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Posts under ‘Gear’

Gibson Howard Roberts 1974

Aug 18th, 2010
by frets.
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My buddy Jerry over at Jerry’s Music has a sunburst 1974 Gibson Howard Roberts guitar for sale and it is gorgeous, so I had to put a picture of it on my blog.  :)  I had the opportunity to play it and it is one sweet guitar.  Very smooth sounding & playing.  If you’re looking for a new jazz box, this one’s worth a look.

The 74 Howard Roberts has the shape of an ES-175.  It has a single floating neck humbucker, ebony bridge, and a tailpiece like the classic big band guitars.  The oval soundhole gives it a really cool & distinctive look.  Check it out, it’s a work of art!

1974 Gibson Howard Roberts guitar

1974 Gibson Howard Roberts guitar

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Guitar Pick as Artwork

Aug 7th, 2010
by frets.
2 comments

My wife recently started an Etsy store, and so naturally I typed ‘guitar’ in the search box. Among the items that came up were these beautiful handmade guitar picks of Ebony, Cocobolo, Abalone, Bone, Horn, and Snakewood by Brossard: Brossard Guitar Picks

I’d be into wearing these around my neck, and they do sell leather necklaces on the site.  But I’ve never used these kinds of picks on a guitar & I imagine it would take some getting used to.  Still, these will make nice gifts & I’m into supporting small business so I wanted to pass this along.  Check ‘em out!

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DIY Tube Screamer

Jul 28th, 2010
by frets.
1 comment

I’ve been working on a bunch of music lately, some original stuff for our church play and some new tunes for a duet project that’s just getting off the ground.  But last month I caught a sale over at General Guitar Gadgets and picked up this ITS8 kit plus the boutique mod kit.  Yep, all those parts go in that little box (well, most of ‘em, anyway).  The ITS8 is their Tube Screamer copy.

I don’t know when I’ll get to it, but I had to share this exhilirating (and somewhat intimidating) array of parts just waiting to feed my amp & ears some punchy & jangly goodness!

Fortunately the instructions at General Guitar Gadgets seem quite good.  I had been thinking about getting a boost pedal, but I got so much more!  :)

Permanent link to this post (134 words, 1 image, estimated 32 secs reading time)

DIY Pedalboard on the Cheap

Jul 25th, 2010
by frets.
9 comments
Angled View. Note the bolts sticking out pretty far. I ended up countersinking them later.Angled View. Note the bolts sticking out pretty far. I ended up countersinking them later.
Angled View. Note the bolts sticking out pretty far. I ended up countersinking them later.

Just before I left for tour with Joyful Noise, I put together this awesome DIY pedalboard with shelving parts from IKEA.  I got the idea & plan from Armchair Bronco over at the Harmony Central forums.  His detailed step-by-step guide is excellent, so be sure to check it out!

The beauty of this board is that I made it in one afternoon (about a day and a half including stain dry time) for a grand total of $44, which breaks down as follows:

*You can probably save even more money on the Velcro.  15 feet is WAY too much, but I wanted the 2″ wide stuff & that was the only one they had.  Checking out Velcro’s website, they offer it in smaller doses.  (Hmm, I wonder how sticky Velcro’s website is…heh heh).  O well, the stuff comes in handy & the Mrs. has already been using it.

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Modding my Vox Wah Demo Video

Jun 12th, 2010
by frets.
4 comments

This short video demonstrates the before and after of my Vox Wah mods.

I’m very happy with the mods as they are now, it’s much warmer & fatter and less harsh & brittle.  Here’s a quick summary of my mods to date:

  • Whipple wah inductor
  • True bypass switch (3pdt)
  • ICAR pot
  • .022uf sweep cap (replacing the stock .01uf)
  • 57K input resistor (replacing the stock 68k)
  • 100k “vocal” resistor (replacing the stock 33k)
  • 2K midrange resistor (replacing the stock 1.5k)

I got stuck on the tone mods because, frankly, they’re so much fun!  But I still have to finish up the dc jack and the LED.

Mods Made to my Vox Wah

Mods Made to my Vox Wah

The Whipple Guys Sent Me A Cool Sticker

The Whipple Guys Sent Me A Cool Sticker

Some resources I used during this build: Whipple wah inductor, Area 51 wah, Small Bear electronics, Pedal Parts Plus, Andreas Moller’s website. Also tips o’ the hat to @davmac, @effectsbay, @ajp71555, and @thepedalnerd on Twitter.

Permanent link to this post (155 words, 2 images, estimated 37 secs reading time)
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