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So many guitarists that I admire but my top 3/3 would have to be: Favourites Gary Moore Stevie Ray Vaughan David Gilmour Influential Joe Pass Duane Allman Freddie King Most profound effect The Treeman Dave Lister Steven Seagal

Does this count as a new Amp? Given that it’s advertised as a “0 watt amplifier” then I’m going to say yes. This is the DSM & Humboldt Simplifier Classic which is an amp and cab sim “pedal” (it’s not really a pedal as there’s no on/off button but it’s sized to fit on a pedal board and so…..pedal). I mainly play through my guitar synth which is plugged into the PA but I also wanted the ability to play the guitar “straight” and have that through the PA rather than lug an amp around with me. I initially started looking at things like the Headrush and Helix Stomp but I have a pedal board with all the pedals I need and the multi fx-style solutions are overkill (and expensive) for what I need. Having gone down the YouTube rabbit hole, I came across this little chap. DSM & Humboldt are, apparently, two Chilean companies who have produced this as a joint venture and I have to say that first impressions are very, very good. The pedal is very well made. It looks and feels like a lot of standard parts were used but they’re good quality and the whole thing seems well put together. Its also tiny. I have no idea how they’ve got everything inside, especially as this is an all-analogue product. Be aware that there is no PSU supplied with it so you’ll need to buy one separately (or use one of the millions we all accumulate and have lying around the place). It doesn’t run on batteries, only mains power so do t forget that PSU… I only received it yesterday so I’ve not had too much time with it yet. Switching it on, I’m impressed with the low noise floor and by how solid all the switches and knobs feel to operate. There are three amps simulated; A Fender blackface), Vox AC30 and a Marshall. Cab choices are 1x12, 2x12 and 4x12. You can switch between three different types of valve and you can alter the positioning of the virtual mics. Alongside gain, volume, presence and resonance, there are bass, mid and treble controls. The great thing is that each of these makes a noticeable difference to the tone. The amp models sound pretty close to the real thing but the tweaking options let you dial in exactly the sound you’re after. It took me all of ten seconds to find a beautiful clean tone to work with the drive pedals on my board and I could, if I wanted, just use that and never twiddle again. I probably will though. So, first impressions positive - here are some pictures of it on my board (not yet fully positioned or plugged in). I’ll update once I’ve had chance to gig with it.

The EL88s really thicken the sound up. Lots of combinations to play with - I’m impressed. It’s taken me a while but I’ve now got the board I want with nothing I don’t want on it. The Ocean’s 11 is lovely, although I don’t really use the shimmer and other more extreme effects. I really like that Soul Food too. It thickens up a clean tone without making it too driven and gainy. I might add a cheap Landlord echo pedal at some time but that’s about it. If I need any more esoteric sounds, I just use the synth

Different valve SIMs in addition to the amp SIMs; nice. That Ocean’s 11 looks interesting too.

No, that was the end of that saga, but plenty of others came and went all around. They will be related in great detail in DrumChat.co.uk and PAChat.co.uk in due course. Cars, truck, bikes and more will be dealt with in VariousTransportChat.co.uk, and the first season of 'Maj-Jong For Beginners' will appear in 'ParlourGamesChat.co.uk. Watch this space....

Hamster in the GC house!

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 didn't keep my Burns Bison for long, back in the day. I'd very foolishly swapped my Hofner President Thinline Florentine for it (I'd love to find another of those...). A skinny neck, 'quirky' electrics (that's being generous...) and not really suited, at all, to the style I was playing. I traded it for a Vox double-keyboard organ (my then Good Lady wanted to learn keys; both didn't last either...), and finally opted for a Hohner Pianet, which ended up at my parent's house for my father to learn on, which he did until it started to go out of tune, and we found that there's no real way to tune 'em. Oh well...