pete.young

I've just been in Wunjos, today. They have three Coronado basses (sunburst, black and cherry) and one Starcaster. The guitar shop also has some of the guitar variants. I had a quick look and play on one of the Coronado basses. I have to say that the finish is exceptionally good, probably the nicest Chinese-made bass I've ever seen. The binding on the neck and around the inside of the F-holes is a really nice touch and is well done. Dont know the weight, but more heavy than I was expecting, probably because of the solid block in the centre section under the strings. Altogether it feels like a well-made and substantial instrument. The instruments have only been in for a couple of days and the setup hasn't been tweaked, but they're surprisingly playable for something fresh out of the box. Sound-wise, I'm not totally convinced. The standard setup has fairly light gauge round-wounds which run out of steam a bit on the E string and I think this bass is crying out for a set of flats to really do it justice. With the rounds, the tone controls don't seem to do a great deal, but all 3 pickup settings (neck/both/bridge) make a nice sound. I thought the output was a little puny, but I'm more used to active basses. I didn't look at the Starcaster, call me old fashioned if you will but I think it's a bit ersatz. Plus I really liked the block bound neck on the Coronado and think it's worth the difference. I guess if you were looking for this kind of bass, you'd also be looking at the Epi Jack Cassady and recent offerings from Italia Mondial, Gretch and maybe Hofner. BigRedX I don't know what that is (Warwick Star??) but it looks fabulous.

You are a bunch of big girls' blouses - my tenor banjo weighs 17.5lbs. My bass collection fretless is 7 lbs.

Ipswich gig now sold out :-(

Kiwi, I have a Dunlop Zak Wylde Wah pedal, I can bring that if you want to play with it. Please could I issue an early plea for the organisers to be a bit more ruthless with raffle prizes this year. With 70 people it could take several hours to get through all the prizes, so I'd like to see things like second-hand strings weeded out beforehand.

Why would you want to replace a perfectly good LMII - I'd suggest another LMII or maybe a 450.

Would it be possible to run one of these units off a powered USB hub, rather than using a computer? Just curious really.

Keith bought my Yamaha guitar combo. We arranged to meet up for the handover, but unfortunately I had to decline his offer of a brew due to bizarre parking restrictions and my need to hoss on down to Bromley to pick up a cab from whynot. Subsequently it turned out that there was a problem with the amp which I wasn't aware of - Keith managed to get someone in France to sort out the issue, much to my relief - hope it sounds as good with the Joe Pass! A genuine diamond geezer - all too rare these days. Thanks, Keith.

[quote name='Paul S' timestamp='1377599985' post='2189149'] ... often wondered what one would look like with an LED making the whole thing light up. [/quote] Bit like this, I expect - my friend Phil's handywork: http://www.ashbysoft.com/wiki/moin.cgi/IlluminatedGuitar

If you're looking at the BH500, you should also talk to Mark at Bass Direct and see when he's going to get some more Genz Benz Contour combos in stock.

How about a Zoom A3 ? http://www.zoom.co.jp/products/a3/

[quote name='KiOgon' timestamp='1377414851' post='2187159'] That's shyte [/quote] Bit harsh. Looks like a professional jobbie to me.

Never used Dolphin. Had great service from both Andertons, and from Imuso who I see have now reverted to being musik-direkt.

I think you're seriously limiting the options available by insisting on a headphone socket for practice. if you can find a lower-cost solution for that (maybe a Tascam BT2, a headphone amp like the Vox, even a very small practice amp), you'll get much more choice for a main gigging amp.

135-90-56-50? Weird gauge, the 56.