First news from QUAD in their 50th anniversary year is the announcement of a new power amplifier, the QUAD 306, with a power output of 70 watts into 8ohms. It uses a refined version of the feed forward error correction circuit ("current damping") with other features including separate power supplies for each channel, an absence of fuses or relays in the signal path and a signal to noise ratio of 110dB. Manufacturers Price: £229.00.

Backing up his recent Bass Clinics, Henry Thomas of "Rockschool" fame has compiled a Bass course series which comprises a 'tutor' and cassette for each course. There are four courses: the Beginners Course, Slap and Funk, Speed Licks, and 60 Great Bass Lines and they retail at £9.95 each.

---

Fresh from the land of Steinberger comes the 'S' Tremolo unit. This will be fitted as standard to the Steinberger 'P' series guitar featuring double ball end strings, this guitar being called the GP-2S. The GP-2S will also be offered with the 'Trans Trem' transposing tremolo system and will be called the GP-2T. The 'S' tremolo has a locking lever mechanism, as opposed to a locking nut clamp, and, in conjunction with an adjustable counter spring assembly, this locking lever will lock the tremolo movement instantaneously, leaving you with a guitar with a fixed bridge. Because of this adaptability in the 'S' tremolo, Steinberger will not be manufacturing a non-tremolo 'P' series guitar in future. The 'S' tremolo also features a knurled nut which eliminates play in the tremolo arm and allows easy adjustment of rotational friction. The Steinberger 'P' series guitar and bass are now being produced in red and white as well as the usual Steinberger black. The GP-2S is retailing in the States for $1095 and the GP-2T for $1375.

Due to the popularity of their leg rest, Steinberger have decided to make the leg rest extension available to instrument manufacturers worldwide. Further to this, Steinberger would like to point out the differences between instruments bearing the Steinberger legend. Instruments with the tuning system supplied by the Steinberger factory bear the inscription "Steinberger System" whereas tuning systems made under licence granted by Steinberger have "Steinberger System Under License." The brand name of instruments carrying such systems will appear in lettering at least three times the size of the 'Steinberger' lettering.

---

The ESSP (Electronic Synthesizer Sound Projects) Library listing and the 1986 catalogues are currently being compiled and will include sections covering books, compact discs, equipment manuals and brochures, media programming and publications, MIDI software, promotional accessories, records and tapes and videos. The ESSP distribution service has expanded its warehouse and distribution centre near Hampton Court and will continue to supply mail-order recordings, publications and a lot more Computer-Synthesiser related software. The ESSP Network SYNSOUND service which specialises in compact discs and independent records and tapes has opened an office next to Heath row Airport for import and export and all buying from distributors and independent artists, and can be contacted on (Contact Details).

---

MTR announces a new personal 4 track recorder from Vesta Fire. Features include eq., switchable dbx noise reduction, 10 inputs including 2 RIAA inputs for connection with a turntable, pitch control, 1,7/8 ips speed, headphones monitoring, four V.U. meters and an optional remote punch in/out footswitch all for a recommended retail price of £285.00 (inc VAT).

---

RAK Electronics have launched a service for rejuvenating old and knackered valve amps. RAK "Gold Label Rebuilds' offer a total valve change, capacitor and pot, replacement for £125.00 and a complete overhaul for £265.00 and it's all backed by a 5 year guarantee.

---

There's a new model of Emmett Chapman's 'Stick' available for the musician. This stiffer, blacker version is being injection molded in a high grade polycarbonate resin mixed with carbon fibres. The Stick is designed for two-handed tapping of bass, chords and melody and the new version is smoother and lighter to the fingers, upper harmonics and sustain are more pronounced, the lows are sharper and more resonant and it's neutral to weather changes. There is a new fret design and the head and tailpiece have been stretched, with a butt at the tail for standing the instrument on end. It comes with case, stereo cord and lesson book and is currently retailing in the States for $825.00.

---

Frankfurt. Frankfurt. Frankfurt. Say it enough times and it starts to sound like a very silly word indeed.

But that's where thousands of people, instruments, leaflets and dodgy salesmen's suits will be appearing simultaneously in the just-about-to-happen Music Fair.

And in reality the event's as odd as the name. Huge halls full to the brim of the latest or the most outrageous or just the best-selling bits of gear for the next year or so, and everybody striding around purposefully telling everyone else that their new digital multifunctional incremental audio MIDI processor device is better than anybody else's. And nobody believing anyone else anyway.

There will be lots of brand spanking new and very interesting stuff, some of which people are keeping closely under wraps, but some of which we've already found out about by very dubious means.

For instance, one big topic of interest for recording types is the new Yamaha do-everything gadget, the SPX90. It'll do about thirty different things, like flanging, sampling, reverb, delay, autopanning, phasing, noise gating, compression... you name it. The quality's not quite up to Very Expensive Studio standard, but it's at least as good as any normal person could want and at £599 recommended retail price, who cares about the odd few kilohertz here and there? Yamaha's new cheap(ish) Portastudio, the £449 MT1-X might attract a bit of attention, too — with its optional MIDI timecode adaptor and Porta-One/X-15 lookalike styling it may be just the thing for the MIDI musician.

MTR's ditto Portastudio (see news story elsewhere on the Shredder section) will be another cheap contender for the four-track crown, and there will no doubt be umpteen more along the same lines.

Sampling, of course, is the big news of the moment, and everyone and their younger sister will be launching devices which will regurgitate noises on command. Akai are amongst the leaders with their S900 digital sampler, which is a logical development of the older S612, and offers eight-voice polyphonic, disk drive, pretty excellent audio bandwidth and all that sort of stuff, and a price of £1599. Eat your heart out, Synclavier owners.

Akai are also hitting the market with another fourteen (count them) products, including more synths, pro audio gear, more specialised MIDI gear, and a rack-mounted version of their MG1212 giant twelve-track Portastudio complete with autolocator, and a programmable MIDI mixer which is at present eight channels of recallable settings, for £1299 yet, but must surely be just the first step towards a cheap Solid State Logic for the masses. Oh, and they've got a super sequencer for under two grand which will store millions of notes and control anything from the state of your shopping upwards.

More high-tech stuff from Casio, whose sampling stuff (see last month) and other generally hip bits of gear are pushing them even further into the semi-pro/pro market. Their user-sampling drum machine, for instance, looks to be a long way from the VL-Tone's bip-bok-bip-bip-bok...

Korg have gone sampling, too, with a very Mirage-sounding thing called the DSS-1 offering disk drive, keyboard, and so on. Their touch-sensitive sampled piano sounds interesting, too, falling as it does with an almighty "boinggggg" between the Mirage and the pf15. Their 'Vocal Processor' sounds interesting, too.

Roland have finally come up with an alternative to their tried-and-trusted analogue synths, SAS. Like all such systems, FM, Phase Distortion, and the like, they're being vague about the details because nobody quite knows how it works. But they've got an electronic piano with the system as its basis which is apparently dead good. But pricey at £2,300 and even the expander version without the keyboard's over a grand. The new cheap Roland drum machine, the TR505, should attract a few with its TR707-style sampled sounds and £290 tag.

Watch out for surprises from Simmons, Dynacord, and Pearl, among others, on the electronic drums front. On a more traditional note, Marshall, Trace Elliot and Peavey will be doing what they do best, which is producing amps of high spec and immense loudness. MIDI is rearing it's five-pin DIN socket on amps as well as effects now, so a fair few companies will have programmable MIDI noticeably present on their products, Peavey and Dynacord amongst them.

And while we're on the subject, there will be speakers, mixing desks (honourable mentions to Studiomaster and Soundtracs), guitars of headlessness, activeness and wang-barredness, (hello Washburn and Yamaha), basses of too many strings (Yamaha again) and a proliferation of devices MIDI, sampling, programmable and generally high-tech. Not to mention cheaper than ever before.

And lastly, we've just received an early bulletin on next year's fair. Everybody there will be occupying a hall the size of an OXO cube and demonstrating their latest product, a MIDI-equipped sampling device that is infinitely programmable and contains the equivalent of Sarm West studio, Trevor Horn, a Synclavier system, two lead guitarists, fourteen keyboard players and the voice of Marvin Gaye's ghost, packaged in a turquoise touch-sensitive button about half the size of a soluble Disprin. It'll cost just under 12 pence and replace everyone in the music business completely. Now where did I leave the number of that Jobcentre...

---

FCN have announced that Pilgrim Guitars are now exclusively available in the UK through their nationwide distribution. The range includes Acoustic, Acoustic Electric and Twelve String Guitars with Prices starting at around £399.00.

After their successful preview at the British Music Fair, Angel Bug pick ups are also being distributed by FCN. Manufactured in Great Britain by Robbie Gladwell, Angel Bugs use a variety of specially selected Piezo Crystals carefully matched to tonal qualities and dynamics of different instruments and those catered for so far Acoustic Guitars (internal and external mount), Violin, Mandolin, Banjo, Cello, Double Bass and Drums. The model for the drums can be used for straightforward amplification or for triggering a Drum Synth Unit.

---

Quark Ltd have introduced an addition to their MIDI-LINK product range - the LRM-2. The LRM-2 enables MIDI signals to be transmitted over up to 200m as opposed to 15m using the standard 5 pin DIN lead.The unit is 1.75" by 19"rack mounting and is capable of sending and receiving two independent sets of MIDI information. Two sets of MIDI IN, OUT and THRU sockets are provided on the front and rear panels allowing easy use in a rack mounted situation. The unit retails at £329.00.

---

The annual guitar weekend will be presented by UKG again this year. The event will take place on October 24, 25 and 26 with free music performances and clinics, talks, demonstrations and question and answer sessions. For participants there will be a cost of £100 per basic stand allocation but admission to the public wil be free. After complaints last year that the closing time of 10.30 was too late, this has been brought forward to 9pm, apparently for alcoholic reasons.