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Generally in the normal corse of events, the Roland system estimates the closest note very fast, and then corrects that assumption or the difference between the actual note using pitch bend. When playing it with the internal synths of the GR55 or whatever it is pretty good, however, if you are taking it out of the system via a plug to another synth you add another lump of delay and it doesn't work so well. Although I seem to remember you had an older roland sound module, in which case it is probably the same thing that is in the GR55 anyway.

This thread and the posts over on Reddit inspired me to pick up my ASAT Special again last night after neglecting it for some time, and it was fun. It's such a lovely guitar, and the Jumbo MFD pickups are wonderful. Loud, defined, with more low end and brightness than any other single coil guitar I own, but they clean up beautifully when turning down the volume control. And thanks to the treble bleed the character stays intact when turning it down. Their electronics really are their forte. I sold an ASAT Special once and regretted it for years, I won't make that mistake twice!

Keith bought my ESP Fretless. This was my second transaction with him and I can confirm my first experience: he is a real gentleman to deal with. Great communication, prompt payment, a real pleasure to communicate with such nice people. Thank you Keith!

Just working out where to put the neck and bridge pickups. These will be hanging from the pickguard as opposed to being screwed to the body. I can put them as per my Fender Jazz, but they can go anywhere as I have a large space, approx 175mm to put them in. Any recommendatiosn or suggestions? Thanks Rob

Pretty much what @Tradfusion says above - I use a Warwick Gnome head (similar to the TC heads) and Phil Jones C2 cab - I play jazz on DB with a drummer, piano and vocals and it's plenty loud enough so you should be fine with your lineup. The total weight is about 10KG so it's an easy carry. As others have said, there may be cases where you need to go louder but in my experience of playing "acoustic-ish" music this is usually done via the PA so you don't need big volume from your own rig.

I don't have any experience with the SE7 or any of the other mics you are considering so can't make a comparison, but for what it's worth my Rode M5s have done everything I've asked of them brilliantly, so a thumbs up from me. They're simple, feel solid and well-made, and sound transparent and detailed to my ears. I think I've had them eight or nine years now, and they're my only small-diaphragm mics - to be honest I've never felt I needed anything better - my micing technique is probably the limiting factor!

I'm a big fan of G&L basses. Although I currently only have one (a CLF L-1000) I have owned several Tributes in the past, and they've all been excellent instruments. I only sold them because I was pack shuffling (or fundraising) and figured I could easily buy them again if needs be. Whoops, that might have been a miscalculation, given the information swirling around the internet. Honestly, I've felt in my gut they've been in bother for a while. They gave me the impression that they had retreated to their home market - there has been little to no stock in the UK/EU for many months now (the recent burp in availability of Tributes and a single Fullerton Deluxe bass at GuitarGuitar is an anomaly - trust me, I've been keeping an eye on things). Thomann don't even list G&L as a brand they carry any more. That's a red flag, when your products aren't even listed on presumably Europe's biggest music retailer. Ever since I got introduced to G&L instruments at a bass bash and fell in love with them, I always got this feeling that they were like a "secret owner's club" and "best kept secret" type of outfit. Back in the day, that might have worked in a "when you know, you know" organic kind of way. But these days where if you don't make a loud noise about yourself and your products in a flashy, attention grabbing 10 second short video you're officially a behind the times loser, that just isn't sustainable any more. No-one apart from old farts care about Leo Fender's "DNA" in the instruments. Frankly, even though I am an old fart (in Internet terms at least) I don't give a monkey's about it either, never did. You've got to move with the times, or step aside. I really hoped that after they finally dragged their website into something approaching a modern, contemporary design a couple of years ago that it would signify a shift in focus/attitude but it seems that was only window dressing at best. I hope they pull through. Apart from my direct affection for the brand and its products, from a purely selfish point of view, you know what the second hand market will do with the news that there is suddenly a finite supply of something...

Ah nice, yeah I did the same, once, then didn't really bother gain as the latency was too off-putting.

I had a GP12 400SMX (I think that was the model name). Mid 90s ish 400W amp head. Only issue it had all that time was that it needed a new fuse the first few months (never had an issue ever again!), and I had to replace some of the plastics on the front/back panel occasionally. Absolutely superb. Build like a tank. Extremely heavy though, and awkward. Would I get it again? Absolutely. The closest I have come to it is the Genz Benz Shuttlemax 9.2, which I am never parting with! The old Trace stuff was over engineered and looked superb.

For the minor sum of only 2500 GBP you can be the owner of that lush Ibanez MC924 in the for sale section

Depending on how it is set up, you can either quantise to the nearest semitone or use pitch bend information to achieve the precise pitch being played. Controlling synths by using pitch detection has always been too much of a miss IME. Admittedly the technology has come on a long way since the early days, but at some point you are always going to run foul of the laws of physics which says that the very best pitch to synth systems still need at least one and a half wave cycles to accurately detect the note being played. On a bass guitar this means that you will probably be able to detect the latency in any note with a fast attack below open D. This is why you find lots of slow attack sounds being favoured in the demos of such systems. On top of this you need to have a much cleaner playing technique, because ghost notes, struck muted strings and lots of other things that are not noticeable in normal playing are going to introduce glitches into your synth part. When I first started looking at guitar synths I quickly discovered that modifying my playing style to suit was going to take longer than learning enough rudimentary keyboard technique to be able to play the sorts of parts I wanted to on a synth.

I'm really interested in the 50s Vintera p bass, looks really cool and in general I like a chunky neck. I currently have the player P bass and that neck feels great, I think I can handle a chunkier neck but your post makes me nervous....is it really unwieldy ?

Both. Initially the GR55, but as it has a MIDI OUT port and I have a shiny rack-mounted Roland synth, inevitably I'll want to try plugging a MIDI cable between the two

@Rosie C are you looking at actually using MIDI or using the GR55?

No problem

I had a lined fretless, so didn’t really run into this too much. Unfortunately, we’re going back maybe 8 or 9 years, so I can’t really recall the specifics.

Yes I remember reading the thread. I'm really into that and trying and restoring old amps. Great work! Just having another look at it this morning. It's so well done. The kick plate protector for the speakers, nobody is damaging that or the speakers, yet some cabs today have a cloth protector or flimsy cover, why? The purpose built caps on top of the amp to secure another cab, instead of just resting on top. Proper detail. The covering that's lasted 32 years. Yet some today don't last 12 months. Proper heatsinks on the back. What a great way to get a nostalgic 8x10 rig as well. I'd be amazed if I could find a trace 4x10 cab to fit for £100 or less. Incidentally does anyone know what 4x10 is for this cab?