Ted Drozdowski, Editorial Director
Send me a postcard, drop me a line, stating point of view.
PG has been a home to some truly legendary guitar-music journalists. Andy Ellis, whose writing I first eyeballed when I was in high school, was a colleague when I landed my gig here six years ago. Joe Gore was also a longtime contributor whose writing I’ve admired for decades. And, during his tenure, Shawn Hammond, who left his post as PG’s chief content officer for a new career (we all love and miss you Shawn!) with the previous issue, exemplified the qualities of editorial exceptionalism: vision, precision of language, deep knowledge, and an open heart. The latter should never be underestimated, because if we bring an open heart to what we do, it will connect with others.
I’ve named just a few, but within the PG family, I believe other legendary careers are underway. Time is always the reckoner of such things. But the heart is the mechanism that drives everything. An open heart allows us to hear and understand music in ways that we might not if we’re unwilling to really listen, fully. It does the same when it comes to hearing and understanding each other. And in the world of guitar, we truly all have something to offer, and hearing, understanding, and sharing brings all of us joy.
As PG’s new editorial director, I’m excited about the great stories and columns and podcasts and videos about gear and artists and how-to strategies we’re going to continue to craft for you. That’s what’s made this magazine terrific. (There, I said it!) But this gig isn’t just about bringing you in-depth and—ideally—thought-provoking reporting on the sound toys and musicians you love. It’s about spreading joy. And I’d like your help.
This gig isn’t just about bringing you in-depth and—ideally—thought-provoking reporting on the sound toys and musicians you love. It’s about spreading joy.
Consider this an invitation to drop me an email, send a line via socials … a singing telegram? I’d sincerely like to hear from you. What are your likes and dislikes about gear and music coverage? And not just at PG. I’m honestly interested in what interests you. I’d like to get to know you, which, I realize, is a big ask. But it’s part of that sharing thing I mentioned.
And speaking of sharing, it’s a pleasure to share our 2022 rundown of “The Year in Gear.” I always find this annual report inspiring. Sure, it’s ostensibly a catalog of the coolest instruments, effects, amps, and recording tools we’ve reviewed over the previous 12 months, but it’s also a glimpse into the imagination and vision of some of the brightest minds in the musical instrument industry—the people who refine and birth ideas that help all of us play and sound better, and who give us an entryway into the sonic worlds we want to explore, whether those worlds were first traversed by the Ramones or AC/DC or Andrés Segovia or Muddy Waters or Joan Jett or Billy Strings. It also reminds me about some of the gear I’ve wanted to check out myself—although this year I was also lucky enough to review a number of real gems.
It reminds me about our bond, too. We’re all nuts about gear, and we love to chase that obsession. Over the past few years, I’ve especially been fixated on overdrive and fuzz pedals, and amps. Always amps, which are unique and colorful instruments unto themselves, and the last point in the signal chain that helps articulate our musical voices.
We are, after all, a community of voices. So, let’s continue our conversation about the music and gear that we love, and keep it going strong.
A modern take on Fullerton shapes and a blend of Fender and Gibson attributes strikes a sweet middle ground.
A stylish alternative to classic Fender profiles that delivers sonic versatility. Great playability.
Split-coil sounds are a little on the thin side. Be sure to place it on the stand carefully!
$1,149
Fender Player Plus Meteora HH
fender.com
After many decades of sticking with flagship body shapes, Fender spent the last several years getting more playful via their Parallel Universe collection. The Meteora, however, is one of the more significant departures from those vintage profiles. The offset, more-angular profile was created by Fender designer Josh Hurst and first saw light of day as part of the Parallel Universe Collection in 2018. Since then, it has headed in both upscale and affordable directions within the Fender lineup—reaching the heights of master-built Custom Shop quality in the hands of Ron Thorn, and now in this much more egalitarian guise as the Player Plus Meteora HH.
Body profile and humbuckers aside, the Meteora is very much a Fender, with a bolt-on neck, 25.5" scale length, and that iconic headstock profile with spaghetti logo. Even closer examination reveals an impressive array of features that make it an extra-impressive instrument for the price, and a cool alternative to traditional Fender offerings.
Comet Club
The Mexico-built Player Plus Meteora HH comes in three finishes—cosmic jade, Belair blue, or silverburst (as seen on our review sample)—all of which help the guitar cut a dashing figure on stage.The body is made from solid alder, a go-to Fender tonewood since the late ’50s. Lightweight stocks of this timber have been getting harder to come by in bulk, and perhaps as a result the review guitar tips a little toward the heavy side at around 8.4 pounds. Then again, the Meteora’s body is bigger than, say, a Stratocaster, which adds a bit to the weight. Forearm and ribcage contours enhance playing comfort significantly, and the guitar balances surprisingly well on the lap (almost certainly one of Hurst’s design mandates). The sharply sloped lower bout, however, makes it tricky to lean against an amp safely. Keep that in mind before you turn your back on it.
The neck is fashioned from a single piece of maple and 22 medium-jumbo frets are arrayed across the 12" radius fretboard, which measures 1.685" at the synthetic-bone nut (Belair blue and cosmic jade versions feature a pau ferro fretboard). The neck is carved in Fender’s popular “Modern C” profile, which feels great in hand, and the overall ergonomics are aided by a nicely rolled fretboard edge. The single-action truss rod can be adjusted at the headstock, which is home to Fender’s deluxe sealed locking tuners and a modern roller string tree for the first and second strings—all of which means you can use the two-post synchronized tremolo with a little more peace of mind. The return-to-pitch capabilities are impressive.
Though the fresh body profile may be the initial draw for many, the electronics—and the possibilities they enable—will probably seal the deal for a lot of prospective customers. They certainly make the guitar a lot of fun to explore. The relatively new Fireball humbuckers look a lot like smaller Fender Wide Range pickups. Under the covers, though, they are pretty standard PAF-style humbuckers, with adjustable pole pieces in all six positions of each coil, though half of these are inaccessible with the cover on.
This pickup recipe makes the Meteora a world’s-your-oyster kind of performer.
And while the name implies that the Fireballs are hot, the specs are similar to medium-wind alnico humbuckers, with the neck reading around 7.24k ohms DC resistance and 4.0 henries inductance, and the bridge measuring 7.68k ohms and 4.5 henries. The pickups are wired through a 3-way toggle switch on the upper horn, with a master volume and dedicated tone controls for each pickup below. The volume knob also functions as a push-button switch to split the coils of both pickups.
Silver Stars
Tested through a Friedman Dirty Shirley Mini and 2x12, a tweed Deluxe-style 1x12 combo, and a Neural DSP Quad Cortex into the studio monitors, the Player Plus Meteora HH reveals a fairly traditional and even vintage-leaning sonic range that contrasts with its moon-shot looks. The not-too-hot humbuckers sound clear and open and generate relatively little amp breakup at modest volumes, which I’d say is a good thing, as it enables a wider range of touch sensitivity than high-gain humbuckers usually allow.
This pickup recipe makes the Meteora a world’s-your-oyster kind of performer. With a cranked amp, lead channel, or overdrive (in this case a Tsakalis Six and Wampler Tumnus Deluxe), the Meteora produces sizzling power-chord and rhythm sounds and singing lead tones with ease, with rich, articulate cleans at the ready when I backed the guitar volume down. It’s hard to gauge how much effect the maple neck and alder body have on the humbucker voicings. But expect the Meteora to sound better balanced and crisper compared with the average PAF-equipped instrument. There’s very little mud and the coil-split tones are nice and jangly—although, as with many split humbuckers, they’re a little on the thin side without a booster or compressor engaged. Still, they do the trick, and add another useful arrow to the Meteora HH’s already packed quiver.
The Verdict
Players in love with unconventional looks who enjoy a twist on traditional PAF-style sounds will find a lot to like in the Player Plus Meteora HH. The guitar packs a wide range of clean-to-mean tones, offers easy playability, and is made super versatile by tone controls and coil-splitting options that dramatically expand its tone palette. Dual humbuckers mated to a 25.5" scale is always a cool proposition, and the Meteora’s marriage of Fender and Gibson attributes is a great way to split the difference.
Fender Player Plus Meteora HH Demo | First Look
Technology has not been our friend this week—and, yes, our Instagram was hacked. But fear not, our IG will soon be back to its former glory.
Apparently, everyone who likes animated family-friendly flicks thought last year’s The Mitchells Vs. the Machines was the shit. Critics such as The New York Times’ Ty Burr raved, “The movie is zippy, inventive, and appreciably silly—it tosses believability aside and asks us to just hop in and hold on … [it has a] breakneck gift for comic timing and a willingness to throw anything at the screen if it’ll get a laugh.” Sure, Mitchells had some cool animation, but I personally loathed it.
Almost as much as I’ve loathed this past week. We’ve been on deadline for our April issue, so it would’ve already been stressful under normal circumstances, but the way the last few days have been going, it seems our own machines have also “tossed believability aside” and seemingly thrown anything and everything at the collective Premier Guitar screen. It’s definitely gotten some laughs at our expense, too.
Bear with us—we’re close to a solution with Instagram’s support team … we’ll be back in the saddle with the usual smorgasbord of kick-ass guitar content before you know it.
I won’t bore you too much with the gory details—including cloud servers being a huge pain in the ass, videoconferencing software glitching and losing recorded footage in back-to-back interviews, or, “best” of all, having our Instagram hacked by some asshole from halfway around the world.
If IG is your means of following what PG does, you’ve no doubt noticed we haven’t posted any cool guitar stuff for the last few days, and that our account’s bio pic was cheekily changed to an image of the character Tokyo from the Spanish TV series Money Heist. The hacker didn’t change existing posts or add anything new. But they did try to bait us into buying back our content via WhatsApp. Fuck that guy.
So bear with us—we’re close to a solution with Instagram’s support team. Meanwhile, the wannabe TMZ-ers of guitardom will continue to “make hay while the sun shines,” but soon this asshole will be kicked off our page (and hopefully have his IP address blocked), and we’ll be back in the saddle with the usual smorgasbord of kick-ass guitar content before you know it.
