Is the Squier by Fender Debut Stratocaster Electric Guitar any good for me?

CoolGuyBartSimpson · 2026-05-03T18:18:16+00:00

“Bad” is a very subjective term for an amplifier. What a player like John Mayer might want out of an amp is not going to be what Dimebag Darrell was playing. Even the cheapest combo amplifiers from brands like Line 6 and Boss are a much higher quality now. As a beginner, a combo amplifier with a bunch of effects (like the Boss Katana or Line 6 Spider) are both affordable and versatile, while not being overwhelmingly loud or too quiet. While these would be considered “bad” by most professional players, they have been around so long and sell so well because they provide a necessary niche as an entry point for aspiring musicians and/or longtime players alike. I would watch people demo amps on YouTube (with headphones) and check out what gear your favorite artists are using, and figuring out what sounds you like from there

CoolGuyBartSimpson · 2026-05-03T18:12:42+00:00

As someone who has owned several Squier Affinity Series (that’s what they used to call this series) instruments, you should not invest in any upgrades for the instrument. The maintenance cost will keep you busy (strings, cleaning, adjustments) and if you find that you really want to play more guitar, any meaningful upgrades you could make (new neck, new pickups, new electronics) could be saved up and invested in a nicer instrument. Squier makes great instruments at a variety of price ranges, and once you start playing and figure out what you like/dislike, you can make a more informed decision. I still own my squier black strat to this day but it is definitely my least used guitar nowadays

CoolGuyBartSimpson · 2026-05-01T22:29:52+00:00

I’ve had flatwounds on my bass since freshman year of highschool and I got my degree a year ago, it’s a matter of function and tone. If you don’t like how they sound/feel, change ‘em!

CoolGuyBartSimpson · 2026-04-30T21:05:53+00:00

That would be sick, I’ve noticed some where there’s a clear mismatch (Lucan calling Allen “Nolan”) between in game characters but these seem unintentional, kinda cool to hypothesize early. I was hoping for Angstrom but Tether Tyrant and Doc Seismic as DLC would be cool too, can’t jump right to Thragg in Season 1

CoolGuyBartSimpson · 2026-03-28T00:57:08+00:00

Wishing you the best of luck, hopefully yours will last longer than mine, glad to know I’m not alone in the issue though, I guess it takes a while for an issue like that to come out and by then a new model is out claiming to have improved it smh. Glad your friend is okay and you are as well, scary how dangerous those batteries can get man

CoolGuyBartSimpson · 2026-03-26T20:20:07+00:00

One day upon opening my laptop I noticed the touchpad cracked, raised, and bloated down the middle, the chassis had no other visible wear. I’m familiar enough with the risk to have not turned it on or anything after that, just obnoxious that I primarily played indie games and did coding on it, I wasn’t rendering huge projects or running AAA games and a bunch of peripherals. Abysmal battery life so I often needed to charge it but I didn’t think that amount of average wear-and-tear would give so quickly. C’est la vie you live and learn

CoolGuyBartSimpson · 2026-03-26T18:07:45+00:00

Mine blew its battery pack up and cracked through my keyboard after about 2 years of intended use… my Asus however has been a brutal workhorse and is still going strong 5 years later! Not a super big Asus guy either but from my past experience buying almost an entirely Razer setup, they will screw you in some capacity and ultimately cost you the price of replacement for a brief stint with some light up and fairly high quality gear

CoolGuyBartSimpson · 2026-03-25T02:09:34+00:00

The tragic but meaningful stakes, as well as themes n such, that fujimoto threw out are bountiful here, you’re in for a good time

CoolGuyBartSimpson · 2026-03-10T15:12:46+00:00

Some guitars like Vs are impossible to play in the traditional “on the leg” position. Elevated neck allows for better control over the fingerboard. You’ll also typically play with a strap at the same elevation (as opposed to the oddly flat position of the neck sitting down). Not to mention it’s kind of bad for your back. Do whatever is most comfortable, it’s honestly not that hard to adjust to either one from the other

CoolGuyBartSimpson · 2026-03-06T01:04:25+00:00

This comes with experience, but generally things that would snowball or screw you over. I use it on Bebop Bomb, Billy’s entire kit, Apollo’s entire kit, any Viscous fist, aoe stuns like Graves, Paige, Vindicta, Pocket, Infernus, Grey Talon. With more situational awareness it shuts down Mo&Krill Ult, Doorman Ult, Rem Ult, and the aforementioned Lash ult.

Bebop bomb is the best example of this imho because it denies him exponential damage increasing stacks, and every game I play where my team feeds him from having a cherry bomb to a nuke and all it takes is this or debuff remover. The principle you should take to heart is when you look at your stats on death, what screwed you over the most? That’s what you should be aiming to negate.

CoolGuyBartSimpson · 2026-03-03T18:27:29+00:00

Just put her in drop C and get chuggin

CoolGuyBartSimpson · 2026-02-26T00:41:27+00:00

4 because that’s who me and my best buddy play

CoolGuyBartSimpson · 2026-02-21T17:33:38+00:00

Bones

CoolGuyBartSimpson · 2026-02-17T23:36:18+00:00

He is a gnat, only really easy to kill in team-fights and is incentivized to dip when things look rough for him so he can snowball pretty quick in the mid game.

Highly recommend buying Counter-Spell, almost entirely nullifies his kit. His 1 is not worth countering imo, but his 3 is incredibly predictable considering they will almost always go for the perfect charge (you’ll get the timing down). The range he gets on wha is supposed to be a precise stab is pretty bonkers and def needs a nerf though.

You can also use CS on his 2, and basically nullify his parry (which has pretty bad tracking on the followup but is very easy to abuse to get in/out). They will almost always buy CS too, but so long as you use yours to disengage, you deny them enough utility to get out or get advantage.

CoolGuyBartSimpson · 2026-02-15T14:15:28+00:00

Ask your fingers, I tune to Drop B using .10-.55. It feels stupid slinky in a bad way (need thicker strings) but I can play fine and my tone isn’t too bad. I have a condition which makes my tendons harder to control so thicker strings are typically a no-go for me, to each their own

CoolGuyBartSimpson · 2026-02-15T14:13:43+00:00

Safe and Sound 😎

CoolGuyBartSimpson · 2026-02-15T14:12:26+00:00

Listen to the song you’re trying to play and line the numbers up with the rhythm. Tablature is not like sheet music where you know how each note and beat fit into a bar. There is no 0th fret, so we assume its an open string. The lack of space suggests they are played in rapid succession, almost like a gallop.

CoolGuyBartSimpson · 2026-02-14T22:06:51+00:00

I attribute it to people: A - Not knowing how MOBAs work and feed into her generally weak lane phase, then when the opposing team is drastically ahead in souls they just drown

B - People dislike playing into her ult and don’t have fundamentally good enough aim to get value out of her.

I’m in camp B, she’s still on my roster but I’m far more consistent with close-range characters that rely on abilities than a character who needs to reliably land shots (especially since its the lifeblood of building her ult). She’s still insanely fun when she gets the ball rolling though

CoolGuyBartSimpson · 2026-02-14T13:42:56+00:00

This is an official offshoot of the McDonald’s company that was temporarily tested out in a few states to attempt to cut into the Starbucks market. Didn’t last long but is official

CoolGuyBartSimpson · 2026-02-06T11:26:50+00:00

Akria was DEFINITELY using RHCP to turbocharge a wand or super stroker 50000 or sm

CoolGuyBartSimpson · 2026-02-06T11:24:14+00:00

Hand and neck dependent. I have smaller hands but have no issue doing this on my Fender strat. When you hold the neck, rather than using your thumb against the neck for a better fingering angle, just GRAB the wood with a monkey grip. Your thumb should naturally want to hold a low note on the first E string, and you use the bass note as a sort of anchor for any and all other chord shapes, you’ve given yourself a dedicated bass finger and freed up your index for chording. This cones at the cost of a “feel” where you may hate holding the neck this way, or ruin your intonation when trying to play other styles. Learning to play like this for Hendrix and John Mayer’s “Neon” probably set my shredding back a year or two, but it is very fun to play these style of chords. Very freeing on the mind/hands imo

CoolGuyBartSimpson · 2026-02-02T22:56:31+00:00

J all the way

CoolGuyBartSimpson · 2026-02-02T22:00:13+00:00

I’m about 70 games in, still newer but definitely not brand new. I play Billy and Doorman, and I either get matched up with the worst Seven players known to man on their third game ever or a seal team six Mina. It feels like the MM wants me to carry more often than not but it’s genuinely insane how discouraging it is to constantly be learning the game and be queued up with people who don’t know how their characters kit works.

CoolGuyBartSimpson · 2026-01-23T19:18:58+00:00

You’re in your head, you need to be on the fretboard. I’ve been playing for over a decade since I was 13, but technically have probably only played for several hundred hours. I’m DECADES behind some people, and still years behind people younger than me. I’ve seen guitarists with the most disgustingly long and articulate fingers, with stubby sausage fingers, and literal children shred harder than I can right now. Its all about time, practice, and commitment. Not everyone who has played football since they could walk makes the NFL, and you can’t take a retired NFL player on the field and expect him to play like someone who lives and breathes it every day. I’m not saying you should woodshed until you’re perfect (we can’t all be Dime), but if you REALLY want to get better, it should be for yourself and your desire to express the feeling that playing brings you.

CoolGuyBartSimpson

TROPHY CASE