mcnach

Yeah I am a bit lost too, there seems to be different SE types. The guitarist in one of my bands has some kind of black SE and I never thought it was special. It is nice, but nothing made me want to own one. Just to be on the safe side, and seeing that I really like my SE, I'm going to avoid trying the more upmarket ones I played a gold top USA PRS with P90s sometime in the late 90s and that was very very very nice. It had been used and abused but it felt fantastic, and I do love P90s (providing there aren't many sources of interference nearby). I tried other PRS since, but nothing as nice as that one.

I'm not a PRS connossieur, but if the S2 is even nicer than the SE they must be pretty special! Mine is an SE, some kind of limited edition Custom 24, but I understand the 'limited' is only with regards to the finish. I'm not a fan of the quilted tops but at least mine is not over the top. The minute I held it, I knew it would be mine. It balances very well, the neck feels amazing... it makes my Strat feel a bit agricultural by comparison, however the Strat is like an old bicycle you've had and maintained for decades: there may be better bikes, but this is one you'll keep riding.

Interesting. They all seem to have the same kind of layout and features. I do like the look of this one more than the radioactive snot Elf green or the red BAM200 (and I do like red). I wish they had a speak-on connector 'though. I could not see whether the Gnome has one, or the price... but I suspect it'll be a fair amount more than the £119 the BAM200 goes for. I saw there's a Gnome-i that can act as a USB computer interface for recording, That's pretty cool if the sound is good.

That's why I was hesitant to get the BAM200 but at the same time that's why I wanted it: I don't think it'll get used a lot, so the BAM200 being so cheap was a reasonable choice. At the same time, the Elf is not THAT expensive either so I might as well go get my first choice (the Elf). To be honest, I have no experience in real life of either. On videos they both sound adequate. There are plenty of reviews about the Elf and I'm confident the Elf would work just fine for me, the BAM200 is a bit more of a question mark, but then I can't expect it to be disappointing either: it's a very very simple amplifier, as long as it is reasonably clean it'll do the job I want it for. It feels a bit strange buying a backup emergency amp these days, when all my gigs up to September have been cancelled, and the ones beyond September are full of question marks... but you've got to strike when the money is your pocket... and before we buy all the garden stuff we want to buy (new place, garden just has grass right now), I am not sure I'll have a lot to spare after my girlfriend and I make our garden shopping list It should be here on Monday/Tuesday.

Well, I just ordered the BAM200. At that price it's hard to say no. If it's half decent and the DI works, it's a win. I've spent more on overdrive pedals!

Is there a Nissan Moco??? Moco means 'snot' in Spanish. Still, better than Pajero...

Anybody else has experience with the TCE BAM200? I have no idea when we'll be gigging again, but the ever-optimistic me with a few bank notes to burn is thinking that a supersmall head would be the ideal backup that I would leave with my bag of gear and take everywhere with me. Both these amps look ok to save a gig at a pinch, but the BAM200 is around half the price so it's looking pretty attractive just now.

why did you think they'd be the same?

Not the one I saw. He started by saying he liked the sound but at some point he opened it up and found the speaker baskets were of a different construction to what they used to have, and he felt cheated because he felt they were using cheaper materials and construction. There was nothing I recall about the speaker sounding bad.

I've got a PRS SE Custom 24 and I can't speak highly of it enough. I love the pickups, the finish, everything. I've never been a big fan of coil taps on humbuckers, but on this guitar they sound great. I am mostly a Strat player, I love single coils. The PRS doesn't sound like one, but it has a very nice single-coil kind of sound in addition to the fatter humbuckers. Ergonomically, it's miles better than any Les Paul style. Go get it! This is mine:

Yes, they do feel a bit sticky at first but that soon goes away.

Yes, but necessary. Also known as NEW [insert type of gear] DAY threads. It's my new toy, so it's awesome. All agree. Then two weeks later the truth comes out

That, I like

Still less than half the price of an USA one. Prices have gone up all round! Before you say no to MIM, try them. They have improved a LOT from what they used to be 10-15 years ago. A good P bass for £600-700? In 2020? That doesn't sound bad at all.

When I found he plays with Dare now I was very surprised, as I can't see him playing much slap there. And he doesn't. He's a pretty good bass player, he's just unfortunately better known for his emulation of a typewriter with a bass.

Pots are not the best, standard tuners and bridge I can see they're not top dollar items, but they do the job (only had one with standard hardware, basses 2 and 3 I specified different hardware). I really have no issue at all with any of these... but screws... ugh.

There are places to cut down costs, and places where you don't. It's not a multimillion instrument operation, the savings are not that significant. Hell, charge me an extra tenner and use screws that are not an alloy of iron and cheese. I enjoyed my three Maruszczyks (now down to just one), and those screws were insanely bad. I broke off a pickup mounting screw without much effort: I started applying force and it was hard, then gently started to give way... only it wasn't being unscrewed, it was the screw being twisted, and it quickly sheared off leaving me to remove the bit of screw with a lot of swearing. Really, Maruszczyk, you make some really cool instruments, don't spoil it for the sake of a few pennies.

oh yes, do it with the pickup covers off. I am not sure the covers will melt but it is a lot easier to do a tidy job if you remove them prior to coating them. I used the 60-second (Rimmel?) one, and just applied 3-4 thin coats. It stayed put for a few years (I no longer have that bass)

Yes, it works, it's easy to remove too in the future and it doesn't damage anything (just be sensible). I still prefer to ground the polepieces first, if feasible.

why?

nail polish works very well, and you get a choice of colours However, I'd try to fix the problem first without nail polish: you need to ground the polepieces. If they're accessible from under the pickup, all you have to do is join them (conductive copper tape works, for example) and then join that wire/tape to ground. Then the polepieces will not make noise when you touch them. If that's complicated... then yes, nail polish is an easy solution. I have done it in the past.

It's a very nice preamp, if you like Stingray preamps. I'd go for the 3-knob 3-band version 'though. The semiparametric mids module is very cool. You may not touch it much, but when you need it it's like having the 7th of Cavalry coming to the rescue

It does look slightly off, and I am positive you can readjust by reseating the neck in the pocket... but for such a small difference, personally I would not bother. Of course, if it bothers you, and that's what matters then you can always reseat it yourself. It's easy.

Oh the glamour, eh?