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Oak would make for a very heavy guitar with difficult to control sustain (not impossible but...). Wood can vary tone but often the maker compensates with build details. In the bass world some very heavy woods are used. I couldn't believe the difference between my friends Warwick corvette and my bass. Although the Corvette body is smaller it's much heavier, my Ibanez is bulky but lighter (probably ash/alder/swamp etc). Of course in bass land sustain makes for big muscley notes, in regular guitars it can mean ringing and screeching!

Flanger/phasers fall into two basic types, those that add a tasteful bit of swoosh and those which create spacey soaring noisescapes. What is tricky is finding one that does both. Luckily this month G&B are reviewing Toadworks Phantasm, which they reckon is expensive and not very versatile. Recommended competitors though are Electro-Harmonix's 'Flanger Hoax' and Digtronix's EP1.

In some ways it's one of my least favourite effects, I was given two cheapo phasers free and car-booted them after some mucking around, but once I knew what they did I recognized the use of phasing in the Clash's 'Lost In The Supermarket' and wished Strummer had left it out!

There are a few one-off instruments built by enthusiasts but a 12 -string bass isn't a real instrument. Most basses are 4 strings E A D G (alternate tunings are rare in bass). There are 5 string basses and these add a low B ( B E A D G), this gives a real booming low note (more than some amps can handle). Six string basses are also gaining popularity giving an additional high C string. Jazz and classical cats do some weird things with the tunings but for most players a 4 string bass is enough for anything.

You may be thinking of the baja sexto, used by mariachi bands which has 6 pairs of strings (I think). This is one octave lower than regular guitar rather than 2 octaves lower like the electric bass.

Quite a difficult song to play too. I suspect 'concrete and clay' is speeded up a semitone at least. A real favourite of mine but that does make it easy to play ;-)

You've got to have the feeling, all the skill in the world won't matter if the solo lacks feeling. Think of the solo as a song within the main song, a tiny symphony. There are some very effective simple solos, Buddy Holly's 'That'll Be The Day' does a few chords and then repeats the song riff, but Buddy makes it sound exciting, commanding and every bit a real solo. Thats feeling triumphing over skill, Buddy played it like he meant it.

Seagull's are reckoned to have a slightly wider neck.

Cherry Cherry by Neil Diamond - it's all E A D but has a fast funky feeling. Gave me that 'at last I'm out of first gear' high.

Part of what the pack does Phil is ensure that junior has all the kit they need to get jamming right on Christmas day, otherwise ma and pa might forget that electric guitars need an amp or that beginners need an instruction book/dvd. No doubt it will all be outgrown eventually but that's what it's there for...

The problem with faking is that people check out the logo rather than feeling the quality. Once you know what a genuine instrument looks and feels like you are unlikely to be taken in but most people will never see the real thing. Logos and stickers give people a feeling of security. No matter how good or bad the finish or sound it's a Fender/Gibson/PRS. When you buy an unknown name you have to be more certain that you like the product, there's little resale market for lesser-known luthiers.

My advice is know what quality you are looking for, if you are satisfied by a model then it doesn't matter what's on the headstock. Don't let gear snobs put you off with their fancy brands.

Get It On (Bang A Gong)
Girl You'll Be A Woman Soon
Spirit In The Sky
Fat Bottomed Girls
Get Back

Actually Phil some Malafide persons simply erase the Squier logo then put a Fender logo decal in it's place. These decals are illegal but they do appear on the net from time to time and people do use them on self built pieces.

I suspect this kind of thing will kill eBay's guitar section, individual sellers have already largely deserted it, leaving big music dealerships and grifters. Even if you do win an auction for a decent guitar the seller's often want to meet you in person halfway, too many buyers claiming they never saw the courier...

Hi Phil, re: single coils/silent coils.

Strat owners are in a bind. The classic strat sound is 3 single coils, weak ones too, when strat modders talk about adding hotter coils they mean more output. Single coils pickup hum from the mains, shielding can do alot to alleviate this but it can be a real problem. In the 80s Fender hit upon making the middle single coil reverse, making any coil combination that uses it humbucking yet strat tone.

However true believers still maintain the original weak and noisy coils have a unique sound. Players like this sometimes turn back their volume knob between songs to purge out the noise that builds up.

Replacement coil makers that promise noiseless use all sorts of tricks from wax potting, to variations on humbucking. Most of their websites give good detail of what you are getting though.