Uncategorized

Fender Vibrato/Tremolo

by

I had just read an article on Fender tremolos here. This article brought up the subject of the Fender three tube Vibrato/Tremolo. This is a tremolo effect that pans between two signals, one from a High pass and the other from a low pass. The sound while not truly tremolo and not really vibrato has … Read more

True Bypass with an LED!

by

I bought this switch from Smallbear about ten years ago, probably around 2000. It cost $13! Before that time this was a high tech item that was only available in Fulltone products from what I understand. Legend has it that he had them designed and specially manufactured for his boxes. I guess wiring a true bypass box with an LED easily was worth it to him to invest the time and money to get these things made. Not sure how they ended up at Smallbear. Steve probably figured he could sell a few, I bought 1, and Mike Fuller had enough stock on hand to pass some on to Steve.

Now days you can get these everywhere and the prices seem to get as low as $3.50 each, though the price seems to have settled around $5 on average.

Read more

Baritone Guitar

by

I had gotten this itch to get a baritone guitar. Not sure where it came from, maybe I was listening to to much Ennio Morricone? I must have bought it in the early 2000s. I found this on sale for $199 and thought it looked like a pretty good deal. It’s a Squier Sub-Sonic. The guitar is a baritone tuned to low B. The body is basswood and constructed as a neck through design. It has 24 frets with a rosewood fret board.The body is a dark blue almost black with a metallic or sparkle finish. The headstock is reversed with the smaller strat outline. The neck has a 27″ scale.I’d say the guitar was well made for the price I paid.

It plays pretty good. The strings are much larger than a regular guitar about half way to a bass guitar. The neck through body construction makes playing the upper frets very comfortable and natural. The frets are large. The guitar has a nice balance to it like other guitars in this body style. The body has the strat style cutaway.

Read more

Mini Maker Faire in Oakland CA

by

Looks like there’s a mini Maker Faire in the east bay. The big Maker Faire in San Mateo this year, though it had a lot going on was so crowded that I couldn’t really enjoy it. This might be better at a smaller scale. http://ebmakerfaire.wordpress.com/

Pignose

by

The DIY swap meet was great. I saw this Pignose amp at one of the tables. Normally this wouldn’t really interest me. But, my wife had put this amp on her Amazon wish list. They wanted $40, I didn’t have the cash on hand. Luckily I sold a few things so I got the Pignose … Read more

Sustainers

by

I was at the DIY swap meet last weekend where I was shown a DIY “e-bow”. It consisted of an electric motor, 9V battery and switch. The shaft of the motor had what looked like a propeller made of electrical tape. The idea was to turn the motor on and hold the device so the … Read more

New Stompswitch

by

You’re probably familiar with the classic blue 3PDT stomp switches that have been around for some years. These are ubiquitous in the stompbox realm. Everyone uses these, from the major manufacturers to the small builders and hobbyists. They work well and the cost is very reasonable. I paid $13 for an offical Fulltone 3PDT about … Read more