This was a great morning. So much fun. And just so you all know Paul is very same guy you see in his videos, a very genuine and nice guy. He's a great player too!
Thanks Paul for the video. And thank you Tom, it's a pleasure to listen to both of you, people talking about something they are really passionate about.
@@perihelion7798Well you completely missed the point of the video. It is in the equipment. He chose that particular guitar because it has a specific sound.
@@rustinpeace770 As if the 'sound', which is completely subjective, cannot be duplicated with different equipment. That's pretty silly, but in line with all of the gear elitists out there. Yep.
Being a budget player, I played a Squier Bullet Strat for a decade. I got a lot of great sounds out of it and I recorded a lot of music that I loved with it. I always felt kind of bad for not being able to afford better instruments. This is an incredible, very reassuring watch. Long live cheap Squiers!
@@Lalairumy friend backed up a whole lot of vocalists and played with several top local bands playing a couple of squiers. including an affinity...tweek here tweek there and he played it through a fender twin...I dig em'
This is a VERY important story for people to see. Use what you have…and you do NOT need the most expensive gear to create greatness! VERY INSPIRING EPISODE! 😃🎸👍🏻
Is it? He didn't JUST have a $99 guitar. All the other stuff costs money too. Or do you think all the thousands of dollars of amps, pedals and recording equipment comes free?
Look at this WORKING musicians set up. No RGB, no crazy 10k guitars, just a home office that gets USED every day. I probably have 4x the money invested in my studio and have put out less than 1% of this guy’s catalog. So smart.
Got such a buzz from this video. The sheer enthusiasm, that riff, the tunings, and especially the use of ultra cheap guitars. Being able to leave a bunch of instruments in several alternative tunings seemed like an unnecessary luxury... it certainly doesn’t look that way so much now. Cheers, Paul and Tom!
This guy is super inspiring, especially as a guitarist who's only been playing for 8 months and wanted to start trying to write things on my own. This gave me a bunch of ideas, thank you guys for sharing this!
We could clearly see Tom's enthusiasm in his eyes, very insightful and loves so much what he does. Very lovely riffs, by the way. Hats off to both Paul and Tom for this video. 👍👍👍👍
It’s truly incredible what you can do with even the cheapest of guitars. People often forget that it’s not about the guitar it’s about the player, great quality and tone is just an added bonus. Love your videos Paul, you inspire me every day to become a better guitarist and a better TH-camr. Keep spreading your love for music so that it can be passed down from generation to generation “Keeping Music Alive.”
Did not sound that great without the effects. Reminds me of the clip of Jack White nailing a wire to a board, then plugging it to an amp and making shredding sounds with it. Then he says "You don't even need to buy a guitar kids" or something, but to get that sound they would need to guy his 5000 amp or something like that. If an instrument does not sound good without added effects and amps, I think that instrument is a hindrance. If a guitar does not sound good clean, it does not sound good at all, what ever the good in the sound is is brought by the effects and whatnot.
@@vege4920 Bruh you are comparing a guitar with and without reverb. The actual tone is great. "If a guitar does not sound good clean, it does not sound good at all" How did you discover this law, great one? Plus, you can get all of these effects for free on your computer. Compression and a Fender Twin. I can get a similar glass tone out of my $100 Yamaha Pacifica, using Guitar Rig Free.
Still have the cheap Squier that was my first guitar, now still my main guitar. I've gigged with it. Though it's not all stock anymore the upgrades aren't the fanciest either, and most are unrelated to tone. Also thank you for not making this a glorified advertisement for some specific cheap guitar. This man is very inspiring and creative.
Still have my £100 Squier Strat and 10W app combo (a good 16 years ago). Only ever adjusted the neck and scooped some frets and stuck higher gauge strings on there... It was and still is a great guitar amongst the many I have now.
I was lucky enough to have a short conversation w/ Jack Pearson about this subject. He plays a Squier Strat at times, I believe he said that Squier is one of his go to guitars. Jack is an incredible musician and has shared the stage w/ so many rock and blues legends. The man can literally play anything he wants and he still plays a “cheap” guitar.
A Squier Strat for $99 was the first electric guitar I ever got. Still have it all these years later, and it still sounds like a charm. Such a great guitar for the price, and I frankly wouldn't have wanted it any other way.
that's amazing. no mods or anything? i bought a japan st copy called a selder. it sounded great when my friend modded it with alnico pickups. i'm still relearning guitar after not playing for 10 years, and i love this thing.
Love his approach to the instrument: Different tunings and string combinations etc. We don't often see non-rock star musicians featured and his approach to making music is very inspiring. Would love to see more of how he approaches composing on the guitar for movies and video games. One great key takeaway is that the idea is stronger then your gear. Thanks for bringing us along Paul!
All most Squiers need is a good set of strings and a decent set up. Some can really benefit from new tuners or nut (most of the time the nut is just fine). Sometimes pickups depending on genre but this applies to all guitars, not just cheap ones. Great to learn how to “work” on guitars with little to no risk too.
@@xcx8646 Check out some $100-150 ones, a lot of the time they'll have frets sticking out the scratch your hands. If you can do a fret job they're fine, I just like it when I don't need to do the. Plus the finish on a lot of them isn't very good.
My fav quote that will stick with me till end of times😀"The most important part of the signal path, are the neuron signal paths, where you come up with a good idea. A bad idea with the best signal path and the best instruments is still going to sound like a bad idea." 👍
My main baby is in fact a mini Squier Strat I’ve been playing since I was 12 and I’m never gonna get rid of it. Any cheap guitar can sound great It’s mostly on the artist.
funny that he mentions 5 year old strings. 5 years ago i kept the strings on my guitar when i stopped playing, i loosened them, so they don't mess up the neck bend, two days ago i tuned them again and they are still in tune today.
lots of truth here. To play good music all anyone needs is a decently built and comfortably set up instrument. Whatever that instrument initially cost, or whoever made it, is irrelevant. There's a big gap between the things we want, and the ones we actually need
As an Epiphone and Squier player this makes my heart swell with joy. I like to do some basic mods to my guitars, but yeah it's all in the head, soul and the hands. The only comment I have about these guitars is that a little fret work and set up is often required otherwise they'll do the work.
This guy is a genius. He’s very inspiring. It almost makes me cry that I gave up not finishing in college for music. I could’ve been a producer but I wanted to be a performer. Such is life
I never finished school. Just went one year but was too busy teaching and playing in my band to keep my grades up. Most all I know is self taught. I love learning and figuring out things. That's actually what universities should be teaching. Be your own university.
@@TomStrahlethanks, you truly are a genius. I’ll keep on noodling. The more I do the better I get and the passion is still there. Thank you for the encouragement, it meant a lot
This guy is so damn happy. I love it. Confident and cheery. His attitude is contagious enough, but being a guitar player I of course think, “well shit, I need his studio now…”
Love this. I’ve always thought there’s so little difference between different guitars. Just need decent pickups and good intonation. I don’t hear much difference between $100 guitars and $5100 guitars
Mike Rutherford of Genesis bought a couple of Squier Bullets when he found himself in South Africa about to be locked down and without a guitar. He ended up playing a lot of the 2021 Genesis farewell tour on Squiers although his tech did upgrade some of the hardware to make them a bit more tour worthy.
I'm glad this guy confirmed what I've said many years ago about guitars. This is why I don't go past the $1200 threshhold. I feel guitars around this price have the quality and tone I'm looking for. I also have a Fender Squier since 1997. I played it in my recording and also toured with it. I got to play my Fender Squier in front of 12,000 people as one of the opening acts back in those days on a hot summer day in Chicago. It was truly my workhorse.
Now that's a guy who's doing something he absolutely loves, you can see how much he's enjoying sharing his thought pattern/ideas for it with others who understand what he's talking about, with the side benefit of getting paid for his passion.
Wow this is so important to show that all guitars no matter the price have a legitimate place in music. Budget guitars aren’t just for beginners or djent bros to mod beyond recognition
I bought a $165 (new, 2023) Squier Mustang recently and it’s my favorite guitar. All it needed was a few minutes with a fret end file. But I’m the weirdo who thinks 9s on a 24” scale is perfect to play.
Not every cheap guitar will have the structure to sound that good. The adjustable bridge is crucial to good intonation, and the time spent working on intonation is well spent. If you don't hear the harmonics ringing on the low strings while you're tweaking the high ones, it's just not going to sound good. Remember, Tom rejected a bunch of guitars before he found the one worth keeping.
My all-time favourite guitar is a 1999 Squier Affinity Strat that is very harmonically rich. It used to bother me until others pointed out how rare it is to find a gutar with so much sympathetic ringing and that feels like the whole thing vibrates in your hands when you play it.
@@jayrobb9 My God, I have a 1999 Squier Affinity strat in tobacco burst, and it is special, it just resonates forever! I have a lot of guitars, but there is just something, call it mojo, soul or whatever, I just seem to play better on this guitar than all my others!
My go to guitar lately is a scruff Squier Strat that I just had sitting downstairs from all my fancies upstairs for hacking around on. Put together a few small boards and came downstairs and just bliss out with a looper all day. The guitar is always ready and always delivers, fits like a glove and tumbles out little dreams.
what a great guy! This was very inspiring, the most important gear is the neuron path in the brain. That's important information for those of us that can get overwhelmed with the tone and gear chasing. Hit records on cheap guitars has been a formula for so many great works.
My Squier Strat is featured in several songs on my first album. I run it through my Fender Twin with NOTHING but built in gain for distortion and add effects in Ableton if needed, but barely any. I bought it for $50 off a neighbor. 20 minutes of setup and the intonation is dead on and it plays amazing. I let some of my guitar friends play it without looking at it and they were shocked after playing that it was a Squier 🤣🤣
@@TomStrahle its an interesting phenomenon, the search for and acquisition of "gear". When I was a mechanic, I bought a $300 set of tools from Sears to be a helicopter mechanic. I was able to do the same job, usually better, than most of my peers who owned $10,000 SnapOn rollaway toolboxes full of overpriced tools. For years I played in clubs to raving fans playing an ancient electric acoustic "Applause" (cheap ovation) because I brought entertainment in the form of enthusiasm and theatrics which I needed to make up for my lack of a great voice 🤣 Ideas, talent, and many other things matter more than tools in many ways. Great video.
What a good interview. This was as others have said a very inspiring video. Absolutely loved it. Thanks Paul . Thanks to Tom for sharing. Would love to see a longer interview with him. 🎸
I have less than $400 in 4 guitars, R.W. Jameson acoustical electric 1 left hand and 1 right $100 each, and 2 Ibanez Gio's from the same pawn shop Left and a right matching black for $80 each. $20 Ibanez bass amp from a flea market, a Cube Baby $35, and the only big $$ is my BOSS ME-80 used for $200. Just learning this year, the right handed ones are for my 10 year old grand daughter to learn along with me. These guitars and equipment sound really good for very little money... Great topic!
Tom did a great video for older players getting started that I really took to heart. So great to see the two of you together. Making friends and making music is simply a win win. Well done and so tasty.
It’s an interesting thing. When you start off, you dream of getting that expensive custom guitar and you’re like this will make me much better. When you own the custom over time you start to appreciate the nuances of cheaper instruments and then you realize how much it’s about the player and any good player can make a cheap guitar sound good.
I love this guy and the way he thinks-- i love this rlly he just has super cheap guitars and makes us see guitars differently bc of that - the way he thinks abt it is so inspiring- aah can u do more stuff with him? Haha i love u 2 talking abt guitars tunings and all this stuff is so interesting and how cute excited he gets to eyplain it i rlly want more of this ahahaha thanks for this video/ interview! Thank u💜💜 P.s i just love how hes just doing his thing being himself like that its beautiful to see cuz thats what were all here for just be and be happy while here and id that means to be what ppl call „ childish „ damn why not- ppl call me childish when i geek around abt stuff- if we all just let each other be and enjoy the moments rather then ciritizing then sich beautiful moments can be everyday and we can all work towards being more free rather then working slaves without hearts I love yall snd thanks for reading tis lil thingy i wrote
Most of the famous musicians play expensive brand named instruments because the manufactures give them the instruments and pay them to play them. A $100 guitar set up correctly will play just as good as a $20,000 guitar.
Yet another proof that the player's the most important part of the equation when it comes to making something that sounds good out of an instrument. Tom IS a great player, both flatpicking and fingerpicking, so it's really no wonder he can make that $99 Squier Strat (I'm assuming it's a Bullet) sound that great. I also love his enthusiasm and his very evident passion for his work too. Thank you for this very cool video, Paul! Great work as always!
@@blackstormer95 They did a bunch of editing to make it sound good on the album. Even if someone could make something similar with 200 dollars, would you like everything you play to sound like its coming from underwater in a well because all the effects you put on top of the playing. That guitar did not sound good clean, and not being able to play clean is a huge determent to anyone. Without a clean sound, you will not learn to tune, or do any kind of ear training.
@@mattrogers1946 Sure, having that stuff definitely helps, but it's not as important as you might think. Try giving the same rig to a not particularly good guitar player and you'll see the results. Ultimately, the playing is what *really* matters.
Is it possible, that these two guys are the most genuine individuals in the guitar world?! It's so awesome to see Tom nerd about his different guitars and tunings and ideas. This is a really nice video - please work together again sometime
I have a Squier Telecaster Affinity series, my locally-made Strat style guitar that was gifted to me by my mom in 1999 (it was less than 60 dollars back then) and other guitars that are lesser priced. I used them all to my self-produced albums. I'm hopeful that someday, more people will appreciate what I've created. Hopefully. Someday.
Yeah man, cool stuff. I remember Rob Harris saying he used a squire strat on many of the jamiroquai tunes and also Kyle Minogue’s smash hits. Shows that a cheap guitar in the right hands can still make hits…
My friend has the same guitar and I was surprised and amazed at how good it sounds and how great the neck feels on it for what it costs. I use an ibanez as my go to and the sounds are so different between the 2 that I'm getting the squire for that reason. Gonna stick my set of ernie ball colbalts on it and go to work! Awesome video!! Just confirms what I thought!
I have a squire i paid $99 for in 1999 and it’s been such a good guitar. It stays in tune regardless of what you do to it or with it. I drug it behind my truck around the block just to prove it would still be in tune snd sound great afterwards. It really didn’t get scratched up or dinged too much. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve thrown it. I had a pretty bad temper back in the day. I’m old and calm now so a rarely even get mad anymore and i don’t react violently anymore. But that squire was one of the best guitar purchases i’ve ever made and i have bought alot of guitars. I own a lot of guitars most of them are in rental vaults and i have a few in a storage unit. I keep the guitar i make money with at home and a couple that i just enjoy having close at hand but the squire is always with me. I have played it on stage ALOT! I have real strats but it’s something about the squire that i just love. I have a bunch of different pick guards that are loaded and it takes five minutes to make it sound any way i need it to. I’ve made alot of money with it. Way more than it cost no doubt lol. I wish i could get my les pauls for $99. That’d be nice lol.
Glad to see someone else loves 9’s….. and I still use my 1978 Sakai strat for everything; it was dirt cheap at the time (impoverished student) and I get beautiful tones for blues, jazz and folk music out of it - don’t need a fancy twig with a Fender logo! The music is in yourself - not the fancy expensive toys, although they can be useful and fun to play with!
My very first electric guitar is the red Fender Squier from China! It has a rosewood neck. It's an awesome guitar! Anyway, this channel, 'Paul Davids,' is really inspiring. I love your editing skills and, of course, your content and guitar playing skills. 🙌🙌 PssT: My channel was inspired by yours! 😍
I'm glad I'm not crazy for loving the feel and sound of cheap Squiers and Epiphones, cause I'm surrounded by them. You could have a $2 hammer and an $80 hammer and still put a nail in, crooked or straight lol. I wish there was a LOVE button to hit on this video.
I feel that quote so much "I can make a million ideas, but I can't make an album" I write like 4-5 riffs a day and have no one to "send them to" - no one to collab with. This guy is lucky he is "in the industry"
I mean you could say this for any tool/object in most hobbies, obviously there's huge diminishing returns on more expensive stuff. I find if baffling how this is a novel concept to people, if you have money people like to buy nice things. Who gives a shit if they want a custom shop Gibson/ESP whatever that they're going to cherish.
I was on a path to find the right kind of modern strat type guitar (flat radius, big frets) to help overcome some injury limitations and then someone gave me a Harley Benton SG copy. The guitar was so cheap it didn't have a plastic back plate for the electronics. That was hardboard painted black. The neck was so completely different yet fun to play - such a surprise. I put very heavy gauge strings on, downtuned to C but not for metal. A slightly overdriven sound and playing with the inbetween setting (both pick ups selected) and it sounds like nothing else. Works for all kinds of stuff and a great and cheap alternative to a having a specific baritone guitar. Tuning might not be perfectly stable but I love it.
I’ve been following Tom’s channel for the two to three years for his tips but this gives me new insight and respect into his capabilities. Very refreshing!
I so admire the 0.1% of TH-cam videos that don't try to convince you spending a shit ton of money makes you a better musician. Let's all admit to our one almost-trash guitar that we love dearly. Mine's a VOX ssc-33 that I bought for a hundred bucks. It's spankier than any Tele I've ever tried.
I have a Mitchell acoustic that I got for my 16th birthday over 20 years ago. I have spent thousands of dollars on guitars since then, but I still prefer that shitty Mitchell sometimes.
This was a great morning. So much fun. And just so you all know Paul is very same guy you see in his videos, a very genuine and nice guy. He's a great player too!
Thanks Tom! It was an inspiring day for me, thanks for sharing your passion with us!
Thanks Paul for the video. And thank you Tom, it's a pleasure to listen to both of you, people talking about something they are really passionate about.
Loved it, Tom, and great insights!! :)
make more videos with paul! was really cool.
Such a great video. Thank you both!
This dude's enthusiasm and charisma is leaking through the screen... You can see it in his eyes, he can't wait to tell you everything. Great video
The power of the music is NOT in the equipment, but in the talent and spirit of the artist.
Indeed. Any guitar can be great as long as it stays in tune and have a proper setup
Indeed, that said I’m found the guitar that just inspires endlessly, that was 65 strat.
@@millmoormichael6630 I'm a Tele guy, but you can't go wrong with a 65' Start. Nope.
@@perihelion7798Well you completely missed the point of the video. It is in the equipment. He chose that particular guitar because it has a specific sound.
@@rustinpeace770 As if the 'sound', which is completely subjective, cannot be duplicated with different equipment. That's pretty silly, but in line with all of the gear elitists out there. Yep.
That guy has some serious groove. You can see why he's in demand. Thanks for doing this interview, Paul. Like you say, very inspiring!
Being a budget player, I played a Squier Bullet Strat for a decade. I got a lot of great sounds out of it and I recorded a lot of music that I loved with it. I always felt kind of bad for not being able to afford better instruments. This is an incredible, very reassuring watch. Long live cheap Squiers!
I have a CV tele. I wouldnt change it for anything❤
@@Lalairuthose are top of the line Squier, I play an Affinity Tele
@@MasteringSilence yeah I know, still a lot of guitar for the money. Affinities are great too!
@@Lalairumy friend backed up a whole lot of vocalists and played with several top local bands playing a couple of squiers. including an affinity...tweek here tweek there and he played it through a fender twin...I dig em'
@@pgroove163 thats an amazin combo 😁
This is a VERY important story for people to see. Use what you have…and you do NOT need the most expensive gear to create greatness! VERY INSPIRING EPISODE! 😃🎸👍🏻
Is it? He didn't JUST have a $99 guitar. All the other stuff costs money too. Or do you think all the thousands of dollars of amps, pedals and recording equipment comes free?
@@thomasdequincey5811Well to be fair using an amp SIM would not cost thousands of dollars
@@thomasdequincey5811 you can get amp sims for free my dude
@@thomasdequincey5811you're completely right. I spent thousands of dollars on bias fx alone and I'm a liar.
Just a real expensive computer and some pricey plug-ins...🙄
Wow this guy is out of this world creative. It's cool to see big pop artists using actual instruments and artist and not just full digital.
Look at this WORKING musicians set up. No RGB, no crazy 10k guitars, just a home office that gets USED every day. I probably have 4x the money invested in my studio and have put out less than 1% of this guy’s catalog. So smart.
What's RGB?
@@lukehunnableRGB = Red Green and Blue.
Referring to fancy colorful lights in this context.
Great stuff, Paul! This might just be the most important video for so many (young) guitarists to watch. Very, very inspiring!
💯
This makes me so happy.
@@TomStrahleyou're a legend man, just got to know about you today
But 99 dollar strat is horrible for beginners because its not as playable
@@sieni221 yes my cheap ibanez has better neck but tone is not as clean as a cheap fender strat
Got such a buzz from this video. The sheer enthusiasm, that riff, the tunings, and especially the use of ultra cheap guitars. Being able to leave a bunch of instruments in several alternative tunings seemed like an unnecessary luxury... it certainly doesn’t look that way so much now. Cheers, Paul and Tom!
Cheers Chris!
Don't look in the left corner. There is the definition of expensive in the Two Rock sitting there.
This guy is super inspiring, especially as a guitarist who's only been playing for 8 months and wanted to start trying to write things on my own. This gave me a bunch of ideas, thank you guys for sharing this!
His face and personality is a prime example of what you would look like when you truly do what you love. It creates a happy life
I do love what I do. Mainly because every day is different.
We could clearly see Tom's enthusiasm in his eyes, very insightful and loves so much what he does. Very lovely riffs, by the way. Hats off to both Paul and Tom for this video. 👍👍👍👍
There’s a puertorican “cuatro” in that studio. Nice. It would be cool to see how he plays it.
I try to play it like a cuatro, just not very well. I have it tuned the right way.
@@TomStrahle that’s great. You are extremely creative and it immediately rang a bell. Take care.
Music Theory, modern acoustic technology, a love for music and a mad scientist attitude to stringing guitars in a bizarre ways makes this guy so cool!
love seeing the breakdown of such an underrated song from an underrated album 😮💨
It’s truly incredible what you can do with even the cheapest of guitars. People often forget that it’s not about the guitar it’s about the player, great quality and tone is just an added bonus. Love your videos Paul, you inspire me every day to become a better guitarist and a better TH-camr. Keep spreading your love for music so that it can be passed down from generation to generation “Keeping Music Alive.”
Did not sound that great without the effects. Reminds me of the clip of Jack White nailing a wire to a board, then plugging it to an amp and making shredding sounds with it. Then he says "You don't even need to buy a guitar kids" or something, but to get that sound they would need to guy his 5000 amp or something like that.
If an instrument does not sound good without added effects and amps, I think that instrument is a hindrance. If a guitar does not sound good clean, it does not sound good at all, what ever the good in the sound is is brought by the effects and whatnot.
@@vege4920 Bruh you are comparing a guitar with and without reverb. The actual tone is great.
"If a guitar does not sound good clean, it does not sound good at all"
How did you discover this law, great one?
Plus, you can get all of these effects for free on your computer. Compression and a Fender Twin. I can get a similar glass tone out of my $100 Yamaha Pacifica, using Guitar Rig Free.
“Beato talks about it all the time!” Man, I love how many of these professionals watch each other on TH-cam.
Still have the cheap Squier that was my first guitar, now still my main guitar. I've gigged with it. Though it's not all stock anymore the upgrades aren't the fanciest either, and most are unrelated to tone. Also thank you for not making this a glorified advertisement for some specific cheap guitar. This man is very inspiring and creative.
Still have my £100 Squier Strat and 10W app combo (a good 16 years ago).
Only ever adjusted the neck and scooped some frets and stuck higher gauge strings on there...
It was and still is a great guitar amongst the many I have now.
I was lucky enough to have a short conversation w/ Jack Pearson about this subject.
He plays a Squier Strat at times, I believe he said that Squier is one of his go to guitars.
Jack is an incredible musician and has shared the stage w/ so many rock and blues legends. The man can literally play anything he wants and he still plays a “cheap” guitar.
A Squier Strat for $99 was the first electric guitar I ever got. Still have it all these years later, and it still sounds like a charm. Such a great guitar for the price, and I frankly wouldn't have wanted it any other way.
i got a squier tele from the late 90s...and like his strat, missing that volume knob lol
For some reason I like my squire strat sound better than fender American, paid 1200$ for that thing some 10 years ago.
I love my $99. HSS FSR Bullet Squire. Dang thing takes a beaten and stays in tune. We are in the Golden age for quality affordable guitars.
@@josephgoforth9722I actually took it off. I kept turning it down when palm muting. Problem solved.
that's amazing. no mods or anything? i bought a japan st copy called a selder. it sounded great when my friend modded it with alnico pickups. i'm still relearning guitar after not playing for 10 years, and i love this thing.
Your content is always quality Paul, but this must be the most inspiring vid you've had yet. Love Tom's creativity!
Love his approach to the instrument: Different tunings and string combinations etc. We don't often see non-rock star musicians featured and his approach to making music is very inspiring. Would love to see more of how he approaches composing on the guitar for movies and video games. One great key takeaway is that the idea is stronger then your gear. Thanks for bringing us along Paul!
My favourite guitar I own is a Squier Affinity Strat that I modded. The neck is magical!
Same here, the necks are glorious!!
@@michaelclarke8426 Not all of them though, you have to find a good one.
I have a Squier Affinity tele that I can’t stop playing. The neck on that is also spectacular. I don’t know how they can sell them so cheap…
What a great guy! So joyful, humble and cool. Who wouldn’t want to sit down for some songwriting or scoring with Tom.
All most Squiers need is a good set of strings and a decent set up. Some can really benefit from new tuners or nut (most of the time the nut is just fine). Sometimes pickups depending on genre but this applies to all guitars, not just cheap ones. Great to learn how to “work” on guitars with little to no risk too.
The biggest problem is the necks feel really bad on a lot of them, a lot of extra fret and rough necks
@@xcx8646 Check out some $100-150 ones, a lot of the time they'll have frets sticking out the scratch your hands. If you can do a fret job they're fine, I just like it when I don't need to do the. Plus the finish on a lot of them isn't very good.
My fav quote that will stick with me till end of times😀"The most important part of the signal path, are the neuron signal paths, where you come up with a good idea. A bad idea with the best signal path and the best instruments is still going to sound like a bad idea." 👍
My main baby is in fact a mini Squier Strat I’ve been playing since I was 12 and I’m never gonna get rid of it. Any cheap guitar can sound great It’s mostly on the artist.
funny that he mentions 5 year old strings. 5 years ago i kept the strings on my guitar when i stopped playing, i loosened them, so they don't mess up the neck bend, two days ago i tuned them again and they are still in tune today.
lots of truth here. To play good music all anyone needs is a decently built and comfortably set up instrument. Whatever that instrument initially cost, or whoever made it, is irrelevant. There's a big gap between the things we want, and the ones we actually need
Wow! Brilliant. Most entertaining 11:24 min. I've spent in a while. Thanks for letting us watch. Cheers
As an Epiphone and Squier player this makes my heart swell with joy. I like to do some basic mods to my guitars, but yeah it's all in the head, soul and the hands. The only comment I have about these guitars is that a little fret work and set up is often required otherwise they'll do the work.
Buy you a few tools and watch some TH-cam videos on fret work. It's not remotely as difficult as people think.
This guy is a genius. He’s very inspiring. It almost makes me cry that I gave up not finishing in college for music. I could’ve been a producer but I wanted to be a performer. Such is life
I never finished school. Just went one year but was too busy teaching and playing in my band to keep my grades up. Most all I know is self taught. I love learning and figuring out things. That's actually what universities should be teaching. Be your own university.
@@TomStrahlethanks, you truly are a genius. I’ll keep on noodling. The more I do the better I get and the passion is still there. Thank you for the encouragement, it meant a lot
This guy is so damn happy. I love it. Confident and cheery. His attitude is contagious enough, but being a guitar player I of course think, “well shit, I need his studio now…”
This was pretty cool. This dude is hilarious, his setup is so straightforward.
Love this. I’ve always thought there’s so little difference between different guitars. Just need decent pickups and good intonation. I don’t hear much difference between $100 guitars and $5100 guitars
One of the best guitar gear videos I have EVER seen. So much better than the 99.99% of the boutique vids out there. Thanks!
It was a very fun morning.
Mike Rutherford of Genesis bought a couple of Squier Bullets when he found himself in South Africa about to be locked down and without a guitar. He ended up playing a lot of the 2021 Genesis farewell tour on Squiers although his tech did upgrade some of the hardware to make them a bit more tour worthy.
This guy is such an inspiration! Creativity over cork sniffing.
Cork sniffing. Love this.
Every new Paul Davids video makes my day.
I'm glad this guy confirmed what I've said many years ago about guitars. This is why I don't go past the $1200 threshhold. I feel guitars around this price have the quality and tone I'm looking for. I also have a Fender Squier since 1997. I played it in my recording and also toured with it. I got to play my Fender Squier in front of 12,000 people as one of the opening acts back in those days on a hot summer day in Chicago. It was truly my workhorse.
Now that's a guy who's doing something he absolutely loves, you can see how much he's enjoying sharing his thought pattern/ideas for it with others who understand what he's talking about, with the side benefit of getting paid for his passion.
Spot on. Jack Pearson has been playing a Squire at shows.
Love this guy's enthusiasm! He's playing and having fun with his job!
Wow!! Thanks for this! This guy is amazing and I really enjoyed this video! Thank you!
Wow this is so important to show that all guitars no matter the price have a legitimate place in music. Budget guitars aren’t just for beginners or djent bros to mod beyond recognition
Wow I had no idea who Tom was and its great and suprising to see hes behind all those scores!
Wow! This man is a genuine great human being and musician!! Overflowing with enthusiasm, charisma and knowledge
I bought a $165 (new, 2023) Squier Mustang recently and it’s my favorite guitar. All it needed was a few minutes with a fret end file.
But I’m the weirdo who thinks 9s on a 24” scale is perfect to play.
Not every cheap guitar will have the structure to sound that good. The adjustable bridge is crucial to good intonation, and the time spent working on intonation is well spent. If you don't hear the harmonics ringing on the low strings while you're tweaking the high ones, it's just not going to sound good. Remember, Tom rejected a bunch of guitars before he found the one worth keeping.
My all-time favourite guitar is a 1999 Squier Affinity Strat that is very harmonically rich. It used to bother me until others pointed out how rare it is to find a gutar with so much sympathetic ringing and that feels like the whole thing vibrates in your hands when you play it.
@@jayrobb9 My God, I have a 1999 Squier Affinity strat in tobacco burst, and it is special, it just resonates forever! I have a lot of guitars, but there is just something, call it mojo, soul or whatever, I just seem to play better on this guitar than all my others!
My go to guitar lately is a scruff Squier Strat that I just had sitting downstairs from all my fancies upstairs for hacking around on. Put together a few small boards and came downstairs and just bliss out with a looper all day. The guitar is always ready and always delivers, fits like a glove and tumbles out little dreams.
what a great guy! This was very inspiring, the most important gear is the neuron path in the brain. That's important information for those of us that can get overwhelmed with the tone and gear chasing. Hit records on cheap guitars has been a formula for so many great works.
Hells yeah! There's something magical and well, healing about just making music with whatever you have around you. Punk AF.
Exactly.
This guys is just brilliant. Such a cool dude
Thanks mom.
When presented with a guitar, we all see a guitar. This guy sees different ways of making sounds. Really like this.
His creativity and energy is amazing. Great video.
What a brilliant video. Well done, Buddy. ✌🏾
My Squier Strat is featured in several songs on my first album. I run it through my Fender Twin with NOTHING but built in gain for distortion and add effects in Ableton if needed, but barely any. I bought it for $50 off a neighbor. 20 minutes of setup and the intonation is dead on and it plays amazing. I let some of my guitar friends play it without looking at it and they were shocked after playing that it was a Squier 🤣🤣
Love this.
@@TomStrahle its an interesting phenomenon, the search for and acquisition of "gear". When I was a mechanic, I bought a $300 set of tools from Sears to be a helicopter mechanic. I was able to do the same job, usually better, than most of my peers who owned $10,000 SnapOn rollaway toolboxes full of overpriced tools. For years I played in clubs to raving fans playing an ancient electric acoustic "Applause" (cheap ovation) because I brought entertainment in the form of enthusiasm and theatrics which I needed to make up for my lack of a great voice 🤣 Ideas, talent, and many other things matter more than tools in many ways. Great video.
Been saying it for years been playing it for years.99 bucks or 9999 bucks,sounds like a strat.❤
I can't remember the last time I saw a dude this stoaked to show off and play his guitars. What a gem!! 🤘🏻
I lucked out when I bought a bullet Strat from eBay, thinking i was going to mod the crap out of it - still one of my faves
What a good interview. This was as others have said a very inspiring video. Absolutely loved it. Thanks Paul . Thanks to Tom for sharing. Would love to see a longer interview with him. 🎸
I have less than $400 in 4 guitars, R.W. Jameson acoustical electric 1 left hand and 1 right $100 each, and 2 Ibanez Gio's from the same pawn shop Left and a right matching black for $80 each. $20 Ibanez bass amp from a flea market, a Cube Baby $35, and the only big $$ is my BOSS ME-80 used for $200. Just learning this year, the right handed ones are for my 10 year old grand daughter to learn along with me. These guitars and equipment sound really good for very little money...
Great topic!
Tom did a great video for older players getting started that I really took to heart. So great to see the two of you together. Making friends and making music is simply a win win. Well done and so tasty.
It’s an interesting thing. When you start off, you dream of getting that expensive custom guitar and you’re like this will make me much better. When you own the custom over time you start to appreciate the nuances of cheaper instruments and then you realize how much it’s about the player and any good player can make a cheap guitar sound good.
I love this guy and the way he thinks-- i love this rlly he just has super cheap guitars and makes us see guitars differently bc of that - the way he thinks abt it is so inspiring- aah can u do more stuff with him? Haha i love u 2 talking abt guitars tunings and all this stuff is so interesting and how cute excited he gets to eyplain it i rlly want more of this ahahaha thanks for this video/ interview! Thank u💜💜
P.s i just love how hes just doing his thing being himself like that its beautiful to see cuz thats what were all here for just be and be happy while here and id that means to be what ppl call „ childish „ damn why not- ppl call me childish when i geek around abt stuff- if we all just let each other be and enjoy the moments rather then ciritizing then sich beautiful moments can be everyday and we can all work towards being more free rather then working slaves without hearts
I love yall snd thanks for reading tis lil thingy i wrote
"Guitar that had a headcold" Abstract, yet so easily understood. Very cool!
Most of the famous musicians play expensive brand named instruments because the manufactures give them the instruments and pay them to play them. A $100 guitar set up correctly will play just as good as a $20,000 guitar.
I have 5 different Squiers ( Jag, Jazzmaster, Strats, Tele's and they are fantastic to play through a great amp
Paul - Thank you for introducing us to great people/musicians!
Bonker amounts of inspiration from this video - thanks so much
Yet another proof that the player's the most important part of the equation when it comes to making something that sounds good out of an instrument.
Tom IS a great player, both flatpicking and fingerpicking, so it's really no wonder he can make that $99 Squier Strat (I'm assuming it's a Bullet) sound that great.
I also love his enthusiasm and his very evident passion for his work too.
Thank you for this very cool video, Paul! Great work as always!
Having a fancy computer and a ton of expensive software doesn't count of course...
🙄
@@mattrogers1946the software shown in the video ain’t that expensive bro, reverb is $50 and guitar rig is $100
@@mattrogers1946 that stuff is for recording professionally, to create great music you literally only need a laptop and cheap guitar
@@blackstormer95 They did a bunch of editing to make it sound good on the album. Even if someone could make something similar with 200 dollars, would you like everything you play to sound like its coming from underwater in a well because all the effects you put on top of the playing.
That guitar did not sound good clean, and not being able to play clean is a huge determent to anyone. Without a clean sound, you will not learn to tune, or do any kind of ear training.
@@mattrogers1946 Sure, having that stuff definitely helps, but it's not as important as you might think.
Try giving the same rig to a not particularly good guitar player and you'll see the results.
Ultimately, the playing is what *really* matters.
This Guy is a genius,
Proper out the box thinking.
Is it possible, that these two guys are the most genuine individuals in the guitar world?! It's so awesome to see Tom nerd about his different guitars and tunings and ideas. This is a really nice video - please work together again sometime
Unbelievable! I actually read that comment too and didn't know that Tom is such a great and talented producer. This is just amazing!
I absolutely love Tom. Such a good dude, great teacher, you name it. His live streams are awesome. This was awesome!!!
I have a Squier Telecaster Affinity series, my locally-made Strat style guitar that was gifted to me by my mom in 1999 (it was less than 60 dollars back then) and other guitars that are lesser priced. I used them all to my self-produced albums. I'm hopeful that someday, more people will appreciate what I've created. Hopefully. Someday.
You definitely didn’t have to stop with weird tunings. This is awesome to see someone push the limits of normal on guitar.
Yeah man, cool stuff. I remember Rob Harris saying he used a squire strat on many of the jamiroquai tunes and also Kyle Minogue’s smash hits. Shows that a cheap guitar in the right hands can still make hits…
My friend has the same guitar and I was surprised and amazed at how good it sounds and how great the neck feels on it for what it costs. I use an ibanez as my go to and the sounds are so different between the 2 that I'm getting the squire for that reason. Gonna stick my set of ernie ball colbalts on it and go to work! Awesome video!! Just confirms what I thought!
Best video from anyone on guitars full stop. Every existing and budding guitarist must watch this. Fantastic!
Great stuff, great vibes! I wish this episode was 2 hours long :)
I have a squire i paid $99 for in 1999 and it’s been such a good guitar. It stays in tune regardless of what you do to it or with it. I drug it behind my truck around the block just to prove it would still be in tune snd sound great afterwards. It really didn’t get scratched up or dinged too much. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve thrown it. I had a pretty bad temper back in the day. I’m old and calm now so a rarely even get mad anymore and i don’t react violently anymore. But that squire was one of the best guitar purchases i’ve ever made and i have bought alot of guitars. I own a lot of guitars most of them are in rental vaults and i have a few in a storage unit. I keep the guitar i make money with at home and a couple that i just enjoy having close at hand but the squire is always with me. I have played it on stage ALOT! I have real strats but it’s something about the squire that i just love. I have a bunch of different pick guards that are loaded and it takes five minutes to make it sound any way i need it to. I’ve made alot of money with it. Way more than it cost no doubt lol. I wish i could get my les pauls for $99. That’d be nice lol.
Thanks so much for sharing this video! It is very inspirational even to an old campfire player such as myself! 👏👏👏
Glad to see someone else loves 9’s….. and I still use my 1978 Sakai strat for everything; it was dirt cheap at the time (impoverished student) and I get beautiful tones for blues, jazz and folk music out of it - don’t need a fancy twig with a Fender logo! The music is in yourself - not the fancy expensive toys, although they can be useful and fun to play with!
Man's got chops!
Gotta love his attitude, This guy's awesome! Thank you so much for sharing this
My very first electric guitar is the red Fender Squier from China! It has a rosewood neck. It's an awesome guitar! Anyway, this channel, 'Paul Davids,' is really inspiring. I love your editing skills and, of course, your content and guitar playing skills. 🙌🙌 PssT: My channel was inspired by yours! 😍
I'm glad I'm not crazy for loving the feel and sound of cheap Squiers and Epiphones, cause I'm surrounded by them. You could have a $2 hammer and an $80 hammer and still put a nail in, crooked or straight lol. I wish there was a LOVE button to hit on this video.
THIS. IS.AWESOME! Thanks for posting it. Because of this cool vid, I no longer have SIC (Squier Inferiority Complex)!
Haha.
I feel that quote so much "I can make a million ideas, but I can't make an album" I write like 4-5 riffs a day and have no one to "send them to" - no one to collab with. This guy is lucky he is "in the industry"
I mean you could say this for any tool/object in most hobbies, obviously there's huge diminishing returns on more expensive stuff. I find if baffling how this is a novel concept to people, if you have money people like to buy nice things. Who gives a shit if they want a custom shop Gibson/ESP whatever that they're going to cherish.
I was on a path to find the right kind of modern strat type guitar (flat radius, big frets) to help overcome some injury limitations and then someone gave me a Harley Benton SG copy. The guitar was so cheap it didn't have a plastic back plate for the electronics. That was hardboard painted black. The neck was so completely different yet fun to play - such a surprise. I put very heavy gauge strings on, downtuned to C but not for metal. A slightly overdriven sound and playing with the inbetween setting (both pick ups selected) and it sounds like nothing else. Works for all kinds of stuff and a great and cheap alternative to a having a specific baritone guitar. Tuning might not be perfectly stable but I love it.
0:35 did you go back for the camera?
I’ve been following Tom’s channel for the two to three years for his tips but this gives me new insight and respect into his capabilities. Very refreshing!
Thanks!
I so admire the 0.1% of TH-cam videos that don't try to convince you spending a shit ton of money makes you a better musician. Let's all admit to our one almost-trash guitar that we love dearly. Mine's a VOX ssc-33 that I bought for a hundred bucks. It's spankier than any Tele I've ever tried.
Yeah, Im so tired of the marketing loop on youtube. This was so cool.
I have a Mitchell acoustic that I got for my 16th birthday over 20 years ago. I have spent thousands of dollars on guitars since then, but I still prefer that shitty Mitchell sometimes.
@@IAmTheWorstArtist Shitty can be pretty!
I watched this with a smile on my face. Very fun video. So cool to get a small window into that world. Thanks Paul!
Ah, the classic E-E-E-E-E-E tuning
Hehe.
😂
Great video Paul and thanks for the introduction to Tom Strahle!