News:

Forum may be experiencing issues.

Main Menu
Menu

Show posts

This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.

Show posts Menu

Messages - lars

#1
Open Discussion / Transparent isolation washers?
April 18, 2024, 01:52:55 PM
I know nobody manufactures them, but with 3D printing so prevalent, I'm sure somebody could make them.
Transparent resin printing
The most practical use for these would be to add LED lighting to vintage pedals without having to drill or modify in any way. The washers could either be for a 1/4" jack or the stomp switch. With how ridiculously bright LEDs are these days, I'm sure the light would bleed out just fine.
#2
Quote from: Aentons on April 15, 2024, 07:01:06 PMThey probably took the bags out so they could move the seats closer together. :)
LOL! Come to think of it, that flight did feel more cramped than any flight I've been on recently.
Here is the kicker though:  they handed out free earbuds to anybody that wanted them! You can't tell me a barf bag is more expensive than earbuds. And people take the earbuds with them. People don't take the barf bag if they don't use it. So the absence of bags can't be because of economic considerations. It seems like it would be illegal for airplanes not to have bags, especially with the hyper-sensitivity the world has to communicable disease after that little covid thing. Barf hurling around has to be one of the most unsanitary things this side of who flung poo. I guess flying from now on is a BYOBB situation.
#3
I know this thread is old, but I prefer to use what is established, rather than start a million new threads covering the same thing.
Soapbox time:
Have you ever been on an airline that didn't have ANY barf bags? I was on one last night. And of course, they hit some really bad turbulence, the kind that has those wonderful free-fall drops mixed in. And yep, people started puking. But there were no bags anywhere. And since it's "company policy" that everybody (including flight attendants) have to stay where they are during turbulence, that means nobody could go to the bathroom, nobody could get any assistance, nobody could do anything about puke flying all over. By the time the plane landed, the aisles looked like a crime scene of spent napkins and piles of digested pretzels.
I'm wondering...who is the absolute bungling idiot that refused to put barf bags on the plane? What did they expect would happen when the puke starts flowing? Does somebody hate the poor souls who have to clean the planes? Yet another example of the crippling stupidity so prevalent in the world today.
#4
I wonder if there are any clear isolation washers for 1/4" jacks? That could be another solution for adding LED lighting to an older pedal without having to do any mods. They already do this type of LED lighting for stomp switches.
#5
Just to throw a monkey into the wrench for ideas, you could also wire up the original switch the old Maestro Boomerang way, so that the wah in effect is "always on", switching between a volume pedal and wah. In volume mode, there is no tone sucking because the circuit is actually boosting the signal a little bit. Since the switch in that wiring scheme just acts as a grounding lift, the LED cathode could be connected to the same lug that grounds the capacitor to activate the wah. Again, this would be minimal mods to add features.
#6
Quote from: jimilee on March 01, 2024, 02:29:24 PM
Does t cost that much to just replace them, but I get it...
The pots that actually sound good in wahs are basically irreplaceable, so anything that will extend their life is much needed. I've gone through 5 different pots of all types in my wah, and none have ever sounded as good as the one I recently fixed with this stuff. I'm guessing that a well-oiled wah pot will outlast any of the so called "boutique" expensive pots out there that are supposed to last, but always end up getting scratchy just as fast as the cheap ones.
And there's the real issue:  manufacturers want their pots to wear out, so that you keep buying new ones. That's why they don't lube them in the first place. There are sealed, oil-filled potentiometers out there...and they're ridiculously expensive because of that fact, you wouldn't end up replacing it every year.
#7
Now that I've looked over the pictures a bit more, I noticed the two carbon comp 470K resistors have been swapped out for carbon film, so I wouldn't worry too much about modding the pcb in any way, it's already been worked on.
As for the LED, where are you planning to put one? LED's on wahs are really only effective if you can somehow place it on top of the foot control, like the old PAX "Pedal Number One". Otherwise it just gets lost at most viewing angles. I guess something in the heel of the case would be a fairly visible option as well, but would only look cool if it was an amp jewel like on the old 70's Morley wahs.
#8
Quote from: Bret608 on February 29, 2024, 05:26:15 AM
...without taking the whole pot apart.
I happened to take the whole pot apart for the one I resurrected, but I'm willing to bet that just adding the fader lube to the carbon track on most pots would fix any scratchiness, without having to douse it in cleaner. It still requires taking the back off though, otherwise you can't be precise with the application of the oil to the track. I'm guessing this stuff isn't designed to get all over the place. I think it does have some conductivity to it.
#9
Quote from: jessenator on February 28, 2024, 06:24:45 PM
I must've been doing it wrong. I usually take CRC plastic-safe contact cleaner...
Yep. Same thing I used to do too, because we were all doing it wrong. Pots don't get scratchy from dust or dirt, it's from FRICTION. Ever run an engine out of oil? It fails. Pots need lube. Any moving part that contacts another surface needs lubricant of some type, or bad things happen. Electronics cleaner actually makes it worse.
#10
Scratchy pot? The solution:
https://caig.com/product/deoxit-fader-f100l-l2c/
Deoxit fader lube is amazing. Works perfectly. Put it right on the carbon track. I resurrected and old wah potentiometer with it and now it functions better than it ever has. Not even the slightest hint of a scratch. Where has this stuff been all this time??????
#11
Open Discussion / Re: Advice on modding a Crybaby
February 28, 2024, 04:54:27 PM
Do not mod the case or anything! Simply get a 9V battery clip and a female DC barrel plug to make a "dongle" similar to this:
https://www.taydaelectronics.com/9v-9-volt-battery-clip-connector-with-barrel-jack-plug.html
You can easy create a space for the thin wires to fit through by putting a spacer washer in between the bottom plate screw and the case. This mod will work to be able to plug into a modern power supply, but you will not be altering the originality of the pedal in any way.

*edit* There is one reversible mod I would highly recommend:  carefully desolder one leg of that 33K resistor at the top of the PCB to take it out of the circuit. Guaranteed the wah will sound better without it. The original Thomas organ patent didn't have it. I know it's the "Q" resistor, but in my experience I've found it to be the "poo" resistor; some wahs even put a potentiometer there, so you can adjust the levels of poo! Leave it out.
#12
Open Discussion / Re: NGD also
February 16, 2024, 07:50:19 PM
That's a workhorse right there. Outstanding access to the upper registers.
#13
Open Discussion / Re: NGD
February 08, 2024, 07:57:32 PM
Goldtop LP with P90's = timeless classic.
#14
Open Discussion / Re: Gold Anniversary Big Muff
January 31, 2024, 06:00:03 PM
Quote from: LaceSensor on January 31, 2024, 06:43:27 AM
so I grabbed one of these
It sounds really quite good - beyond expectations actually. The build quality is very standard but the casing, presentation and little touches inc the documentation are quite nice additions.
Those knobs look 100% better! It would probably look great with these knobs as well:
#15
Open Discussion / Re: Gold Anniversary Big Muff
January 25, 2024, 07:56:19 PM
The only thing I didn't like were the knobs, being that the "hockey puck" style EHX knobs didn't exist in the Ram's Head era. It would have been perfect with some gold versions of the various Ram's Head knobs, especially if they randomized it so you would get a surprise unique pedal when you open the box. The "reactor tower" knobs would have been great.