mcnach

A bit busy just now but I managed a good half an hour of guitar noises... The guitar is beautiful, flawless finish, I tried hard to look for cosmetic issues but found none. The closest was perhaps the fret slots, viewed from the side, the filler is a bit paler than the surrounding wood. That. And then I remembered how much I paid. It was in tune when I took it out (nearly, I did retune it, but I've heard bands play live with guitars that were more out of tune than this one straight from the box), which suggests someone tested it before postage, or maybe it was the display model (it was the last red one they had). Frets are pretty good. The action is set low enough (I'd like it a bit lower) and plays nicely everywhere until you get to around the 14th-15th fret where the strings choke a bit: it's usable as it is, but it needs a little adjustment so that it plays smoothly all over. The frets are not shiny, they look like the guitar has been out for a while, which again makes me think it was probably a display model, but if it was they really cleaned it up (or not many people ever tried it :D) , except for the frets. As such they feel a little 'scratchy' when bending strings, but I'm sure after a couple of weeks of regular use (which it'll get) they'll be just fine. Fret ends are smooth as... Neck is pleasantly wide and chunky. Not baseball bat style, just... the right amount of girth, for my liking. If you are a fan of the Ibanez RG series necks, you'll find this a bit too deep, but I think it's the right size. Oh and lacquered, beautiful 'vintage' tint. I love lacquered necks. I'll probably cut the nut slots a TINY bit lower. I was thinking it would need a new nut, as a lot of budget guitars come with pretty horribly cut soft plastic nuts, but I'm not in a hurry with this one. As it is, it plays well enough, a little harder than ideal, which is very clear when I switch to the PRS, but... £139! I am surprised I get something that looks as good and is perfectly usable out of the box. I haven't mentioned sound yet. It sounds... like a Telecaster. It's very good, especially the bridge pickup, it's got that edge that Tele bridge pickups have and it's lovely with high gain, which is what separates the meh from the yeah pickups. The neck pickup is a little polite and lacks a bit of 'sparkle' compared to my ideal Tele sound. It sounds good enough, but I'm looking for negative points and I can't find anything else. Ideally I'd have something a bit better there. I have a black pickguard for it... however it doesn't fit. It's what happens sometimes when you go for non-Fender derived clones. On the SX the neck pickup is mounted on the pickguard rather than straight into the wood underneath, which suggests a wide pickup cavity underneath (they often do that so that they can produce different models with different size pickups... humbuckers etc using a single body design). The bottom of the neck is also a couple of mm longer than a Fender-derived version, so the only way I can fit this pickguard is moving the pickup 2mm down, which may be easily done if the pickup cavity is large as I suspect. No biggie, 'though. One day I'll adapt it. If not... I can use the black pickguard on the purple Tele that I'm getting for my birthday in September Seriously... £139? Add a decent setup and this can be a seriously decent guitar. @madshadows you were right, it's a very pretty metallic red. Hard to make it justice on a phone picture.

ooooh... what did the very nice courier brought me today?

That's really cool, thank you!

Doh, I should have read the whole thread first. SPB-1 it was indeed I had that one on my old Maruszczyk Jake and it was nice but a bit polite for my liking. The EMG GZR may be more to your liking (it was for mine).

My SPB-1 looked just like that P pickup. There are other models that may look like those, but the SPB-1 is 'popular' enough, so I'd say there's a good chance that that's what it is.

Not necessarily *more* mids than your favourite roundwound, but their frequency profile is stronger on the mids, lower mids in particular. However, there's also different flats that sound very different from each other. Thomastik Infeld Jazz Flats are pretty bright with very strong mids, while Labella Flats are more about their 'thump', and Status ones are very dull (not in a bad way necessarily) but then you get Ernie Ball Cobalt Flats which are as bright as their nickel roundwounds that have been used for a while... It's a jungle out there!

No, @ikay was talking about the potentiometers, not the tone capacitor.

SX: https://www.basschat.co.uk/topic/434753-i-want-a-cheap-telecaster/?do=findComment&comment=4185136

Fiiinally... the guitar is on its way. Credit where it's due, they kept me informed all along that it would take a bit longer than usual and kept in touch during the week as if I were buying a top £££ instrument. Hobgoblin Music, thank you.

one thing is clear: we have a LOT of time in our hands and we enjoy overthinking things

That's brilliant! I have a little version of that, just a heavy block with a couple of fixed arm crocodile clips, but that's great! I need to get me one of those

Ideally yes, but not every gig venue has a suitable PA in place and not every band has a big enough PA for those situations. It's not often that I *need* a pair of Two10 cabs, but I've played enough where I would have struggled without. Having said that, a lot of people never find themselves in that situation, but many are so you can't generalise and say that what works for one person should work for every one. In addition, it's not just the volume. I get a better balanced stage sound with a couple of Two10, I guess the minitower allows the bass sound to be better distributed on stage without needing to turn up to compensate. I've used a single Two10 in a small bar (Glasgow's Clutha 2) in an 8-piece ska band without PA support and while it was not earth-shattering it did reasonably well (two would have been better though). Those cabs (One10, Two10 etc) are really good.

in a nutshell a bit like quoting the blurb from an audiophile company about their superior power cables...

hmmm, if it *stays* within the bridge then it actually dampens the vibrations and would reduce sustain, so that's not the explanation. I can see how a BBOT bridge can reduce the vibration because it's got relatively loose saddles that can vibrate a bit and absorb part of the energy. More solid bridges may improve the duration of the vibration. Solid being the key word, although one way to make something sturdy and rigid is making it more massive. Personally, I haven't noticed any more significant differences than the differences I think I've noticed after dismantling and reassembling bridges (I used to try different pickups by loosening the strings and removing the bridge, then reassembling). If there's a consistent difference, I haven't noticed it and as such it's not one that makes me lose any sleep. BBOT or high mass bridge? I don't know. I just want to make sure I have a bridge. Preferably in a finish consistent with the rest of the hardware

Not a fan, in general, but I like what you did here. Cool tune too!

I don't know about the Trace Elliot, but 1x10 cabs tend to be on the small side and not give you a lot of oomph although some can work as a stage monitor. Personally the smallest I've used has been 1x12 cabs. The smallest was actually a MarkBass CMD121P combo. The cabinet is very small and a lot of it is taken up by the amplifier, yet it is surprisingly powerful, so some 1x10 cabs should work. There are many fans of the Barefaced One10 so it clearly works for some, maybe the TE does too. It'll depend on how loud the stage sound is. I always like to have quieter stages, but it's not always possible when you share stage with another 6-9 people For that reason the smallest I use these days is a 2x10: it's only marginally more hassle to carry than the single 1x12 I was using before (TKS S112) and it works well. When I can I still like to use two, beyond volume you get a kind of 'presence' that's hard to get with smaller cabs, without needing to be loud. I use a Precision often (well, a Schecter P/J or a Sandberg P/MM, but usually just on the P pickup alone) as well as a Stingray. Unfortunately I cannot really record the sound from the speaker other than with a little Zoom H2 recorder which will not make it justice. I can record the DI... if I finish tidying up (I moved house recently) and connect my USB interface etc again. I make no promises, I have lots to do and garden/barbecue seem to take priority these days but I really want to be able to record again soon as my main band's only action these days is through sharing recorded ideas (it's an originals band) and I can't contribute... This weekend looks like rain, maybe I'll be able to get my stuff out and set it up. But it would be purely DI into a Focusrite Solo into Reaper, perhaps using the Joyo American Sound too, which sounds ok in the mix but it's not as good as what I get from my speakers. edit: doh! I also have a Squier Precision for a more 'precisiony' sound (the Schecter and the Sandberg are Precisionesque but they have their own thing going on... the Schecter Model T has active EMG pickups and the P is a bit closer to the bridge than usual, and the Sandberg VM4 has the P in reverse orientation... The Squier has a Fender Original pickup right now -it's waiting for me to have time and install a passive EMG GZR- and that gives a more 'classic' Precision sound.

Ah, yeah, it's a bit of a trip from where you are Indeed, I think the BAM200's USP is definitely the size and price. It doesn't sound bad at all, it's just not the most exciting amplifier but it never tried to be. It's quite decent, 'though. Yes, it's a bit 'meh' compared to a 'full fat' amplifier but it's not bad at all and you can simply use it as a clean amplifier while using a separate small preamp to provide your favourite 'colour', and still be a smaller package than any other normal amplifier. I was experimenting a little last night with the Joyo American Sound in front of the BAM200 with bass, using the EQ and a little touch of overdrive on the Joyo pedal and it sounded mighty. From the amps you mentioned, my heart is on the MarkBass LM250 because to me that's a proper amplifier (and it's still compact, no doubt about it, just not 'pocket sized') and it's got a complete set of features... and I love those VLE/VPF controls. The TCE BQ series is not very different from the BAM200 in terms of the basic sound, I think, but they add other features so they may be a bit more capable. I have also used a BH500 that a friend used to have. Frankly, if you're not going to use the Toneprint features, I'd stay with the others, although it's nice to have the tuner built-in. If you like the TC, and you don't need super small, perhaps you could find a used RH450? It's about the same size as the BQ, more or less, and it's a clear winner in terms of features. I had one and I didn't love it as much as other amplifiers I had, but it was not a bad amplifier and look at what you get: 3 programmable presets, a very capable yet easy to use compressor (one knob!), built-in tuner, programmable EQ points, 'tube tone' control (when turned high up I didn't like it very much, but it was cool for lower gain settings)... I think the LM250 sounds better, but it's just my personal preference. In terms of features, the RH450 is hard to beat. I have absolutely no experience of Eden, I'm afraid, so I can't write another page about them

Yeah, with this small size I guess the whole chassis *is* a heatsink Hmmm, Elf + One10, that sounds like a great combination (I gig with Two10 cabs usually).

a Stevie Wonder Tribute!!! That must have been so much fun!!! File me under "extremely envious"

I'm glad you said that, because I had the same thought and was feeling guilty about it. I used to play Sir Duke years ago with one covers band. That unison riff wasn't particularly hard in the sense that it sounded ok live with the band, but *I knew* I was often not playing as cleanly as I wanted to, and in the heat of the moment I sometimes skipped a note somewhere (as long as you keep the timing you can get away with so much!)... then I listened to this isolated track and made me feel a lot better 😛 Disclaimer: no, I don't claim for a second that I can play as well as Nate Watts or have a percent of his knowledge... it's a bit like Flea, when I was in a RHCP tribute band I would play whatever we wanted from their catalog. The fast slap stuff that made most people go "whoa" was not *that* hard to copy, they were simple patterns played fast, that's all, all it takes is practice. So I could play anything from their catalog, but it doesn't mean I could play like Flea. Not even remotely close.

Maybe 'dirty' is too strong a word, I'm going by the video that @stewblack posted somewhere on the second page of this thread, where there's a bit of mild overdrive kicking in with the input gain lower than half-way, but I suppose it will depend on the bass too with higher output basses getting into that territory earlier? It's a good sound! Despite my preference for clean amplifiers, I loved how it warmed up the sound, and from what you say it seems that clean(ish) headroom should not be an issue. Soundwise, I'd prefer the Elf to my BAM200, but I decided to go with the cheaper option (half price!) simply because it's an amplifier that will barely see any action. Does the Elf get quite warm? I was just using the BAM200 with my guitar earlier, not very loud at all and maybe an hour or so, not more, and it was really warm to the touch. Re: One In Ten... you made me wonder "do I know you?" because it's a very new project and we've only played live once! Then I realised that there was a link on my signature to the FB page and there's a clip or two there from that gig. Thank you for your kind words, although my recollection of that gig was that it was not very good! We barely had 10-12 songs ready at that stage (we only started in November and keyboard player joined in mid december... we got a great percussionist now but after a single rehearsal the lockdown happened, I hope we can go back and get up to speed soon, although we probably won't be gigging in a while. It's a shame, we had a very busy calendar from May onwards through to September. But I'm sure you don't need me to tell you that, we're all on the same boat there!

Well, here comes another long post, probably 😛 I'd say both are versatile enough. Some amps, you're right, they seem to be geared towards one type of sound especially but I think these here are pretty neutral. The BAM200 is a little mid scooped with the controls all at 12 o'clock, but you can adjust by turning up the mids (although I seem to prefer turning down the bass a bit and the treble a bit more, as in my picture... but it's early days, I only bought it a couple of weeks ago or so and only used it at home so far). If you don't need the super-small footprint, I'd really get the LM250. It's got a decent EQ section (low and high mids separately come handy) and it's got the MarkBass VLE and VPF filters which I find very useful (so much so, that I also bought the SuperBooster pedal, which is the VLE and VPF filters in pedal form). It's got a more than decent DI (my main band's second album was recorded using my LMIII's DI in the studio) and its output is adjustable, which I found extremely useful a few times. The LM250 is, like the LMIII, pretty 'neutral', which means it's very easy to get any kind of sound out of it except overdriven. You can't drive the input in order to get a bit of warm distortion, it's strictly clean... but so is the BAM200. The TE ELF does get dirty as you turn the input gain up (there's a video up here in this thread illustrating that, it sounds pretty good), but unless that's the sound you want most (all?) of the time, I'd rather have an amplifier that gives me clean bass at any output level, and I can add dirt if I want to (Joyo American Sound, a little £35 pedal, is one of my favourites... and it makes my guitars sound great through the bass amplifier too). I think the BAM200 is a great backup amplifier, something you can take anywhere easily and will probably do a decent job, but it would not be my main amplifier. The LM250, however, I'd be quite happy owning that as my only amplifier. Spend a little time getting to understand how the VLE and VPF filters work and interact, and you'll be amazed how easy it can go from old school to modern crystal clear tones to dub to... anything you want. I'm a fan of the Little Mark amplifiers, but I promise I don't get commission edit: I'm not sure where you are, but if you happen to be near Edinburgh let me know and I'll let you try the BAM200, LMIII (which is not the same, but it's meant to be close enough in sound to the LM250) and a Mesa D800+ while we're at it.

welcome to the forum! I have used a BQ250 a few times in a local bar that do open mic sessions. I can't say how similar it is to the BAM200, but I don't think they're very different. I went with the BAM200 because what I wanted was a VERY small amp that would easily fit in my gigbag as a backup. I play (or used to play before the virus!) a lot of gigs in small bars where we'd bring all of our equipment, which included a small PA just for vocals and horns, really. I like the idea of having a backup amplifier just in case for those situations: even if 200W is not a lot, with a couple of 210 cabs it will be ok. Space is sometimes an issue, and having one extra bit of gear adds a higher chance of losing something, while the BAM200 will just be inside my gig bag (Fusion F1, pretty big and lots of storage) so it won't add to the amount of gear we travel with. If the BQ250 is not too big for you, I'd probably get that because of the more versatile EQ and a little more power, and the amplifier is what, about £20 more? I also like the 'handles' which protect the knobs. However, if you think the Little Mark 250 is still portable enough... then I'd ignore the TCE and get the MarkBass without hesitation. In my opinion it's a much nicer all round amplifier. To give you an idea of the relative sizes, here's my BAM200 on top of the LMIII (which I believe is the same size as the LM250). The BAM200 (and the ELF!) is *tiny*. It really is not much bigger than most DI boxes.

+1 My first solder iron was a 15W one, and it worked... but not well. You need something a bit hotter to make your life easier. I have a little soldering station now after seeing it recommended in this very forum years ago, and I'd recommend you get one too. Having a nice setup so that you can hold the iron, adjust temperatures etc is very useful and makes soldering so much easier.

It looks like it's just a 3-band EQ pedal with semiparametric mids... am I missing anything? edit: yes, I was missing that it's supposed to replicate the Echoplex preamp, plus the 3-band EQ.