Matt P

before you rush out and by a new pre-amp have a look at the plugs and sockets that are connecting up the current preamp, you might have to fit new plugs to get it all hooked up, another option would be to swap out the transducer at the same time, that way it will all work beautifully from the outset. if you are buying from a bricks and mortar store take the old preamp in with you to compare, if it's online try and get some pictures and info about the connections. let us know how you get on matt

hiscox for me too, have a few of them for various guitars and my beloved precision, i think there's a reason that so many high quality guitars come with a hiscox as standard (including my wonderful McIlroy acoustic). I've never seen a custom instrument come with a gator as standard.

ahh sorry got carried away with the whole crunch thing, i'd say keep your eye out for a Marshall JTM30 (they did a couple of combo versions i think) the clean channel might suit you perfectly, it's the little brother of my JTM622, and they will do a lovely warm clean sound and as the are 2 channel you can set the other channel for a slightly boosted dirtier sound, they can be picked up for about 300 quid. as they have a master volume it's nice and easy to balance the 2 channels out and this makes them very useable (they have a very good balanced xlr out as well so are great for live use, i usually set the master volume to a sensible level on stage (on a stand angled up to my ears) and send the di to the desk for FOH. Matt

another vote for the tiny terror here, i've totally fallen for mine, i like to use it to prove that a decent amp is very important, i've had a few mates come round with cheap guitars that they think are toneless but plug into the tiny terror and they sing. many years agowhen i was young i played guitar in a worship band (different to the one i'm in now) and had an aria superstrat into a solid state fender combo (sidekick 25r) i had real GAS for a les paul and was lining up a deal to get one, the wise worship leader pointed out that the weak link wasn't my guitar but my amp, i went out and bought a marshall valve combo (jcm622) instead and found my tone, that amp has seen me through to this day, only bought the terror as i wanted something smaller as well. a good amp will make almost any guitar sound good, whilst a nasty amp will sound nasty no matter how good the guitar is. i've proved this to mates on a number of occasions with combinations of my amp, my custom guitar and their amp and guitar. the weak link is usually the cheap nasty amp. the terror works well in church as well, i leant mine to the young guitarist yesterday for morning worship, sounded glorious with his squire affinity strat. Matt

how about the third ones down on this page? [url="http://www.axesrus.com/AxeBassMachine.html"]http://www.axesrus.c...assMachine.html[/url] 8 quid each so 32 a set. EDIT- the're sold out, sorry.

how about this? http://www.flickr.com/photos/rycote/4708580237/in/set-72157622938773315 http://www.rycote.com/products/invision_studio/ http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=rycote+usm-l&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a#q=rycote+usm-l&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=Foc&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&prmd=imvns&source=univ&tbm=shop&tbo=u&sa=X&psj=1&ei=YzVFT_uwDqnF0QX9p7GMBA&ved=0CE0QrQQ&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.,cf.osb&fp=7a4c02153ade1456&biw=1280&bih=860 (all 3 are the same thing, first one is a pic with the md421 fitted, the second is the manufacturers site, 3rd should be Google page with prices and sellers) not the cheapest around but looks pretty good, they claim virtually unbreakable (but they would) but i guess it would fit a wide range of mic's so fairly versatile Matt

ooh that 750 w version looks fun, I wonder what the smallest number would be for our own tweaked version, a basschat750H. I'd have one (at the right price of course) Matt

ah fair enough, didn't realise the harley benton one was so cheap! the specs are slightly different though, if the head really is 500watts at 8 ohms that would be ace! Matt

Just saw these, they look mighty familiar! If Ibanez do stop the production of the 500W Prometheans it seems that there might be other options. [url="http://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Bass/RedSub-BT500H-500W-Bass-Head/B1D"]http://www.gear4musi...W-Bass-Head/B1D[/url] [url="http://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Bass/RedSub-BT5110-500W-Bass-Amp/C61"]http://www.gear4musi...0W-Bass-Amp/C61[/url] Red Sub is a new name to me but the prices seem pretty good. Matt

i got a text message on the way to a practice, as i was only 500 yards from the venue i ignored it, parked up and then checked my phone, practice cancelled as the drummer was playing football, the drummer had booked the practice venue for us 2 days before. i wasn't impressed, mainly because i was the only one who'd actually left their house, the lead singer would pick up the bassist as he didn't drive and of course the drummer was out playing footy. the band didn't last long after that!

i'd suggest something else for the practice with headphones, you might struggle to find something powerful enough to gig with that has a headphone output, i'd go for something designed for headphones like the korg pandora, much easier to use than headphones into a combo. they crop up in the classifieds here fairly frequently. then i'd suggest a nice secondhand amp for gigging, trace elliot are the obvious choice (for me anyway, ymmv) you might even be able to get a head and cab setup within your budget even allowing for the purchase of the pandora. if you've got some space to store it and a strong back there's plenty of cheap kit out there. Matt

i wouldn't advise one of the stools with a back, i had one for a while and it's fine for an hour or so but any longer isn't very comfortable, i found it made me lean forward all the time as the "backrest" just cut across my lower back and that didn't help my posture at all. have you had a browse of ikea yet? the first place i would head is the bargain corner, they sell off the returns and the shop demonstration items, you might pick up one of the really nice chairs for a decent discount. failing that have a quick check of how much it would cost to visit a chiropractor a couple of times, the price difference of a properly comfortable chair won't seem so big compared to back pain! (i speak as a man who suffers) if you're going to sit in it for 8 hours a day i'd say that a good chair is a worthwhile investment. Matt

well it wasn't a bass but i popped in to get a wall hanger to keep my acoustic on and ended up with a brand new McIlroy acoustic g****r, nearly 2 grands worth of walnut lovelyness, worth every penny. and i got the wall hanger too. Matt

ooh and don't forget wilkinson, the pickups in my vintage les paul were amazing! proper early Peter Green tone.

double check the polepiece spacing, i had an epiphone les paul and it had wider spacing than a gibson (so the lovely seymour duncan JB i scored from ebay didn't line up) personally i prefer the zebra uncovered pickups in a les paul but each to their own, ebay can throw up bargains if you search carefully, i paid about 25 quid for the jb and they sound great, (especially matched with a 59 or a jazz at the bridge) another option might be catswhisker, slightly cheaper than wizard and all built to order (you tell him the tone you want and he builds the pickup) [url="http://www.catswhiskerpickups.co.uk/index.html"]http://www.catswhiskerpickups.co.uk/index.html[/url] Matt

definately have a go with the Fenders and see what you think, they are very nice but i found them just too loud, great tone but i couldn't get the tones i wanted at low enough volumes. i ended up with a tiny terror and a 1x12 cab (fender with a celestion neo) if you want a brit tone keep your eyes peeled for the Marshall JTM30 series (30w available with various speakers), should be well within your budget and they'e a lovely amp, i've got it's biggest brother the JTM622 (60w 2x12) and it's wonderful, mine has a lovely ac30 type growl when cranked, even my tech was impressed (i think he bothered the neighbours with if for quite a while) they've also got master volumes so very easy to dial in the right tone at a sensible volume. another option might be the smaller Laney amps (lc and vc series) very cheap and with good valves (and possibly an upgraded speaker) they sound very nice. Matt

hello, i think you will struggle to get a bigsby to work with this guitar due to the construction, but what about this instead? (similar price as far as i can tell) [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/schaller_lp_tremolo_bk.htm?sid=367f7480bfe7d11c025a98b68be6d008"]http://www.thomann.de/gb/schaller_lp_tremolo_bk.htm?sid=367f7480bfe7d11c025a98b68be6d008[/url] should be a very easy fit and as a bonus the arm comes off for those times you don't want it. and if you ever decide that you don't need a trem anymore it will leave no trace and you can easly swap back to the hardtail. Matt

hmm i wouldn't try it then, the open tuners will be a nightmare to paint and then the black is likely to wear off on the gears, and whatever you do DON'T paint that badass! it will never look as good as a proper black one and you will seriously devalue it. personally i'd replace what you can like for like and sell the gold badass, then get a different bridge in black (plenty of cheap options) and keep the money ready for when a proper black badass II pops up. Matt (edited due to stupidity!)

i'd not reccomend it, it's a pretty fiddly job to get it looking good, you'd probably have to dismantle the hardware to get a good finish and it wouldn't nesseceraliy stick very well without proper surface preperation, what bass is this? (i looked at your sig and none of the basses have gold hardware as far as i know) i'd price up some replacement black hardware, if the parts are fairly standard (fender for example) you might be able to get the whole lot cheaply on ebay or in the BC classifieds and then sell the gold stuff to get some money back. Matt

before you go out and investigate new chairs double check the arms on the comfortable one you have, they might just unscrew, i've got one of the more expensive ikea ones that came with armsbut i just left them off when i built it (they're still in their wrapping under the desk) failing that i think that most of the ikea ones come self assembly so the arms should be optional in fact they seem to be an added cost extra [url="http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/categories/departments/workspaces/20652/"]http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/categories/departments/workspaces/20652/[/url] this is the one i've got, very comfortable but not the cheapest. [url="http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/20103101/"]http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/20103101/[/url] Matt

bought a SWR Headlite from Soliloquy, arrived very quickly and very well packed, a top Guy To deal with. Matt

having read the official statement it seems like a good thing, moving production back to usa should boost sales over there and over here it should get a little easier to get hold of eden gear (judging by the number of shops that stock Marshall) and of course theres the legendary Marshall customer support (i've got a few of the guitar amps myself) matt

i actually really like this, i have a soft spot for the black-black-maple thing, and then i checked out the bass solo (laughed so hard i stopped breathing), just for that i feel that i must own this bass! i've actually played a few vintage guitars and they're excellent so this bass has just popped in very high up my want list, with an added j-pup it would serve me well when i don't want to use my 77. Matt