Kiwi

I suppose there could be a whiff of lag when you use the Zoom depending on what it is. I have a Zoom G3X at home which I don't use any more and it's a little noisy and it lags if I try to record and monitor direct rather than through the DAW. I think you might be ahead of the curve a little bit with your current set up. Soon many gigging guitarists are going to end up with profilers like Axe FX/Kemper etc. into an active PA cab instead of a full fat valve amp. The sound of a valve power amp can be so faithfully recreated through profiling although the convincing tech is only really accessible above a certain price point. But anyway, back to your set up. You have a bunch of requirements that AFAIA aren't necessarily supported in the budget kit that is available, much beyond what you already have. If you are affected by lag in the Zoom then the simple answer is save up for a Kemper/Axe FX etc. Your Yamaha active PA cab is probably good for gigging with this kind of modelling set up, if the cab is the one I think it might be. The Kemper also allows you to profile your favourite OD pedals as well as amps so you could conceivably include your JF14 as a patch (there's one already available to download BTW) or you could use a number of profiles from the original amps that the Joyo pedal emulates itself. And you could use a Kemper with both bass and guitar. Something I'm also thinking about at the moment but with a QSC K12.2 active PA cab rather than the Yamaha. If a Kemper/Axe FX etc. is unrealistic then any fall back options may involve compromise or some extended market research to identify a product that meets your needs. You could go down the conventional route and pick up a chinese made, handwired Tweed combo and run your Joyo pedal through it. There's also some good stuff made by Mooer but that's all I can offer in terms of my experience.

I had a look at getting a pair of the Mooer Baby Bombs for use with my Kemper Stage. However using two apparently results in phasing issues! So I dunno...everything else being equal, I'm probably inclined to get a pair of QSC K12.2 active PA cabs instead if I ever gig again. Unlike your set up, they will generally benefit from speaker emulation - which the Kemper has, of course.

It IS, isn't it? Also easy to amend if I fancy a bit more pink or I decide to have less lumps.

Ermighad. Time for an update I think - Jon Shuker once told me that fifty percent of the effort that goes into building a guitar is spend on solving problems. I'd say probably 70% of that was the case with this build. At every single stage something went wrong. I also ended up commissioning a neck with a 57mm heel in flame maple from a company I discovered on one of the shopping apps. I also asked them to do a 44mm nut as I like the extra space between strings. So that arrived and it was pretty good (on the second attempt). The first attempt was made by a new employee and it was a bodge job. But the company took responsibility and provided a neck that met the requirements we had agreed. So the neck was painstakingly finished (and patch refinished) in super glue. The quality is very good and I like how easy it is to repair dents or other imperfections with nothing more than a bottle of glue and a nail buffing pad. But still it took a long time to apply, let dry and sand back. I was also thrilled to discover that the new neck lined up almost perfectly in the adjusted neck pocket. So after checking, double checking and triple checking the scale length (25.5") I installed the bridge anchor post ferrules. Double checking the alignment showed that, against all odds, the bridge studs are actually at ninety degrees to the centre line. I checked the trem movement against the cavity and there was some blocking and rubbing in places so I got out the rasp and provided a bit more clearance around the front edge where the CNC machine that carved the body hadn't removed enough wood. At that point major milestone completed. I test fitted the pickguard and after quite a bit of readjustment, it fits snugly which meant it was time to paint things. I decided to stick with the fairly obnoxious spray bomb flourescent paint scheme and something of a rough and ready almost punk attitude. I did trial some newpaper cut out lettering stencils but while the lettering looked good I realised I needed to think about things a bit more if I didn't want it looking like a high school A level exam. So I turned to the electronics instead and meeting an aspiration of quick fit electronics and pickguard using connectors to the jack socket. I ordered a pair of Dimarzio Joe Satriani signature pickups as I thought they might be a nice match given how the guitar was fairly light weight. They're currently fitted to my Yamaha so I can get familiar with them while I work on the electronics. So the main goal for the wiring was the following 1) Bridge (splittable) 2) bridge coil + mid single coil 3) Bridge and neck (splittable) 4) Mid single coil + neck coil 5) Neck (splittable) I found a half-super switch (identical to those offered by Seymour Duncan), a B500K push pull pot and a prewired harness and then set about doing some research on wiring diagrams. After quite a lot of planning and adjusting and asking people I knew (like Aaron Armstrong) for advice I settled on the following diagram as a starting point because it was basically cobbled together out of other diagrams and I really don't know at this point which coils are activated in the split mode (and neither did anyone I asked). I think it might be the outside coils? By far the biggest head scratcher has been in figuring out where to put the connectors. I installed the two dimarzio pickups temporarily in my Yamaha, which has three pole quick connect switches. Originally I wanted to use two pole because it allowed a bit more flexibility with the connections but now I've decided to go the three pole route so I can straight swap between the Yamaha and the new guitar. Last night I installed chrome tuners on the headstock and installed the half complete electronics, pending the arrival of 3 pole female connectors. So that's where I'm at right now. I will also buy a locally made, improved version of a Fender mid boost circuit and figure out how to fit that into the diagram. Or, possibly it might involve gutting and restarting a new diagram if the circuit is fully integrated. Not sure. But hopefully it will involve much less ballache than has been the case so far. Speaking of ballache, a list of the issues so far is below for entertainment value 1) Square up neck pocket by shaving the sides with sanding block and file. 2) Remove excess wood blocking the trem movement. 3) Refinish and re-sand from 120 to 800 grit portions of the super glue finish on the neck. 4) Plug and redrill pickguard holes (because the original HSS pickguard I installed wasn't fender standard 11 hole). 5) Sand and repaint body after changing mind about lettering and stencil graphics. 6) Drill holes for bridge using slightly bent drill bit and drill shaft. 7) Clamp and glue the split underside of the trem cavity after trying to hammer in a bridge anchor ferrule into a hole that was 1mm too short (I measured it twice as well!) Figure out a circuit diagram cobbled together from other circuit diagrams for using the super switch, push pull post for two humbuckers and improvised quickfit connectors to allow the pickguard to be completely replaced without soldering.

First thoughts are whether the coils in the new pickups are wired in series or parallel. Parallel can sound a bit bright if the guitar is made from something like maple and ash or alder. Second thoughts are comparing the woods in the neck between guitars. Mahogany normally gives a nice mellow sound with warmth in semi hollows. Third thought is a connection issue in the wiring harness or maybe even a short somewhere. I've just swapped out some favourite Armstrong PAF's from my Yamaha (see profile pic) and replaced them with Dimarzio Mo Joe and PAF Joe pickups. I was expecting a bright lively sounding guitar with plenty of harmonics but found the clarity in the Dimarzios had been blunted quite a bit in order to make the harmonics jump. So I will eventually go back to my faves because the neck pickup is lucious. The Armstrongs also went previously into another, near identical Yammie, that was about 400g lighter and brighter sounding. It was very harsh by comparison. That was mostly due to the differences in mass not the pickups as they were fitted with quick fit connectors.

Wait...WHAT?

We're happy to help but need pics to provide any detailed advice.

Some non bass playing members but they need a bit of something to react to more regularly than once a fortnight unfortunately.

I've only skimmed the surface of what is available so far. I've downloaded 400 rigs to try out (including maybe 20 for bass) with a view to whittling that list down to maybe two or three from each amp model of interest plus any pedal profiles. But already it does amps better than amps if the noise floor is anything to go by. I'm pretty much resolved to getting shot of my pedals on the back of it, with all their compatibility issues and noise levels. But it made me realise that while it offers greater practicality and higher reliability, having all the sounds doesn't substitute for having the sounds and the original gear. But it almost makes owning the original gear pointless as it is, the only real benefit to gain is bragging rights and entertainment value from knob twiddling. The one thing it won't do is replicate controls that don't fit the Kemper's predefined format. So, for example, you can profile a Mesa Studio pre but the profile won't provide control over the graphic eq, so the graphic has to be optimised as part of the original profile.

I got one for a Chrissie pressie...wondering if there are any like minded GC members.

Passion is more important than guitar course, especially for beginners because of the learning curve. Focus on learning how to play songs that you like first. There are plenty of youtube tutorials out there for well known ones. Pick a song with maybe three chords at most. I started with Happy Birthday for my daughter and then progressed onto other childrens' songs before I started getting into things like Give A Little Bit (Supertramp) or Say Somethin' (Justin Beiber and Chris Stapleton). Then I progressed onto a bit of Bon Jovi (Dead or Alive) and Chic (pretty much anything). For me it's like play, I get to see if I can play something like I hear it on the radio. Or practice singing and playing.

Fun factoid, the PRS people told me that the Mira was their answer to a Gibbo SG. Tonally at least.

Jonathan from Feline Guitars in Croydon does some of the best fret jobs in the country. He's not cheap but a decent fret job on stainless steel frets will last a lifetime for anyone not touring and playing every night. A good fret job takes a lot of time to do well.

It looks like noone moved the T&Cs over when the forum was set up. I'll have to add it to my to do list.

Originally I took up guitar to try and improve my harmony on bass. However it's opened up a different world entirely which has been a massive distraction away from the original goal. I have five guitars and 6 basses but there are more guitars in the pipeline thanks to a collection of parts.

I think what's happening is that the business model has shifted and those shops that are making enough and jumped on the bandwagon early enough are surviving. Those late to the game and can't afford the extra overheads are losing out.

Technically, if you have the right string gauge. You would need to find a piccolo bass set, maybe Rotosound still make them, and tune it to the top four strings of a guitar. But you'd probably find there was a bit of adjustment in terms of string tension and playing technique for the lower register, especially chords. You might even decide you just don't like the basic character of the plucked note. Piccolo basses tend to be quite twangy.

Maybe but I was going by the resonance of the instrument.

I tried a silent bass and the response across the strings was extremely uneven. Some strings were dead and others were OK, I'm not sure why but it didn't inspire confidence...and I'm a Yammiefan.

Just a thought but I'm wondering what you would recommend for the following 5 positions on a pickup selector switch on a HSH guitar: 1) Bridge humbucker - Satriani style rock (pull vol for coil split) 2) Bridge inner coil + middle - 80's strat quack 3) Bridge and Neck humbucker (pull vol for coil split tele twang) 4) Middle and neck outer coil - funky strumming 5) Neck humbucker - jazz archtop (pull vol for single coil strat kind of tone) I know it's a demanding and perhaps unrealistic request but I'm wondering how close you might be able to get.

What are you passionate about playing? I'm thinking that if you couldn't wait for the first opportunity to pick up the guitar and get into something you really enjoyed, you'd probably still be unstructured but practicing more often. Which leads to the next question about why structure is important if you can pick it up whenever the mood strikes? I haven't been playing much over the last 6 months and the other day I realised it was because I felt bad about the impact of practicing on others in the apartment. And I also felt a bit guilty about being self indulgent...despite working six days a week for no salary as I'm trying to get a business off the ground. So to address the first problem I bought a nice pair of AKG monitor headphones to plug into an old Zoom unit so I can practice silently. I'm hoping that'll also solve the second problem because noone will know when I'm practicing. I actually practiced last night for the first time in ages and for a solid couple of hours but it was mostly on bass. Mainly because bass is second nature and I wanted to make getting back into things easy. But I do have some learning goals for guitar including properly how to play: 1) Rosanna solo and outro - Steve Lukather 2) Heaven In My Hands - Alan Murphy 3) White Wedding - Steve Stevens 4) something by Def Leppard, maybe Hysteria or Pour Some Sugar 5) Surfing with the Alien or Satch Boogie - Joe Satriani (if I'm feeling particularly ambitious)

He seems like a nice guy, I wish him all the best too. It's a tragic situation to be in.

Assuming that you mean companies are looking for up and coming musicians to help them show the market that they can stay relevant? There's an aspect of that too but it doesn't invalidate my point. They exist alongside each other.

I came here thinking this would be a discussion about our ideal guitars. Still...I'm glad some members were able to help with info.