Upgraded several months ago to a Hartke A100. Jolly nice too, apart from the limiter which is hyperactive and so I never switch that on.

You're right Mick the prices seem incredible. Obviously they are Chinese made, and yes, mine does have a few small cosmetic flaws. But the sound is stunningly good as is the playability, after set up, which you realistically have to do with any guitar you don't get from a music shop. I have also changed the strings on mine to my favourite brand.

The difference between the 450 Plus (the 'plus' is important) and the 500 is the gold plated hardware on the latter, and the body wood. The 450 Plus is all mahogany and the 500 is lime body and mahogany neck. Both have set necks. The 450 without the 'plus' also has a lime body.

That certainly sounds good Mick. I'm still going to keep my view that the Epiphone Prophecy is excellent value for money, but for a whole lot less one of the Thomann Harley Benton 450 or 500 ranges are hard to beat. They have excellent Wilkinson pickups and just play so well. I have a Honey Burst 450L. And I can't play anything like the guy in this video - probably  never will - hey ho!

Mmmm, possibly neither . . .

Had an email chat with a Polish producer about something else entirely and he recommended Reaper. I've just downloaded the trial now, but the licence is only $60 for private or small commercial use, so I might invest in it anyway

Hi Mick,

Using Chrome and Opera 17 (which also has a Chrome engine).

I get the 'no data received' message from time to time here and on CC; it usually resolves itself after a second try, but the pictures return the error message every time. Until i just tried it again, and go to see them.

What pickups are you using?

It's coming on really well

Trying to look at the pictures Mick, but keep getting 'no data received' messages.

Looks good in the thumbnails though

Hi Mick - I continue to make progress with Cubase. The basic manual is nearly 500 pages and there are subsidiary manuals for the VST instruments - in my case HalSonic and Groove Agent - the latter taxing my brain cell in a manner it is unaccustomed to. The VST amp rack is pretty impressive too (remember that Yamaha bought Steinberg), loads of amp modelling and effects, although I still find it easier to run guitars through the Zoom pedal in analogue mode to get the sound I want. But that is just a personal preference.

If you get a Yamaha THR then that will be your external sound card and the interface with Cubase/Ableton. What took me ages to establish is that the DAW can only talk to one ASIO or sound driver at a time. That means, for example, that if you are running an instrument into the DAW with a little Yamaha or in my case with a little Behringer USB mixer, then the sound can only come out of that same interface, unless you save the project and then reallocate an audio device to play it back (not recommended) - your computer sound card is not accessible, although, of course, you can use that as your audio in/out if you don't have a digital USB/Firewire interface.

I have since upgraded my MIDI interface, 'cos the eBay one was not reliable enough, and bought a Steinberg UR22 which is also a cracking little ASIO interface. So now I have a choice - I can use the Behringer or the Steinberg, but only one at a time. No problem really as I can only play one thing at a time anyway. Some would say even playing one instrument is a bit beyond me

Hope this helps a bit!

I use Cubase, one of my best mates uses Ableton.

Both of us being oldish farts and therefore from an age of analogue multitrack recording have been through really steep learning curves (I still can't see the top of the one I'm on).

Getting Ableton Lite working was pretty easy  - it came with my Mustang 3 and has step by step interactive help. But it is very limited, and Ableton's prices look rather on the steep side to me.

I have finally got Cubase Elements 7 working, but that was struggle. It would have helped if there were clear 'how to' instructions in the manual for basic set up. The advanced stuff seems pretty well described, but the assumption even in the getting started section was that the user was familiar with DAW recording. The Amp Rack VST is very impressive and my little Behringer Xenyx 502USB mixer is doing sterling work on the in/out front. I need a better midi interface than my eBay £2.95 one, but even that is doing well at my current level of knowledge.

So, the to the point - are these two really much of a muchness, or do you have a preference? If so, what are your reasons?

I am pleased top report that I have now sorted out getting sounds in and out of Cubase.

The answer was to completely ignore the computer's sound card and use the Behringer outs to run a separate amplifier and speaker system. I had to go into the basement and dig out my old Yamaha reference power amp which has been in a box unused for more than 15 years, blow the cobwebs off of it and dig my JBL Control monitors out of the attic. All hail to the build quality of this stuff, it all worked first time, albeit with that slightly pungent smell that electronics have when they have been shut off for so long.

So with the THR you would use that as the playback sound system from Cubase and the world's your oyster as they say

Certainly looks interesting Mick.

I have Cubase Elements 7, which is like LE but with VST instruments and a few other bells and whistles, including the VST guitar amp rack which is rather good. I am struggling with it because of the way it handles, or rather doesn't handle, ASIO in/outs in combination with the PC sound card. Apparently this is not a uniquely Steinberg problem as I have a friend who has the mega bucks version of Ableton and he can't get that to work properly (ie how he wants it to) either. Obviously this isn't a problem with the THR running as the in/out for the software, but you may find it tricky to edit projects without the THR plugged in.

I had Sequel LE supplied with the Zoom G3X and that worked perfectly OK when the only ASIO driver available was the Zoom one. Now that I have a USB mixer with its own ASIO driver all hell has broken loose. Suffice it to say that for all intents and purposes the Zoom ASIO can no longer be used. This is a complete pain because the digital out from the Zoom was astoundingly good. I do use MIDI keyboards as well which doesn't help with this.

The other thing you need to bear in mind about Cubase LE is that like Elements it does not have the beat designer. This was a big surprise to me in Elements because Sequel does have this feature and it is a lower specified product in every way, except for that. To get beat designer in Cubase you have to move up the product range to the â,¬200 plus version.

The Yamaha is an amazing bit of (expensive) kit, but I'm afraid it is the headphones for me - even low volumes in the house would raise issues with SWMBO.

Favourite: Dunlop Nylon Max Grip .88

But I'll use any medium pick on the electrics, rising to a heavy on the folk guitar on occasion. 

Well, this is what I do, but I am happy to be corrected if someone knows better.

First make sure that you are happy with the action and the intonation.

Arm yourself with a credit card sized piece of 200gsm up to calling card thick piece of paper, depending on how low your action is - thicker for higher, thinner for lower.

Hold the guitar in playing position and hold down the top E string at the highest fret using your picking hand. Then, with the E string still fretted at the 22/24th fret slide the piece of paper under the same string at the 11th or 12th fret. If the gap is too large between the fret and the string then the neck is too concave. If it is too tight then the neck is not concave enough (it always needs to be a little bit concave).

Tighten the truss rod to make the neck more concave, loosen it to make it less concave. Make adjustments 1/8 or 1/4 turn at a time and allow the neck to rest for at least a few hours between adjustments; then take the measurements again. Repeat as necessary until you have it how you want it.

Guitar:
Epiphone Les Paul Standard Plus Pro £290 (or Harley Benton L450 Plus VB in Honey Burst £121 - love mine!) If more on the guitar budget then an Epiphone Prophecy GX £367 (and it has a hard case included in the price)

Amp:
Roland Cube 80XL £245 or GX £303, or Fender Mustang lll v2 £255, or ideally Fender Mustang lV v2 £370 (Fuse is brilliant and with the Fenders you can programme a completely clean channel so you can use your effects pedal as it was intended, and they come with Ableton Light). I bought a secondhand Cube 60D as a 'spare' the other week for £100, it sounds really good.

Effects: Can't see the need for two pedals, so I'd go for one do-it-all unit, a Zoom G3X, 'cos I've got one and it sounds good, it's tough, it runs on batteries or USB as well as mains power, loads of amp models, more than 100 effects pedal emulations, 40 second looper, good acoustic guitar emulator, and expression pedal. Comes with Steinberg Sequel 3. Only drawback is no direct access options or bypass (at least if it has these I haven't found them yet!) Bargain at £143
Or Vox Tonelab EX £216. The real McCoy effects processors are loads more expensive.
If you have to have two pedals then I would add something like a Morley or Dunlop volume/wah unit, around £100. But the zoom does a reasonable wah so my Morley is in the cupboard.

So my ideal list would be:
Epiphone Prophecy GX £367
Fender Mustang lV v2 £370
Zoom G3X £143

Total £880, leaving £120 for sundry leads, guitar strap and a really good night down the pub. Or a Harley Benton L450 VB, almost.

So all I've got to do is save up for the Mustang lV and I'll be there. That'll take ages, and I have got a wish list of other stuff as long as your arm already ahead of it

Recording, mmm, no there's a thing. The Mustang came with Ableton Light and I have had a muck about with it a little. I also got a Steinberg app (Sequel 3) with my Zoom pedal. Haven't been able to make that go at all yet - mind you I was so exhausted after what must be one of the most convoluted product authentication regimes ever devised I had no strength left to actually run the programme.

I have an audio latency issue which I haven't managed to sort out yet; not had the time. And my closed back headphones died. Also haven't tried midi recording yet either. The good news is that I do still have my old 12:8:2 recording desk from the 1990s (with a few slider knobs missing), the bad news is that I don't have anywhere to put it yet, although a rack system with suitable space on top for the mixer is planned that will have to wait until the autumn.

And, of course, I play like a pig with arthritis.

Seek and ye shall find - got a patch for my Mustang 3 called 'empty' so it can be used with effects processors with no amplifier modeling, and as a clean USB recording interface. Result!

Fender Fuse is bl**dy marvellous 

Does anyone else on here use Fender amps that are Fuse compatible? My delight with my Mustang 3 continues to grow, not least because of the Fuse software.