Oh, not again ...

[GrahamG]

Talking of which, I was thinking of getting my son a Boss pedal box, the Me20. Any opinions on it?

Check out user reviews on www.harmony-central.com - they give a very good guide as to the pros and cons of different units. Whilst I use individual pedals (I'm a boutique pedal geek), I think the boss multi-fx have come on leaps and bounds over the last 5+ years and would certainly not hesitate to give one a go.

 

[GrahamG]

Rather than getting an effects box, I would fix the problem at source and simply get a more inspiring guitar like a proper US Fender strat / tele or a Gibson Les Paul.

If he can't find his harmonic sweet spot in there somewhere then get him a rickenbacker as well.

If the strats are anything like their basses - the mexican versions can sometimes sound a fair bit better. I've played a few US made lemons, a few more Mexi lemons and an even amount of noticeably superior US/Mexi's so Fender are very much a 'try before you buy' brand. As for Gibson, nice sound, still astounded that there's still no volute at the headstock joint, still it keeps the luthiers in business with repairs .

 

[Mr Pig]

Check out user reviews on www.harmony-central.com.

I actually found those reviews last night, and I bought the Boss box today! Gets quite a good write-up, the guys in the shop rate it and it's very well built. I think he'll like it.

I would fix the problem at source and simply get a more inspiring guitar like a proper US Fender strat

So you think there's a big difference? The reason I ask is that he wants a guitar with a wamy bar, ie a Strat, and the US ones are twice the price of the ones from Me-he-co. The Mexican ones are around £300. I thought about fitting a wamy to his SG copy but I think it would just ruin it. Unfortunaly I don't think I'd get much for it, because it's had the neck repaired, or I'd just sell it and put the money towards a Strat.

 

[yello]

The misses buys upholstery fabrics from the US. Rolls of it, always under $25 a roll, sometimes as little as a penny. The postage is usually around the $100 mark!! I think she's stark raving bonkers but she assures me that, even with shipping costs factored in, it's still massively cheaper than buying it locally.

 

[Mr Pig]

I've bought a few things from far, far away including a Leatherman tool for my son that, after postage, was still £40 cheaper than buying it here. Also t-shirts from the US! Sounds mad but they worked out at about £6 each including postage for quality printed/branded T shirts. I've also bought stuff from China with no problems at all, in fact I'm waiting for something now.