expanding on the plugins, dug up this old gem, fair amp/cab job..

but such a bundle of fun with crazy stacking and modulation.

recommended for the experimental types!

http://nomadfactory.com/products/magma/

Just treated myself to a new bass… Haven’t had one for at least 15 years!

On paper, nothing special, it’s an ’08 Squier p-bass special made by Cort. But, it’s as close as I’m ever going to find to my first bass (and first instrument!) which i got in about 2001. It was the exact same model but in british racing green, and man I loved that thing. Traded it in, stupidly, against a MIM Fender Standard which was an uninspiring slab in comparison. This one is a slightly glittery black, and in fantastic condition. Just picking it up brought back memories, the muscles never forget…

https://imgur.com/ezPoSPg
https://imgur.com/CKkcN50

Bought from ebay but it turned out that the seller was STW’er oldtennisshoes!

nice bass enjoy

an update i have changed the guitar that i ordered for a different harley benton fusion model from the original one i ordered (have changed to an hss fusion pro iii in daphne blue satin finish but with a roasted maple neck and ss frets 24 fret still).

it is on its way so hopefully in a few days it will turn up (really looking forward to getting it, hopefully it will all be ok and no damage etc) .

will try and post some pics of it when it arrives.

Thommen have been really good for orders for me lately but it does seem to take a week to arrive the pricing usually great though. Consistently cheaper than Andertons.

couple of recent acquisitions, the Lowden sounds spectacular…
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Wow that Lowden is stunning @sailor74. Used to work in a music shop in the 90s that stocked Lowden so was lucky enough to play a few but never rich enough to own one.

Not an acoustic fan but the Lowden does lol wonderful.

Did you like that Fender strap btw?

Yes, very much so. I bought two, one for the Strat, the other for the Tele.

What model of Lowden is that?

They’re all lovely looking guitars.

After @Edukator pointed out the misalignment of my Tele saddles I ordered a new set from Gotoh.
Decided to stick with brass rather than Ti as it is bright enough already and had a spare 20minutes this morning to swap them over and re-intonate everything.
I’ll probably drop the neck by a fraction of a turn on the micro tilt to get the action a bit higher without raising the saddles but otherwise it’s pretty darn good. Twisted Tele pickups arriving soon as I found a secondhand set on a US forum. Tried them on another Tele and liked the neck pickup a lot.

That Tele colour is smokin’!

🙂 I’ve got the matching Strat too, also in Miami Blue with a maple neck. Very pretty. Prefer it to Lake Placid Blue now.

I like those Gotoh saddles. They cure all the problems with trad Tele saddles: intonation, zitar effect and string position stability.

Thanks for pointing out the problem with the original saddles. I hadn’t noticed it, but once you mentioned it I couldn’t not see it.
They do seem good and do intonate well.

Lowden sounds spectacular

Watch out for the Lowden over winter. Mine had to live in it’s case as the house gets too dry and the saddle has pulled off twice :(.  Not sure it can be repaired again :(.   It’s fine if it’s in it’s case with something to humidify it slightly

Got the guitars out for a bit of sunshine and to clean the usual storage room so thought i’d take a shot. The blue of the Strat and Tele really pops out but hard to photograph correctly.
The Variax is ticking along nicely whilst the Kemper Stage is great but benefits from a few extra pedals.
I find it hard to get by with out the Cali76 Stacked Edition compressor. It instantly improves things. The Revival Drive is great and the J Rocket APE does help for that vintage Echoplex tape preamp sound with the Flashback2.
The Trelicopter at the end is just because I really like the wave shape control for the trem modulation.

very nice setup there

That blue telecaster looks beautiful!

Yep. It is pretty cute.

apologies for the copy/paste from fretboard forum

well my fusion iii hss just turned up about an hour ago.

if this is a mark of the harley benton guitars i can assure you i will definitely be buying more of them at some point

it’s bloody awesome i have to say

yes there are a couple of issues with it but nothing major at all and easily fixed by a guitar tech (i am not a guitar tech lol).

man the neck on it is lovely both to look at and the feel. also the whole guitar looks lovely to me and feels great (nothing feels cheap on it i have to say.

this is both my first harley benton guitar and order from thomann and i have to say am very happy with it (also bought a gig bag too that feels very nice quality for the money).

all in all i am a very happy chappy i have to say.

i will try and upload some pics and playing report (am not a good player though so will be a crap player report lol).

now i’m off to play it again.

Sounds like a win! Pics please.

i hope these worked (apologies for awful pics from my el cheapo phone)

specs here for it https://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_fusion_iii_hss_roasted_db.htm

i paid £344 inc a gig bag and delivery (took just over a week because of hols).

i love the guitar i have to say 🙂

I’m really tempted to pull the trigger on a Harley BentonCST 24, it’s just justifying to myself as I hardly play these days.

Nice colour. Got a bit of a Charvel vibe about it.

Had weird day of lots of time waiting for clients to clear work so had a lot of time playing in an empty house with a bit of volume. Main aim was to see what gear I want to get rid of before the market tanks.
Played the JTV59 Variax convinced the Tele and Strat would be standouts. I was wrong. It really does sound and play great, even without the modelling switched in.
So it’s just amps and FX to let go.
Grrr.

I do like the blue colour on that tele.. Just seems to really suit it.

See one in the flesh, the colour really pops.

@sailor74…… that looks awfy like my Lowden S10….. just a beautiful guitar.👍

Any particular reason you think the market is about to tank, @Eddiebaby?

I have a couple of guitars I need to shift when I can be bothered. You saying I should pull my finger out?

I think there is going to be a shortage of disposable cash across all markets. I’m a prolific buyer but everything is going in hold for now.

There’s also runaway inflation and your guitar is more likely to hold its value than cash in the banK. I’ve ordered an acoustic, demand is such there is no deleivery date, just sometime hopefully.

Try being a lefty. Availability is even worse 🙁

Been on the lookout for an Epiphone ES-335 lefty in Cherry for months.

After @Edukator’s comment I thought about what I should sell and keep. I’ve been plugged in for a couple of hours using just the BOSS GT-1000 Core into headphones.
It is so easy to get a great tone, so plans to sell that have gone too. Makes realise how much stuff I’ve bought without fully utilising the benefits of what I already have. 😳

I’ve ordered an acoustic, demand is such there is no deleivery date, just sometime hopefully.

What have you ordered?

Yamaha LL16 sunburst. I tried an LL6 in my local shop, nice to play but it had that slightly dull laminate sound so I ordered the all solid version. The local shop gets my business even if I have to be patient, I’ve already got three acoustics so it’s not as if I’m short of something to play.

Anyone looking for a Polytune Clip in Black. Was bought one as a present. Already have one.
Used once to show the giver how it worked.
Boxed, still with the plastic on the screen.
£27 posted.

https://www.andertons.co.uk/polytune-pedals/tc-electronic-polytune-clip-black

Yamaha LL16 sunburst. I tried an LL6 in my local shop, nice to play but it had that slightly dull laminate sound so I ordered the all solid version.

Nice looking guitar. They aren’t able to give a lead time? That’s unusual.

I don’t think I’ve ever tried playing a laminate next to a solid wood from the same manufacturer. Was it an obvious difference?

I’m going on the basis of trying other laminates/solid wood back to back, the shop didn’t have an LL16 to try, if they had I’d have walked out with it.

The Indonesian Epiphone Texan solid I’ve got is obviously quite different to the laminate especially when strumming. The solid is clearer, better defined and warmer to my ears. I can strum it hard without it sounding messy. Still not much bass, for that I’d have to buy the American built solid wood Texan which is lighter built with lighter bracing.

I bought the Indonesian Texan (a Frampton) after trying a few exotic and not so exotic guitars in a big shop in Berlin, it came close to the exotics without the price ticket making me wince. The Martin (D18 or D28 I can’t remember which) disappointed. the Gibsons didn’t disappoint, but how much! I’ll probably buy a j45 one day but for the moment it’s the Yamaha that’s on order, at least I won’t worry about dinging it.

And no, no lead time, it’s a frsutrating time for guitar shops, especially the small ones.

Been a bit hectic with work and breaking toes on the bike but I did squeeze a gig in a few weeks back and a bit more next week hopefully. Been tweaking the Tele (poor old Strat is feeling very neglected) and along with the delayed
install of the Twisted Tele pickups I fitted a black anodised scratch plate.
It was a perfect fit, a good price and delivered the next day. I can’t recommend Guitar Anatomy enough if you need bits.
I also completed the Tele setup with the nut slots deepened and polished and the neck angle and truss rod sorted. Plays like a dream and TBH I simply don’t want to bother with the Strat anymore.
Hope to use it live a couple of times next week darn Sarf…