mcnach

No, it's confusing because of their nomenclature. By the time the came with the combo they were doing the Little Mark II, and they labelled the identical head on the combo "Combo Head", without the II. When they released the LMIII, the head on the combo became "Combo Head II", but it's a LMIII, they didn't make separate heads. The only difference is the labelling and that the combo head lacks the top metal cover (which is not needed since it's inserted in the cabinet. I always wished the had made the head extractable... but I guess the model works for them since I ended up with a head AND a combo. They switched to class D on those amps back in 2012 or so I think, so heads/combos bought around 2012/13 could be anything, but anything newer would definitely be class D. I've owned both class AB and D versions and I can't say I noticed any significant difference, but I never had them at the same time to test them side by side. When I had the combo and the head they were both class D. My current LMIII is a class AB unit from 2009 :shrug: I like it as much as all the others, and this time I'm not selling it If it says LMII or Combo Head, it'll be class AB. It it says LMIII or Combo Head II, it can be AB (early ones) or D. By the time they moved production to Asia they were all class D, but there are Italian ones of both types.

My Aftershock has been seen home use only, which is a crime as it's such a great pedal... but I seem to end up gravitating to simpler pedals for live use, even if the Aftershock can do the job of some of them better. Anyway, we're talking smallish nuances that won't come across live. However I don't see myself selling it soon (but then I don't have a Helix). Low end on the American Sound seems good, but it's early days and I am reluctant to pronounce myself 100% about it until I get a chance to try it at proper volume with a band etc. Having said that, I've had many pedals where the loss of low end was very noticeable at home, and I don't have that impression here. That suggests that if there's some loss, perhaps a tiny bump of the EQ on the pedal would compensate for it. I've been using a Caline Orange Burst on my "RATM board" for the lower gain sounds. It is a very nice sounding overdrive but with a marked low end loss. I bump the bass control on the pedal almost to max on that one just to retain the 'oomph'. I love it on guitar, but for bass it's not ideal. The American Sound would be a great substitute where the bass control could be used to adjust the sound to taste, not so much to compensate for its deficiency, if you see what I mean.

Yeah, at that price I don't think anyone can complain much. It seems pretty solid, as long as the switch holds, I can't see much going wrong with it, and if it fails I could probably just buy another. For versatility, the SA Aftershock is amazing, but I get easily bored when I have too many options, menus, etc. This one is so good, that if I don't change my mind in a month or so I might just buy another just to have two 'presets' on my board. Although who knows when I'll be needing it... I can't see myself gigging anytime soon

I've got a Scarlett Solo, so that's good to know.

After 2-3 years hearing good things about it, last week I was alone in front of my computer and I caved in. I ordered one, and it arrived today. It's not good. It's REALLY good. Nice range of overdrives, from round and fat to aggressive and gritty, just by turning the "voice" control. No low end loss to speak of, and it's got a 3-band EQ so you can easily adjust the basic sound should you need it. I first used it with my Stratocaster... and I liked it a lot, nothing extraordinary but I got easily some really cool sounds. I've owned a couple of old Fender valve amps and I could recognise some of teh sounds in here, with low gain. So far so good. BUt on bass? Fantastic. I especially liked this lowish gain, fat, creamy compressed type of sound... hmmm. Hard to describe, I should record some clips. Anyway, I just wanted to say that if you're looking for a nice overdrive that works well on bass and is versatile... you should consider this one. If you also want it to be cheap, then you DEFINITELY should consider this one.

Mine arrived today, an "American sound". I only used it for about an hour, alternating between bass and guitar. What a great pedal that is!!! I didn't get to enjoy the discount but thank you for indirectly pushing me to finally buy one: it's far better than I had hoped for.

come on, we wont tell!

Not that much difference with the 800W amp, if my experience between the LMIII and the LMT800 is anything similar. That's if you used the heads with a suitably large cab. Through the built-in speaker in the combo? None whatsoever, it'll only be louder (and probably less than you think) once you add an external cab. I'd leave it as it is. The CMD121P is a pretty nice little combo. Use an external cab for extra volume.

If you want an OC-2 in small form, the Valeton OC-10 mentioned above is probably the best call.

I've been considering getting one for a while... so this pushed me over the edge and went to order one. However, there was nowhere to enter the discount code... I still ordered it

Please report back when you get them. I'm a fan of DR roundcore strings, and it sounds like Newtone might be a good alternative.

When you want to play an open G, all you need to do is not fret the G string, but you can (should?) still hold the neck, and probably mute the other strings too. It sounds like your bass does not have a good balance (other people have mentioned that, and ways to deal with it, if it bothers you)... but there really isn't a reason to not hold the neck at all just to play an open string.

a strain is not defined by uniqueness on those proteins that are being targetted to make a vaccine from, most (all?) will share that protein with complete identity. That information is what we need before stating that it's a problem to create a vaccine. These half-truths create fear unnecessarily

I like it, but not £2500-like it

Uli!!!! I love that guy!!! I only saw him live once... he was fantastic.

Nice, a Gordon Smith! I had a couple, the first being a simple but wonderful GS-1(single humbucker, double cutaway). I found it used in a guitar shop in 1993 in Cambridge. I was after a Squier Strat at the time and I walked into this shop... they had no Squiers. They showed me a bunch of Peavey stratocaster style guitars. I didn't love any of them. Then the guy said "you know, I know you said your budget is £200, but there's this guitar here which is much better than any of those you tried..." and he fetches a guitar I had noticed as soon as I walked in. It was a 1986 model and they wanted £225. I walked out of there with the guitar and a hard case. What a great guitar that was. I then bought a Graduate 60 in 2001. I sold both in 2008. The GS-1 was such a great guitar...

whoa! I had never seen one of those. I can't decide whether I like it or not... it's attractive, for paisley (not a fan typically, as you've gathered). I think I like it! Am I ill? In my case, I forgot to mention... not only I wanted a Stratocaster with a proper humbucker at the bridge (it's a DiMarzio H8 on mine, which seems to be some kind of model made specifically for Fender but based on the PAF Pro) and a Floyd Rose... but I had a thing for white/cream strats too. I blame Ritchie Blackmore for that. So when I found a white Sambora model in Rose Morris in London (pre-internet days, I had to phone many shops) I went there to try it (I was in Reading at the time). They had the one I got and a black one. The black one had a nicer setup but I had wanted a cream strat for ages so... that's what I got. I struggled a bit to set it up just right (the joy of floating bridges eh?) but it was a good one. They also had a USA cherry sunburst that was very nice, but not being a fan of sunbursts or the stars as fingerboard inlays... meant I saved a lot of money. ESpecially because I don't think my girlfriend would have bought me the USA one, but when she saw the price of the MIM one I got, she said "that's ok, I'll get this for you"

If they cease trading, I see a few of them becoming housing at least here in Edinburgh. It's a trend that has been going on for a few years. Once a venue goes, you don't get another in its place elsewhere. This can potentially change a lot the whole live music scene.

Well spotted, it is indeed. The Mexican version, got it new in August/September 1996. I liked the maple fingerboard on the USA more, but not the star shaped fingerboard markers. Not that I was a fan of Sambora (I don't dislike him, but I'm not a fan either). I just wanted a Stratocaster with a humbucker on the bridge position and a Floyd Rose. In the mid 90s, when guitar magazines were full of guitarists claiming not to know anything about guitar and shredding was out of fashion, it was not easy to find a guitar like that unless you went with Ibanez... and I did want a Stratocaster, HSS. So I got this. Well, my girlfriend at the time bought it for me. I modified the wiring so that the middle pickup tone control is now for the bridge pickup instead, and replaced the switch because I never used the middle pickup alone, so I get neck, neck+middle, neck+one coil of bridge, middle+one coil of bridge, full humbucker. That way I get the classic positions 2 and 4 strat sounds, plus other interesting ones. I ended up buying an Ibanez RG548 too, years later. It's essentially an RG550 but with natural finish, and with the same slightly disappointing V7/V1/V8 pickups, but it was a joy to play. Unfortunately, when I had to downsize I decided to keep only two guitars and a bass, and the RG548 went, because I just love the Strat too much. edit: I'm using it to play reggae/ska with it at the moment... not what you expect to find for this style

ok ok... here's the strat

As far as my bands are concerned, we're hoping we'll still get some gigs this year, but we're focusing more on building up new material for next year. We are busiest with festivals etc, and this Spring/Summer is a complete write-off.

+1 I suspect that most music venues and pubs will take a bit longer to get back in business, and because it's never going to be 100% safe (the virus will still be out there in the population) I imagine a certain % of the population might be reluctant to get back into crowded places anytime soon.

I'm down to just two guitars now. A Stratocaster with a fat humbucker at the bridge and Floyd Rose that I've owned since 1996 from new, and a cheap but lovely SX Les Paul style with P90 pickups. I should have kept the Telecaster... I had a Japanese E-series Squier that was covered in dings but played and sounded fantastic. I sold it in 2008 together with most of my equipment when I needed to downsize quickly (I was going to move to Canada, but then didn't). I regretted it ever since. I still want a Tele but I haven't yet found one that appeals enough at the right price (I don't play guitar as much these days, and when I do it's the strat, so I don't want to spend 1K on a Tele now).

I have the Squier one, but I am not sure if they're any different in dimensions to the Fender one.

I suspect most people will recommend what they use... and I'm no different I play mostly ska/reggae/funk. The combination I've been most happy with is my current Mesa D800+ plus a couple of Barefaced Two10 cabs. The combination of voice/HPF/bass control on the D800+ is a veritable reggae secret weapon that works very well with those speakers. But I've also been very happy playing with a Trace Elliot 210 combo + 115 extension... however that was muuuuch heavier.