Here's some new stuff to mull over, some from our BMF wanderings, some from our international network of contacts, some from scrawlings on the back of a string packet. Let's see... on the FCN stand at the BMF we spied the first Westone Thunder 1A bass to come from their new Korean factory (previous 1As hail from the now-defunct Matsumoku operation in Japan). An FCN person told us the only difference they could see was a less precisely trimmed pickup slot, but the Korean job will be £40 cheaper. Good show... there's a rather good looking new guitar case called, rather appropriately, Hardcase. It's made of polyethylene (tough elastic to you) and glistens in bright red, blue or yellow. Two layers of soft foam inside combine with a neck rest and body cushions to ensure a safe, protected ride for your Strat, Les Paul or pointy-stock guitar...

Some notes from our Premier/Paiste BMF visit: if you fancy trying the lighter sound of maple sticks, Paiste now do five types at £2.89 per pair; the ever-popular APK kit (see Bible) will soon be available in a dead flash 'mirror chrome' finish; and Premier are putting out three double-cassette-and-tutor packs by 'expert drummer' Rod Morgenstein for a steep £21.50 each... still with percussion, Zildjian have a wild new cymbal-miking set-up (see pic at bottom of page) the ZMC1 System. It consists of six cymbal mikes — small boxes that clip to the cymbal stand — and a powered mixer to plug them into. Highly zingy... Cheetah's new gear made an impression at the BMF, not least their MD8 drum machine (MIDI compatible, separate outs, digital sounds, real-time programming for but £140) and the MS6 synth module (multi-timbral, two-DCOs-per-voice, six-voice poly, 64 patch for just £250). We will tell more when we hear more...

A new range of oriental guitars is the CSL Blazer series, threatened to start at £120 and include delights such as 'solid wood' bodies and 'beautiful fat frets'. What they sound like we can only guess at present... Steinberger have come up with a bass version of their transposing tremolo arm, so that the four-stringer can now share the advantage and high cost of instant key transposition, in-tune chord and harmonic bends, and, in effect, 24 open notes... if you're into IBM or IBM-clone computer music, note that there's a new source in the UK for the apparently well-rated American Voyetra software. Poke Systems on (Contact Details) have details... JHS Rock Box and Bass Box owners will be pleased to see a new Rockman-influenced rackmount, the RM2x5 (£69), available for both headphone amps. The module is mains-driven, with front panel switches and sockets connecting to the temporarily or permanently mounted Box... a couple of Farfisa bits took our BMF fancy: the Digigram MC5 'musical composer', a 12-track MIDI sequencer (10 polyphonic tracks) with 11,000-note-plus storage, assignable via 16 MIDI channels, and an expected shop price of around £900; and the TK series MIDI keyboards, with sampled sounds, built-in stereo chorus, and the inevitable 'PCM rhythms', the three models expected to sell between £450 and £600... if you require a long long long lead, Klondyke Trading are bringing in Pro Co Sound's fabulously lengthy Lifeline lead, 18ft 6in long, guaranteed for five years, and yours for a mere £14.50...

Old twangy bloke Bert Weedon wrote a well legendary 1950s guitar tutor called "Play In A Day". Now, Bert has decided to leave the old book lying on his glass-topped coffee table, and offers instead a 1980s-style video tutor called "Play Today The Bert Weedon Way", for 25 quids. Can't quite imagine him tapping and dive-bombing, somehow; still, we'll see... if you're looking for a top-notch MIDI master keyboard (aren't we all?), then Chromatix are importing a super-duper Kurzweil object that answers that description and costs £1600 plus VAT (shriek). Calming voices on (Contact Details)... much mumbling at BMF about the new Shadow guitar-to-MIDI-in-a-pedal and its £450 pricetag. We will inform further when we've ear'oled... well known music and foreign currency fan HM The Queen evidently noted speaker builder Turbosound and mixer-maker TAC, both of whom recently received Queen's Awards For Export Achievement. Very nice... Scott Sound Systems reckon they have the only PA loudspeaker to incorporate a built-in sidefill monitor. We won't argue — it's the 1225 model and it costs just over two ton... Bruel & Kjaer make up-market mikes, actually, and that engineer Dave Bascombe (see Danny Wilson interview on p31) was so impressed by B&K's 4006 mikes when he used them with Depeche Mode that he's just bought some. That's a relief... If you feel brave enough to explore the world of sound and light, hop along to the PLASA Light & Sound Show at the Novotel centre, west London, from 6th-9th September, 11am to 6pm (5pm Wednesday), and remember your £3 admission fee.

Reggae mainman Robbie Shakespeare, half of the renowned Sly & Robbie rhythm section, recently picked up a new bass built by Brighton-based guitar maker Paul Richardson. It's a Fingerbone Fastback model, which Robbie has used on recent sessions with Aswad and Trouble Funk and describes as "many, many more wicked". No doubt. Fingerbone's Fastback bass costs a cool £950, and Robbie's custom version has a flame maple top and neck, ebony fingerboard, and a clear lacquer finished with black sunbursting at the edges. Contact Fingerbone for details of their six-string and bass guitars on (Contact Details)... Sabian have a new cymbal, which is just as well as they're a cymbal company. It's the HH Sound Control Hi-Bell, designed after a request from New York sessioner Pat Petrillo for a "special cymbal that has all the best qualities and capabilities of a tight, cutting ride and a punchy crash". We've done it, say Sabian, and we're now keen to sell the Hi-Bell outside New York City...

Evenlode Soundworks opens for business in Oxford on 7th September to dispense MIDI and computerish stuff to us humble musicians. Evenlode's lines include a new name to us, the Passac MIDI guitar controller from Australia, plus the good J L Cooper MIDI controllers from the USA (including the admirably named 'Poor Person's SMPTE' for £200), Steinberg software from West Germany, and Clavia drum machines from Sweden. Contact Evenlode on (Contact Details).