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In the year preceding the sale of our house in Austin, I had to store all my drum gear in our detached laundry room while we renovated. This room was also called the "Rust Zone" because anything metal was doomed. Sure enough, all my drums and hardware rusted over completely. We've been in TN for 3 years and I'm just now getting around to restoring everything to get it sold off.

Here's the tip: if you have any chrome plated hardware (not necessarily drums--anything) that's rusted out, put it in a bucket and soak in Coca Cola for a few hours. It removes the bad stuff and leaves the chrome untouched! It's pretty amazing for a no-labor approach.

Actually, let me tell you: removing every lug from three drums, soaking, polishing and then re-attaching them is hardly 'no labor'...it's a total PITA! But, it does give it new life.

Google image search and then filter the results by "Black and White" images only! Works pretty well.

Was I the only person who did NOT know THIS?!?!

Someone mentioned this option on DIYSB. I wish I could remember who it was.

Google image search and then filter the results by "Black and White" images only! Works pretty well.

Thanks to everyone for all the orders during "Free Shipping Week"! The extra income has enabled me to turn around an place another order from the manufacturer right away. So, by around July 8th all current projects will be back and fully stocked. This includes the Rangemaster, Pastyface, Collosalus, Pork Barrel, Low Rider and Cherry Bomb.

I decided to do the remaining restocks now to alleviate some of the pressure on finishing off new projects. So, come late July or the first week of August, you should expect to see 4-6 new projects become available. I am not saying what they are yet, but it could be anything listed on the "Also In Development" column on the Projects Page.

Lastly, I will do a sale or another free shipping thing in mid to late August (or both even). I will announce it a week ahead of time so it is not a surprise.

Perfect for everything from P&W to Doom!

When I lived in Austin, I worked at the University in the libraries and then in the mental health svcs dept. I also worked at a bookstore for a few years (Bookpeople: best job I ever had). I did some freelance graphic design for a year or so. When I was in Dallas years before, I did fundraising for LGBT/AIDS-service organizations (actually a really rewarding gig).

If I had to pick something entirely different than what I do now, I'd like to be a general contractor, a social worker or an entrepreneur. For sure, I would never, ever take a regular desk/office/corporate job again. It is too soul sucking.

Actually, the MAX chip has no "S" designation it turns out. So, your choices are the MAX1044CPA, TC1044SCPA or ICL7660SCPA.

No, you should not get anything higher than 9v. You should have +9v on pim4 of IC1 and -9v on pin11.

http://www.smallbearelec.com/servlet/Detail?no=555

2MB solder terminal.

Here's my one and only! With our foster guest, Rocky the Pug/Dachshund.

Today, actually. I have yours right in front of me

Ah, cool.
So the Kraken doesn't have any advantage over the Sharkfin, filter-wise?

I think both are equally cool envelope filters and very comparable. If you are only interested in the envelope, then the Kraken is a better choice because it is less expensive to build and will fit in a 1590B. It also has the Hi/Lo switch. The Sharkfin is kind of a different animal because of the whole Sample and Hold thing. You can get the same envelope filter vibe happening in a lot of pedals, but there is no other pedal like the FSH1.

Q2 was drawn incorrectly on the schematic (collector and emitter were swapped). The schematic on pg.2 has been corrected to show the correct orientation. You should flip Q2 180° on the PCB (on both the fabbed and single sided versions). I have confirmed the filter works the same either way and appears to sound the same. Thanks for the catch, Scruffie!

On the Kraken, why is the PNP transistor flipped compared to all the schematics? Emitter to CA3080, is that because of the mods?

Good eye! I just ran up to the shop to confirm, and yep I had it backwards (on both prototypes). Turns out in this case it doesn't matter: the transistor works either way and the envelope sounds exactly the same (which is why I never noticed). However, it is still a mistake, so I will get the project doc corrected and a note posted in the Errata forum.

Thanks for the catch!

No, the pots more or less retain control over their range. Less so when the Filter knob is turned down, but that is to be expected since it reduces the sensitivity to the envelope follower.