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Posts under ‘Gear’

Update on My DIY Pedalboard on the Cheap

Mar 28th, 2011
by frets.
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Last summer, I wrote about my DIY effects pedalboard made from IKEA shelving parts. This is a simple & inexpensive design I got from Armchair Bronco over at Harmony Central forums.

I’ve been taking this board to shows ever since and it has held up very well.  I’ve also loaded it down with more pedals.  In effects chain order, I now have:

  • Boss TU-3 Tuner
  • Fulltone OCD – tone sweetener, always on
  • Fulltone Plimsoul - for screamin leads
  • Cap’n Crunch (GGG ITS-8 kit with Boutique Mods) – clean boost for clean leads
  • FrankenWah – Heavily modded Vox V847 Wah
  • Ernie Ball VP Jr Volume
  • MXR Carbon Copy Delay

I play my Warmoth Strat or G&L S-500 through it, into my 1st gen. Peavey Classic 30.

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DIY Pedalboard Cables

Mar 20th, 2011
by frets.
11 comments

I’ve had it.  I’m making my own cables from now on.

I had a two expensive brand, few-month-old cables short out on me in the past month. Then I started googling ‘DIY guitar cables’ and there’s some great info out there.  Being a DIY guy and all, I should’ve done this a long time ago.  It’s easy, inexpensive, and you end up with custom length, hi-quality cables.  I learned a few tips along the way, so I’m gonna share it with you.

First things first, here’s my parts list, sources and prices:

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Modding My Vox Wah: Pot Comparison

Nov 15th, 2010
by frets.
3 comments

Back in the summer, I had a series of posts on my Vox Wah mods, which were a ton of fun and dramatically improved my Vox V847.  But one night when I was playing out with the wah, it started buzzing badly and so I set it aside for a while.  After some troubleshooting, it turns out the new ICAR Pot I had put in there had a short in it or something.  I tried to fix it, but I only made matters worse to the point where the pot stopped working altogether.  I’m not sure, but it is quite possible that I fried it accidentally by applying too much heat to the leads when I was soldering.  Suffice it to say that my soldering skills have improved dramatically over the course of these little projects.  And let that be a lesson to ya boys and girls!

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DC’s Guitar Shop and a Famous ’52 Tele

Nov 13th, 2010
by frets.
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The Washington Post Magazine this morning has a cool feature on Steve & Lynda Spellman’s Guitar Shop, a store opened in 1922 by classical guitarist & teacher Sophocles Pappas (friend of Andrés Segovia & teacher of Charlie Byrd).  Yeah, that’s some good company there.

In the article, Steve shares several treasures from his personal collection (read NOT FOR SALE!).  Among them, this 1952 Fender Telecaster played by Roy Buchanan & Danny Gatton, among others. Man, this thing is in great shape!

I mean, compare this to Jeff Beck’s ’54 Esquire or Danny Gatton’s ’53 Tele and this thing is mint! Anyway, good (if brief) feature on a cool piece of DC guitar history, with some other fantastic guitars in Steve’s collection, including a 1903 Gibson Harp Guitar (whoa!).  Check it out.

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DIY Tubescreamer: It Works!

Aug 23rd, 2010
by frets.
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I was away for a week but managed to finish my GeneralGuitarGadgets.com ITS8 pedal kit. Imagine my joy when I plugged it in and it lit up & worked! I played it only a short while so as not to keep the kids up, but this pedal is very cool. Nice and versatile & a good complement to my OCD. And I can’t say enough good things about GGG’s excellent instructions. Next I’ll have to decorate it a bit and record some soundclips. Man this DIY bug is powerful stuff..I hope it’s contagious! :)

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