Schlippy

Ouch. Assuming the build quality and factory setup was still sub-Classic Vibe level that doesn't seem particularly fair! Anyways, I'm assuming the orange Affinity wasn't a Mike Kerr signature model, so the listing is still trying to blag a comparison between a sub-CV Squier and the by-all-accounts dreadful & hugely overpriced Fender model from '23 that won all the end of year wooden spoon awards.

Were they not? Assumed all the Affinity range were at the same price point, my bad then

Lolololololol: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/286628515175 Pasing off an Affinity as a limited edition is bad enough (although I guess they don't do them in orange any more), but trying to pass it off as what is universally acknowledged to be one of the worst signature editions Fender has made yet takes the biscuit. 450 quid for a guitar that cost less than 200 new!

Surprised there's been no mention of the Boss WL-50, they're the best wireless adapter on the market IMO. As well as the usual advantages of freedom of movement and no coil whine/hum, they've got: a lovely chonky wireless adapter that plugs into your axe with a satisfying thunk, holds 8-12 hours charge and has a green-amber-red indicator to let you know how much charge it has left a standard Boss pedal-sized receiver / charging dock that sits nicely at the beginning of your pedal chain, runs on batteries as a backup, has a 9V out socket as well as a 6.35mm input jack just in case, and has three latency settings for emulating different cable lengths (no idea why tho lol). incredibly low latency latency of 2.3ms as standard, I believe even the most finely attuned human ear can't detect latency under 10ms 14 distinct onboard channels so despite only running at 2.4GHz even if there's a fair bit of contention at that frequency you're unlikely to collide with other signals up to 65 feet line of sight The only potential downside is if you like to store the adapter in the charging dock between sets and you keep your pedalboard unplugged, you need to remember to not fully insert the adapter otherwise it thinks it's in use and drains the battery. Boss maybe missed a trick there by not having a footswitch on the charging unit to toggle between charging modes.

Late to the party but another +1 for the Ernie Ball cobalt flats, had some on a short scale for maybe eitheen months now and they've still got plenty of top end left, I remember posting here when I first got them how impressed I was with the tone after they'd broken in. I've got another shortie with some (admittedly 2.5 years old at this point) D'Addario XL nickels which essentially sound like flats now, the cobalts have aged a helluva lot better than them. Edit - the one potential downside with the cobalts (and all pressure/ground-wound pseudo-flats in my experience) is that they can be pretty abrasive on your fingertips if you're prone to sweating or play often in humid conditions. It's something I've never experienced with the mirror-finish you get on "true" flats (LaBellas especially) so I assume it's something to do with the process of transitioning a standard roundwound into a hybrid. Might just be me tho, I am a bit of a sweaty Betty as our 'Strine chums would say.

I use one of Gator's Mono knock-off Icon cases (not the bass version, but the G-ICONELECTRIC which is designed for 6-strings), which fits most of my short scales like a glove...except for the SG sad face emoji: It's very nearly a perfect fit, but the broad headstock profile on the SG coupled with the additional base support cushion in the case means the Grovers are pushing into the sides of the case ever so slightly. Without the support cushion at the bottom it's a better fit: ...but there's still a tiny bit of contact, not enough to compromise the case but it'll most likely cause the fabric to wear over time. To be honest you're going to struggle to find anything as good as the Gibson OHSC, it fits the whole body like a glove, supports and holds the neck in two places and has plenty of room to stop those daft oversize tuners getting in the way, plus is boot friendly as it's only a few inches longer / wider than the guitar itself, thanks to the form-fitting nature: Both options are relatively pricey new, the Gator goes for 120-140 and the Gibson one is 150+, but they crop up on ebay & reverb individually every so often for under 100 notes. Or - you could sacrifice the classic profile of the SG and swap out those stupid Grovers for some nice Gotoh ultralights, and not only have a bass that comfortably fits a lot of aftermarket cases but also doesn't have any neck dive. Given how long the SG has had a neck dive issue and how simple the solution is, I can only assume Gibson hold their consumer base in wilful contempt and deliberately sell them overpriced substandard gear because they despise them (see also: the insane weight profile of the Gibson Les Paul, the crime against engineering that is the Gibson three-point bass bridge, the fuggit-that'll-do attitude toward housing the mudbucker on all Gibson basses that have one, etc. etc.)

Bought an SG off Paul in what was probly the easiest transaction I've had here on Basschat, fantastic comms throughout and he had it boxed up and ready for collection within a few hours, ended up taking delivery of it within 48 hours of first messaging him! Couldn't have gone smoother, cheers Paul.

So while you can't polish a turd, it turns out you can lacquer one:

For the specs you probably need either an intermediate or occupational (standard in the middle with a "boost" at the bottom of the lens) prescription for on stage, and as far as the look goes if it's good enough for Elvis, Ozzy and Slash it's good enough for you. If you don't play rock then Bootsy, George Clinton and Nile Rodgers all wear glasses on stage and no-one's gonna accuse any of them of not looking the part. Short scales can save your back, a lot of them come in well under 3.5kg / 7lbs (my stock SG was 2.8kg!), but a wide padded strap can go a long way to mitigating the weight of a full scale - I got a 5" wide Maruszczyk PES50 off here a while ago, it's super comfortable and I can happily wear a 4kg+ full scale for over an hour without my fully herniated L5/S1 complaining. I find offsets cause more trouble than heavier guitars these days, think it's more about the diagonal distribution of the weight than the weight itself.

Bought a strap from Ian, great bit of kit that turned up well packaged in as-new condition. Cheers Ian!

Bought a gigbag off Nick in a super easy transaction, great comms and a fantastic bit of kit, and to top it all off he met me at a mutually convenent location which cut my journey time in half. Cheers Nick!