Typically this blog gets updated at 0'Dark 30 on a weekend while I'm meant to be supervising small children who suffer attention deficit disorder when to comes to sleeping.
Been distracted the last few weeks, some of the distractions I can make into new years resolutions,
Practice playing guitar rather than tweaking the hardware or searching ebay for bargain bits I don't need.
Reading more books
That'll do, the exercise more, drink less, eat healthily is standard
Practice needs defining, effective practice is needed, definition to follow.
Tweaking the hardware might stay, I quite enjoy fixing things
Sunday, 6 January 2013
Sunday, 4 November 2012
eBay has failed, google wins
I've got used to going straight to eBay and typing in whatever esoteric item I require and finding a reasonably priced example or two of what I seek
This just failed!
strat pickup switch tip black
not a bad set of results, but averaging a fiver although that might include a complete set of knobs etc from China.
google got me here
http://www.northwestguitars.co.uk/stratocaster-selector-toggle-switch-tip/
Which still ends up with me paying two quid for a small piece of plastic delivered to my door, if I had patience one would probably drift into the gravity hole that is my junk pile eventually. I lack patience I've gone for two quid delivered.
If I wanted white I can currently get 5 for 99p on ebay
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Job-Lot-White-Switch-Tips-for-Strat-Stratocaster-Project-/140878493442
Of course the fact that I can get 5 white switch tips for 99p is exactly why I want a black one, actually bronze would probably work better but that's hoping.
In the end it's all good. Being able buy a random piece of plastic at 8:30 on a Sunday morning, possibly having it delivered from another continent, is pretty good, that you can also end up buying from the next county by the same mechanism equally good.
This just failed!
strat pickup switch tip black
not a bad set of results, but averaging a fiver although that might include a complete set of knobs etc from China.
google got me here
http://www.northwestguitars.co.uk/stratocaster-selector-toggle-switch-tip/
Which still ends up with me paying two quid for a small piece of plastic delivered to my door, if I had patience one would probably drift into the gravity hole that is my junk pile eventually. I lack patience I've gone for two quid delivered.
If I wanted white I can currently get 5 for 99p on ebay
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Job-Lot-White-Switch-Tips-for-Strat-Stratocaster-Project-/140878493442
Of course the fact that I can get 5 white switch tips for 99p is exactly why I want a black one, actually bronze would probably work better but that's hoping.
In the end it's all good. Being able buy a random piece of plastic at 8:30 on a Sunday morning, possibly having it delivered from another continent, is pretty good, that you can also end up buying from the next county by the same mechanism equally good.
Sunday, 28 October 2012
Ready bag
Just in case bag
Just for fun on Saturday afternoon I ended up having to go to the children's hospital to get some emergency repairs done on one of the offspring.
Lucky for us, on a few occasions, there is a handy drop in center to take kids for a quick check over and fix up if needed, and fortunately if more work is required we have Alder Hey Children's Hospital
The staff and treatment at both are excellent but unfortunately you can end up with a both of a delay if your precious charges aren't bleeding out.
Yesterday I spent around two hours, maybe three, in a hospital waiting room.
Its kind of handy to have some basic supplies with you in such circumstances, also you may need to leave in a hurry so it would be handy to have them in one place, just to join the dots leave a small rucksac with the following lying near the door (or hung up neatly if you have that kind of spouse).
Baby wipes
Books adult and children.
Drinks (little cartons of fresh juice with straws, bottle water, coke,)
Food (oat bars, flap jacks, sweets, chuck some fruit in on the way out the door)
Pen and paper
Pack of cards
For smaller children
Nappies,
Cartons of UHT milk
If you've got rugrats then you know what to add
Also very useful to have to speed up going out for days out, trips to park whatever, just remember to refill the bag when you've used it
Anyway yesterdays end result: Kid ok, I didn't get some work on a little project done until later, but I did manage to get some of a book knocked off and play a few games of noughts and crosses
Just for fun on Saturday afternoon I ended up having to go to the children's hospital to get some emergency repairs done on one of the offspring.
Lucky for us, on a few occasions, there is a handy drop in center to take kids for a quick check over and fix up if needed, and fortunately if more work is required we have Alder Hey Children's Hospital
The staff and treatment at both are excellent but unfortunately you can end up with a both of a delay if your precious charges aren't bleeding out.
Yesterday I spent around two hours, maybe three, in a hospital waiting room.
Its kind of handy to have some basic supplies with you in such circumstances, also you may need to leave in a hurry so it would be handy to have them in one place, just to join the dots leave a small rucksac with the following lying near the door (or hung up neatly if you have that kind of spouse).
Baby wipes
Books adult and children.
Drinks (little cartons of fresh juice with straws, bottle water, coke,)
Food (oat bars, flap jacks, sweets, chuck some fruit in on the way out the door)
Pen and paper
Pack of cards
For smaller children
Nappies,
Cartons of UHT milk
If you've got rugrats then you know what to add
Also very useful to have to speed up going out for days out, trips to park whatever, just remember to refill the bag when you've used it
Anyway yesterdays end result: Kid ok, I didn't get some work on a little project done until later, but I did manage to get some of a book knocked off and play a few games of noughts and crosses
Friday, 26 October 2012
Restoration Comedy
Hondo is strumming along nicely,
Bar strings the only thing I've really needed to do is swap the bridge in order to get the intonation set, in simple terms intonation is tweaking the length of the strings so the tuning is consistent along the length of the fret board.
So I need a new bridge, Advantage one, this is a Les Paul style guitar, the bridge is a push fit onto a couple of pillars so I just need to get a new one. Advantage two, lots of people make and sell arts to fit a Les Paul, in fact you can buy parts to fit most any type of guitar, Strats and Les Pauls being the most common. So lots of choices for spare parts, I don’t have to break out the 3D printer. Advantage three, it’s called a tune-o-matic bridge, and that sound really cool to me.
So what is the best bridge for a 30 year old LP copy owned by a man on a budget? Having spent at least 30 seconds trawling guitar forums I head for ebay, a quick search reveals roller bridges which look cool and normal bridges. Back to the guitar forums and I get the impression that roller bridges are good if you have a tremolo arm (also known as a whammy bar) my guitar is mostly armless so I decide to go conventional, there are also dark murmurs that roller bridges suck up tone. Also the term normal bridge covers quite a lot of ground but the sophistications of ABR and Nashville style bridges are lost on me so my purchasing decision is based on price and will it fit. basically a crude buy one that looks like the one I’ve got for the least amount of cash strategy. The final result 5 pounds from China! That is 5 pounds including postage from Shenzhen China delivered in less than a week, half the cost of a UK seller, ok I don't believe this is the best quality part ever but I'm not sure this even covers the cost of putting something in an envelope.
While I'm looking for parts I start to think about styling my guitar wondering about using black hardware v the pull of authentic aged components, and I’m starting to think about aging my new bridge, I appear to crossing to the dark side.
Finally after all the effort, one vital component buy a guitar stand, I watched Hondo drift slowly sideways and drop to the floor after being propped against the sofa! Fortunately a soft bump and just needed a retuning but...
So what is the best bridge for a 30 year old LP copy owned by a man on a budget? Having spent at least 30 seconds trawling guitar forums I head for ebay, a quick search reveals roller bridges which look cool and normal bridges. Back to the guitar forums and I get the impression that roller bridges are good if you have a tremolo arm (also known as a whammy bar) my guitar is mostly armless so I decide to go conventional, there are also dark murmurs that roller bridges suck up tone. Also the term normal bridge covers quite a lot of ground but the sophistications of ABR and Nashville style bridges are lost on me so my purchasing decision is based on price and will it fit. basically a crude buy one that looks like the one I’ve got for the least amount of cash strategy. The final result 5 pounds from China! That is 5 pounds including postage from Shenzhen China delivered in less than a week, half the cost of a UK seller, ok I don't believe this is the best quality part ever but I'm not sure this even covers the cost of putting something in an envelope.
While I'm looking for parts I start to think about styling my guitar wondering about using black hardware v the pull of authentic aged components, and I’m starting to think about aging my new bridge, I appear to crossing to the dark side.
Finally after all the effort, one vital component buy a guitar stand, I watched Hondo drift slowly sideways and drop to the floor after being propped against the sofa! Fortunately a soft bump and just needed a retuning but...
Saturday, 20 October 2012
Guitar Zero
and check out Guitar Zero for the scence of learning
In the beginning
I’d been kindly gifted a Squier Strat by a friend of the missus but had a yen for something different. As an aside what sort of friend provides your musically challenged partner with an electric guitar? Anyway I am more than grateful, the Squier was a lot more fun to learn with than an acoustic and an electric unplugged very useful for practising without drowning out the tv but I had got a yearning for something different. Why? The strat clone seems to be produced in such numbers I think there may actually exist one such guitar for every man, woman and child on the face of the planet. I had walked into music stores and seen mass ranks of strat clones. If a musical instrument is about expression I want a unique voice. Actually I think my musical voice is fairly unique but not that musical.
So trawling eBay for something, electric guitar, different, local and cheap I came up with Hondo
Initial purchase price 30 ish quid. I’d bought locally on eBay because I figured shipping would be too bigger add on to my somewhat limited budget. Typically Hondo is on the limit of the 10 mile eBay closest radius so add 5 pounds of fuel.
£35.00
First impressions, I bought Hondo as a fixer upper, on getting her home, I replaced the broken string and had a play, then I replaced the rest of the strings as the existing strings felt rough. I think Hondo needs
Hondo in my hands, home and playable £39, and on first impressions well worth it.
I go with playing. The jack connector is an easy solve, I’m used to a strat style where the jack is protected the Les Paul style is exposed, buying a lead with a right angled plug makes things a lot better. Addition to investment 3 quid, delivered pretty much next day, for stuff like this eBay rocks.
Total so far £42
Having convinced myself I need to pull the potentiometers and replace them, I spend some time researching replacements and find that standard pots from the local Maplin are close but not quite what are needed. This is in comparison to some eye watering figures for replacement Les Paul wiring harnesses with real “tone”. I discover that I can get what I need for around 2 quid a pot, plus postage. But it’s Sunday and in a fit of I want to do something now I buy some switch cleaner, an aerosol of magical solvents and other agents and spray the pots, basically squirting the magical elixir into a gap in the posts to shift dirt and clear the passages. End result three pots are smooth and 1 has gone from scratchy to slightly iffy. Pot replacement can wait. Can of magic potion £4
Total so far £46 although given there must be 50 odd squirts left in the can maybe £42.10
It’s late, it’s Sunday night and I have one last thing on the list job nagging. I need a new cover for the back of the switch, proces online not bad, but the size seems wrong, so I figure I could probably cut a piece of plastic to fit make a neat job etc. I end up cutting up the top of a plastic ice cream carton and PVA glue it in place, a superbly botched switch cover to finish round one of the restoration.
Before
After quality workmanship
and check out Guitar Zero for the scence of learning
In the beginning
I’d been kindly gifted a Squier Strat by a friend of the missus but had a yen for something different. As an aside what sort of friend provides your musically challenged partner with an electric guitar? Anyway I am more than grateful, the Squier was a lot more fun to learn with than an acoustic and an electric unplugged very useful for practising without drowning out the tv but I had got a yearning for something different. Why? The strat clone seems to be produced in such numbers I think there may actually exist one such guitar for every man, woman and child on the face of the planet. I had walked into music stores and seen mass ranks of strat clones. If a musical instrument is about expression I want a unique voice. Actually I think my musical voice is fairly unique but not that musical.
So trawling eBay for something, electric guitar, different, local and cheap I came up with Hondo
Initial purchase price 30 ish quid. I’d bought locally on eBay because I figured shipping would be too bigger add on to my somewhat limited budget. Typically Hondo is on the limit of the 10 mile eBay closest radius so add 5 pounds of fuel.
£35.00
First impressions, I bought Hondo as a fixer upper, on getting her home, I replaced the broken string and had a play, then I replaced the rest of the strings as the existing strings felt rough. I think Hondo needs
- A new switch panel cover
- Pots are scratchy, noisy and intermittent I’m going to have to replace these.
- The pickup selector switch needs a new top.
- The jack connector seem intermittent and noisy
- Playing
- Cleaning
Hondo in my hands, home and playable £39, and on first impressions well worth it.
I go with playing. The jack connector is an easy solve, I’m used to a strat style where the jack is protected the Les Paul style is exposed, buying a lead with a right angled plug makes things a lot better. Addition to investment 3 quid, delivered pretty much next day, for stuff like this eBay rocks.
Total so far £42
Having convinced myself I need to pull the potentiometers and replace them, I spend some time researching replacements and find that standard pots from the local Maplin are close but not quite what are needed. This is in comparison to some eye watering figures for replacement Les Paul wiring harnesses with real “tone”. I discover that I can get what I need for around 2 quid a pot, plus postage. But it’s Sunday and in a fit of I want to do something now I buy some switch cleaner, an aerosol of magical solvents and other agents and spray the pots, basically squirting the magical elixir into a gap in the posts to shift dirt and clear the passages. End result three pots are smooth and 1 has gone from scratchy to slightly iffy. Pot replacement can wait. Can of magic potion £4
Total so far £46 although given there must be 50 odd squirts left in the can maybe £42.10
It’s late, it’s Sunday night and I have one last thing on the list job nagging. I need a new cover for the back of the switch, proces online not bad, but the size seems wrong, so I figure I could probably cut a piece of plastic to fit make a neat job etc. I end up cutting up the top of a plastic ice cream carton and PVA glue it in place, a superbly botched switch cover to finish round one of the restoration.
Before
After quality workmanship
Sometime in the future pot replacement
redefining inappropriate
Blatant sexism
Puerile humour
Pointless reworking of an old song
But I laughed my socks off (I'm also a couple of years late to the party as usual)
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/t6HSlZBNwUQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Best gear review ever
And I quote:
Reliability & Durability: Been drink spilage, fat chicks sittin on it and still looks brand new. I use it almost every day and never had a problem with it. Had it almost 2 years now, still goin strong. // 10
http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/reviews/guitar_amplifiers/fender/frontman_15g/index.html
http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/reviews/guitar_amplifiers/fender/frontman_15g/index.html
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