What to do?

walk to Portugal and rechannel the otherwise-travel money into your guitar fund! Or just sack Protugal off completely - its the land of Ronaldo. :wink:

okay, serious response.....

there's a tube stomp box selection by Blackstar, the dist-x is well worth a try (its on my list for sure, might even try it tomorrow if the weather aint too attrocious, lol) and costs around 100 quid or less - http://www.google.co.uk/products?hl=en&q=blackstar+pedals&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wf

blackstar do a whole range, not just the dist-x and they're all tube driven. they could give your vox more of a tube sound (dunno for sure, you'd have to test some out). if so, that would leave 100quid to channel into your electric-guitar fund. curly are doing 'starter packs' involving unbranded starts and teles http://www.curlymusic.co.uk/index.pl?browse=products&id=693&detail=3 and although the retail there is more than 100quid, that's 'cause it includes amp, etc. I know for a fact they'll be getting more individual guitars for 100quid by march, since I'm planning on picking up a couple for learning how to do paintwork and other mods on. they're pretty decent guitars, tbh, they have a real fender-feel to the body and neck (I'm quite poss. gonna overhaul the pups anyway, so I didn't take much notice of them,only tried the guitar sans amp).

it doesn't quite fit your outline, but its a thought. and if you can hang on for a bit for the electric guitar, I'll have to sell my modded guitars on once I've finished them (I genuinely will have way too many otherwise, lol) and, for a fellow NWester, I'd do the best price possible on them.

as for your outline, I'd be tempted to..........just go with some stomp boxes, the GS is nice and I'm a fan of Vox amps generally. You could add the Epi Valve Jr. (lol, I'm also a big fan of valve amps), but I'd advocate a small selection of decent stomps, and you wont get a huge deal of good stomps for 200 quid, especially if you want a wah pedal as one of them. I would check the marshall range though, they're cheap (around 32quid and upwards from curly music), sturdy and provide geat sounds by and large. the bluesbreaker pedal is a mainstay of my rig, a pedal I default to whenever I'm using solid state amps or other people's rigs at short notice.

Cheers Scrybe - you dont happen to work for Curly's do you? :P . It is a cracking shop, Ive only been there once but it was the best of the 3 on that street nr Central station. Yeah I like the idea of marshall pedals and hear good things about the bluesbreaker but by the sounds you are considerably more accomplished and experienced as a guitarist than I and my domestic noodlings. The only problem with the Epi is its another amp hanging about the place and space is limited as it is. At least I can hang a guitar on the back of a door somewhere.

And as for Ronaldo, Im not big on football (or soccer to our US friends) at all l!!.

its the land of Ronaldo. :wink:
Precisely. Go over to Madeira. Wink Wink..

no I don't work for Curlys. I did used to work at Dawsons, but I prefer Curly's and have a good business relationship with them. Just been perusing their site a lot and know their current prices as I've just ordered a whole bunch of stuff from them. I also find them a lot nicer with regards to testing a whole bunch of gear before you buy.

I know what you mean about the limited space for amps - thats why a bluesbreaker pedal or blackstar pedal might be the way to go, as far as getting more of a valve/vintage sound without crowding the place up too much.

I'll pm you as and when any guitar-mod jobs I do near an end in case anything takes your fancy. I'm doing it out of interest, so I'm not too concerned about profit at the moment, I just know I can't keep all the guitars I'm planning to mod and don't wanna be too out of pocket from doing them.

Oh, and the bluesbreaker pedal was the first one I got - I've been through about three in around 7 yrs now. I broke the first one by (accidently) dropping it from a great height (don't ask, lol), one got nicked and one got left behind when I was moving around a lot during uni. :cry: They're really easy to use - the boost/blues switch lets you give your amp a clean voume boost (making theother controls on the pedal redundant) or switch to 'blues' and use the other controls to dial in the amount of overdrive you want. I found it really easy to use and got mine before I got my Marshall JTM45 combo, which its based on, tone-wise. Having got said amp, I've tried the pedal with the amp (v. useful in live situations) and with a whole bunch of other amps, and I reckon it does a great job of replicating the jtm45's tones. I think most places sell the pedal for around 45quid (that's the retails price, anyways), so 32quid is a nice reuction on that. withou bias, its the pedal I think I'm always gonna have in my rig, and my most important/top priority pedal, too. that sais, I might have to splurge on one of them Ibanez TS808 reissues - SRV's pedal of choice, and one I was desperate to get second hand a few years back.

anyways, hope this helps. and if we can organise a jam sometime, you're more than welcome to mess with my pedals and see how they work for you. I've tried various mates' multi-fx units and have never been very impressed with them, compared to individual pedals. but I also try to use as few pedals as possible, so take that into account.

If it was me - well, who are we kidding, you know what I'm going to say!

I don't bother with pedals - although lately I've been thinking maybe, just maybe, I should at least experiment with one then I could switch more easily from the black panel or tweed settings I prefer for rhythm to the higher-gain rectifier setting I prefer for solos.

The Freshman bass I know well - as far as I'm concerned, it's a decent enough bass, good VFM, and more importantly, sounds fine to my ears.

The Squier Custom Teles I also know well - and while I've grown to LOVE the single coil set-up on the Tele, there are times I do like to plug the old Squier in, crank up the P90's and let rip! Must be the combination of guitar and P90's I like so much - I've tried other guitars with P90's and they just don't seem to have the same bite. I love the maple neck, too...very smooth, very player-friendly.

Yep, you know where my money'd be going!

:D :D :D

Vic

I hear what you say about the Freshman Bass - it does sound probably better than I would have expected, I cant seem to find any info on them anywhere - Ive only ever seen 2 of them, mine and yours Vic!. Freshman didnt help with any background on them, I suppose theyre a generic P bass copy like a squier/aria/vintage etc. I am considering just upgrading this as I go along with some wilkinson bits (bridge/pickup/tuners), some new electrics, a bit of shielding and perhaps a set up/fret job. That though would end up costing about as much as a new budget bass.....

Im also perhaps considering a speaker swap in the Vox to a Celestion G10 vintage, about which I have heard good things. Maybe I should get a couple pedals to play with - Ive also seen a blonde Squier '51 at a good price. I like the look of the EHX holy stain but Im not sure if the overdrive bit is footswitchable or on a slidey switch on the side. I do like the EHX range in general, I want to have a look at the nano muff. SO much GAS and so little money,

So todays thought encompasses a speaker swap for the Vox, EHX holy stain, Squier '51 and a rolling program of upgrades for the Freshman Bass. Im sure I'll change my mind after a few beers later, and again tomorrow etc etc !! :roll: