Now, strings have generally been one of the aspects of guitarplaying that I really don’t give much time to, if it ain’t broke etc. Of course they need to be regularly replaced to avoid the tinfoil chewingly badexperience of rusty strings. A sales rep once told me a story about a guitarist he knew, who’d feverishly recommended one set of strings and utterly shunned another. He looked at me with a cheeky smile and said ‘I didn’t have the heart to tell him, but they were both storebrandedsets and came off the same productionline.’ so tastes in strings can be down some kind of placeboeffect with packaging and whatnot, but if you do buy a Chinese made non-brand set for two pounds, chances are they’ll be crap.
However, when something truly quite different comes along like the Elixir Nanoweb strings, it’s probably worth having a look.
First stringing up the guitar, you really can’t help but sit there for ages trying to see the megathincoating. The coating is so thin it’s almost like the string has a softaura, but no visible layer. It’s only when you kink the string that the coating becomes visible and it is damn thin.
First impressions after tuning up are that these are unusually crisp sounding and have a slick almost waxy feel to them. The coating, rather than dulling the sound actually brightens it!
So to sum up, these are great sounding strings that just keep going and going. But beware, they will last for two to three times longer as the manufacturer states, but just because they’ve got spaceagestuff on them doesn’t mean they won’t snap after eight pints and a heavyhanded folk/rock campfiremedley.
Oasis are said to have “swiped” RobbieWilliamsdrummerChris Sharrock. It was reported that Zak Starkey, their previous drummer, has quit the band and the remaining members of Oasis have spent no time at all replacing him with Chris Sharrock.
Chris and Zak seem to be following in each others footsteps. They have both been involved with The LightningSeeds and it now seems they can both say they have been part of Oasis.
We can assume that RobbieWilliams will be far from pleased with this news, as himself and Oasis have had rivalry since 2000.
To give the amp a roadtest I used a Yahama Bass at around the £200 mark. Plugging in, first impressions are, this amp is very hasty. But after all, it is very small. It’s perky to say the least, possibly to make up for not having a gaincontrol (i’m guessing), the amp goes ballistic after the volume is raised above a third. This isn’t a problem however as there is plenty of area to play with in this bottom third that any bedroomrocker would find quite satisfying and with some tonecontrol tweaking there’s a good variety of cleantones to find. When the volume passes half way the amp enters the dark realms of overdriven, overloaded smallamp and you may need to shower afterwards. This sound is pretty filthy and I’m sure there are plenty of leather wearing, safetypin through the eyeball types who would love it.
Over 300 of the worldsleadingmusicalinstrument distributers and maufacturers will be packed into Londons ExCeL venue on the 14th and 15th of June to inspire you, the consumer with their latest gear.
The show promises all the lastest gear and technology with siminars, conferences and even celebrities of the musicworld. You can expect to see exhibitors from “AcousticGuitar Magazine” through to “YamahaMusic UK”, and instruments from xylaphones to bassoons.
The supprising thing about this guitar is that it has a considerable amount of tone. The solidbody delivers a gooddeal of warmth that would be quite acceptable for a fullsizeguitar. The only down side to this size is that the intonation is quite sensitive and needed a little tweak out of the box. Though this is of little consequence for the very youngplayer.
To sum up, this little thing is certainly worth its weight in gold and certainly packs a heavy punch than its size would suggest.
At this price you’d be right to be wary (I know I was), you’d need to ask questions like; ‘is it made from old beer cans?’ and ‘will it not sound like a dyingcat?’. The only way to find out is to plug it in.
Compared to its predecessor the Stagg CA-10, this amp has definitely moved up a notch in buildquality. The CA-10 was a funky little ultraportablepracticeamp, however the plywood casing was a bit too thin to provide much in the way of bass or tonality and it didn’t look very cool. These issuses have been remedied in the 10 GA, the case is much chunkier and care has been taken making the ‘look’ of the amp.
To sum up, it’s VERY hard to criticise an amp of this quality when it only costs the same as two albums or your Christmas turkey. As a starteramp it’s ideal and it can go louder than even the most supportive parent would find acceptable. As a secondary practiceamp (while your stacks in storage) it’s ideal, being portable and light. All in all this amp is not a cracker prize, it’s damn cheap and does the job well.
So, powering up the module you are presented with the display for the unit which i have to say is rarther navigateable. Plenty of pre-set kits are at your disposal and immediately i’m blasting out some beats. You can assign the various on-board percussionsounds to any of the eight pads. Now this usually takes a bit of time and a lot of patience, however I whipped out the manual (unusual, yes) and within a couple of seconds i found the step-by-step instructions and was pleasently surprised at how easy it was to assign the sounds to the individualpads and also manipulate the sounds as far as volume/velocity.