The advice up here is quite sound. Fender Squiers are perfect for a student. Mexican and Chinese and Korean production has gotten quite good in the last decade or two. His first decision is the guitar “type” as was noted by KBA. And a lot of that, when youa re 16, is just vibe. Do you want to be Keith Richards (Tele)? Or Slash (Les Paul)? Or Hendrix (Strat)?

And the comment on Made in Japan Fenders is correct — I own a few MIJ and CIJ Jazz Basses, which are terrific for the money.

Anyway, the only two things I would take issue with — modeling amps are really for those with more expensive tastes, who are trying to record Guitar and want a “Vox” or an “Orange” or a “Freyette” sound. You are fine with any basic Fender amp or the equivalent.

The other thing I’ll take issue with — I have a friend who is the number two at Rick Rubin’s shop in LA. A lot of the “I can’t play anything and don’t know anything about the technology” is hype. Rick knows more than he lets on.

Bo, Tiafoe has gotta be our guy, then, if he’s wearing Knicks gear. I’m onboard. Tuning in right … now.

And Geo, yeah, that’s good advice for me. Thx. Will head out tomorrow for a walk just like that.

Peace, all.

referenced a morning routine of walking, breathe work and doing standing squats (no weights) as his go to for staying mobile…

He basically imagines the record he wants to hear, then sets out about creating the conditions to allow that record to happen organically. He was the head of Columbia when my longtime friend and colleague Pete Yorn was set to make his fourth album, and he shaped it in a way that made it one of Pete’s strongest, in my opinion his second best album.

Pete is a prolific songwriter, always has a lot of songs in the mix, but Rick Rubin got him to really focus on ten songs, hone in on the lyrics in a specific way, and create something cohesive with an album feel. He put together a production team with Mike Mogis doing the hands-on production, and made the record in Omaha in a relatively short time with great session players, away from the distractions of Los Angeles. It was the polar opposite of Pete’s previous record, which had lots of good material on it but was made in scattershot fashion with a bunch of different producers, and as a result played more like a compilation album than a cohesive artistic statement.

I never met Rick, but that project made me really understand why he is so great.

Since we’re on music, and in oblique connection to Geo’s comments yesterday about artists’ careers, has anyone read Rick Rubin’s book, “The Creative Act: A Way of Being”?

I didn’t know Rubin really beforehand, but I read his book on the plane yesterday, and I found it so generous and inspirational for anyone looking to live more in the present and to create anything at all, even and especially to make art for one’s own pleasure. His hint: it’s the only way.

Rubin’s prose style may be a bit “hippie/guru” or his thesis familiar for some folks, but IMO he articulated a useful proactive way to re-calibrate my senses and goals.

Anyway …. Just a bit of digressive joy on a Sunday.

PS — My Uber driver in Rhode Island yesterday “knew” Tyler Kolek , “Oh yeah, that kid from Cumberland. Knicks fans are gonna love him!”

Anyway, point being, yes, have him play until he finds one that makes him feel good about his playing. Great advice.

Also, when you do the setup, have the guy set the guitar up with light gauge strings, .09 or “nines” as they’re referred to in guitar speak. Light gauge strings are just easier to play and don’t really come with any downside.

KBA gives good advice here about trying out a bunch of different guitars at the shop. He might prefer a hollowbody style guitar, or a Les Paul style, or something else, and there are always starter versions available of pretty much every classic guitar type.

As far as amps go, there are also lots of decent starter amps available these days. I have never played through one but the Boss Katana is around $300 and they have a good reputation. They do the amp modeling thing and can get a lot of different tones, which means you won’t need to get into buying pedals. The Katana can do distortion and delay and chorus and all of that stuff. Blackstar and Fender are other good options for budget amps but I think a modeling amp is probably the way to go.

Also get one of those clip-on tuners!