Kiwi

I think you'll be OK, at least until it breaks. Some of the cheaper Marshall amps with PCB based builds can be not worth worth the expense of repairing. Buy whatever cable you like but get one with neutrik or solderless jacks as they tend to break less often. Don't get sucked into the gold plating and oxygen free voodoo. The electrons don't care.

I nearly bought one of these as my first gig-quality guitar. I found an old Chandler Custom strat instead though and it was cheaper.

Top talent though, Mark Mondesir is a phenomenal drummer and Laurence Cottle is a bass maestro.

Given the extra information in your reply Sea Chief, I was going to say that the hump in the photos is just down to the effect of string tension on the bracing. It happens in some guitars if the bracing isn't robust enough. That it's stable just means that the instrument has achieved a level of equilibrium without breaking. I have a cheap 12 string acoustic with the same issue but the problem with mine is that they used a 6 string body with 6 string bracing for a 12 string model. So the bracing isn't up to scratch (it should be X bracing rather than straight). To fix this I bought a special brace from Stew Mac for a hundred quid delivered which has reduced the hump a bit and it's been stable over the last 3 years.

I'm not really a luthier but I've made a couple of instruments and have 2-3 more in the pipeline but made from parts. All traditional acoustics have flat tops. The other kind you mention are archtops and typically (but not exclusively) are associated with jazz. Traditionally the difference was due to construction preferences. An arched top doesn't need bracing whereas a flat top does and the kind of bracing is down to preference and intended purpose for the instrument. A 12 string needs the strongest bracing while a nylon stringed instrument has lower requirements.

This is a bucket list amp for some.

See if you can find a Mooer Ocean Machine - it was Devin Townsend's signature pedal. It won't replace a Lexicon PCM70 but for gigging and practice it's better than most multi effects pedals.

Yeah its been playing on my mind as well. But Shugang are actually headquartered in the city where I live so even if things get desperate I'll still be able to buy something.

Heh, three and a half years later my Ibanez TSA5 combos are wearing out from poor quality components. So I've replaced them with a pair of cheap hand made 5F2 5w combos which are almost certain to last longer. Plus there's the matter of the three preamps (Mesa, Marshall and Carvin) and the Marshall 20/20 power amp and the Princeton Reverb II...none of which I've actually laid my hands on yet because they're being looked after in the UK by friends. I've come a long way from the Mesia (!) combo I started off with in 2007.

Blimey...you're right! Odd that we've never noticed it before now...and that it's part of the default theme. Perhaps something happened with one of the updates...? @Woodinblack

Torres have an agent in London, UK called Vyse.

Knife edge? Try here: https://ibanez.fandom.com/wiki/Ibanez_Wi The Ibanez S470 has a ball bearing trem. That would be my go to choice if your heart is set on Ibanez (and why wouldn't it, they represent fantastic value second hand.) I use a Yamaha MSG and the trem is a Rockin Magic Pro but I wouldn't recommend it on the grounds its quite stiff and the way in which the anchor bolts fit the base plate is surprisingly sloppy. I've had to shim mine to get better contact between the base plate and the guitar. For cam type trems, Kahlers are the only ones out there and they tend to be after market these days. Small operation so the trems are quite pricey but very few trems allow divebombing with just a finger. Also worth considering: The no longer made Wilkinson VS100C/CV. It's supposed to fit a standard two post (C) or 6 screw (CV) strat routing. The trem arm locks the base plate in place when not in use, allowing the benefit of a hard tail as well as trem. I have collected three or four over the years but again, they're not cheap because they're so hard to find. Trevor Wilkinson's daughter Kate was selling off NOS a few years back though which is where I snagged a couple. She is currently still listing a retrofit conversion kit on Reverb for the VS100N bridge that would do the same job. https://reverb.com/item/35360438-wilkinson-vs100n-cv-assembly-conversion-kit-chrome

Very good trems if you're looking for a knife edge design. I don't have one because I generally go for bearing or cam type designs, they're a little more durable.

If there's any ADA processing in any part of the signal chain after the feed is split, sometimes it can introduce a slight delay. But moving the combo to fix it suggests the issue might have been reflection off a wall or ceiling.

It depends on whether you just want something that you like more or you're tone hunting for a specific sound. For most guitarists, it comes down to choice of pickups and amp. The actual guitar itself is more about comfort, sustain and feel than tone. Amps basically come in four flavours - Marshall-ish, Fender-ish, Vox-ish and German-ish metal (Diezel etc). If you want aggressive distortion, go for something based on a Marshall (or even get one), if you like fat clean sounds and smooth overdrive then get a Fender inspired amp, if you are a metal player, you'll probably have to rely on pedals more than amps but get something with decent low end. If you like pristine cleans and sharp attack in the overdrive then Vox-inspired amps are worth looking into but most of the budget conscious amps are either Fender or Marshall based. Yammie Pacifica's are pretty decent instruments so maybe start out by tone hunting your fave player - what pickups do they use and how close can you get? Then figure out whether the amp swings towards Marshall or Fender in response. It should get you 75% of the way there for maybe six hundred quid or so.

I think it's indicative of how the market works. Guitar heroes are idolised and emulated regardless of the actual logic behind the strategy. In the past, Fender have purchased companies just for their list of endorsees (i.e. SWR).

I had a couple of narrow escapes with my main strat and Pedulla bass. The wall hangers are two piece where the cradle bayonet-fits the wall base. There were no installation instructions provided and I wasn't aware of how the cradle needs to be twisted ninety degrees so it's held in place. Both instruments fell from their hangers and landed on their strap buttons. The Pedulla's was bent and dented but easily repaired and replaced thank goodness but it left a hell of a dent in the teak floor. It was only at that point I inspected the hangers closely to try and understand why they didn't work when I discovered the bayonet arrangement. So I ended up redrilling the anchor holes into (mostly) concrete block for half of them and so far problem solved.

Yeah as you say, the key to making an operation like that work is volume. Doing things right upfront requires an investment time and attention to detail to get things right. All those can be offset with sales volume regardless of what the asking price actually is. So sub 200 quid is definitely feasible but would probably need to be selling 100 bodies a month.

After a year long obsession, and lots of too-ing and fro-ing over exactly what to get, the choice came down to a Studio .22+ combo, a Mk3 or a Studio preamp. Well the winner was the studio preamp. Mainly because I don't have access to an amp tech in China for servicing and the Studio pre should get me 80% of the way there tonally with no compromises. The pre is in mint condition so hopefully there are years of reliability left in it still. But my amp tech in London is going to give it a service anyway because it's still old. Can't wait to try it out...once I can get back to the UK. I'm hoping it'll be a keeper.

That would be the founder (along with Jeff Pocaro) of Toto. A new interview with Steve has been published recently after lockdown:

Artcores are great - I really like how they feel. They've got a suppleness that I've normally found on instruments costing twice as much. I'd have one if I could do it justice.

Yes, I've noticed at least one seller offering what could be diplomatically described as complete crap for sale. Stuff that looks like it had been used by chimpanzees for training purposes. Still, the suppliers never seem to provide warnings. I ordered a perspex strat neck template recently, (22 fret fingerboard version!) and it fits the neck pocket perfectly. So it's the neck which is the issue. Hopefully a few passes with the router will tighten things up.

I completely agree and nearly made that point to them. But the same attitude is evident with every supplier I've approached so far and group think is strong over here. One I found did five string jazz bass necks (for a future project). They were offering me the moon on a stick to place an order, all the reassurances of return process and quality control and...I'd seen it all before. The photo showed the bloody truss rod was off centre! So far my experience hasn't been 'will they make a mistake' so much as 'how are they going to make a mistake' and there's a limit to how far I can anticipate. And the place that sent me the neck template didn't package it properly, it broke during shipping. Then I asked why the template was 22 frets. They replied that all the necks are 22 frets...! They're supposed to be shipping a replacement but haven't responded to my requests for a tracking number. (EDIT: The replacement arrived AND they gave me a refund...I sense some disorganisation.) For a few days, I was seriously thinking about setting up my own small outfit to manufacture matching sets of bodies and necks.

I discovered the roasted neck was twisted and had to send it back for a refund. There was no way I could have achieved low action on it. At that point the store rep told me they thought my expectations were too high...! And refused to sell me any more necks - even a replacement. I did get a refund though. I've purchased a neck template from perspex to check against neck heel and pocket. The neck pocket seems to fit the template perfectly. However I'm also toying with the idea of a glued joint if I can get the neck pocket tight enough because I have a back up mahogany laminated neck that needs some mods but might do the job. However it's not a strat neck even though its 25.5" scale length.

Put loads of distortion and delay on it, you'll never notice the difference.