Eddie

Kemper is great but it is a snapshot of a signal chain. As soon as you want to go extreme on the knobs it can get awkward. You can get some amazing profiles and it is an awesome device. Great if you also have a lot of amps and want to profile them.

I had the toaster for a while a few years back before moving to the Helix floor. I liked it but ended up with an axefx which I prefer and kept.
The helix / axefx can become the central part of your setup – use it for recording, either with monitors and IRs or use a power amp and cab, or use it with a real amp in 4CM. This is how I use my axefx – I switch between using modelled amps and real amps etc.

Don’t forget there is a new kid on the block – Neural DSP (I’ve not played one so can’t comment). Looks like it needs more development but has potential.

Reverb?

5% I think – used to be 3%

I prefer it to eBay

I sell using Reverb and have had a good experience. Posting an amp is usually around the £50 mark if I remember correctly (I’ve posted Diezel, Marshall, EVH etc with no issues).

Rusty – you could try the 20w JCM 800 or JMP that Marshall do under their studio range.

Being single channel you could argue the JCM isn’t versatile but it responds so well to the volume, the clean you get from it is beautiful.

Also, check out a EVH 5153 50w. Small footprint, very versatile, amazing cleans with lovely crunch and more gain that you would ever need. Don’t bother with the smaller variants, the 50w is the sweet spot.

Failing that, buy an AxeFX or kemper etc ;)

That’s a concern considering Oculus recently spec is GTX1060

https://support.oculus.com/248749509016567/

An i5 build with a gtx1060 or higher will last a good while. Doable off the shelf for under £600

Warthunder is well worth a look too.

VR is great, there are some very immersive games such as Pavlov, onward, Elite etc. As well if you want to branch out from flight sims.

I think Stormfront offer 3 year warranty

I’m looking forward to this one and medal of honour when that comes out.

There are some cracking VR titles about but I cannot wait for these two!

Mine is not warm or waterproof but it looks nice. (Not insulated so not expected to be warm, g1000 isn’t waterproof)

Waxing it helped using their soap bar stuff. It was a doddle to apply with a hair dryer.

Great marketing and their bags are popping up all over in London…

I’m 6’3” and fit is ok. I’d buy another if I found it on sale. MY old Howies ventile is better all round though

Edit – I’ve got the Raven. The fold away hood is utterly pointless. A carrier bag or newspaper would be more use but at least it looks nice….

@davidb – you can’t go wrong with Ibanez. If you fancy a slightly thicker neck, checkout the jacksons.
Go fixed bridge for ease of setup – if buying from a shop, let them ‘now what tuning you want to use, have a chat about string gauges do they should provide the setup as part of the sale.

@davidb – What sort of tight are you after?

Normal well played metal tight similar to Maiden, Talica, megadeth etc?
Super tight Djenty riffage such as Periphery, After the Burial, Monuments, Meshugga etc?

The guitar is only one component. Setup, amp, effects, noise gate etc all count towards it.

Biggest component is technique. Check our a metal specific tutor such as the Grand Master of Tight, John Browne (riffhard.com). If you want more diversity, Steve Stines courses are good.

In terms of guitars, in that price bracket I’d go second hand and/or Jackson / Ibanez.
As you used the word tight, I’m going to assume you want to play in other tunings so stick to 25.5 scale minimum and go for a fixed bridge.

A lot of stores have their sales on early, enjoy

(I started with an Ibanez Gio and it was an absolute peach. Next up was a Jackson dk2 pro – again fantastic guitar)

Tbh if you like the SG – take it to a competent store and get it setup. You could also get it smartened up with upgrades to fret work or pickups.

There are a lot of fantastic bands listed so far but I don’t see

Periphery

Monuments

Devil wears Prada

Sylosis

Meshugga

Cult of Luna

After the Burial

Malefice

Northlane

Chelsea grin

Whitechapel

@jb – I think it’s just the way that maple tree grew. Wood is not uniform or perfect, part of its charm.

Luthiers often use this to their advantage, burl, flame and quilt were once not as desirable as they are now.

It’s not a repair – on a guitar at that price level it would be cheaper to buy a new neck (and it doesn’t look like a repair, and is a very unusual place for a neck to need repairing).

If it feels great, sounds great and inspires you, That’s all that really matters.

I like the STM Dux cases. The 9nes I use have a screen cover and pen holder.

My 7 string is in drop G#..Does that count?

Fix the existing pots and selector, AND, if you’re not happy with the sound buy a fully loaded pick guard with some pups in that you like.

Best of both worlds ;)

Yep plumber – that’s the one. I had the full fat version and it was excellent. If I was looking for a compact option, I’d pick this.

How To Build An All-In-One Rack For Your Band!

Tbh looking at how kit has moved on, top of my list would be the little line 6 helix into the power amp of your existing amp until you’ve got enough dough for an frfr speaker.

Love the look on that Randall. Synergy is the other one that works 8n a similar way I think.
Isn’t Randall the chap that invented the dual rec?

Ok I’ll stop being a tease.

From Ibanez, I’ve currently got:
RG 652 in a sort of sparkly blue/black
S5527 with Nailbomb/cold sweat pickups
RGD2127 UC

From Jackson
09 ish dinky DK2 (MIJ)
Adrian Smith san dimas (US one – pretty sure these are made in their custom shop – the wood, the detail is very very good)

Mayones
Duvell standard (black flame). I love this guitar!
Duvell Qatsi in juice burst. Beautiful.

Fender Strat (US). Currently got a hot rails bridge and jb jr neck. Sounds gorgeous but am tempted t put single coils back in

Jaden Rose series 2

Faith acoustic (not sure of the model but know it’s an old one)

I think that’s if for now.

I’m just as bad with amps but have gone through a consolidation and a simplification exercise..

I used to think I was bad with bikes.

Each one serves a purpose – I play in different tunings so that’s how I justify it to myself ;)

I should add – at least I’m getting better at selling gear I don’t use

pointy guitars are awesome, although that RG is not pointy, It’s a superstrat (my favourite of all the shapes).

I’ve got a few from Ibanez, Mayones, Jackson and a few others.

I’ve tried a Stranberg that I thought was very different. Loved the body, didn’t give it long enough to see if I could bond with the rather unique neck.

Anyone on here flip their kit on reverb.com?

I’ve got a second hand Herman Miller and a second hand human scale. They were both a few hundred but given the thousands of hours a year spent in them, worth every penny.

Got mine from here I think – https://www.2ndhnd.com/collections/herman-miller

I’ve got a pro 11” that replaced a 9.7 pro and it’s lovely.
I really like the additional screen and form factor. Super quick, very nice. Losing the home button took a bit of adjustment.
Pencil is useful even for a non arty type (I fail at stick men)

I’d hook this up to a monitor and happily use it for work if I needed to.

I had a series 2 and bought the series 5. It’s what the Apple Watch should have been from the outset – capable of telling the time without dappy gesturing.

That was the primary reason for upgrading for me. Having said that, all the other stuff it does is very good and I like the larger, better display.

I’ve installed it in my iMac and it’s running poorly with lots of issues.

Music keeps crashing and struggling to load. General slow responsiveness at times.

Using sidecar on my iPad caused a few iPad issues after disconnecting.

Overall, quite like it but looking forward to the patches.

Order online and deliver for Ikea if you know what you want. Can be a very effective use of £25
I also ordered draws and cupboard. Good enough quality for home office.

I made a riser for my monitor using a matching shelf and some feet from their kitchen dept.

before ruling our ikea, have a look at the bekant sit/stand desk.

It’s decent quality, will lift up to 70kg and is backed by a 10y guarantee.

I’ve had mine about 5+ years.

If the tops don’t tickle your fancy, make one.

TC Electronic reverb or delay. Or the boss RC1 looper.

Apply in stages using a hair dryer. I’ve a black jacket – no patches.

I love my Fjallraven jacket. It’s perfect for when I don’t want to be either warm or particularly dry :D

Battery mowers are very good in the right gardens. Clean, quick and light.

You need to ask yourself how big the garden is, how long do you let the grass grow and do you mow it when wet?

If your a once a month mower, go petrol, if you’re a weekly mower with an appropriately sized lawn, go battery. Just bear in mind first cut of the year may take more than one pass if it’s wet or longer than a few inches

Buy her a half decent acoustic and an electric. Surely that’s win-win ;)

John Browne from Monuments

And Mark Holcomb from Periphery

Mikey – fender do do an off white pickguard – are you sure it’s not intentional?

Couple of comments above about not getting locking tuners. They make changing strings quicker as you don’t need to wrap the string round the peg so much. Thread the string through, pull tight, lock and tune. You end up with about half a turn or so on there.

Bosch cordless.

Mine probably 5+ years old and still going strong. I only use it on the front and to do fiddly bits on the back.

You do need to keep on top of it though, it won’t cut long grass as well as a petrol mower.

I’ve had a 2.0 X3 for over 5 years that’s auto. I wouldn’t go back to a manual gearbox now. It’s lovely to drive. I thought I’d miss changing gear but don’t. I wouldn’t even bother speccing paddles if the car didn’t come with them.

I posted a similar thread a couple of months ago and bought a Travall dog guard. It’s excelent. Easy to fit, robust and no rattling. I can also still put the seats down when I need to.

I also read the thread as guard dog which is ironic as I bought mine to keep two Dobes in the boot :D

I consider myself a fairly average dad rocker who’s been playing around 10 years. I play almost daily and really, really enjoy it.

I’ve spent 000s on gear. More than I like to think about but don’t regret any of it because I enjoy it. I did the same with bikes but didn’t compete.

A lot of it has been finding what I like and finally, after 10 years I can say say that for me, it’s a gaggle of Ibby Prestige and Mayones guitars and an AxeFX3.

Everything else is slowly being sold on Reverb

Music is awesome, spend what you can afford and enjoy. I still have my first ‘decent’ guitar and will never sell it.

The cheapo track saw I mentioned on page 1 failed at the weekend. I think I paid about £60-70 for it and when I think of how little it’s been used, combined with slop and how some of the guide parts fared, have written of cheapo tools as false economy. The guide rail I made worked well but was clunky and a pita compared to a proper track

I got lucky and replaced it with a Dewalt DWS520 that for £95 (display model) and a 1.5m track for £60.

It’s a revelation. Much easy to use, so accurate and way better built (no slop, quality knobs etc).