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Messages - wstimson

#1
I got the same switch from Smallbear for the Wavelord and mine also does not rotate all the way around continuously.  It still works just fine, but it took a bit to figure out which waves are which.  :)  I also spent a long time wondering if I ordered the wrong thing or was doing something wrong... glad it's not just me.  :)
#2
Well, I replaced the MPSA13 and no change in the voltage.  I tried a different speed pot, and replaced the 1uF caps (C19, 20, and 21) and no change.  The voltages on the other transistors look correct, so the last thing I can think of is that I managed to damage the NSL-32s.  I don't have any others to try, so I ordered another pair from smallbear.  Should be here this week and we'll see if that fixes it.  In the meantime if anyone has any other ideas, I'm all ears.  :-)

Thanks!
#3
Tech Help - Projects Page / Harbinger 2 lamp not pulsing
September 16, 2019, 10:38:09 AM
I put together a Harbinger two, and everything is working right except that the lamp is always on instead of pulsing.  If you manually cover and uncover the LDRs it sounds awesome.  :)  The voltages all look pretty close except for Q12, which has the correct value for C, but B and E are way low (like around 1v each).  So I suspect that is the culprit, but I don't have any more MPSA13s here to swap with... so while I'm ordering more of those I thought I'd see if anyone else has any suggestions.  I also triple checked the values of the caps and resistors in that part of the schematic and they are all correct. However, C20 and C21 I had to use some older 1uF caps that I "reclaimed" from another board, since I was also out of those... so I'll be replacing those as well if swapping out Q12 doesn't end up fixing it.  Any other ideas or suggestions for what to look at would be welcomed.

Thanks!
#4
Quote from: somnif on September 11, 2019, 03:43:57 PM
Have you tested this phenomenon someplace other than your home?

I ask because I experienced something similar. Sometimes I would get horrible power supply buzz, sometimes it would be fine. I discovered my apartment has such horrible grounding that any time any of the air conditioning units in my "stack" (my room and the two above me) were running, I get power supply noise. If they're off, its fine.

Well, as fine as I ever get, there is so much EMF noise around here that I can barely use wifi 2ft from my router and my wireless headphones go buggy walking across a room....

Given that I live in Arizona, it means I prefer battery power 10.5 months of the year  ;D

Yeah, I live in Phoenix and I can't tell you how many times I've tested a circuit and gotten a TON of weird noise and garbage only to realize I left the soldering iron or the fan turned on.  Switch those off and everything is silent.  Sometimes there's just noisy power, especially if your pedal includes a charge pump.
#5
Global Annoucements / Re: Info on next releases
April 26, 2019, 09:34:05 AM
Quote from: gordo on April 25, 2019, 06:55:15 PM
I twitch at the appropriate dates but to honest, I order when the stuff becomes available and I usually grab whatever is new.  I totally understand how the board-delivery-from-supplier works and tweaks equal days.  In this day and age of instant gratification if might teach a rare commodity.  Patience.  It's maddening.  It's DIY.  I try not to pester you :-)
Quote from: Masochist on April 25, 2019, 07:19:59 PM
Any updates on when the new releases/restocks might be going up?

:-D  Well played.
#6
Open Discussion / Re: New Guitar Day - Les Paul
April 24, 2019, 09:59:00 AM
Quote from: timbo_93631 on April 23, 2019, 06:18:03 PM
Love that volute on those necks where it meets the headstock.  Something so pretty about it...

Yeah, I know not everyone likes them, but I think it's cool too.
#7
Open Discussion / Re: New Guitar Day - Les Paul
April 19, 2019, 04:12:29 PM
Thanks, guys... I'm super pumped about it.  It's in excellent condition for it's age, but no so nice that I feel bad gigging with it.  :)

I'm considering putting a bigsby back on it... we'll see.  Also considering gold pickup covers.  But again, we'll see.

Quote from: jimilee on April 19, 2019, 12:04:32 PM
That is just incredible! The ol tuxedo guitar. How much did he let it go for?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


I never really fancied myself a "vintage" guitar guy... but this thing smokes, man. I was looking for more like an early 2000s classic or traditional, really... but here we are. :-)

And I gave him $2k for it.  Top end of my budget, but way under what a 71 custom normally goes for.  And the 65' "patent sticker" humbuckers are probably worth almost half of what I paid for it.
#8
Open Discussion / New Guitar Day - Les Paul
April 19, 2019, 11:08:11 AM
My whole life I've wanted a "real" Les Paul.  I've been casually looking for the last year or so for one that I could afford and that was not weight-relieved.  I like the heavy solid mahogany ones.  :)

I sort of stumbled backward into this one.  The drummer in my band plays in a few cover bands here and there (ie: old white guys playing Mustang Sally and I Shot the Sheriff to their old white friends).  We decided to do a fun rob/white zombie side project with him singing and playing a little rhythm.  He asked one of the guys he plays with if he could borrow a guitar for the project and he said "sure, I have one I don't really play any more" and loaned him this 1971 Gibson Les Paul Custom. 

I, of course, was dumb founded that this was a thing he'd just let a drummer borrow for an undefined number of months.  So I told him to ask this guy how many dollars we'd have to give him to never ever give this guitar back and if he said a number at or below $2k, tell him it's sold.  And here we are.

It's a 71 custom with the pickups from a 65 SG/Les Paul.  And it's my new favorite thing.  It's got some holes drilled where a bigsby was installed and then removed.  And it was refretted about 6 years ago to medium jumbos.  It had a nickle ABR-1 on it when I got it, but I replaced that with a gold graphtech bridge. 









#9
Build Reports / Re: Helium OD / Palisades
April 02, 2019, 09:29:09 AM
Quote from: Aentons on March 29, 2019, 06:17:25 PM
Cool... what do all the dip switches do?

They control whether the boost function is independent from the overall effect or not.
#10
Build Reports / Re: Helium OD / Palisades
March 29, 2019, 09:38:02 AM
Quote from: jjjimi84 on March 29, 2019, 05:31:15 AM
Great etch! The whole thing looks fantastic. I know the robot from somewhere, it's itching at my brain and driving me crazy.

It from the disc art on Astro Creep 2000.
#11
Build Reports / Re: Helium OD / Palisades
March 28, 2019, 01:34:25 PM
Quote from: m-Kresol on March 28, 2019, 10:15:29 AM
Turned out great! Happy to see that someone built it and even more so that you like the sound (credit for that isn't mine at all, but I take it as a bonus).

Thank you!  You did a great job on the layout and art/drill template.  It was very easy to get this together and up and running.  I appreciate it!
#12
Build Reports / Re: Helium OD / Palisades
March 28, 2019, 11:22:34 AM
Quote from: Timko on March 28, 2019, 10:51:21 AM
GREAT looking etch.  I am a big fan of geometric shapes around controls.  The work around the bandwidth and clipping controls.

Also, 50+ completed and boxed builds in, and I still have yet to build a Tube Screamer.

Thanks... though, most of the etch mask/design was just lifted straight from m-Kresol's art/drill template, so I can't take credit for that. 
I just changed the font on the labels and added robots.
#13
Build Reports / Helium OD / Palisades
March 28, 2019, 09:50:05 AM
Surprisingly enough, this is my first tubescreamer pedal of any kind.  Not sure why I never built one before, but this one is pretty great.

The board is from m-Kresol and is a fantastic layout.  Thanks again!

Bonus point to anyone that recognizes the robot.  :-)



Not sure I'm happy with the knobs, but they're all I had that matched and fit at the time.  Probably switch them out next time I place an order.

Pretty pleased with how the etch turned out on this one.  I had some struggles getting the transfer to work the last couple times, but tried some new paper that worked much, much better.  :-)





#14
Open Discussion / Re: New ehx delay
October 19, 2018, 04:46:12 PM
Yeah, I haven't bought a "real" pedal in the last 5 years other than a Heil talk box... but I'm seriously thinking I'll need to get this.  It's just too fucking good.
#15
Build Reports / Re: Secret Sauce (GC Chimaera)
October 05, 2018, 04:05:10 PM
This is amazing.  Great work, sir.