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Good point! I wish I'd come up with the Gogglebox idea, whoever is behind it has made a fortune from it! I quite liked it early on, but as will all reality TV it inevitably overstayed its welcome. These things all only last for a series or two at most with people being genuine, then inevitably they devolve into attention seekers looking for fame, as selected by behind the scenes staff who are only too happy to sell another series of the format irrespective of whether they've abandoned 'real people' in favour of a freakshow.

Hecklers are easy - you just need a few good stock answers, and the right tone of authority to use 'em with. Simple stuff: "Didn't your mother warn you about going drinking on an empty head?" "Aw, bless. I was like that after *my* first pint." "Do I come to your place of work and tell you how to serve the fries?" I used to MC a Rocky Horror floorshow cast night. One of the best reactions I ever got was to putting down a heckler with, in my best The Sweeney voice, "Shut it, you Schlag!" (aimed at a male heckler, #nosexist). I think it was the unexpectedness of the accent (I sound like Liam Neeson or Jimmy Nesbitt normally). Another good one (accent specific re the heckler this time) "Hang on a minute, you're Australian, aren't you? Get back to work, those glasses won't wash themselves!" or "You're an Australian? Shit! Somebody guard the sheep!" None of it particularly clever, but delivered with conviction: effective. As a general rule, what the heckler gets out of it is the thrill of attention and being able to rattle the performer. If you can throw it back on them and make the audience laugh at them, they generally shut up pretty quickly in my experience.

Before:

Your wish...

That's all one ever really needs (I would say wants, but there are those of us who are easily led and have GAS. By those, I mean me).

The Bugera is awesome and everything I need in a clean valve amp. The Subzero cabs are well made - not to full on pro guitarist standards - and sound good for 1x10 30w Celestion drivers. I’m a tinkerer so a seasoned pro would probably find fault in the entire set up. However, that little set up gives me the tone I want

Hell, there wasn't that kind of choice in the mid 90s! I remember Vintage starting out as very much a 'budget' brand, but as their reputation has grown they're now producing, in my opinion, some really good, solid working instruments that are far beyond simply 'beginner guitars'. Their vintage and icon series stuff is certainly as good as the high end Squiers - and for my money in some cases snapping at the heels of some of the MIM line. If I was looking for a LP type now, I'd go straight to Vintage by preference over Epiphone, tbh - doubly so for an SG type.

In Gerry McEvoy’s “Riding Shotgun” he makes a case for Rory possibly coming up with the Start It Up riff. Whilst I find this unlikely (it’s a decidedly 5 string, open G riff - Keef’s speciality) it’s an interesting insight in to how close Rory was with the Stones in those sessions.

I’m guessing that the OP signed up to get some advice, found what they were looking for and moved on

It’s the raison d’être of Gogglebox, a program I find somewhat pointless, but other folk seem to like it.

I consider Vintage a step up from the brands I mentioned and even from the lower end Squiers. The Vintage LPs I’ve heard have been great and their owners gush about the playability (I’ve certainly been tempted by their Goldtops, on more than one occasion). Their basses are properly good too They certainly are a ‘sleeper’ brand. Where was this kind of choice in the early - mid ‘70s?

The reactions trend cuts across a lot of stuff. The earliest one I know of was the trend for reactions videos of people watching, er "Two girls, one cup": yet again, porny-nography driving the development of the internet.... Second I remember going viral was by a guy who'd thought to video his kids while he showed them the Star Wars films on home video. Kids were seven or eight I'm guessing, bout the same age as I was when I first saw it. Their little faces at "I am your father" were hilarious, the reaction of genuine surprise. Some of these things can be interesting where it's reactions to a comedy show and such (differing cultural ideas of what is appropriate and so on). I saw a vid recently of Americans who had no concept of NI's Troubles watching the depiction in the Cranberries' Zombie, which was also fascinating. Once you strip it of any sort of cultural commentary or social context, though, if you don't know the folks involved, I agree, it can be of limited entertainment value. Still... for us old farts who remember when Youtube was nothing but pirated music and clips of old TV shows, the platform has really come a long, long way with so much original content on it now. I was recently reminded that Youtube only started in 2005 (I turned 31 that year); I'm still struggling with that, it seems I just can't quite remember it ever not being there, yet it's only a year older than BBC iPlayer.

For sure, the likes of those you mention, Vintage, and a number of others are really something. MIM Fender is interesting in that regard. MIJ was the equivalent when I started. In 1992, I remember £399ish being a fairly common price for a Japanese Fender; I paid £539 in 1994 for my US Standard Strat. THe interesting thing with the MIM range (to a lesser extent the CIJs, though they're much less common here now) is how it overlaps the Fenders now. Like for like, it's very significantly cheaper than the equivalent US Fender - the roadworns are nearly a grand, but the Fender US relics are closing in on two grand. The interesting bit is where you have lower end US Fenders in and around the same price as high end MIM, for comparison. (This has also been the case with Epi and Gibson for a while too). I imagine that's where they catch those who want a US made guitar rather than a specific set of features. Fender's range is dizzying that way, though all the same I like the idea that they cover such a wide range of price bands, something for everyone. Does feel to me though that in the last few years with the introduction of the Player series there's been a bit of a rejigging, with the American Fenders for the pros (or, if you're cynical, the dentists and lawyers) and the Mexican range for the amateur player (or the working musician on the cynicism scale). The best thing Fender have done in years, imo - behind only the Player series and neck and neck with the Classic Vibe Squiers - is that mod shop, where you can, from a set range of options, pick your body shape, neck, pick-ups, finish and so on. I remember posting that idea on forums twenty years ago; I'd very much consider something from that at some future point, it's a great idea. But I'm digressing... WRT 'cheap' brands, Vintage have proven interesting, especially as their growing reputation has allowed them to add in relatively more expensive guitars over time. A bit Tokai? I have my eye on the HB DC juniors at present - somehow, to me those seem to capture the actual spirit of the original concept way moreso than a Gibson Junior at several hundred quid.

With the price of MIM Fenders, they should be considered serious, some of them are over a grand now! I’m not sure how or when that happened, I must’ve nodded off and missed something. It’s the quality of the likes of Revelation, SX and Harley Benton* that is impressive today. I don’t know what their cost would be in real terms compared to the ‘70s and ‘80s, but they’re certainly cheap now and punch above they’re price point. *Other cheap brands are also available

Jim Dandy, there’s a name I haven’t heard in decades. I vaguely remember Black Oak Arkansas being on the OGWT.

I mentioned this in another thread, but it’s probably just as appropriate, if not more so, here. I stumbled across Mike Adam’s channel some time back and, despite his presentation style being somewhat ‘full on’, I’ve subscribed to his channel. He’s an offset guitar aficionado and tech, who is very much into his indie bands. If you’re interested in Jazzmasters and Jaguars and their, let’s call them, foibles, this is the place for you. https://youtube.com/c/Puisheen

I have one of those little Bugeras which punches well above its weight. Those are Gear4Music exclusive cabs, aren’t they? I looked at those a while ago - what do you think of them?

Why don't you build a guitar? I built a Strat out of bits from Ebay. I bought the electrics from KiOgon over on Basschat which includes Wilkinson pickups I painted the body myself and set it up myself. It sounds amazing and cost a lot less than even a Squire Strat. Im going to do a Les Paul next.

I have absolutely NO favourites. What I like is to hit the Youtube logo and see what comes up. Once I watch something I go down wormholes and can get lost for ages. I have discovered tons of new music this way.

If you can I'd say go and try guitars in a shop. You may find what you like the look of doesn't actually feel that good in your hands.I'd like to suggest you try the humble Yamaha Pacifica as well. Quality control is usually very good from Yamaha. They're very well made have nice slim comfortable necks. They are also fairly light and comfortable to play. When I returned to playing 18months or so back I was determined to get a Les Paul style So i did. A Harley Benton sc500 to be exact. And it looks great,sounds good, and is really very nice for what it cost. And I hardly ever play it. It's heavy and really awkward to play sitting which is how I mainly play these days. Then just before lockdown I saw a used Pacifica for next to nothing on schpock. I went to see it and came away with it. I bought it to learn setting up guitars. But it just played so nicely that I got a but carried away tbh. And needed something to do whilst in lockdown Custom paint/new pickups warman 12 gauge in the bridge and a cheap hotrail at the neck/new wiring(full size pots) the old ones were scratchy. I did get the guitar for next to nothing but even with what I've spent it cost less than £100 . It's now the guitar I pick up most. It's just easier to play and tbh now the best sounding one I own. Not bad for a 20 year old beater I've gone off the track here a bit. But my point is the entry Pacifica is a really good for the price. And will take you along way down the road before you surpass it's capabilities.