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I'm not trying to bring down Overwater's rep or anything! I just want to know if anyone out there knows more than I do about the situation and hopefully I can just get it resolved. Ideally I would like to continue buying from them in the future and everything.

I have infact seen that! I've had good experiences in the past though, so I was looking at that as a kind of one-off event. I really like their strings, the fact they're reasonably priced compared to just about everywhere else, and that I can actually buy 7 string sets in something approaching the gauges I want right off the shelf. Didn't get on with Newtone, so here I am.

Does anyone know if Overwater are having a problem at the moment? My mum ordered me some strings from them on the 15th December for Christmas (boring, I know, but we all need them!), and they never turned up. Although it was kind of annoying, we cut some slack what with it being Christmas, and she sent them an email in January asking what the score was. Apparently they'd been sent out, and a replacement set would be shipped. Weeks passed once again with no strings, and she has since asked about just getting a refund for it. That was weeks ago now, and the email has been left not responded to, or ignored. She told me she's given up on it as a lost cause, but that's totally unhip. I have since ordered a set of strings which arrived with no problems, so I know it isn't the shipping address that's at fault. I could really do with these strings as we're spending 3 weeks recording away from home with no access to new strings really for me in about a week's time. I've ordered a couple more sets in the meantime which I'm currently waiting on, but I could have done without it because times are very tight for me at the moment and £25 will actually go a long way for me. Let alone the fact that it's the principle of the thing! Anyway, I fired off another email on Sunday enquiring about the whole thing, and again I've had no response. Is there a genuine problem here, or am I being ignored? Hell I'd even pay extra for recorded delivery to make totally sure I get them. I don't care, I just want what's been paid for really. I know how the post works, and the chance that those two packets sent out both got lost by Royal Mail is really unlikely, despite the bad rep RM gets, but even so it is possible. But that shouldn't explain why I'm getting no response? I will pick up the telephone tomorrow I think.

I really miss my VBC412. I wish I still had it. But it's not practical for me anymore

Delays and reverbs aren't bass specific anyway. The filters are generally better on guitar I've found, but some of them sound good with bass. The wah's aren't amazing though IMO. The modulation is ace. There is a specific bass octave effect, there are decent compressors for bass, some of the EQs are good with bass... It's only really the drives and a few of the filters that I find weak with bass. I know some people love the drives though, so don't just take my word for it. And if you don't have an expression pedal, you miss half the fun of the M9.

Should it not be possible to drill the rack in the new desired position, and then secure it from behind just like with a gator rack? I know you're not keen on getting it drilled, but it won't affect the performance of the case should you decide to swap back.

Okay, well I've got hold of some blue press 'n' peel paper, and I have access to a laser printer. And with a little effort in front of a computer on my part, I can have the design to print onto it done anytime really. So that aspect of it is covered. I'm guessing it isn't the kind of thing Maplins have in their shops? There's a medium sized Maplins in town, but I don't recall ever seeing any acid there... And when you mention it as a solution, what are you adding to it to dilute it? If it's better to have it stronger, would it be too strong if it were used neat?

Best thing you can do is if you definitely want an M9, buy it and see what it can replace from your setup. You don't just have to use multi OR singles. I found the drives a bit lacking personally, so I have my old distortion pedal still. And I have a separate compressor pedal with mine, as it is always on and I didn't want to waste one of my 3 valuable M9 effects slots with that. Sounds like it may do far far more than you actually need right now, unless you plan to expand your effects usage.

When I had the VBA400 and 1 VBC412, it was way too loud for any venue I ever played. 2 of them would be monstrous, and I'm not sure in a good way. Transporting them would not be fun either. And given the weight of the VBA400, I don't think you'll have much option but to put them side by side

Okay, so I want to finish off a stompbox enclosure, but don't want to just go for the painted route. Looking around for a few different solutions, I stumbled upon etching. There are some really neat etched pedals about, and I think I'm going to try it. But does anyone know what the best kind of acid is, how much I'll need for just one pedal and a couple of test runs, and where is a good place to buy it from? As far as I can gather, I need a hydrochloric acid and hydrogen peroxide mix? Cheers!

I'm probably on the border between 'regular wear and tear', and 'treating with disrespect' with my bass. I've been in the mindset of keeping things mint as long as possible before but I gave up on that a long time ago. I only have one bass, a quite nice Shuker. But I spent a lot of money on it that I earned myself, and enjoy playing the thing - I wouldn't want to play a gig without it currently! And as it is a custom instrument for me, the resale value doesn't concern me. I'm keeping it. I wouldn't dream of buying a spare cheap bass to take out live 'just incase something bad happens'. When I see 20 year old instruments that are carefully polished, tuned, then put back in the case once every few months, it really just makes me sad. I would never intentionally damage it, but I do sling it around quite a lot - we have an energetic live show, and there's no telling what/who I could hit, or what might hit it! I don't use a stand the majority of the time and often end up leaning it against whatever is around, or laid on the floor. Everytime I take it to Jon to have something changed, or just set up or whatever, there seems to be another new dent that he'll comment on. But I don't mind at all - I use it! Isn't that what a luthier wants? For someone to use and enjoy the instruments they make? Just because it looks a bit knackered doesn't mean that the electronics and everything aren't in perfect working order and maintained! But no, I don't clean it enough

[quote name='basshead56' post='728521' date='Jan 29 2010, 11:21 AM']I´ve not heard much about them overheating before. I know someone who forgot to take the back cover of his rack and played a 3hour gig with an Ampeg (don´t know if it was a 2,3 or 4PRO though) and overheated it.[/quote] How did he plug it in with the rear rack cover on?

About 25 quid all told on the charges for the TT, Alex. Mine should be turning up tomorrow

[quote name='dannybuoy' post='731201' date='Jan 31 2010, 11:17 PM']I always thought the limit was £18 but it looks like they raised it to £105 in Dec 2008 and £135 January this year! [url="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7727717.stm"]http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7727717.stm[/url] [url="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8441546.stm"]http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8441546.stm[/url] That would be £135 per package, so you might get stung if they were shipped together and the sender put the full value down on the documentation. Some shops in the US put down the value as $25 to avoid customs charges (typically 17.5% VAT +£8 'handling' charge) but that means they are only insured for that much if it were to go missing. Looks like these people could get away with increasing that now though with these new limits in place![/quote] So how come I got stung for my Turbo Tuner? That's considerably less than £135, even shipped cost

I'm hoping that totally unexplained USB port on the rear panel will be to update the software for non standard tunings, and anything up to 7/8 string guitars. Until then, I don't have a use for the extra features it has, and I'll stick with something else I think.

Love the Matamp water cooler.

Just thought I'd add that. We were running bass through both of them (not at the same time) last night just to see what it sounded like.

Yeah, I want a flight case for it. It's on the list of things to buy, but there are other pressing issues. I have a head cover I bought from Matamp while I was there which is okay for now though. Intend to leave it on as much as possible - want to keep it bright white ^_^ It isn't necessarily built specifically to have a dirty tone, but when you get the lowest gain setting to sound dirty just by turning the master volume up about half way, then you know the thing is going to be filth central. Weird though - I had the volume really low at a gig the other day in a pub with no PA support and it was plenty loud enough (had to turn down so we didn't trip the noise limit machine box thing). But plugging away in my practice room today, it seemed a lot quieter. It's a hard to beast to control though - I'd love it if the drive you get didn't overdrive the low end quite as much too. And when it's cranked, you can really see the speakers in my Schroeder working VERY hard for it D: There's a Matamp GT1 creeping into the bottom corner of that last photo too

Not the best photo Hastily taken on my phone.

Again, not the best photos - just my rubbish phone still

digital distortion circuits are largely poo. most people with separate pedals and a multi will say they kept their old dirt pedals, but let the multi do just about everything else.

I do want a smaller footprint tuner than my DT-10, so this might be a good choice. Colour me interested!