OLD LEO must be well bogged off. He went to all that trouble to invent an instrument that would hold a steady, solid bottom-end bassline and suddenly all these flash gits come along and play lead guitar on it.

For god's sake, how can you hold the song down if you're playing your best Jeff Beck runs at the top of the neck, going through nineteen effects and bending notes an octave-and-a-half either way?

Well if that's how you feel, don't bother whipping the bank manager into a frenzy of generosity so you can blag the cash to buy the Kahler. It'll help your band's rhythm section to lock into a groove about as much as attaching a small carrot to each of your ears.

However, if you're the sort of extroverted type who loves leaping to the front of the stage and firing out blazing licks at the speed of light, why not? Oh, and by the way, don't bother auditioning for Aswad.

As far as sound goes, the big lump of brass that comprises the main bit of the trem does absolutely no harm to either tone or sustain — certainly on the bog-standard Tokai Precision copy it was fitted to, it would probably have been an improvement.

The action's quite stiff, as you'd probably expect when you think that you're stretching great telegraph-pole gauge bass strings rather than namby-pamby guitar ones. And it won't wang as far as the average guitar unit, either — those neverending Stuka dives that the HM heroes stick in about three times a solo won't wash, I'm afraid. A few measly notes is the best you'll manage.

Problems? The G string has a slight tendency to stick in the nut if you get weird with the wanging; nothing too serious but it does drift annoyingly sharp occasionally.

Benefits? All depends on you, really. You could use the thing to completely wreck the rhythm section and make your guitarist feel physically sick. If you wanted to.

But for a good example of what could be achieved, listen to Eurythmics' Touch, album — Dean Garcia's boingy funk leadlines could be emulated brilliantly and his savage note bending and pitch-shifting trickery certainly adds an injection of excitement when it's pushed to the front of the mix and given a trebly, aggressive tone to suit it's role as lead instrument.

In a more background role, it could easily be handy for imitation fretless vibrato and slides, and even for doing synthish pitchbend swoops. But at that price, maybe a case could be made for getting a fretless bass. Or a synth.

To wang or not to wang — that is, as old Bill said, the question. The answer has to be determined by your desire to play mad axe-hero, your wish to expand the frontiers of bass playing — and of course your wallet. Putting a £219 gadget on a bass that retails for almost exactly the same prices seems like and odd idea.

But the EMG pickups are expensive, too; just under a ton is also a fair bit to spend on an add-on. Of course, they do have a marked effect on the sound, which is a basic item on the average bassists' priorities list.

They do have a bit of the Precision honk which every Fender fan loves and not a few others loathe. But added to that is a far punchier, tight ef bottom end and a clean, clear treble which brings out the best in new strings and makes your slaps and pops belt out of the amp and give you short blows in the back of the head. SuperPrecision wouldn't be too far off the mark; they sound like a bass ought to sound in that mythical zone inhabited only by pros and producers wherein lurks the ideal sound for each instrument.

If you want the best, I suppose you have to pay for it.

If you really need your sound boosted to megastar status, you pay your money and, at least with the EMGs, you get the goods. Meanwhile, the rest of us skint types will probably be happy with the average sound of our present set-up, at least until the record company advance comes through.

So: Two items at the top of their trees. You won't find better than either at what they do. The question then remains — do you need it? I'll leave you to argue that one out with your overdraft.

EMG-P Bass Pickups: £99.75
Kahler Bass Tremolo: £219