Dad3353

I can't think of any reason why the string should snap at that particular point. Could be down to bad luck; I've never come across this specific issue. Are these the same make of strings..? Maybe try a 'G' from a different souce, just to see..? It won't affect the tone to any notable degree. Other than that, it's only down to the usual suspects, as remarked above, of being sure there's no sharp corners anywhere along the string support points. Why break at the headstock, though..? Mystery, sorry.

The truss rod adjuster is at the heel of the neck. It's probably easiest to unbolt the neck to get access. There's a photo of how it's done on this 'Fret dress' page... Burns Marquee Fret Dress And Set-Up ... Hope this helps.

From the Basschat T&C ... 3. Your responsibilities and registration obligations. In order to use this web site or certain parts of it, you are required to register a user account on this web site; in this case, you agree to provide truthful information when requested, and undertake that you are aged at least the thirteen (13) or more. By registering, you explicitly agree to this site's terms of use, including any amendments made by the Administrators from time to time and available here. Guitarchat would be identical, surely. Do you have issues that need dealing with in this respect..? Hope this helps.

Ha..! A good one..! I couldn't find anything, either, and I'm a Mod here..! Being a 'spin-off' from Basschat.co.uk, the Terms & Conditions will be pretty much identical; those applied to Basschat can be found here... Basschat Rules ... That should at least show how BC and GC work; meanwhile, it might be a Good Idea if the Admins here could add a specific GC/Rules in the near future. @Kiwi, @ped I'm addresseing this suggestion to the Upper Echelons; they will act in due course to rectify the situation. Meanwhile, is there anything specific that you'd like to know..?

Good afternoon... Not really advice, as such, as I have no direct experience with either of these models, but I'd suggest that, in their price range, there's nothing in it, really, except your personal taste concerning their finish and asthetics, for which no-one can really help. They are both excellent guitars, from reputed manufacturers, and their specifications don't really allow any major advantage, one over t'other. If you're happy with how they look to you, and you have confidence in the supplier, I'd say either will give entier satisfaction. Sorry if this doesn't help much, but them's the breaks. Consider, too, getting a hard case, if you'll be transporting your guitar..?

Typically, a bridge p/u is wound slightly 'hotter' than a neck p/u, to compenstae for there being less string movement for the p/u to capture in that position. The mid p/u of a Gibson would, I would think, be closer to the neck p/u in its response to the strings, so would choose that as a 'default' option. It's quite admissible, however, to mix things up and try other options; there are are no laws, written in stone in these matters. Hope this helps.

Worth a look..?

Depending on the degree of sophistication required (it's a very deep rabbit hole...), I would suggest that excellent results can be obtained with a large-diaphragm condenser mic. Budget determines the choice, really; there are fine mics available for £30-40 which do the job very well indeed. I'd assume that these would be used in conjunction with an audio interface, such as the ubiquitous Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 (around £125...) or similar, to adapt the signal to the PC running the DAW, and to provide the 'phantom' powering that these mics require. That particular interface has two mic inputs, so the option of a second mic becomes useful (the large-diaphragm for the body of the recording, a small-diaphragm mic oriented rather towards the neck for some detailed sound; other mic placements are available...). A similar cost, starting at £30, gives a wide range of possibilities. Which models, in particular..? We have successfully used Superlux mics (Superlux E205; Superlux HI10...) for this kind of recording, and, for home/semi-pro work, would look no further for value for money. Spending more may provide other options, such as built-in filtering, or adjustable recording 'lobes'; I tend to a rather minimalist approach. It's worth looking into, and experimenting, with both mic placing and room choice, as these have a wide effect on the results. Disclaimer : Subject to completion, correction and/or contradiction from others. Hope this helps.

We use a Marshall AC50D, which is very good. I have also used a Roland AC-60, which is also very good.

Good afternoon, @R32, and ... Plenty to read and amuse you here, and lots to learn and share.

I have Hofner guitars and basses from about this era (a bit later, really, but...). If the guitar plays well, and has no structural issues, I'd suggest somewhere in the region of 400-500€, maybe a bit more if there's a hard case for it. It certainly looks fine, and would interest a collector, but it's a rather 'niche' market. You might like to consider having it valued by a second reputable dealer..?

Good afternoon, @15thfloor.co.uk, and ... Plenty to read and amuse you here, and lots to learn and share.

There are several readily available, such as ... Under-saddle piezo transducer for guitar ... Use this in Amazon Search and choose (I filtered by those with 4 or more 'stars'...).

Good Stuff, Neil; you're on the right track. Just for reference : I'm a drummer, but playing (learning..?) guitar for well over half a century now (72 next birthday...). As I mentioned, it goes in steps, whereby little progress is apparent, then... Light bulb..! I started the hard way, with a very bad Russian-made steel-strung 'classical' guitar, and bought at the same time a method book. Little did I know what was between those covers..! I can heartily recommend it; it's served me in good stead ever since (I've worn it out a few times, and bought another...). Here's the book, dirt cheap from Amazon (Click; it's a link...)... Try it; it's guaranteed to get you out of a rut and thinking differently. Your practice routine looks good, if you're able to keep it up regularly. I'd suggest the first half-hour as warm-up, and a refresher of whatever you did the day before. 45 minutes or an hour of looking at new stuff, mixing a song or two and a bit of theory (new chords, a scale or two in different keys, a few 'hot licks'...), then finish the session with a 'free for all', just chilling out with whatever, solo or with a backing track or similar. Maybe a break in the middle, for a glass of water and a quick stroll around the garden, to give the brain and fingers a rest..? It's healthy to attack many different styles, and mix 'em up. I might even suggest taking a peek at a few classical pieces arranged for guitar..? I'd suggest from what you've written above that you won't stay in a rut for very long..! Keep us posted, please; your input here will doubtless help others. Bon courage..!

Good evening, Neil... Would you mind giving a bit more detail as to what you're wanting to achieve..? What style..? Any favourite influences you'd like to work towards..? Any songs or pieces that you are already either good at or struggling with..? There's a lot of general advice, suitable for any and all occasions, but a bit more info would help to put you on the rails. Meanwhile, here's a few general tips that will always serve you in good stead... A little-and-often approach is much better than irregular long sessions. Make a conscious decision to do, every day, at least 10-15 minutes, without fail. This is better than 2 hours at week-ends, for instance. It matters less what you do in that time as the regularity of doing stuff, every day. It's a simple discipline, but works wonders. Learning the guitar, like many other things, goes in leaps and bounds. One may easily get the impression that not much is sinking in, then suddenly, there's a modest 'quantum leap'. This levels off to another plateau, until 'Bingo..!'; there's another..! The trick is to stubbonly keep ploughing on, in the firm and certain knowledge that it's improving, whether you think so or not. Be patient, and persist; the rewards are there. A quick'n'easy test..? Turn the guitar over and try to play it left-handed (or right-handed, if you're a 'lefty'...). This is roughly the ability you had before picking up the guitar at all. Turn it back to normal, and recognise that progress has, indeed, been made. Be convinced that everyone here, and every one of your favourite players, started out the same way; no-one was born with the 'gift'. It only comes through keeping on keeping on, that's all. Tell us more, then, and you'll be guided onto a firm path for you to tread, at whatever pace you wish. We all know it's not easy, but we also know that it's worth it. Over to you, then..? Douglas

I don't buy stuff because of the name, nor refuse to buy stuff because of the name. Just sayin' s'all.

Behringer HB01 Hell Babe... ... for value for money. Works for bass, too.

If you're not playing the amp 'flat out', the HB will do the job nicely. Remember to use the 4 Ohm setting, and switch out the combo speaker when using the cab. To break a 4x12, one has to be playing really, really loud. 'Back then', the tone was obtained by maxing the valve amps, over-driving the output valves. As this was so darned loud (for everyone, including the guitarist...), the trick was to have the cab in another room, or, as we did, laying the cab face down on carpet. This allowed the amp to 'sing' without breaking the windows (still darned loud, though..!). With solid-state valve-sound amps, this extreme volume is not needed, and there are now plenty of pedals to tone-shape without cranking to max. Ear-plugs are still a Good Idea, though..!

It depends a great deal on the volume you're playing at. I can easily understand a 1x12 combo not sounding ideal, so the 4x12 option seems to be better suited to that spectrum. If you're playing so loud as to risk damaging either of the cabs you've listed, you're in a stadium with FOH support, so tone it down some. In any 'normal' clubs, bars or theatres, that amp with a 4x12 will easily fill the venue, even in those frequency ranges. I would, however, un-hook the combo speaker when playing with the 4x12; you will definetly not want it active at the same time as the 4x12. If the amp needs 4 Ohms, get an extension cab at 4 Ohms and switch out the combo speaker. I won't say much about the choice between the two listed, but the Mesa would be one heck of a step up, even second-hand, if you can get one from somewhere in Europe. Good luck with the project (but I suspect you'll be far too loud for my old cloth ears...). Edit: Our Eldest recommends the Harley Benson as better value for money, and well up to the task, and a bargain at its present price, compared to the 1960A.

We were a bit 'picky' in choosing the strip we did; maybe an even cheaper one would have been fine. The Seagull had a pretty decent electrified tone before the piezo clapped out, but having replaced it with the one linked, it's just as good as before, so we're very happy with the operation. If you're able to do the removal and fitting of a new strip into the bridge cavity (that's the only delicate part, to be sure that the strip beds in well, and that the bridge height is not affected, or is adjusted to suit...) it's a no-brainer, really. Piezo are very high impedance, and I doubt that the pre-amp will see any difference, at 10% - 20% more or less. It's certainly worth trying, for such a small outlay, I'd say. Your local tech would certainly be able to do it, if you doubt your own capacity, and it shouldn't cost more than an arm or a leg or so.

If the pre-amp is OK, but it's the strip under the saddle that's H/S, it's a pretty easy fix, and not expensive. I asked for a photo; could you snap the bridge itself, with the strip..? Any replacement will not have the connector, but that's a simple matter of either soldering to the pre-amp pins, or cutting the defective strip cable and soldering the new one to it. It's not rocket surgery, and the impedance of these things is much of a muchness, especially at the price ranges we're discussing. This is the transducer we bought from Amazon... Under-saddle strip ... For the princely sum of less than 14€, it was an easy swap for the original, after modifying the passage for the wire to leave the bridge a tad. If the issue is the strip, it'll be worth a try with something of the sort, I'd say. If it's the pre-amp, though, that's another ball-game.

Simon & Patrick Guitars : Contact Us...

Any chance of a few photos..? Our Eldest has just replaced the duff piezo on his Seagull acoustic with a generic one; it went well (he's a luthier...). You could also try contacting Simon & Patrick in Canada; they may have either spare parts, or suggestions..? Douglas

I concur with my learned friend .

From the few ads I can see, and an 'argus' figure for that model, I'd say around the £2000 mark (would be more for a vintage one...). From the photos, it doesn't look to be too 'reliced', so anything less would be more of a bargain for the buyer (assuming, of course, that the 'Martin' sound is there..!). Way out of my reach, and I can't play well enough to justify it (I'm a drummer, so...), but Good Luck with the sale, if you decide to move it on. For my part, I have too much sentimental value invested in my guitars, so they'll never be sold; their monetary value is therefore academic.