Here's a semi-useful tidbit that I've recently discovered:
When I make a speaker or guitar cable, after the solder is set, I use a hot glue gun to fill all around the solder joints. It keeps them from ever moving and from potentially shorting out. I actually fill the whole cavity of the 1/4" plug and screw it tight before it dries. Now the two pieces of the plug can't wiggle loose, either. The whole thing is then very, very solid. Like Han Solo encased in carbonite.
I'm sure you fellas have tons of discoveries that could help benefit us all. Drop some science here.
That's fucking brilliant. Wonder if epoxy would work even better.
Dollop of silicone on heads of fasteners to keep them from backing out. Also good for squeaks and rattles.
Wear ear plugs as much as possible ;D
Holy fuck :(
Partially deaf here. :-\ Partially to blame are 3 gentlemen named Jim, Cliff, and Conrad.
Quote from: RacerX on January 24, 2014, 06:32:36 PM
That's fucking brilliant. Wonder if epoxy would work even better.
Hot glue dries in a minute, is cheap (for the bulk it provides), dries solid, and doesn't need to be mixed. If you have epoxy (and no hot glue) then why not. Better? Probably not.
Only thing about this is that your connector is unusable if the cable shorts out or something (said in a whiny voice). No big deal I guess.
I have some nice-looking but shitty "big barrel" speaker cables that fail all the time (because the barrel is big but the actual hardware/connection is weak, it rotates etc). Maybe this would help.
Use interdental toothbrushes to clean preamp valve sockets. I'm gonna buy a bunch of these and resell for the purpose. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-Useful-Cute-5-PCS-Interdental-Brush-Tooth-Dental-Floss-for-Teeth-Hot-ItS7-/121215505128
Certain silicone sealants can be used for potting electronics too.
If you play bass with your fingers, use an emory board (nail file) to sand down your fingertips so they're smooth. The fine side of the emory board works best, and the cheap disposable ones are what you want. I suppose you could use fine sandpaper too? Afterwards, wipe off your fingertips, then catch some natural oils from the side of your nose (or behind your ear) to lubricate. Reduces drag on the string, reduces blisters. You can do it on both hands, but more important for your plucking hand. Sounds dumb but it works. A trick of Stanley Clarke's.
moving heavy items solo can really hurt your back and causes 500+ pounds of pressure on your spine due to the bulkiness and physics. use 212s with neodymiums, health over tone.
logic and science...
OSHA website states " maximum lower back compression force of 770 lbs. " https://www.osha.gov/dts/osta/otm/otm_vii/otm_vii_1.html (https://www.osha.gov/dts/osta/otm/otm_vii/otm_vii_1.html)
Back pain will eventually effect nearly everyone at one time. In 1998 the healthcare cost for lower back pain was estimated to be around 26.3 billion dollars. It is now thought that as a nation, we spend at least 50 billion dollars for lower back pain.
Another reason why a lot of us suffer with lower back pain is because of our lack of physical activity. Many of our jobs require us to sit and sit and .... sit, in front of a computer. This sitting is continuously putting a static load on our back, while at the same time promoting weak and faulty muscles that are meant to support and protect the back.
When the muscles in the lower back become weak and faulty, people tend to curve their back when bending over. The bowing out of the back makes it so that the muscles can no longer provide sufficient protection to the lower back.
lifting 55 pounds at a distance of 22 inches from your shoulder = 550 pounds of pressure on your back
http://www.oshatrain.org/courses/studyguides/711studyguide.pdf (http://www.oshatrain.org/courses/studyguides/711studyguide.pdf)
http://ehs.okstate.edu/modules3/back/a1-back.htm (http://ehs.okstate.edu/modules3/back/a1-back.htm)
(http://springvillechiropractic.com/sites/all/themes/tnt_glitterati_6/images/lever2.jpg)
LMFAO @ "health over tone"...
want to avoid lower back problems then learn to dead lift properly
fyi I am a 200 pound 6'2" weightlifter (3 weightlifting workouts a week) that knows how to lift and has no injuries or weakness. I lift using a back brace and also have a rocknroller cart for my gear. I just want to minimize injury risk due to bulkiness of cabs etc.
Here's another little hack I stumbled onto. When I got my Atlas 6x12, I was worried that because of its robust volume/bass/vibrations that I might just rattle my amp head right off its perch.
I searched for those amp feet cups, much like the ones on the top of Ampeg 8x10s. I went to every hardware and specialty store in town with one of my amp's rubber feet in my pocket hoping to score something similar. Then, it dawned on me that it'd be a lot easier and cheaper to flip the script, and take advantage of the center hole/cavity of the rubber feet instead of making "holes" on cab for the feet. All I had to do was to screw a pair of hex bolts into the top of the cab and the feet could rest right on top of them. It works fantastically and was probably under $1.
Here's some pics to explain it better. Note: I have four hex bolts on there now – a pair for my Orange and a pair for my Sunn amp.
(http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k32/jakeh_02/Bolts01_zps347e7147.jpg)
(http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k32/jakeh_02/Bolts03_zpsdb8b7493.jpg)
(http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k32/jakeh_02/Bolts04_zps905bcc6e.jpg)
When wiring guitars I started putting spade clips on the outputs to my jacks so if the jacks go south I can change them in about two minutes by taking the jackplate off and replacing it. Works great.
Use orange extension cord for speaker cables. You will always know which is yours.
Take a multimeter to every place you go jam. Alternatively, i take a power conditioner with me everywhere I jam.
Electrical tape capo.
Wood shim under the nut to raise action for slide playing without filing a new nut.
The lead guitar trick: cotton wristband muting the strings for leads
Use this stuff to keep your amp from sliding off your cab. No drilling or anything.
(http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee74/spicoli420_2007/shelfgrip_zps00c7a3d8.jpg) (http://s228.photobucket.com/user/spicoli420_2007/media/shelfgrip_zps00c7a3d8.jpg.html)
Shelf liner!
I use that shit as sanding pads, too.
I've thought about using this type of thing
(http://t1.gstatic.com/shopping?q=tbn:ANd9GcRLAOGZT2ynTsxJ1jJyuT-3alRlQ-7bGohZ97c4jCGB87vq4c-rHPkTHgLyuy79aBRlLdUQk8uF&usqp=CAE)
but these ideas are better
Quote from: Jake on January 25, 2014, 01:00:59 PM
(http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k32/jakeh_02/Bolts03_zpsdb8b7493.jpg)
Quote from: RAGER on January 25, 2014, 01:31:22 PM
(http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee74/spicoli420_2007/shelfgrip_zps00c7a3d8.jpg)
Quote from: everdrone on January 25, 2014, 12:41:39 PM
fyi I am a 200 pound 6'2" weightlifter (3 weightlifting workouts a week) that knows how to lift and has no injuries or weakness. I lift using a back brace and also have a rocknroller cart for my gear. I just want to minimize injury risk due to bulkiness of cabs etc.
that might have come off as accusatory. My bad. I meant it more in general for anyone
Cheap, easy, no work, no drilling
Quote from: SunnO))) on January 25, 2014, 01:16:02 PM
The lead guitar trick: cotton wristband muting the strings for leads
That explains so much about every pic I've seen with guitar players wearing wristbands. I always wondered about that (are they really getting that sweaty? ??? )
If you don't want you head moving about on your cab, open up the cab and jam in a brace from top to bottom so the top panel can't vibrate your head. Cab shouldn't flex enough to make a head move, it scoops that frequency from the output.
Jake inspired me. My new head is wider than my cabs so I moved the feet so they sit on the screws. Just round screws but they are enough to hold the head nicely.
(http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i137/mazeofliquidsmoke/IMG_0501_zps61e2d6be.jpg)
Quote from: dunwichamps on January 25, 2014, 11:23:51 AM
want to avoid lower back problems then learn to dead lift properly
All future and past back pain threads may refer to this post.
I routinely lug around my body weight in bass gear. Very mindful of my back and how I lift/move it. Not a spring chicken anymore...
An old Marshall trick I stumbled across by accident is try a 12at7 for V3.
Lowers the gain a bit but sweetens up the amp's overall response
Sent from a can on some string using Tapatalk
This might not be applicable to a lot of folks, but here's a ghetto-yet-functional hack I did to a string saddle on a Tele Deluxe.
I could not get the low E to intonate properly for the life of me. It just needed to be pushed back further than it physically could. After a frustrating and fruitless online search for a shorter saddle or any other way to get it scooted further back, I just put the damn thing into a vice and squished it. I used a hammer and chisel to guide the bends, but it was all a very indelicate process. It ended up working great and it intonates nicely now. Results below.
(http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k32/jakeh_02/P1090546_zps57f9d9c9.jpg)
Crazy Train...
Quote from: Jake on January 28, 2014, 04:09:50 PM
This might not be applicable to a lot of folks, but here's a ghetto-yet-functional hack I did to a string saddle on a Tele Deluxe.
I could not get the low E to intonate properly for the life of me. It just needed to be pushed back further than it physically could. After a frustrating and fruitless online search for a shorter saddle or any other way to get it scooted further back, I just put the damn thing into a vice and squished it. I used a hammer and chisel to guide the bends, but it was all a very indelicate process. It ended up working great and it intonates nicely now. Results below.
Whaaa...gruhhh....ohhh...
(http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z3/coreyyoung86/mindblown_zpsf3fdfcd2.gif)
That's known as the "accordion saddle" mod.
Nice mod!
Quote from: Corey Y on January 28, 2014, 04:31:32 PM
(http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z3/coreyyoung86/mindblown_zpsf3fdfcd2.gif)
--------
--------
--------
---2----
---2----
---0----
Is the same as
------
------
---4--
---2--
---2--
------
and
------
------
---7--
---7--
---5--
---5--
is the same as
------
------
---7--
---7--
---5--
------
Only way more brutal.
Welcome to the fret board.
edit - also, learn major and minor thirds and use 'em within yer scale. Instant "I know what I am doing."
Quote from: mutantcolors on January 31, 2014, 01:01:45 PM
edit - also, learn major and minor thirds and use 'em within yer scale. Instant "I know what I am doing."
Major scale with a minor third sounds "dark but transcendent"
It makes you sound like every nu-black metal band?
Sign me up.
Major with minor 3rd is kinda Eastern sounding. But Trad. Black Metal prolly stays all minor, no?
Labeling your band as some offshoot of black metal because you have one dissonant trem picking riff, that must be some kind of hack since everyone is doing it now.
(http://i1272.photobucket.com/albums/y387/agencyofchange/black-metal_o_746979_zpsf784396d.jpg) (http://s1272.photobucket.com/user/agencyofchange/media/black-metal_o_746979_zpsf784396d.jpg.html)
Quote from: mutantcolors on February 01, 2014, 02:43:07 AM
Labeling your band as some offshoot of black metal because you have one dissonant trem picking riff, that must be some kind of hack since everyone is doing it now.
Yup.
Quote from: mutantcolors on January 31, 2014, 01:01:45 PM
--------
--------
--------
---2----
---2----
---0----
Is the same as
------
------
---4--
---2--
---2--
------
and
------
------
---7--
---7--
---5--
---5--
is the same as
------
------
---7--
---7--
---5--
------
Only way more brutal.
Yup. I like to throw
------
------
------
------
---5--
---5--
in riffs with normal power chords. It's like I've got one more low string. Makes the bass accompaniment a bit more complex though.
You hear that one in High on Fire quite a bit.
That chord at 3:34 and 3:38 are the clearest examples that come to mind.
find various plastic bags, like the ones that new electronics come in as dust covers for keyboards and any control surfaces/mixers etc.
I like clear bags so I can sort of see the stuff, but a garbage bag stops the dust too.
when you use the gear, fold bag up and shove it underneath. when finished with project cover gear again.
may sound dumb, but when you grow an ocean of doo-dads with user-surfaces, they get gnarly seemingly in no time if always left uncovered. mixers with upward facing jacks really fill up with shit. i'm actually contemplating making dummy plugs just to fill unused holes on the mixer that I use like every day and it never gets covered. pretty lame having to try and vacuum out a mixer
alternately, the stuff could be stored on its side, but I would rather leave it all set up and just pull the covers-n-go.
I use old bath towels for this and an old contour sheet works great for drums. It just hugs around the cymbals.
Bagging seldom-used electronics seems like a good idea. I've got remotes, keyboards etc with a film of sticky crud, and it's a pain in the ass to remove.
Quote from: jibberish on February 12, 2014, 02:27:28 PM
mixers with upward facing jacks really fill up with shit. i'm actually contemplating making dummy plugs just to fill unused holes on the mixer that I use like every day and it never gets covered. pretty lame having to try and vacuum out a mixer
Very true. I've found that popping those cheap earplugs into unused 1/4" jack holes is a nice (and non-conductive) way to plug them up.
^^Great idea!
I give you the greatest mod ever accomplished with electrical tape alone.
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5541/12601013843_40b860fa05.jpg)
(http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/02/18/3uqunyzy.jpg)
Seen and raised.
Although not nearly as clever, this is my hat hack...bro.
(http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k32/jakeh_02/9259fc487cce7d8c1e970a87fb8adb8e_zps1c2d5da3.jpg)
Bass is guitar and drums at the same time.
Whoa man.
^^ lolzz
When I first started playing bass, the advice I got was: "Do what the guitarist does but in the rhythm of the drummer."
All instruments can (and maybe should) be approached like a drum, or with a percussive approach.
Things open up for people sometimes, when they hear that (lightbulb moment). Bass guitar especially, but my brother (violin player) got some benefit from that idea (with his bowing hand). Get in there, Maynard, beat on that thing.
I think more in terms or rhythm but percussion can apply all the same.
Quote from: Lumpy on February 20, 2014, 06:36:43 AM
All instruments can (and maybe should) be approached like a drum, or with a percussive approach.
Things open up for people sometimes, when they hear that (lightbulb moment). Bass guitar especially, but my brother (violin player) got some benefit from that idea (with his bowing hand). Get in there, Maynard, beat on that thing.
So true, I actually play my guitar with a drum stick quite often.
4 mixer output channels has cool uses.
rager, I think mentioned he was looking for more mix channels. the lucky dog is flush with those used Mackie 4 buss mixers in his CL zone. there are none around clevo CL. ya, and there was one , but I think in Washington for $295 so yeah. price is nice when the supply is up.
anyway. with a stereo mixer, you basically use the 2 busses for your final stereo out mixdown to whatever. some mixers have effects busses and other semi-useful ways of sneaking signal through the mixer several times, but every mixer is different and the limitations are too, and you just might need the effects loop for normal use.
SO, I have had a pair of little Behringer 12ch(ahem, 4 mic channels bogus 12ch , mostly stereo pairs) mixers for a while. this represents sort of a split 4 buss mixer if both were set next to each other. what I can do is mix stuff on one, then put that into a stereo pair(to preserve panning<-like the relative volumes, they are locked once mixed down to stereo in 1st mixer) on the second mixer.
what this represents, as I babbled somewhere in the synth thread, is the ability to sub-mix some audio for feeding back out to the synths or alternate processing, free of the effects loop at this point, and still bring it back and include it in the final stereo mix. you need 2 stereo pairs to do this easily. and the 4-buss can be used as 2 entirely separate mixers if you want.
I think with the extra exploring these noise projects mortay and bobowangus(sp haha) boys do(must be bad sax karma month for me. I was digging the guitar player haha,, watched a couple of their videos) or lumpy and disco, or rager with all those output channels of synth.
it's a different game than the 3 piece guitar band mixer concept.
I am working out a way to live mix 4 channel surround. but you can see the huge ease a 4 buss will make on the final output..boom, 4 channels out, done
I have found 2 axis pots with a joystick controller and no spring return-to-center bullshit, so I would have a 4 channel trimmer if I use each end of the 2 pots.
anyway. I just want to point out that 4 buss could add possibilities to getting it done in certain situations. I guess this is a "hack"technique. so yeah, correct thread.
Have an overdrive/boost combo or two overdrives with one being used for leads and want to get a lead boost out of them? Back off on the gain.
This is something I thought of yesterday while rewiring a friend's Strat. I thought of it afterwards, so I didn't get a chance to try it out, but it seems like it should work. Maybe y'all could confirm/deny my suspicions?
In lieu of having any nice solid core wire for running a ground between the pots and up to the underside of the bridge, I was thinking that an unwound stainless (or nickel) guitar string might work. Like a beefier one, say, an 18 gauge or so.
Has anyone done this with any measure of success?
what kind of cheap ass can't afford a few inches of wire for his guitar internals?
Well, sheesh. Thank you for the knee-jerk reactionary name calling. But it's really not a matter of it being affordable. More of a matter of it potentially being 10:01pm, and neighborhood Solid Core Wire Mart closing at 10pm.
And also, if it does work just the same, I'm all for doing it DIY. Why the hell not, ya know? Really sticking it to the Solid Core Wire Mart lobbyists in Washington.
Yeah, Jake, you Jewish or something?
Damn sure it works fine. I do it all the time. I use 24p, and use it as a common ground for all my grounds in the guitar.
Quote from: sanovine on February 25, 2014, 03:33:28 AM
Here's my DIY pharaoh, with gold leaf sun on it.
Also, "cheap ass" are harsh words coming from someone who won't compensate Mark (The Riffer) for all of his time and hard work he put into creating Pharaoh by buying one.
Jussayin.
errr... Jews sayin.
Ive also been known to use leads off old caps/resistors...
hey jake, try soldering some guitar string first in case it won't take.
there are many alloys which just do not react with flux. the more "stainless" less corrodible metals are worse. the flux does some chemical voodoo that enables the solder to bond better or w/e it does. certain plated metals are a bitch to solder too.
I would endorse other jake's use of component leads. those ARE meant for soldering and they work great. I see no difference between stripping jumpers and saving already-stripped component leads.
edit: jake , do you have any romex laying around the house from w/e electrical work? that solid core copper would rock as a ground buss, and seems like everyone has a little roll of that somewhere with a couple spare outlets etc.
edit: old lamp cord from some broken appliance, tool, w/e is like 18awg or w/e. pretty nice even if it is stranded. I am a scavenger, no doubt haha.
edit: speaking of scavenging power cords, I fixed the 2 prong death cord on my old Kustom combo with a butchered computer power cord. old power cords,I save them all.
but I saved the actual power cord after cutting off the old plug. wire is wire.
before something goes in the trash, I bone out useful looking switches, motors and valuable scrap metals, and I always strip out as much wiring as I can and just throw it in a scrap wire box. I will never have to buy hookup wire. it is all around everywhere.
Eh, I've never had any problems soldering guitar strings to things, when I put new strings on, I usually solder impregnate the ball end where the winds start. Cuts down on breakage back there...
Also, I scavenge everything, too. I don't buy things anymore.
Cable had a good scrap value for a while, but now China has got a bunch of copper mines it has dropped, leaving me with a massive sack of scavenged cable, so sorted for spare wire. I'm keen on solid stiff wire for grounding guitars, stops the pots free rotating if the nut comes loose. Plus something solid to cable tie all the wires to so it drops in the cavity easy.
(http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b69/Incarante/DSCF1944_zpsd6497cad.jpg) (http://s17.photobucket.com/user/Incarante/media/DSCF1944_zpsd6497cad.jpg.html)
Quote from: Jake on February 26, 2014, 02:16:57 PM
Quote from: sanovine on February 25, 2014, 03:33:28 AM
Here's my DIY pharaoh, with gold leaf sun on it.
Also, "cheap ass" are harsh words coming from someone who won't compensate Mark (The Riffer) for all of his time and hard work he put into creating Pharaoh by buying one.
Jussayin.
errr... Jews sayin.
:D
Quote from: jibberish on February 26, 2014, 04:10:51 PM
edit: jake , do you have any romex laying around the house from w/e electrical work? that solid core copper would rock as a ground buss, and seems like everyone has a little roll of that somewhere with a couple spare outlets etc.
Since you mention it, after that last building building I wired I have some 750KCMIL 4 conductor MC left over, I wonder if it'll fit in my fiddle?
I prefer to use that as instrument cable. That's just me.
Quote from: mutantcolors on February 27, 2014, 08:31:14 PM
I prefer to use that as instrument cable. That's just me.
we have discussed this several times already. that industrial strength vibrator isn't the kind of instrument we mean here.
although I heard those Nymphobator6000's in yellow are really REALLY rare and may be collectible like by perv lawyers etc.
liquid, split the preamp signal into your amp. that pre could run a few more channels all at once before the collective impedance drop sucked it dry.
mr foxen, that is very tidy. I really like how you cable-dressed the signal wires to the copper "rod". very neat, very stout. SOLD! I am doing that shit from now on too.