Tuesday, December 15, 2015

 I saw this today and had to post it. 
http://www.freestompboxes.org/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=3694&sid=026fbdf6027f9c9bc3ec0a3cb5a95402#p40128

Tuesday, November 24, 2015


How to Dumble MOD a Fender Black Face

Alexander "Howard" Dumble has revolutionized the world. He started out in California with a small amp shop where he specialized in modding Fender amps.  One of his most popular mods is the Ultra Phoix mod.  In my search for the illusive Schematic and secret information surrounding the mod, I came across this article "Cool Mod for the Normal Channel"   You can read up on it at the following link.  Cool Mod for the normal channel

As I am not a amp builder, (but someday hope to be) I recruited my friend John Dandry to assist me.  He is an amazing amp builder located in New Orleans. We used my 1964 Fender Princeton as the donor amp.  We used Push Pull switches instead of the regular switches in case we did not like the results. This mod is truly amazing. I have never heard a Fender Princeton sound so good.

This is the work that was done.

1. Replaced: 2x 100k plate resistors in preamp and  all Electrolytic caps in amp.
2. Removed fixed 27k bias resistor with 10k pot and 22k resistor for adj. bias
3. Added Shielded cable at input to lower noise.
4. Mods: Cool Mod : Rock/Jazz and boost pull knobs on treble and bass.
5. Rock/ Jazz - tone filter Boost - tone stack bypass Local feedback on gain stage Mid control
Thank you to the following:
1. I want to thank Dumble for his creativity and intuition 
2. I want to thank Steve Aloha for writing such an amazing document on the Cool Mod.
3. I want to thank my friend John Dandry for his amazing skill and workmanship.
     (Click here for John Dandry Contact Information)

Here is a Video of the final result before putting the chassis back into the Cabinet.  This is only the amp with no effects.
After Dumble Cool Mods 

Here are some pictures of the inside of the Chassis





Monday, June 15, 2015

3 string Triads

I saw this diagram regarding 3 string triads and thought that it might help.  


Wednesday, March 4, 2015

How to build an Effect order Switcher

How to build an Effect order Switcher.


I was looking through the forums  at  http://guitar-fx-layouts.42897.x6.nabble.com/808-and-zen-td18075.html#a18242 and saw this today.  It is an Effect Order Switcher using a 4PDT Switch.
This is very useful when switching between effects.

Enjoy






Wednesday, February 25, 2015

How are Potentiometers and Switches Numbered?


I found this diagram at:

 http://mirosol.kapsi.fi/varasto/boxes_other/pots_switches.png


                                                     

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

How to Build a Pedal Board


How to Build a Pedal Board

As a musician, I am always striving for the perfect tone. In looking for the perfect tone.  As a result, I ended up with a huge pedal board.  It got to be so heavy that it is really hard to set up and tear down every time that you use it.  I decided that I wanted the functionality of all my pedals with my looper and everything combined.  This is where my journey begins.  In order to save my back, I designed a functional, light weight board.

The Enclosure
I started with aircraft aluminum for the enclosure because it is really light and very strong.  With this material, you are able to have a larger but very functional board.




Drilling the Enclosure
By using the above diagram, the holes are drilled. I chose to drill the holes so that I was able to fit as many pedals on the board while still being able to comfortably fit my foot.







The Board Layout
In the board design, it is important to make sure that there is a way to be able to access all of the pedal and reduce any tone degradation. I decided to use a true bypass approach.  I found the following True Bypass Looper layout. It is located at tagboardeffects.blogspot.com.

If you review the wiring, by replacing the jacks you can use the same in and out for the pedal that you are adding. You can even install a tuner if you like.

Here is the inside of the board







Pedal order and the Layout
In order to get the optimum tone, the pedal order is very important.  I usually start from right to left.  I start with my compressor and then go to Fuzz.  Next I put Distortion and then Overdrives before modulating effects. In my board, I chose to put a Sea Blue EQ after the "Dirt Pedals" and before the "Modulating Pedals".  This is subjective to taste.


Here is the completed board






I have designed a second part to make this board modular.  You can unhook the main bard and take it for a practice or you can use the whole setup.  You have a choice which is cool. The aircraft aluminum is definitely the way to go because it is strong and so light.