Matt P

[quote name='LiamPodmore' timestamp='1490980891' post='3269619'] My guitar teacher when i was at school had a sandpiper and i remember it being one of the nicest things i've played. [/quote] the Sandpiper really is a gem, I've always said that if I was heading out on the road i'd take a pair of sandpipers over my McIlroy. Matt

[quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1490880389' post='3268742'] Its cos he asked for an opinion on a specific make of cable. Ask about a Ford and somebody rabbiting on about a Renault isn't particularly helpful! Have to agree though, if you want a decent cable, you'd be hard pushed to beat the handiwork of OBBM. [/quote] it was mainly that there had been 4 replies to the original question and no-one had mentioned OBBM, it normally only takes 2 replies when it comes to anything about cables no matter what the original question was! i did give some response on the original cables the OP posted about as well. matt

they look ok for the money but personally having repaired many leads over the years i'm wary of anything that doesn't have good strain relief, the neutrik design is my favorite, yet to have a failure in about 15 years of normal use. i'm surprised no-one has mentioned OBBM and his rock-wire range of cables, no where near as cheap as the ones you've linked to but they're as tough as they come and made to the exact length you want. http://bassic-bits.co.uk/ Matt

i'd been playing for years before i had a proper lesson (although i did have guitar lessons 20 years ago before i saw the light) having someone help me with technique and stuff really helped, i've been continuing for about 2 years now and i can play faster and more accurately than ever before. we're now onto more advanced rhythm and timing, the guys in the band have really noticed that my playing has improved and i've noticed that i can play for much longer before my hands start to ache. My teacher is about the same age as me and has become a friend ( he was originally introduced as a friend of a friend) i think that it really helps that he plays in bands that are my type of music, when he's picking out tracks for me to transcribe and learn i've usually already got them, and the ones that i haven't are quickly bought and go on rotation in the car. he also teaches music as a day job and it's very encouraging when he tells me that i can do something that his degree students can't! i'm going to stop now as he's a member on here and i don't want to seem too sycophantic. Matt

no problem, if you're looking for slimmer bodied then one of my favorites is the Aria sandpiper, not easy to come by but i could get you a try on one as my best friend has one (a few years old and a bit battle scarred but a really lovely guitar) the shop on old george yard used to sell them but is more selling secondhand guitars now. the sandpiper is akin to the Yamaha APX but the sound quality is on another level (judging by the ones i've played form both ranges) Fender make some very slim acoustics but they're strat or tele shaped rather than traditional shaped. i tend to buy most of my guitar stuff from the shop on old george yard, the owner Bryan has become a friend over the years (and the thousands of pounds i've spent in there!) Matt

[quote name='Jack' timestamp='1490532549' post='3265713'] Seeing as this thread is almost a year old may I ask for a slight hijack? [url="https://www.thomann.de/gb/ovation_ce48p_koab_elite_plus.htm"]I think I want this Ovation[/url]. What say you all? Situation is exactly the same as the OP's, me and the singer doing coffee shop/restaurant type stuff. Is something like this worth the extra over the cheaper instruments mentioned here? Main concerns are an electric-type neck and ideally a thin body but still looking traditional. [/quote] Have you played Ovation-style instruments before? i find they tend to be a bit marmite, some people love them but many cannot get on with the body shape at all, personally i'm in the loathe them group, i've played a few at various prices and cannot get on with the bowl back, they just don't seem to sit right against my body and every time i've tried to play one sitting down they slip off my knee. (mind you i have a similar dislike for taylors and takamines!) i'd suggest a trip into toon and play all the guitars in you budget, if you know the guitar shop on old george yard (opposite RPM records) then i'd look in there, he was selling Mayson Guitars which i found very good for the money, (Windows and PMT would be my other choices, and i'd avoid GuitarGuitar as they just don't seem to care in there at all) Matt PS Thanks for letting me try out your barefaced cabs all those years ago, i bought a pair of midgets and it has cured my amp GAS completely!

for those people buying the Duracell Industrial on ebay, watch out for fakes, i've swapped to own brand alkaline batteries (from wherever has a half decent deal) the last lot of AA duracells i got on ebay were definitely fake, the casings were the wrong colour and they didn't have the duracell colour coding on the bottom either. the fake ones are often just zinc chloride batteries so won't last anything like as long as even a supermarket alkaline battery. Matt

from a quick google it seems that the Marantz amp has a phono stage built in, so i'd try the decks one at a time into that, if it's all perfect stereo then the problem is in the DJM. have you tried the booth output or the record output on the djm? (i'm assuming that its the pioneer mixer i found via google) are you actually dj'ing with this setup? if not then i'd consider a simple phono preamp to run one of the decks and use the amps phono stage for the other. i run 2 decks so i can leave one at 45rpm and the other at 33rpm, i run each into a separate phono preamp a into 2 channels of my amp. matt

i'm running a pair of Gen2 barefaced Midgets with a Markbass F1, i've actually played a couple of gigs where i forgot to plug in the bottom cabinet, i didn't actually notice while playing! we're a pretty noisy pub band with just vocals through the PA, I've never run out of volume. So a single Midget can keep up. Matt

[quote name='mike257' timestamp='1489173489' post='3255025'] Pelican are ace and popular in touring world but aren't cheap. The 1510 is the hand luggage sized model. I've got a Peli knock off from Trifibre.co.uk, cost me £45 inc courier delivery - their equivalent to the 1510 from the Challenger range. I think the model is TR5015. Had it for two years as my main toolbox for audio and backline teching and it's been rock solid. You don't get the lifetime guarantee that Pelican provide, but it's also a quarter of the price! EDIT: Here's the link [url="https://store.trifibre.co.uk/waterproof-wheeled-rolling-travel-equipment-tool-hard-case-pick-and-pluck-foam.html"]https://store.trifib...pluck-foam.html[/url] Fifty quid with the pick and pluck foam insert, or a couple of quid less without. Also, the official Peli 1510 lid organiser fits this too, as do the divider sets etc. [/quote] wow thanks for that link! the Dave cases/case farm link i posted are peli clones and a bit cheaper than Peli but i've heard good things from a friend who uses one when caving, the trifibre cases are super cheap though, i'll be bookmarking that for later. Matt

how about one of these? they get pretty good reviews, not super cheap but definitely robust. http://www.thecasefarm.co.uk/shop/dave/dave-540-s/ i use a thon case, not that light (or wheeled) but very solid https://www.thomann.de/gb/thon_zubehoercase_54_21_33.htm Matt

nothing too complicated for me, (Live Setup) Letts 5 string into a Line6 G30 wireless, and a Squier VM P5 with a Klotz/neutrik lead the G30 receiver and the squier both go into a homebuilt A/B box which feeds into a tc polytune, into a SFX red dragon, Cog Dual Knightfall, then a Mooer Bass sweeper (for one track in the set) then a compressor (currently a mxr super comp, to be replaced with a madbean afterlife when i get round to building it) then another klotz/Neutrik lead (i build my own) into a Markbass F1 fed into either one or two Barefaced Midgets Via OBBM Speaker leads for rehearsals and practices it's either one of the basses (or occasionally my 77 precision if i'm feeling strong) via a lead into the a/b box and just one midget. Matt

[quote name='CameronJ' timestamp='1488038020' post='3245295'] This is actually a genius idea! Sadly, I doubt I'll be able to squeeze my Big Stubbys into a hole punch [/quote] i saw the holepunch method in a guitar mag many moons ago, it only really works with a good holepunch and a fairly thin plectrum, i use a small drillbit (about 2mm) to drill a few holes in the area that i grip the plectrum, seems to work for me, and would work with much thicker ones as well. Matt

and now i find it! wallsend store, not a million miles away PM me if you're still interested Matt

have you already pulled the trigger on this? i had a look on their website but couldn't see an epiphone (if that's what you're still after), if its still available then it won't be a million miles from me, might be able to act as a middle man, if it's the newcastle branch then they have been known to knock money off in the store, easy enough to pack it up and send it down to you. Matt

have you considered buying another body instead? un-routed ones are available and you could then simply rout it to suit the new layout and then sell off the old one (i'm assuming that it's a jazz or a p-bass) Matt

another vote for Markbass from me, in fact there is a little mark 800 for sale at the moment, (i have no connection to the seller). http://basschat.co.uk/topic/300332-reduced-markbass-little-mark-800-l300/ Matt

it looks right to me, the photo looks like it's what you see when facing the instrument being played by someone else, the larger fret spacing is to the right so i'm assuming that the nut will be at the right hand end of the board as you see it in the photo. this puts the longest (bass) string at the top of the board. M

i'm loving this build, the more i see of your work the more i want to commission a build from you. This body shape is rather nice as well, can imagine it as a 5 string 34" bass, if i ever have some money for another bass i think you might get an email! Matt

If you are on a really tight budget then I'd recommend the yamaha rbx765a or the 770, 19mm spacing and cheap as chips, I had one that cost me 120quid, a great sounding bass too, I even got compliments from a recording engineer with my one. The squire vm p5 is great too, about 18mm spacing and I only paid 120 for mine as well. Matt

Beyer Dynamic dt100 for me, tried a few others (sennheiser hd497 and hd201, akg k44) I've got a couple of different cables for the dt100 with small and big plugs and different leads, they're not the most flattering sound but I find that they're great for picking the bass part in a track and as they show up all the string noise etc I have found that my playing has got better as I'm trying to keep the extraneous noise to a minimum. Matt

Stoneham are pretty good with trace elliot, that's what I'd consider an old school solid state amp, he serviced my trace gp11 a while ago. I'd expect that he'll be able to sort it. Matt

What amp is it? There is a guy on old George yard who used to work for Marshall, I think he might be more at home with more traditional amps, there is also a guy called Wilf in Whitley bay who's very good, if you are on Facebook then he's one of the admin guys on the north east musicians mart.

The fender ones I've tried have been about 18mm, maybe a little tighter, I'd suggest a Yamaha rbx, I had a rbx765a as my first 5er, 19mm spacing and a really great sound, very well made too, I think I paid about 120 for mine, a total bargain.