Buying ALL of these is Kind of a WASTE! 

Element is THE Swiss Army Knife for Bass. It is so easy and fun to dial. Clank? Check! Warm Stoner? Check! Burton Fuzz? Check! Pete Steele? Check! I love it!

I do miss the Stupid Musician Texts, that was actually my introduction to the channel. Can’t believe it’s been 5 years since you made one!

was on an extended trip and needed a guitar to play but didn't want to spend a lot. I ordered a Squire affinity tele for $250 brand new with shipping. I figured it would be good enough to just goof off with on the trip and figured at worst I'd have a project for later. But I was blown away by the quality. Frets were level, no fret sprout, intonation was almost perfect. Fit and finish were flawless, but the pickups do leave a bit to be desired but it's definitely worth upgrading the pickups

I bought a Squier Tele when I worked at Guitar Center so I had the luxury of only basically paying cost. I also have 2 Epiphone LPs that I got for the low cost of a headstock repair, a Studio and a Standard. The Studio is one of my favorite guitars. Epi and Squier are certainly worth the money, but I do recommend getting your hands on it before you buy it, if possible. I did get the Tele sight unseen and it is just fine. Budget options have come a long way.

24:37 I always thought you’d be a good humorist/motivational writer. Especially if you narrated the audiobook. I thought that when I first found your channel and you had an epic rant about unmotivated musicians.

Going to build a time machine so I can go back to the 90s and get some 35mm film canisters.

Hey Glenn. If you do the Reaper Vs Console thing, instead of merely taking an old Reaper project and seeing if you can improve it on the console, how about this? ...Take an actually old file, at least 3 years or more, and try to make improvements BOTH on the console AND on Reaper. Just a thought. I hope things are going better since last Monday. I've also had some super stressful weeks. Recently. sigh. Still beyond grateful for ELE. Profoundly so. Seriously. It means so much. TY Glenn, and cheers!

Glen please take a look at the new squier guitars, I work for a major retailer in the US and any reason I can find to recommend import guitars to students I can!

Nice Butt Trumpet plug. Love that band. Only bought it cause i saw it in a record store. I am ugly and I don't know why is a good track. Love the punk involvement in the show lately. You mentioned a few episodes back how the punk scene doesn't really give a fuck how much you paid for your amp or the name on it. So true. It was always about the music and message. Keep rocking

Hey Glenn, have you tried the AccuGroove cabs. ? ;o) 🐅

G&l are really good ones too atleast for me and the pickups are unique

Shop smart. Shop S-Mart.

I wonder whether Ziz just gets the main cuts done by using AI to look for when you shout F***?

I have no issues with Epiphone. If you are willing to give them $800 or so then they will give you an amazing guitar.

Glenn even takes the piss out of himself. Something the haters never acknowledge

Dude! Speaking of vinyl, did you see Mary Spender's video about cassettes coming back? That's actually something I'd be really interested in. I remember that I found rips of some old demos by the band that would become Children of Bodom and they sounded really terrible and muddy until I remembered a throwaway line from the movie Airheads about all the low end dropping out on the cassette mix of their song. So I recorded those songs over to cassette and they sounded perfect! Maybe do a video about mixing for cassette?

I remember watching you Glenn when you were around 20,000 subscribers just looked and your over half a million Well deserved 🙌🙌

Glenn has the ability to be insanely helpful. It's just sometimes he gets that Battle-Fire in him, and he'll turn into a Shark! Good to see him going a little easier on the boys this week.

"Glenn, are you ever going to do that video?" For the love of god, please do that video. Anything but the seemingly endless cycle of guitar reviews, lol.

The store bought humidifiers usually use that green planter foam. Super cheap and easy to DIY like Glen said.

I bought an Epiphone SG standard for 450€ like a year ago and dude, perfect intonation and set up out of the box, good tuning stability, comfortable and really good finishing. Maybe a couple of spots where the finish is not perfect, but still, really really happy with that guitar.

Been watching for I believe over 10 years now, and It’s refreshing to hear all the good info we always get without being yelled at by “character Glenn”. Wouldn’t mind hearing/seeing more of this, it honestly feels more authentic, like hearing a conversation with the real person and not an overboard character. Maybe mix it up more and have an outlet for both personalities, just my 2 cents.

Hey! I made viewers' comments again! Wu! On the issue of Jackson, I have a JS32 Randy Rhoads that I got for about €360 from Thomann a couple of years ago. It has a Floyd Rose bridge. The only major issue I had with it was when a thread in one of the saddles sheared and I basically had to buy a 2nd hand Jackson by Floyd Rose bridge elsewhere online for spare parts because Thomann didn't have spare parts for it. The string clamps on the locking nut don't line up perfectly but they clamp the strings properly so no need to replace them.

I really like the helpful glenn, but we also enjoy that crazy canadian dude. don’t loose your spark.

Always love a good "Army of Darkness" reference, Glenn! In the moment, I was reminded of the scene where six or so skeleton arms come out of the sides and corners of the screen simultaneously and all punch Ash in the head at once. Replace the skeleton arms with NOS vacuum tubes and that's pretty much what I was imagining based on how they're marketed.

If they are kept in cases, use a bovida pack( used with cigars).

But... What if I want the smell of all 3 amps?

4:47 don’t sleep on Epiphone. They make some really nice guitars, especially for semi-hollow and hollow-body players.

I would love to see some similar comparisons of basses, especially now that a run-of-the-mill Fender costs almost as much as a Dingwall. I know this is primarily a guitar channel, but Please!! You make a metal bass vst, so I know you know bass tone too 🤘

Hey Glen., FcK u!! Oh wait i do have a question 😅 how come you never or barely feature and talk about Ibanez gear/stuff knowing how much the company has contributed (through various artists/guitarists) to the metal community especially in the past 20-30 years or so., do you have any bad experiences with the brand? more power and support to you Glen!

Hey Glenn! Try to buy one of the VST-24 Series von HB. They are literally a copy of a PRS Custom 24 and the Same price range than your SG. After trying one out I was surprised how well crafted and Set up this Thing was out of the Box. Maybe just the Roswell Pickup Sound a little muddy but Overall its a well build piece for a beginners Budget. Have a great fucking weekend. Loves to you Mr. F. 🤘

Want a nice, cheap EXPLORER OR V style? Check out Jackson JS series. Cost $350, feels like $1350. I was shocked at the quality for the price.

I wanna see that video on Radial. I've used those for years and had no problem (passive and active) so curious if and how the quality control has changed. I'd love to see a DI/Reamper shootout. I've used so many DI options and the Daddy of the DI for me is the newer 1073 by Neve, proper overkill for a DI. But it works.

Back when I worked at a rehearsal studio in NYC we had all three of them in all five rooms. Granted different models of them Soldano (hot rod, SLO, Decatone, ROS 4x10) and a mix of 5150s 5150 II's and Dual and triple rectifiers. Some people would turn their noses up at one, and run to another, and vice versa. I always loved when a guy would bring in a Marshall Valvestate and unplug any of the above to use it.

I'd love to see you review some Squire stuff on the show! I think the recent Squires are excellent budget guitars. I really appreciate how creative they've gotten with some of their model lines as well, they don't just make Strats and Teles anymore! Because of that I'd like to see some of those new designs put to the test for metal. Basically 99% of Squire demos will play anything *BUT* metal through them, so I need to know, are they hiding a secret from us? Are the Squire Duo-Sonics secretly heavy metal machines? or is it another budget guitar designed to appeal to zoomers? Can a Squier Toronado really doom? or is it just a budget guitar designed to appeal to boomers? These are the real questions we need answers to!

What, if anything, do you know about the electrical infrastructure in your home/studio and how it affects your equipment? I.e from the national electrical grid to your gear. Have you had specific work done that was needed to improve signal quality?

Wow! A calm, fatherly Fricker. I enjoyed this. But don't give up the shouty, angry Fricker entirely. 😆

Just wanted to put my experience with harley benton. After watching all the rave reviews about the fusion iii emg i pullednthe trigger. It got here and needed a pretty extensive setup out of the box. Didnt feel particularly good at all. When i plugged in i found out that the pickups were faulty and causing interference. Nearly 3 weeks later im still going back and forward with customer support and i have a feeling they're going to be difficult about sorting this out. Wouldnt buy again, dont recommend.

Hey Glenn, could you review the Ibanez GRGR131EX, I bought it and it is in my opinion the best Ibanez guitar from the GIO series, it is the only one with a reverse headstock and 24 frets in the line, and it stays in tune surprisingly well, not even considering the price. (I hope it is available in Canada, I bought it in Poland)

a friend of mine bought a Japanese squire back in the 80s. got lucky, they were great back then. no idea if he still has it

This channel has saved me from buying an insane amount of worthless gear. It has even allowed me to appreciate the gear I do have and use it properly. Just wanted to say thank you, Glenn. I dont have to agree with all your opinions but I'd be a fool to ignore your experience within the field.

Hi Glenn, the guy behind Guitar MAX also looks into cheap guitars, would it be an idea to work together to look for the best budget guitar?

hey glenn, what do you think about the shecter sunset extreme series? im interested in them because the 7 string version has 27 scale lenght and ive seen people say that that it is the best option for bank for buck if u want an baritone 7 string, are there better options or is this one really the one to go?

Glenn what are your thoughts on Mutoid Man? The guy in the band plays an all white Dunable Astroid V.

Let's see some Squire and their competitors on the show. *Btw F you, Gleen :)

"Crom damned bottom feeder." I'm so stealing that one.

Love the Slrum shirt!

So I get your point on the SLO 100 vs. the 5150 vs. the Dual Rectifier. But is there any difference between the Single, Dual, and Triple Rectifier? If not tested yet, I'd like to see a video shoot out on the difference between all 3.

How longs it been since you and Stevie T did a collab? Yall and Ola are some of my favorite youtubers ❤

Good will content is comfy. I can get used to this!

Damn ive been watching you since the early days of the channel.... but even I didn't realize 2019 was last stupid musicians 😂😂😂. I'm pretty sure your first one was one of my first videos I seen. There's only few channels I've watched for that many years without unsubbing. Although did unsub at one time I forget why but got triggered long while back 😂😂😂. Maybe discuss more budget brands for guitar that we don't know of. Just make sure it's a brand that has stock as I hate those videos from that 1 muscular long haired goth guy who does that as nothing is ever in stock he discusses 😂😂😂 like months or years at times I've seen via seller website or they stop making it.😅

Dude funnily enough apparently even CD’s are starting to make somewhat of a comeback, I run my dads music shop and despite the massive collection of vinyl for sale most customers jump straight to the CD shelf. In the digital age where you no longer own half the shit you purchase, having physical media making a comeback is a great thing imo!

hey glenn, i was gonna buy a guitar, then i discovered you channel, i watched your schecter omen elite videos then i bought it and it played perfectly right out of the box, fun to play, stays in tune, good looking guitar. i just want to say thank you. if it wasnt for you, i was gonna buy gibson lol. you taught me a lot of things

Man I do not miss the regular yeling on these videos, glenn seems pretty chill when he's talking normally. 😅 Also I suspect the craftsmanship on those Solars is fine, that inlay logo is just susceptible to cracking

Cheap Jackson’s are great. Looking forward to that!

Hey Glenn! Thank you so much for recommending Mojotone speakers! I built a 2x12 cabinet, front loading so I can play with different speakers without having to pull the f@!ing thing apart and I bought some Mojotone Bv-25s. Holy sh#t! those things are savage and sound amazing and saved about $30 a speaker over Celestions. F#ck you very much, Glenn❤

Just bought a 40th anniversary squier strat.. it is pretty amazing.. every bit as good as my Robert cray sig mexi-strat

To your writing aspirations,I guess a novel about aliens looking for the best cup of coffee in the universe is out of the question. Devy beat you to it. 😁😆🤣

While we are answering questions here, I have one for you. You say at the beginning how those amps are basically “clones” of the Soldano. For the most part. What’s the 6505+ modeled after and what’s the REAL difference between the 6505 and the 6505+ I ask because I have a 6505+ and got the same results between a PRS Archon, 6505+mh, PRS MT15, and a dark terror.

The big takeaway that I’ve gotten from your channel: Guitarists should NOT try to craft their tone, either live or in the studio. They should work single-mindedly on making the right notes, and let the intricacies of tone in the mix be somebody else’s job and expertise.

I have NEVER played an epi that will stay in tune. I have a repeat question.....I put the guts of a peavey 158 into a peavey hypervent bass cabinet and it sound SO MUCH better. You always say it's the speaker...but why would a BASS speaker make such a drastic, GOOD change ??

Yamaha speakers are rather expensive because they're being produced in Indonesia and its currency rate to freedom bucks are very weak (16,500 rupiah for a single dollar), but definitely can't go wrong with them because of their tight transients.

Yes you absolutely need to check out Squiers. I own Fenders and recently picked up a J. Mascis signature Squier Jazzmaster. I was so absolutely blown away I went back to get a Fender Jazzmaster…ended up with a second J. Mascis Squier AND a Squier Jazzmaster with active electronics. Squier seems to be where Fender experiments with different configurations and specs these days and the Mascis Jazzmasters I picked up have the best Fender spec necks I have ever played on any F type guitar at any price point. I know…bold claim.

I totally disagree Glenn. But hey it's your Channel 😛 EDDIE VAN HALEN would have completely disagreed with this 😁

The Enjoy Slurm shirt reminds me of the Fantasy Flan episode of CouRage the Cowardly Dog🤪🤘🤘🤘

I have 7 solar guitars. No cracks in fretboards. I live in Phoenix and I'm subpar at regular maintanance. Someone explain that. This solar cracked fretboards is such bullshit. good grief.

Glen please do a shoot out with condenser mics, Lewitt 440, AKG 414, etc comparing budget to high end. 🤘🏼

I bought the Jackson JS22-7 KV about 2 months ago and I really like it. They are currently $350 Canadian at L&M. Only annoyance for me is input jack and rear strap button placement. More so if sitting than standing.

4:30 I bought a squier strat last month, i already have a mexican and japanese strat, I would say the squier is better quality as a MIM strat from 10 years ago, the fretwork is clean and the set up is good out of the box, the only problem is the bridge, it wont hold the tunning if set as floating, you either set it as flat against the body or simply block it. The pickups are ceramic but are okay for the price.

You should ABSOLUTELY feature the Squiers on here. I own four (Contemporary Jag, Classic Vibe Jazzmaster, Classic Vibe Bass VI, and Classic Vibe Strat) and they're amazing, especially when you consider the price. Also, the Fender Player series guitars are nearly double the price, and lose a lot of the vintage features that the specific models are known for (Rhythm circuit, pickups, tremolo, etc.) So you can get something that's much closer to vintage accurate specs for half the price of the lowest priced Fender model. They're a really impressive value.

Always preferred the chilled vibe of helpful/tutorial Glenn

Hey Glen. Has a client ever brought in a contagious disease? 😂

My first real electric guitar was a Fender Squier fat Strat back when they were made in Mexico! I still have it funny thing is it has like small frets compared to the new neck I bought for it. I prefer the small frets what can I say

I have been checking your collection of material for a month or so, I was in a search for something I wasn't sure what it was. I use a Headrush so I watched several videos on setup of the modeling devices as well as the original amps they are trying to be. I was looking at changing tubes, toys, the newest miracle device. Since I am a life long guitarist I am naturally impatient and cheap, SHOCKER. I asked you about tubes and then just pulled all my speakers picked the best to create 2, 4 ohms loads and POOF! My tone cleared up, the lower volume knob break up improved. I still need to buy a few tubes but I am not looking to re-tube my JCA 100 head, which fuckinig ROCKS and was like $350 new! So before you argue, listen. I did my, tone is way better, and rather than spending hundreds of dollars to be disappointed I fixed my issues with stuff I already owned, That's the best! Of course the 6 speakers that went into the 412 and 212 cabs were loaded in 3 different cabs, so without listening to this brutally honest guy I would never have even thought to look. BTW I am 55 and I started the guitar at 12, there is always a chance to learn. You need to shut up and accept maybe you don't know everything. But I am an X Gen person who never stopped to think maybe I was not male as I stood at the urinal, so I am probably full of shit, or suffering from early onset dementia.

5150 is kind of a soldano clone... But it's very based on the the peavey VTM platform, which is a 6l6 amp based on Marshall with ajose Arredondo mods that you could implement with the frontal dip switches... Sprinkled in with Soldano stuff because Eddie was using one. The proof that it was based on the VTM platform is that you can see these long, seemingly useless jumpers going to the preamp... And that's to simulate the exact interaction as in the VTM, because the VTM had a separate board for the front panel controls. James Brown, in a long interview, said that he did it that way so that he wouldn't have more variables to account for if he changed too much from the VTM. He didn't want to go back and figure out if that was a problem, so he put those in to match the wrong of the VTM because the VTM was the Peavey amp that Eddie liked most and wanted his amp based on I gather. HOWEVER... I believe the "Resonance" control was actually a James Brown creation that Soldano went back and cloned from Peavey... And... Soldano also eventually went back and changed the FX loop to be more like Peavey's, because the Peavey FX loop was a massive improvement that James Brown came up with. Soldano's early effects loop was so bad, that people were mkdding the amp to remove the FX loop or asking to Soldano to delete it, because it was a liability. Soldano also used to mod Marshall (and maybe other) amps BTW. Anyway, it seems there was a lot of cross pollination going on. 😅

While i do agree Epiphones are great value guitars (owned both Epiphones and Gibsons and loved them all), what are your thoughts on the sub $1200 and above price point Epiphones? Seem pretty pricey for Epiphones. I know they have guitar below $1,000 but some of the pricey lately is wild. Also, Squires are awesome! There clasic vibe series were awesome when i first tried them out years ago. I can only imahine they improved from them now.

I recently picked up a Squier Sonic Stratocaster and outside of a couple frets needing leveled… it was spot on and nice to play once the action was lowered. You should checkout some of these for your show. Yes, I will be dropping a Dimarzio Super Distortion and upgrade the trem and hardware to black… because black is METAL AS FUCK!

I know the guitar wood/neck wood doesn't chnage the tone because it's filtered through the speaker. Does it affect articulation or clarity though?

Hey Glenn. Have you ever tried the UAD Sound City Studios plugin? I think it's great, when you don't have good rooms for recording. You can change the room mics and much more. Put in a drums recording and you will be surprised.

i would love to see you review the Squier Contemporary series!! I use to have the Jazzmaster model and it was my absolute favorite guitar i have owned!

Hiho, concerning Bugera-Amps breaking: I know around 2010 many upcoming metal guitarists in Germany played the Bugera 6262, that in fact tended to have problems with burned out contacts quite oftenly. That smokey behavior definately got fixed by the start of the Infinium-Series. No Commercial, just saying... And EHX putting out a new MIG 50 is at last just the same thing Uli Behringer does for a living! 😜

Glenn! How about how Ibanez $430 and under RG and RGA series guitars compare to HB and whatever else you're reviewing in the "bang for the buck" category. I have 3 guitars right now, my Ibanez RGA42FM is the cheapest, and it's always the first guitar that I pick up. Love the neck. Nice and light. My other guitars are a '73 modded CBS era Strat and a Washburn N2. Looking forward to the Jackson review. I'm thinking of getting a JS32 Rhoads V or Warrior when I have the money.

“No Ragrets”…. Great video, as always.. I shot you an email- hope you get it, and respond, i know you’ve got stuff going on, so no big rush Thanks, dude

I'll tell you this much, I've played the majority of my bass gigs on a Squier Vintage Modified J Bass, they're called the "Vintage Vibe" now. They're pretty well regarded in bass forums too. Price has gone up about $100 since I bought it, they're in the $450 range for the 5 strings, but hot damn. The Chinese knockoff duncan pickups have lots of output and sound fantastic, it holds tune amazingly well, plays great, just can't beat it for the money. Since 2013 I've played 2-3 4 hour cover gigs on it a month (except the bad parts of 2020-21) and its just been a tank. Anybody who likes "Classic" style basses should really try one out before spending 2-5X as much on something only marginally better.

Yes the Squires are still damn good guitars. I'm in the "I'd rather play my Epiphone" boat as well. The Gibby's and Fenfens I have very rarely get played. They don't sound or play any better than the "bargain" lines of either brand. And they were WAY TOO FUCKIN' EXPENSIVE to take out of the kid glove cases on a regular basis.......I made rhyme in no time! LMMFAO 😂

Gleeeeeeennnnn! Whenever I make my rhythm guitar tracks hard panned L/R, these guys become extremely weak when downmixed to mono. What do you do for a heavy guitar mix to sound great both in stereo and in mono? Do we even have to care about it? FU from Poland :)

Hey Glenn, can you do a test of the whole guitar string gauge thing? Like with the same amp, overdrive, speaker, pickups, would there really be a noticeable difference between .09's and .10's? How about .13's since someone is gonna bring that up? I challenge that any difference would be miniscule. I hope you test this out, it would be a good test. Nice meeting you at NAMM 2018!!! Great channel!!! /,,/ /,,/

Glen !!!!!!!! Could you check out Vayper guitars V ?? They are out of Arizona but their guitars are made in China. Been thinking about getting one but would love to see a real review before I drop the cash.. they are pretty inexpensive at about $700 USD. Also I've had a Solar V for a couple years now and no cracks. I've played probably 15 gigs with it and no complaints. Oh yeah.... Fuck you !!!! Bwhahahahaha

If we want new Stupid Musician Text video, they should funny, different and unique. We've kinda seen the same topics already past those ~20 episodes.

I had an Epiphone B.B. King Lucille I dearly loved, but sold it and a few other guitars for an opportunity to get a Gibson SG Special (and later still a Modern Standard). Now, two years later, the Gibsons are gone, and I’ve re-bought the Lucille and picked up a Brian May Guitars BMG Special (I don’t play Queen, but the versatility and playability of the thing are awesome). The Gibsons were nice, but I’m far happier with these two, which have so much tonal variation in the controls alone before even messing with the amp - and for less than $1,000 US apiece.

I got a Squier Affinity strat (hardtail w/ just a bridge humbucker) and I absolutely love it. I have turned it into a budget Jake E Lee guitar, but even stock it was amazing for $300 USD. I'll keep buying Squiers!

Hey Glenn! It's been a couple of years since I've played Counter Strike! What's your screen name! Just want to know if I ever saw you online in game? My screen name was "AWPTIMUS PRIMED TIME"! When I play in the future! I'll look for you!

Hi Glen, thanks for mentioning a comment of mine... Serious question this time, what do you think of 'analog summing' devices like the Dangerous D-Box or other 8/16 channel alalog summing devices... Are they snake oil or is it worth it...? And would we be better off just getting a small old analog mixer instead...? Thanks Glen (fuck you!) :)

As an “80’s guy” I’ve been “tone chasing” for some time, where initially, this involved modding Marshalls while searching for higher gain. I went down the rabbit hole decades ago of owning the Soldano’s, the Mesa’s, and the Peavey’s. These days however, getting high-gain tones is cheap, easy, and ubiquitous, across many product categories and form factors. An affordable high-gain Mooer or Flamma pre-amp pedal, or Tonex One pedal, will melt your face off. Even the entry level multi-effects aren’t terrible, such as the Ampero brand. Indeed, many declare now to be a “Golden Age” of guitar gear, where NAM profiles and other software products are freely available on PC. As far as tube amps go - getting a great metal sound is totally doable using affordable utilitarian products, especially when saving money on the used market. Any of the used models of “industry standard” 5150 amp are great (pair with a utilitarian 4x12 cab, or other cab), apply the “everything at 6 O’clock stetting,” and overdrive the input with the nearest handy boost pedal (a cheapo Boss SD-1 works great). If necessary, use a graphic EQ pedal to taste, and potentially a sidechain noise gate. Use dashes of reverb, delay, and chorus in the FX loop if and when desired. The Chinese brands make sourcing a lot of these tools affordable on both the new and used markets, but many American-made boutique products aren’t necessarily cost-prohibitive either. Getting a functional high-gain metal sound with easy pinch harmonics isn’t any more difficult, or need to cost more, than what using affordable utilitarian products provide.

Oh, AI.... A friend sent me two songs about the ex manager of my football (soccer) team. Written in AI. Two songs, 10 minutes. One was country, one was kind of Euro-pop/Eurovision-esque. Both songs were pretty decent. There were one or two issues with the lyrics but, with an extra 30 minutes, would probably have been perfect. Should everyone be worried about AI in music or just accept that music has been collaberative for decades and AI is just a new collaberator?

I’ve bought three $200 Firefly guitars (telecaster, SG and telecaster with a bigsby and filtertrons) and one $250 Firefly rickenbacker bass) and I’m satisfied with all of them. Try one please!

GLEEENNNNN!!! Mix question re: electric guitars sitting in the vs. sounding good in isolation. It’s not uncommon in metal to have a riff introduced (for example) by being played on its own before the rest of the band join in. Would you treat a section like this any differently? EQ it slightly for weight/bass or whatever? Or even record it separately? Trust your ears obvs but just curious to know what your approach is. Thanks and fuhuhuhuck you man 😜

bought the HB EX-76 - Awful, Awful guitar. I worked on it, upgraded it, and gave it a pro setup. Still sucked. It's also only about 3/4 the size of an actual Explorer. Sold it 2 months later for $75 and felt lucky to get that much back out of it.

Squier is definitely worth it. I've got a tobacco-burst Strat (HSS pickup setup for rock and blues) with black hardware, and that thing plays amazingly for only costing $299.

My take on Squier: I was shopping for a first bass for my 12-year-old nephew. I went to my local Guitar Center and picked a $300-ish Squier off the rack. Its neck was rough and felt raw; there was no finish applied to it. The action was sky-high because of a deep neck bow. The fret ends were sharp, and the fretboard had sharp edges on it. I thought this was maybe an anomaly until I picked up another Squier at another store and it, too, was rough and unfinished. Every other bass in that price range had a smooth, finished neck, with varying levels of fret dressing and playable action. The standouts for me were the Sterling by Sting Ray, and the Yamaha BroadBass 234. The Yamaha was my top pick, at $350. That's a bass worth looking at! I'm told the more expensive Squier stuff is better-finished, but the store didn't have one for me to look at.