I’m sure BD will sort you out. Labella seem very keen on sorting faulty strings. I had one of their nylon wrapped G strings that had an issue (not the one you describe). I’d had it a fair few months, but it was never right. I contacted them to buy a single and they replaced it for free, just had to pay carriage. They couldn’t have been more helpful. I would assume that this level of service is extended to their dealers.
I’ve done a couple of charity gigs recently for the Teenager Cancer Trust. The organisers, a mod/scooter club have asked in advance what our expenses will be and have also made sure we are well watered (beer or soft drinks), plus they provide PA & backline, which makes it much less of a faff. This is ok with me and we don’t have to do it of course. I think expecting folk to play for free, without some sort of expenses is taking the pee.
We’re talking less than 0.13mm here, I'm sure it’ll be fine. I’ve never experienced any nut issues between 100s and 105s, although I’ve never had an MM compensated nut.
It depends how it stacks up against other boutique pres. Nobles are crazy expensive, Caveman too. Origin Effects are less expensive at around £550, as is the Jad Freer (IIRC), which, given the similar pedal board nature of the Walrus, I think is where it should be pitched. For my own use, £250-£300 is going to be my top end and there are plenty of offerings up to that figure for preamps that do what I need/want.
I watched one of the videos and due to the lack of a side by side comparison (with and without the Walrus), it's hard to say if it's really enhancing the sound that much (away from the extreme settings) than my current, much more affordable pre amps do already (Tech21 & Sadowsky).
I know it's very easy and typical for us to diss a new product, but I really wanted to be blown away
Sunday week. I’m not sure about an afternoon gig that starts at 4:00, kinda feels like the dead zone between a midday and evening gig, we’ll see I guess.
No one is, it’s a personal opinion. Some may share your POV but plenty won’t too.
Perfect, that’s the point, you’re not supposed to be trying to please anyone else but you.
To be fair, the transparent ones do have a silvery aspect to them, when not being worn, you should be fine.
I had no colour choice with my Elacins and, whilst not NHS beige, they do lean in that direction.