, when everybody drops content. I, I, I don't, I don't know because I don't schedule content. I mean, obviously the Friday shows, like I told you, the Friday show is because this is when I used to take my daughter to school. This is how, this is why Friday was a thing. Friday was a thing because as you guys know, it was set so that right after I picked up from school I could do the show. And that's kind of the whole reason I did it. But that's why I do the Friday show. But all my other content is not, it's actually, it's proprietary. Can I say that that sounds stupid. Feels stupid to say it out loud. There is a strategy, absolutely. Let me put it this way. Without a doubt, 100% there is a strategy to when I drop content, but it sure isn't by time of day or day of the week. So there is a reason why I drop. When I do, it's. I'd be lying if I didn't tell you it was way thought out all the time. It is way thought out, but it's not. And so if you, if YouTubers are dropping by the time of the week, well, then I think that they. I would like you to know which YouTubers can I say something jerky and then we'll call it a day on this. If you're noticing that YouTubers are dropping at certain times all the time, I would only be interested to know if their YouTube, if their videos do better than mine on average, because then maybe I'd pay attention to what they're doing. But I find most YouTubers, they're just like everybody, they're blindly trying things. And, and like I said, and I'm not saying my strategy so you know, I'm not saying like, oh, and if they did it my way, they'd do better. My way might kill their channel. But my way has, it does have an effect on my channel in a very positive way. And it's a reason why content sometimes doesn't come out for a little while and then sometimes content comes out rapidly there. It's all done because of what I think will perform better based on what's going on at the time. But no, I haven't noticed. Nick says hey Phil, I asked before about a road worn made Mexico or USA Strat. You cautioned me on the 7.25 radius. Yep, seven and a quarter radius. I found a 2012 player road worn with a nine and a half. Oh yeah, that's good. Like I said, nothing wrong with 7 quarter radius. It's just like I said it in 7 a quarter radius. Setting up hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of them for customers. What I found is, is that if it's all right, if it's all the world lines up, the universe does perfectly, they love it and if not, they hate it. And one of the main reasons is especially on a seven quarter is is you have to take off the neck to adjust. The truss rod is a pain in the ass. So you're adding that problem to the so you don't want to deal with it. Um, and I once said this once on a podcast. I'll say it again. I'm never going to tell you that flatter radius fretboards are better than rounded radius. In other words, I'll never tell you that 12 inch is better than nine and a half and nine and a half is better than seven quarter. That's because that's not true. But what I will tell you is, is that it's easier to get a guitar to play better. The flatter the radius. The fretboard, that's just a fact of setting up thousands of guitars. That's just a fact. I can set up a 12 inch radius much better than I can a 9 and a half than a 7 and a half. Giving all things being equal, in other words, if all three guitars are great, then all three guitars will be set up great. If all three guitars like in other words, what I'm saying is, if you gave me a neck from the same manufacturer and it had a flaw, like let's say the frets aren't perfectly 100 level and life are, and the neck isn't perfect in every way, and it was 12 and one was nine and a half and was seven. I guarantee you the 12 will play better than the nine and a half and the nine and a half will play better in the seven quarters. Just how it works. Which is why I've said this before. So many of you keep saying. And by the way, when, when anyone says anything different, I'd like to point out I could say, well, I've set up thousands of guitars. I know. But I've also been to dozens and dozens of factories where this was explained to me why they're doing what they're doing, which is, like I said, I'm going to Cortech next, which is the largest manufacturer in Indonesia. And this is why I tell you guys all the time, when you see these $149 guitars and you're like, how do they do it? And I go, 16 inch raised fretboard, 23. And they go, what? Why so flat? Well, because they're not dumb. The flatter you get it, the easier to press the frets flat, the easier to get the neck right. They can get a lesser quality material to perform better or better yet. A better way to put it is they could get a. They'll have less problems if they introduce less variables. So that's so back to so that. So I just want to make sure we're all clear because, because you. Okay, so I, I'm not saying the seven quarter is bad, I'm just saying nine and a half, in my experience with the road warrens is some of the necks were amazing and some were not. And you're always taking that chance with those guitars. And so a nine and a half, it's not that I think it's better. I just think it would be, you know, given those two necks being equal. In other words, not amazing necks. I would trust the nine and a half over the seven and a quarter. But if both were amazing, it wouldn't matter. Does it make sense it says Texas special pickups. Love those pickups. But maple fretboard, which isn't my preference. Any thoughts? So you don't like maple fretboards? I. As you know, I'm a big not maple fretboard fan. I don't remember. Look, maple fretboards are not all equal. What I mean by that is some are clear coated and some are not. I don't. I believe that the way the road wor are is. I'm gonna take a look at it. That they're. They have a finish on them and they wear it off. Right. So we want to talk about road worn mim because. Because look, looks. I think it's a looks thing. So if you prefer rosewood over maple, that's great. That's a looks thing. Vice versa. So I'd say don't worry about it. But where you real. Where you will notice a difference is when they clear coat over whether it's nitro or polyurethane over a maple neck. That's an experience that a lot of players just do not get on when. If you don't like it. In other words, if your fingers rub the neck and there's a. It's basically paint, right? You're rubbing your finger on a finish. So I'm gonna look at the Strat. And I'm looking at the Strat right now. I'll share with you guys. So. Yeah, it is exactly what I thought. It's. Here, I'll show you. So it's got clear coat right here. And then of course, they sand it all off. And mostly in the areas you play. I mean, you know, I'm never gonna tell anybody to buy anything they don't love. Nothing ever seems to come good from that. You know, look, if you're. If it's concession, because obviously, look, also have a monetary concession. I mean, obviously, I don't care how. What your income level is. Everybody's got a stopping point. It's like, nope, can't pay. Can't pay for that. Mentally or physically. Just can't do it. So I understand at some point you're like, hey, I'm trying to get the thing I love. I will tell you this, especially if you're like a lot of us that are sitting on a pile of guitars and whether that be five or six guitars or two guitars or 20, you're not in a rush, right? I'd wait to get what you want. I wait all the time. You guys hear me say all the time. I want one of these. I want a V guitar. Really bad. Everybody's like, oh, why don't you get this? You know, when it comes, it comes. You know, when the right price and the right guitar, the right time comes, then I'll justify that purchase. But I'm not going to force a purchase on myself. That just makes me flip it because I'm not happy with it. So that would be my advice to you is, you know, as, hey, let's just be friends for a minute, right? We're friends. And if you're my buddy Ralph, and you said, hey, should I get it? I go, well, do you really want it? He goes, I don't mind this. I'm like, nah, that's not how you approach it. You know, funny story. Just to give you some weight in. This is my mother. You know, she's. Unfortunately, she passed away many years ago and she retired from American Airlines. And when she retired, she decided that she was going to buy her last car. Now, this only means something because I'm sure a lot of people say, this is going to be my last car, especially if you have parents. They're going to say, this is my last house, my last. Well, this was my mother's last car. This is the last car she bought in her life. And the story goes like this. She goes, hey, will you help me go buy a car? She knew I used to work for a large finance company that did auto loans. I'm not very. I'm not going to say. I could go and teach the guitar, the, the car salesman a lesson. Look, like Shawna says, there's a reason why they give you free balloons and, and, and donuts, right? They're very good at what they do. And I said, sure, I'll go with you. And she goes, I want an suv. And I said, okay, what? She goes, what do you think I get? And I like. I don't know, I like Hondas. I like to. But get whatever you want. She goes, well, look at a Toyota. So we went and looked at a Toyota 4Runner, and she test drove it. And you gotta understand, I want to. I want you to point out. I want to point out that she was buying this car cash, okay? So she had the money to buy a new car cash. This was her big purchase. She was like, got a. You know, she's like, okay, I'm retiring and this is my big car. And we test drove the Toyota 4Runner. And I said, what do you think? And she goes, it's fine, I guess. And I go, okay, well, you loving it? She was like, it's Fine. And I go, well, kind of should love it, right? She goes, I don't know. She goes, well, let's look at something else. She said, what else? And I go, well, there's Nissan across the street. We went across the street. We dressed her over like a Pathfinder. She test drives the Pathfinder. And I said, what do you think? And she goes, it's fine. And I go, okay. And she goes, you know, you pick. And I go, I don't want to pick. And she goes, no, you just pick one. And I go, mom, this car is the most expensive car you ever bought in your life. You shouldn't go, oh, that's fine. You should go, holy crap, I can't believe I get to own this car. Every day. When you walk out to your drive to drive it to the grocery store, you should say, oh, my God, I am so blessed to live in a world where I own this car. And she goes, well, I don't feel that way. And I go, well, you need to find the car that makes you feel that way. My mom then went. We went and we drove. And I said, what about a BMW? And she goes, oh, I don't know if I can afford a BMW. And I go, let's go look at one. What if you test drive a BMW? And you go, this is crap. I should get the other thing. So, long story short, she test drove and she found a used BMW and she bought it, okay? It was a certified use. Now, a lot of you gonna have opinions, as everybody does, like, oh, the Toyota is better quality than the BMW. Look, I'm not disagreeing with that, okay? But I will tell you this. And I've sold a version of this story in the past. My mother always dressed the nines. My mom always had her hair done, her makeup done, always dressed. When she retired from American Airlines, they gave her a certificate that said, to Marilyn McKnight for working for 25 years and never wearing the same outfit twice. That's what her certificate said. Okay? Yes. PJ says M5. She got an M5. She got the M5. And certified used. And here's what is funny about the story. The next time I went to her house, she had this BMW hat and this stuffed animal, this bear, this BMW bear. And I go, what is this? My mom doesn't buy this kind of stuff. I go, what is this? And she goes, oh, I went and got the oil change on the BMW, and I was waiting. I got a hat and a. And a bear and a keychain. And I go, you don't wear hats. She goes, oh, I know, but it's a BMW hat. What I'm trying to say is you should buy a guitar that makes you feel the way my mom felt about that car. That was my mom's last car. She owned it for. I can't remember. I want to say, hold on, 15 years. And then before she passed away. So I'm not saying every purchase should be that. I'm just saying, boy, every purchase should be a kind of like that. By the way, somebody said M5. And I said, yes, I'm sorry, it's the X5. It was an X5. It was an SUV. Yes, she bought a BMW X5. I don't know why I couldn't remember that. I apologize. But the point of the story is if you wait and, and you should get what you want is what I'm trying to say. And I've kind of learned that lesson too. And I break my own rule. So, you know, you see me do it all the time. I got this, and it's not exactly what I want. And you watch, and you get to watch me in real time over the years. And you go, phil, do you still have that? Blah, blah, blah. And I go, nope. What do you think was going to happen? What did I think was going to happen as soon as I compromised? If you don't have to look at these guitars that I have. They're beautiful. Why would I jump on something I'm not ready for? So I, I would say, you know what I would do, Nick? You want to. You want a roadrun guitar? Get a roadrun guitar. Get the radius you want, get the neck you want. Get what you want. It will show up, I promise you. The saying is we say it all the time, right? The, the, the deals run out well before the money ever does. Let's see. Pearson Instruments says, hey, Phil, I was looking at the in PRS NF53 and I noticed that they have one of those old fashioned two saddle bridges. Why would they not use the individual adjustable saddles on the new model? It just confuses me. So, a couple of things about that. So that bridge is actually from the, the Vella. Right? So if we go to the purest Vella. So that's, that's there, there's, there's, there's something that you guys should know. Just so you know. Okay, I've said this before. I will say it again. I am not, I am not a huge fan of Paul Smith. Paul R.E. smith. What I mean by that is I love Paul Smith Guitars. I like the company. Paul Smith is entertaining. He's interesting. There's a reason why I've only interviewed him a couple times and I now I interview like Jack and stuff. He's just a little too much for me sometimes personally. Okay, it's. And here's what I will sell you. I've told you guys this many times. Being around Paul Smith as many times I've been around him, the one thing I will always say forever is whatever he says. Half of it I think is crazy, but I think he believes all of it. Okay. I honestly believe he believes all of it. So here's why this is interesting to your question. So if we look at the Pr Vela, which I'm going to share with you right now. If you look here, the Pr Vella bridge, There you go. As you can see right here, this bridge is the exact same bridge that's on the NF53. So we'll go. What I'll do is if you don't mind is we'll go to PRSNF53 and there's more to the story. I know what you're thinking. Well, of course they repurposed their one bridge to another bridge. That's not the story. So don't get ahead of it. Okay, here we go. Let's compare. So contrast, compare. So here is. This is off the se. So this is the bridge that you're talking about. Two saddle bridge right here. String. It's not stringing body. It's top loaded as you can see. If we go here to the Vella, it's the same bridge. It's the same bridge. In fact, look at that. The picture moves. Look, the bridge looks like it's not even moving. I didn't. I couldn't align that up any better. Look, I want to keep doing that. That's. Look at that. That's pretty cool. I'm impressed with myself for lining it up so well. So to answer your question, why did they use it? Well, they used it because it's on the Vella. So you're like, oh, they just repurposed the bridge they had. The interesting part about that is Paul liked that bridge so much. That's not designed by Pure Ass Guitars. That was a bridge designed by somebody else. Paul liked that bridge so much that they licensed that bridge from somebody else. Look, they could, they could make their own bridge. PRS doesn't have to use that bridge. They can make a telly looking bridge. They could do something else. So for some reason, Paul, I'VE heard the story from Paul some. At some point when ranting about something, he explained he found that bridge, I think at a guitar show. Some builder had it on his guitars at a guitar show. He liked the bridge so much that he licensed it and put it on the villa. Now I so that. So to answer your question, the probably the most important way is Paul likes it. So in pure s world, that's enough, right? I mean, the owner of the company likes it. He likes it. He legitimately likes it because he. Nobody, as you know, because you're in the guitar business too. Nobody's going to pay a royalty or pay somebody else. They don't have to. I mean, look, that's why Fender almost look at Fender. Fender used to use all kinds of pickups just like Gibson used to all kinds of other brands. Try to get Fender. Try to name me a Fender model that's not an artist model, which means the artist picked it. Try to name me a Fender guitar right now that has a seymour Duncan, a DiMargio, a lace, a different brand pickup of any kind. Everything is Fender pickups unless the artist demands demands that it has the some other brand to pick up. Same with Gibson. Right? Somebody at Gibson custom shop ratted them out and told me that they have this whole closet. Like it's a room, but it's like a really large closet full of like every like bare knuckles and every brand of pickups. And they were told they can't use any of them anymore. They got to use Gibson only pickups. I'm like, oh, on a custom shop level, this is like artists asking for this stuff. So unless, like I said, unless it's a signature guitar. So brands don't like to use other brand stuff, right. That's why everybody uses their same generic tuners and then says it's our brand tuner. Right. So there's something they like about that bridge. My guess is the probably the way it transfers sound. Especially since one of the things that I know PRS is very aware of, especially if we're probably making a telecopy is PRS guitars are very widely accepted now in the Nashville community in the session players realm as being recorded really. Well, I'd like to point out that's not something that somebody at PRS told me. I went to Nashville many times but. And, but you know, these two first times in particular, my buddy Thor, that's his real name. My buddy Thor took me around and we met a lot of people in that. In Nashville. But more importantly, I went around Nashville And I met a bunch of people and what I learned from talking to the session players there was that they all say for tracking in the studio, they really like PRS guitars for the tuning stability because again they're, you know, their boss, who's usually a producer or a famous country artist, doesn't really want stuff that doesn't sound perfect. So they tend to track a lot of the guitars with PRS guitars for their intonation purposes. The intonation is so perfect and so I can't imagine PRs would pick that bridge knowing that fact there and then also knowing that that's something those musicians might not use. So, so, so I guess my answer to the question is why do you use it? He likes it. And obviously in my, my assessment would be the Internet. I could not find anything wrong with the Vela that I deep dived or the NF53s. I deep dive in intonation. That may not sound like a big deal, but there's some guitars that I have had issues with intonation and so not very many, but definitely not those guitars. So that's, that's my answer. So the detail of why they specifically like that bridge, I can't tell you exactly what it is that he's loving about that bridge, but I can tell you that he's drinking his own Kool Aid. He likes it because that's why he's putting it on multiple models. Okay. Michael says, is it just me or do. Or do very few of these import clone companies make SG style guitars. RSG is not that popular enough. Thanks for all you do. So, I mean, I don't know if that's true. Obviously you know, LTD makes the Viper which is a, is an SG copy. I think Harley Ben makes an SG copy. I don't know if er does, but I'm pretty sure Firefly at some point made an SG copy. So some of them are. I don't think it's predominant. It's probably just because the Les Paul just sells better. I don't know. I can only tell you one, one reason why someone doesn't use an sg and that's heritage guitars. Heritage guitars does not make an sg. And the reason my nose is. Sorry, the reason I know they don't make an sd. Well, I know the reason I know is that they don't make ones. They don't make one. But the reason why I know this is because I asked them specifically like, hey, you guys sent me that custom heritage. If you made me an sg, I'd play the hell out of that no more Gibsons on my walls. You know, if you gave me an SG because I, I like Heritage, I like the brand, I, you know, I don't need to promote a billion dollar company who doesn't even support my channel in any way. I don't. There's no upside for me helping Gibson out. But they specifically told me, look, the original deal with Gibson is they get to make a Les Paul style and an ES335 cell guitar. And that's what they're locked to in the agreement. They cannot make anything else. So they can't make any other body shapes because that's the original agreement was what the original Heritage signed. The original company. The original, the new company is not, you know, that owns them, is bought Heritage from the original owners. The original owners had the deal with Gibson and it can't be, can't be changed. So that's why Heritage specifically doesn't make an SG or any other Gibson shapes because they're just locked to those two designs. That's all they can do. But I don't know, I mean, look at this. Let's be clear. We know why anyone who makes anything Gibson doesn't make something Gibson is. Because Gibson tries to sue everyone for anything all the time. It's a headache. And I just say that like if you notice how I say that is. I don't know, like I said, I, I don't have an opinion about that. I personally think as long as people aren't being confused by product, I don't think it's a big deal. But what do I know? Kat's music journey says. Hey, Phil finally managed to put out a video on Harley Benton tweet amp build. Thanks for the advice. One hour edit 10 minute footage was spot on and have a great weekend. Psych. Ofc. It's underperforming. So the video is underperforming. That's because no one cares about that. The, you know, when it comes to content, there's a thing that people don't understand and, and I don't know why they don't understand this because I'm, I'm. There's a couple things I wouldn't say. I'm definitely not a, you know, this isn't my, my field of expertise. Like I said, I work on guitars and then I start making content. So I had to learn content. But what I would tell you is, is that when it comes to making a video, I always look at it like this way. The product, when you make a gear video, the product is the guest and just like on a talk show, right. So if you get a guest that everybody's interested in and excited about, you're gonna get a lot of eyeballs, you know. So if you're talking, you know who's the hot thing in Hollywood this week and you've got them on your show, you're going to get views and if you're, you know, if you're Talking to a third rate comic who hasn't been relevant in 10 years, you're not going to get views. Same thing goes with product. So I, I would always ask when people say oh this video unperformed they always internalize that to something they did or the algorithm which is, you know the best advice I have about algorithm is. Algorithm is. Is audience. So when you go the algorithm didn't like it I go that's because the audience didn't like it. You just need to pick something that people are interested in if you want views, if that's what you're after. So which, you know, everybody's got to go after whatever they're interested in. Elroy says hey Phil on the market for short scale guitar but something middle in scale as the USA made one from 197721983 anything recently made I could buy. There's not a whole lot of short scale guitars on the market if you're talking about 23 and a half inch, 22 and a half inch scale guitars. Obviously most of the 22 and a half inch scale guitars that are readily available are going to be the Minions from Jackson or the Mini Squires. Even Fender made an actual Fender one early 2000s but those are now highly collectible and you can't find them. So yeah those are a little tougher to find and, and really tough to find 23 and a half inch scale but they're out there and you know, if anyone has suggestions for him suggest them to me and I might do a deep dive on them as short skill guitars is something I'm interested in. I'm interested in not only because I, I think short scale instruments as a whole always got pigeonholed as like oh for kids. But I think there's a lot of musicians who really enjoy short scale guitars and basses for a lot of reasons. I sure do. There's something fun about them to play especially when they play well and, and so I'd like suggestions as well. Vol. Vol Fi with a Vol. I don't know, you know what it is. Bunch of, bunch of V's and a one at the end Says I have learned so much through your videos. Thank you so much for your hard work. You are great man. You super. Thank you for that. By the way, due to your tips. I just got a 72 Gibson SG. Thanks. Oh yeah, well you know I'm a huge SG fan and that was a. I was late to the game on sgs. You know I think it was, it was. You know, it's the shiny thing versus the non shiny thing. I start out Strats are better than Tellies because they just look shinier and they looked more cool to me. Gibson Les Paul's were cooler than SGS because the same thing I just thought they look cooler to me and oh, somebody says what's a Jaguar? Jaguar would be 24 inch scale flat but I think a Fender Mustang what's is 24 inch scale as well. So, so those would be 24 inch scale. Those would be cool. Not quite 23 and a half but very at that point barely noticeable but not you know, obviously going to feel a little bit bigger than 22 and a half. So those are some things. And anyways back to your, your thing on the SGS. So I'm glad you got an SG. I'm glad you like it. 72 is a great year. That's cool. And so I'm glad. Thank you for the compliments and I'm, I'm excited you like dress G Mighty guitar mod said. So in your world CEOs eat hot dogs and ice cream? Yes, in my world that's what I picture they eat. I have no idea why I said that. It's one of those things, you know, one of the things about a live show is, you know, there's like, let's just say what's great about this. And I, and I, I took to it late. You guys enjoyed the show or figured out what was making the show interesting. I think before I did by, by any means there's no video where I say that. And I would have not edited that out. Right? Yeah. I'm going to meet with the CEO and you like hot dogs and ice cream to chop that out. That's dumb. So yeah, sometimes the dumb stuff gets in when it's live and there's just no way to just got to go with it. But yes, in my, in my, in my world, CEOs eat hot dogs and ice cream on a daily basis. And then Christian says hey, what are your thoughts on Guilds and Stein burgers? Stein burgers are okay. I'm not a huge fan of the paddle, you know Steinberger, I think they're cool. I've played some. I went when I was in Hawaii a couple years ago for my honeymoon. The music store had a couple and I picked one up and it was cool, but it, you know, it's. It's not the super most comfortable thing. So I'm like. And I don't stand and play mostly. I sit and play mostly for the work vibe here. And so I'm not a huge fan of that. The. The Steinberger that I like. The shape I like. Well, that's what Kiesel builds. So it's like, you know, you could just get a keel, you know, for that. The Vader, I think. But they're cool. Steinbergers are cool for sure. And when it comes to guilds, Guilds acoustics, I'm. I really love guild acoustics a lot. Some of the best CS, first of all, best 12 strings ever made. When it comes to acoustics, in my opinion, hands down, Whether import or USA, they just massively amazing, huge sounding, full thick, toned 12 string acoustics. So Love their acoustics. Electrics like the Starfire and stuff. I played some, mostly as stuff I repaired or worked on. Again, very cool. But nothing that's like, oh, yeah, I pick that over anything else. But that's also. I haven't probably picked up anything recently I've done. So that's one of those brands, like, maybe I'd like to get my hands on that. You know, one of the things that we thought was going to happen and we were wrong and that's fine is is we thought when the deep dives would, you know, because the deep dives definitely kicked. Yeah, we've definitely done well. I don't know at this point, they do views way bigger than we ever hope they would. And we appreciate you guys on that. You know, that format, which was a risky format to really kind of push and especially thicken it up the way we did, because, you know, it gets a little technical and technical gets boring and you guys drop out. But we thought by this time more companies would be like, yeah, we want to. We want to be in this atmosphere, you know, and it's. We do get a couple from time to time. Like, we just recently had a company reach out. I got to respond to them and say, hey. They're like, yeah, we'd like to have a deep dive. I'm like, cool. But like I said, I spend more time. When I deal with companies, I spend more time with them telling us that they don't want to be. Don't take our guitar apart. Don't just unbox it. Just do an unboxing. We'll just have you do the unboxing. So. So. But yeah, a guild is a brand I'd like to have on the. On the show, on the channel, for sure. So. All right, we're gonna button it up. I have missed almost all of the stuff that Amanda sent. I apologize, Amanda, but it's been a crazy show. I had no idea what I'm doing today. And let's. Let's find one that Amanda pulled for me so we can. I at least can as a one way to say I'm sorry that I didn't grab the screens that she was sending me. So you guys know she sends them to show. You guys know she's actively kicking butt over there, sending stuff. It's just like I said. I. I. You know, you get the idea. All right. Oh, okay. I don't know. I. I'll try take a swing at this. Says, hi, Phil. I'm selling my gear on reverb from Latvia for a while, and it seems people are scared to buy from less known countries. Have you bought a guitar from a country you have never been to? So I would. I would say. And I. I hate saying this, and. And I'll explain my thoughts, because I obviously don't want to hurt anyone. I don't buy from any countries outside the United States. I don't buy if it's listed on reverb. It happens to me all the time. I don't even buy from Canada. I bought one guitar. I did a video on it. I bought a BC rich ste from Canada, and it took, like, a month to get here. And that was a little too much for me emotionally, like, not because I'm like, I can't wait for this guitar. I was just like, that's not, like, a freaky feeling. You know, you put out this money not to a company, but to a person, and then it's like, it's got to go through customs or whatever the hell it took forever. So if you look back, you'd have to look at the video, the B search video. It's a yellow Ste3. If you look at that video, that's when I did it. So I'll give you a reference. Like, well, when was this? That's. That's the reference of that. I kind of think. I feel like it was 2021. 2020 somewhere on there. 2021. Maybe it was because of the COVID stuff, I don't know. But I see a Lot of guitars that I love. I'll be scrolling through reverb a lot and I'll go, wow, that's an amazing guitar. Oh, it's in Japan. I don't. I'm not gonna buy. Sometimes there's confusion about. I, I think a lot of people in the States have this problem we're confused about, like, well, it says international shipping, but what does that, you know, like, do they really ship to the U.S. because most of us in the U.S. don't want to ship outside the U.S. is there going to be fees? Right? You know, am I going to pay, you know, you know, not tariffs so much, but like fees for anything? Of course there's, you know, every time I've had an issue with reverb, and this is why I'm saying I'm very, very careful what I'm saying because I don't want to miss misguide anyone, you know, because I want to clear, clarify here. This is not an informed commentary right now. I don't have any experience here. I have a lot of inexperience and I think a lot of you too. And so a lot of you probably are thinking like me, I've had a lot of products on Reverb when I went to sell them and reaver basically like, oh, scam, scam detected. Don't ship this item. And it's always somebody outside the U.S. it's always like, don't send this outside the U.S. so I've had a lot of this happen, you know, where I'm like, oh, okay. And I just think, and this is the most important thing, and this is probably the best thing I can tell you. I've had a lot of hell and problems on reverb as a whole, as a buyer and a seller. And, and I always point this out as a buyer and a seller on Reverb, I don't know how many feedbacks I have. Let me look. So this is why I think it's important to have like the, the, the reasoning behind stuff. Okay, so let me go to my shop and what does it say I have? Okay, so I currently have 677 feedbacks on Reverb. Okay. 530 as a seller. Okay. 147 as a buyer, obviously. Okay. And in my last. Here's the important part. Out of 677 feedbacks, which are feedbacks given to me, in other words, when I gave someone money or when I sent them a product. 676 or 5 stars. 5. 5 stars. And for those trying to anticipate where I'm going next. And one feedback is four stars. Okay? So I think we could trust whether you like my vibe on my channel or you think Phil's a good guy because I maybe like, I don't know, maybe I'm likable in some way or whatever. Those are stats, right? I can't, I can't make somebody give me five stars. 99%. I have a 99% five star feedback with one four star feedback. You can click if you want to look at the link and see the verify what I'm telling you. And I'm telling you it's a shithole out there. So that, that's a scary thing. It'd be one thing if, like I've got some dodgy feedbacks and maybe I'm part of the problem too. And I'm hard to get along with. Right. 676 people thought the transaction, whether I selling me something or buying from me was a pleasant experience. And I'm telling you that on when I'm buying and selling, 50% of the time, I can't stand with the person I'm dealing with. 50%. And that's more recent. I would say. If you took the last 10 years on reverb, it would be 80% of the time I've had a good time, 20% bad time. But now it's like 50, 50, 50% of the time there's a problem. I don't know what it is. And so I'm trying to tell you that although I understand your. The difficulty, like, hey, you know, people in the US aren't buying from me. I'm trying to tell you it's a difficult, it's difficult in the US So when I'm looking at a situation where I'm buying or selling, I'm thinking, all right, it's already kind of difficult. Now I got to add transacting across different country lines, right? And that's where I back off Now. I could be totally wrong in this, okay? And this thought process is mine. And I'd really, really, really appreciate the community finally coming together. Not finally, but coming together today, especially in the rebroadcast and putting comments like, are you kind of apprehensive to buy overseas or sell overseas or overseas? It's not even a problem in Canada, In Mexico. From Canada, From Mexico. Are you noticing this? And is it so much. It's not so much that I. It's not so much that I have a problem with another country. It's that I just. The system is already problematic without adding that extra problem. And that's what I'm trying to say. And so I want to. I want you to know that in my opinion, it is not you or your country that's the problem. It's not that it's a small country. It's not a country. It's not because it's a country I haven't been to. It's because it's already a pain in the ass here. And it's just one more problem to add to the situation. How do we fix that? I don't know. I don't know how you fix that. I don't know. I don't know what it is. I have a theory. Part of the reason why I accepted to do this this month, where, you know, Sweetwater is like, hey, we want to promote gear exchange, which looks what we're doing, you know, and promoting Gear exchange. Look, everybody who's been on Gear exchange or interact on Gear exchange, which is Sweetwater's kind of reverb, I think I. I agree with you 100. I think you agree with me 100%. It's small. It's not as good as Reverb. The. The. There's not as many sellers. There's not many buyers. The prices aren't as good. It's not as good as reverb in any way in that argument, you know, when we're talking about the quantity, the quality. But if you notice, I'm not only selling the stuff that I said every week I do. I'm actually selling all my other stuff during the week on Gear Exchange. Because on gear Exchange, like I said, I don't know what the answer is. I just know that for some reason, some vibe has changed on Reverb. That feels more like how ebay became, where it's like, I'm dealing with people, and I think I'm dealing with another person who's passionate about guitars like me. And I'm really just dealing with somebody who's flipping guitars all week. And. And the problem with that, for me is then, you know, they're not really being transparent about that. They're like, hey, I got this guitar, and it barely has any marks. And then you get it, and it just looks like somebody grabbed it out of a pawn shop, threw it up on reverb, and then sold it to me. And I'm like, oh, well, you know, I didn't really want. You know, I didn't really want to buy it from a store or a mock store kind of thing, but I don't know. That's my thing. So. So we'll see. And I still believe this. I think right now, in this market, you need to use whatever resources you can. So you need to use reverb, you need to use ebay, you need to use Gear exchange, and you should use Guitar center used and. And music around. Just whatever you. You know. But V. VI says there's scalping in every hobby. Sure. And so, you know, I'm not actually upset with scalping, per se. I'm not upset with flipping guitars. Look, if you watch the documentary on Norm's rare guitars, Norman's rare guitars, he started flipping guitars, you know, like. And then he turned into a. A store. I don't think there's anything wrong with that. I'm just saying it's not fun. Actually, you know what? I'm going to say it this way, and then we'll end on this note. And. And. Because I find the only way to articulate an idea is through a story I used. When I grew up in Tucson, Arizona, I used to go every Friday to the Tank of Verde swap meet, which ironically used to be on Tango Verde. Now it's there still, but it's not on Tango Verde. It's a weird thing, but there. There you go. Tanka Verde Swap. Me used to go there. And there was always people. It was like yard sales as a swap meet. You go there and there's people selling. Like, when I started was I used to buy all my GI Joes. That's how I got GI Joes. I would get kids who just got a little older than me. Their parents would sell off their GI Joes at a yard sale. My parents would go on Friday nights because my dad could drink a beer walking around, you know, when he was around that time. And, you know, and we would look at stuff and I'd buy a used GI Joe. And then I kind of grew out of toys. And then I told you that's where I used to get my bootleg tapes. There was guys who would sell bootleg cassettes. And all my first cassettes ever were bootlegs. You know, the Fat Boys, MLY Crew, Aerosmith, you know, they were. They were bootleg cassettes. They were fakes. You know, this is what I could afford. Okay? Bootleg. There was Boot Slowly, though. There'd be like a Sunglass Hut. There'd be guys selling fake sunglasses. You're like, okay. And then there would be a guy selling fake toys. Okay. And then there would be another guy selling fake toys. And then A guy selling fake shoes, and after a while, you go take a swap meet. It was like 30% of it was like honest transactions. In other words, people selling their used goods that you had value in. Like, oh, cool, I get a real GI Joe that I can't afford. I get a real, you know, oh, somebody had a. You know, somebody sold me a used Iron Maiden t shirt for $2. Like, I couldn't afford an Iron Maiden t shirt. Like, $2 for Iron Man T shirt. This is cool, right? And. And then slowly, it was like, oh, it's $8 for the fake Iron Maiden T shirt from the. The fakes shop. And then the swap meet mostly became that resellers or whatever you call it, right? They were selling counterfeit crap. There were people selling junk, and there was a place for that. I didn't have a problem with it. I told you I was buying fake tapes. I would buy fake things. But when you went to the swap meet and it was all that, it sure was not fun anymore. It was just like, oh, this is where all the fake crap is. And there's no real fines and no fun here. Reverb feels like that to me now. And I'm just saying that. And again, I'm not saying any. The gear exchange is better. Obviously, that'd be silly, especially since they. They're, you know, sweetwater sponsoring this. So that seems disingenuous. But what I'm trying to say is, is that I like Reverb. I'm still buying from Reverb. However, there's a vibe that I just don't enjoy as much. And it's. Like I said, it's. It's that slowly. It's not that I. I don't have a problem. There are people that are flipping guitars. It's just I get in a point where, like, when. When 60% of the people are flipping guitars and the other 30% are retailers. Okay, that's really not. Doesn't make sense. 40% of them are retailers. 20% of them are flippers, right? And then only the difference is legitimate sale transactions. It does take some of the fun out of the whole experience, is what I'm trying to say. That's all. That's all. And there's nothing wrong with it. It's just I don't enjoy it as much. And. And now you see this. Look at who's. Who's. Look at this. This comment today that somebody's like, hey, I'm trying to sell my legit products. You know something? I want to get rid of I want to. I want to sell to the US It's a big market and I have a used guitar. He's probably got a guitar we all want. He's probably willing to let it go for a good price. And here I am saying I don't want to chance it because of the headaches that have been created by the other people. This is what I'm trying to say. That's all. But more importantly, I'm really curious to what you guys think. So put it in the comments down below. I really want to know how off or on this subject I am, especially since, like I said, this is live. This is the first thought I put into it. First crap that comes out of my mouth. Okay, on that note, I'm gonna let you guys go. Thank you guys for hanging out with me this Friday. I hope you guys are prepared to have a great weekend, play some guitar, have some fun. And as always, I want to thank you. I want to thank the moderators especially for making sure the thing flows and getting me all the questions and even if I didn't answer them, putting all the links and doing all the envy. And thank you for that and all of you who hang out live and everybody and you guys are amazing and thank you. And I'll see you guys next Friday. All right, tip your waiters if you're learning something or having a good time. Don't forget, you can subscribe for free and help this channel or for $10 a month, you can join me on Patreon for live clinics where you can ask question every single week.