NEWS – The Glider magnetic window cleaner allows you to clean the outside of your windows from inside your home. Or you can actually clean both sides simultaneously by spraying cleanser on the inside of the glass while cleaning the outside. The Glider consists of two plastic pieces with embedded magnets to attract them together and four squeegee blades to wipe the cleaning solution over and off the glass. The kit also includes two microfiber cloths, which can be used to dry and polish after squeegeeing or can be used wet for extra scrubbing power.
The Glider is made of ABS plastic, EPDM rubber, and rare earth magnets. The outside piece has an attached 6′ string with a ring to wear on your finger to prevent it from falling. That feature would be very important at my house – which is a 12th floor condo. The cleaner measures 2″ x 9.6″ x 4″, so it will clean a nice, wide swath with each pass.
You’ll choose The Glider that works for the thickness of your window: single-paned window 0.08″ – 0.3″ for $45.00; double-paned 0.3″ – 0.8″ for $68.00; or double-paned 0.8″ – 1.1″ for $78.00. All three sizes are available at The Grommet.
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NEWS – It may look like a weapon or an alien medical probe, but the true purpose of this gadget is even more bizarre. This Japanese gizmo called a Kurara Wash (I think…) is designed to wash your dishes. That’s right, it’s a motorized handheld dishwasher that cleans food residue from your plates, bowls, and cutlery one at a time.
If you think that this device looks like it takes more time and effort than just sucking it up and washing your dishes the old-fashioned way in a sink with a soapy scrubby pad, I think you’re right. But hey, let’s give the inventor a little credit for coming up with the contraption. Even if it is only for a laugh. Check out the video below.
The cost of the Kurara Wash is 8,800 Yen which converts to about $79 USD on Thanko.jp or you can find a similar product on Amazon for the same price.
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NEWS – For those of you that have been keeping up with my news stories, you can probably guess that by now I have become totally intrigued by and immersed into the world of wireless earbuds. My quest to find the best of the best by my standards has led me to all different types and sizes of earbuds, with every manufacturer claiming superiority, or victory in the industry.
The True Wireless Earphones Starship E70 Pro is another pair of earbuds that seem to be well liked and seem to have some credibility to their claims and status. I have come to this conclusion based on what I have read on their website, including reviews. They also captured my attention because of the uniqueness of their design and appearance. The specifications claim the following: 4 charges per 1 case charge with only 1 hour required to fully recharge the earbuds, up to 6 hours of listening/call time, and 150 hours of standby time. The stable connection utilizes the latest Bluetooth 5.0 chipset.
If you would like to read more about the True Wireless Earphones Starship E70 Pro earbuds, you can head over to the Raycon Global website. You can also purchase from Amazon for $79.99.
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This is a sponsored post; while the views expressed here are mine, consideration was paid to me by IndieDoGood to write this article.
The Maker Movement is a group of inventors, designers, engineers, artists, and craftsman that embrace the do-it-yourself spirit and excitement of bringing consumers one of a kind products. IndieDoGood.com was created to help makers succeed while at the same time give back to society. How do they do that? IndieDoGood.com connects entrepreneurs and inventors with consumers on their website who are looking for innovative and unique products. Every purchase of a maker’s product on the Indie Do Good site includes a “do-good” which is a 5% donation of the total purchase price of the product to a charity that the buyer can choose from a list of their partner charities.
I don’t know about you, but knowing that even a small portion of my hard earned money gives back to charity, is an incentive to buy from that maker. I’m not alone in this feeling. Currently, 75% of consumers age 22-36 consider it important to support brands that give back to society, and 37% of those same consumers are more likely to buy items associated with a particular cause, especially if they are causes that they and their friends support.
IndieDoGood.com was founded by Ron and Sue Otten. Sue had a successful corporate career at Apple before she and her husband Ron became makers themselves and created the Indie Do Good website to help other makers.
The Founders, Ron and Susan Otten, had successful corporate careers and now are successful entrepreneurs and makers themselves. What drives them is their passion for two things; one, providing an environment for other entrepreneurs to begin their story; two, giving back to charities and local communities, contributing to a better world.
As of this writing, Indie Do Good is featuring almost a dozen different makers and their selection of products. Here is more info about just a few of the makers that are currently offering their products through the IndieDoGood.com
Shore Boards
Shore Boards started by building hollow-wood paddle boards, that can even be customized and are gorgeous pieces of art. These top-quality, heirloom boards are handmade for all types of board sports including Stand Up Paddle Boards (SUPs), Longboards, and Wakesurf boards. Using sustainable materials, Shore Boards brings to life a high-performance art that is grown to ride. Here’s a fantastic video that gives you a behind-the-scenes look at the way these boards are made and provides some insights to this home-grown artisan company.
Fair Anita
Fair Anita is a social enterprise that exists to create opportunities for women and girls, selling trendy (and affordable) fair trade jewelry and accessories made by over 8,000 talented women in 16 countries. Fair Anita provides dignified jobs in countries with extreme poverty and domestic violence. The company’s talented artisan partners carefully design and create all products by hand—gorgeous accessories you can be proud to wear.
Cycle Force
Cycle Force is the home of unique and hard to find bikes from around the world. It was founded and is operated by bike enthusiasts who have a goal of a bicycle for every man, woman, and child on the planet. In addition to its awesome bike selection, Cycle Force also offers parts and accessories for just about any make, model or style of cycling. Company founder Nyle Nyms firmly believes that his company does not just sell bicycles…they provide Independence to their customers around the world.
If you would like to help support the Maker Movement and learn more about the Indie Do Good makers, head over to IndieDoGood.com for more maker stories and their catalog of unique products.
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REVIEW – Fender’s new Player Series Jaguar guitar is begging to be picked up and played.
What is it?
The Jaguar body style is a classic offset-body design that moves some of the mass towards the tail resulting in a very comfortable playing position. Clearly a descendent of the legendary Jazzmaster, the Jaguar has as impressive artist roster including Bob Dylan, Joe Pass, Johnny Marr, John Frusciante, Kurt Cobain and Thurston Moore. The new Player Series takes the heritage of the Fender brand, the authentic Fender sound, and adds accessibility and playability for this generation. In our house, there’s a bit of a role reversal as I’m into punk/metal/alternative and he regularly schools me in music that was clearly influenced or was created by musicians of my dad’s era. Funnily enough, the last guitar I purchased for myself (’95?) was a Fender Jag-Stang, a hybrid of Jaguar and Mustang bodies, so I was excited to see what’s new in a 2018 Jaguar.
Hardware specs
Body – Material / Shape / Finish / Color:
Alder / Jaguar® / Gloss polyester / Tidepool Neck – Material / Shape / Finish:
Maple / Modern C / Satin urethane on back of neck Fingerboard – Material / Scale / Fret count / Radius:
Pau Ferro / 24″ / 22 / 9.5″ Nut – Material / Width
Synthetic bone / 1.65″ Position inlays –
White dots Electronics –
Bridge pickup – Player Series Alnico 3 Jaguar Humbucking
Neck pickup – Player Series Alnico 2 Jaguar Single-Coil
Controls – Master Volume, Master Tone
Pickup Switching – 3-Position blade: 1) Bridge pickup, 2) Bridge and neck pickups, 3) Neck pickup
Coil Switch – Slide switch to coil split humbucker Hardware –
Bridge – 6-Saddle vintage-style adjustable with “floating” tremolo tailpiece
Tuning machines – Standard cast/sealed
Neck plate – 4-Bolt “F” stamped
Control knobs – Skirted amp knobs
Pickguard – 3-Ply black/white/black
Switch tip – Barrel style Strings –
Fender® USA, NPS, (.009-.042 Gauges)
What’s in the box?
Fender Player Jaguar Guitar
Tremolo arm
Allen keys
Assorted hangtags and a sticker
A quick public service announcement. Most guitars in the sub-$1000 range ship in a box well padded, but without a case. If you’re purchasing a guitar online without playing it first, make sure you carefully inspect the guitar upon receipt and notify the shipper right away if there’s any damage… And then get a good case or gig bag to keep it safe!
Design and features
It would be hard to write a review about a Fender Jaguar and not to mention the body shape, so I’m going to start there. A lot of guitar bodies are symmetrical or have a lone cutaway below the neck for easier high fret access. The offset body style of the Jaguar accomplishes the same thing in regards to the high frets, but visually shifts some of the body mass as well.
The back of the neck is a modern “C” shape which is very hand friendly. The fingerboard has 9.5″ radius which is flatter than their 7.25″ radius which is a more vintage shape down to about a 1/3 of the guitars they make. The shape and radius they’ve chosen make this guitar very playable. The classic oversized headstock balances the body perfectly.
Another very visual aspect of the Jaguar is the floating tremolo which allows you to modulate all six strings at once for some very cool effects. The tremolo arm pushes into place and stays where you leave it; a great improvement over the older style that required screwing the arm into place or using an Allen key to lock it down.
The humbucking bridge and single coil neck pickup give you a wide variety of tone to play with and the 3-position slider makes it really easy to switch between them or run them both. There’s also a slide switch up high above the neck pickup. This effectively lets you split the bridge humbucker if you want to get more of a single coil sound out of it.
Setup
The Jaguar effectively comes ready to use out of the box. A quick look-over confirmed everything was adjusted well with action set neutrally without any fret buzz. All that was left was to remove the plastic film from the pickguard, a bit of string stretching and a final tune. Ready to roll.
Performance
There’s a bit of a role reversal as I’m into punk/metal/alternative and he regularly schools me in music that was clearly influenced or was created by musicians of my dad’s era. Funnily enough, the last guitar I purchased for myself (’95?) was a Fender Jag-Stang, a hybrid of Jaguar and Mustang bodies, so I was excited to see what a 2018 Jaguar would be.
My son has been playing jazz guitar for a good number of years now. His guitars have all been arch-tops and semi-hollow designs which lend themselves well to his music. He’d been eyeing a Telecaster recently and when the opportunity came up to review a Fender and to select between a Stratocaster, Telecaster and a Jaguar, I was a little surprised that it was the Jaguar he was drawn to. A buddy he plays in a band with gave him a bit of grief when he found out he passed up a Tele “Ugh, I hate that guitar. It’s so hipster”. On seeing the Jaguar in person a week or so later; “I completely change my mind, that is sick!”
Let’s jump into some videos so you can listen to how the Jaguar plays. The audio on these is recorded through the Roland Go-Mixer directly to an iPhone 8 with no effects. This first video is of some quick scales and arpeggios.
Here’s the tonal difference between the neck pickup, neck/bridge combined and the bridge pickup positions using the 3-position switch and ‘Black Dog’ by Led Zeppelin.
Having a little fun with ‘Back & Forth’ by Foo Fighters
And now for something a bit funkier
Here’s the tremolo in action and some of the sustain abilities of the Jaguar
What I like
Playability – Stays in tune even with tremolo
Comfort – Neck and fingerboard shape is friendly
Build quality – Solid feel, nothing feels wimpy or fragile
Color and finish – The tidepool is beautiful
What needs to be improved
Rear strap mount angle – If you push the body of the guitar left too far it can work itself right out of your strap.
Final thoughts
Guitars are personal. From body shape to neck feel to color to materials and sound, there’s someone out there for everyone. Fender’s Jaguar was instantly comfortable to play for both my son and myself. It’s not a light guitar, but with the right strap, long stretches of playing time should not be an issue. The tremolo is easy to use and just as easy to avoid if it’s not your thing. Overall this is a great guitar from a heritage brand, at a great price. If the way it looks piques your interest, please go play one and see for yourself.
Price: $675 Where to buy: Fender Source: The sample of this product was provided by Fender
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