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Mr.Grumpy

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Everything posted by Mr.Grumpy

  1. Oh, many thanks, I'm humbled. A shame more people aren't participating. I am pretty much done with my search for "TOANZ" because I'm very happy with the way my setup sounds now. I really dig the sound of Nady TD-1 overdrive, I can get some nice rock rhythm guitar crunch, AND throw down some fake-ass Billy Gibbons riffs without dialing in more gain. The RAT is my high-gain lead tone, close enough to the 'brown sound' for my tastes.
  2. Mr.Grumpy

    Dumble died

    Famous amp designer/builder Alex Dumble has passed away. He was the butt of a lot of jokes back in the day, and his well-known statement "...fragile harmonics are squashed in the crystal lattice of solid state devices" became somewhat of an amp forum meme years ago.
  3. No one here will be able to answer your question, we are not an electronics technology forum. This forum is about GUITAR AMPLIFIERS, only. And it's largely non-technical.
  4. I have only a little experience with MIDI, and that's with keyboards and drum machines. Getting MIDI equipment to interoperate can be a challenge. But basically it requires finding out which commands (MIDI messages) your receiving device responds to, and which commands/MIDI messages your foot controller can send. This will probably require a "deep dive" into the documentation for both devices. Just for grins, I looked up the manual for the Chauvet Obey 40...and from reading the MIDI section of the manual, it's pretty simple. Basically, the Chauvet only responds to MIDI note messages. All you can do via MIDI is trigger a scene and bank combo, 1 through 6 "chases", and MIDI note #127 does a "blackout", presumably all lights off. The Chauvet doesn't appear to respond to "CC message" like the type sent from continuous controllers like expression pedals. Nothing in the Chauvet's manual about configuring a MIDI receive channel, so presumably it will respond to all channels or default to channel 1.
  5. I've never seen Red Ant post outside the HCPP forum. A Justin Bieber video? Yeah, that belongs there too.
  6. I got to play one once, the strings are close enough together is more like an octave guitar than a "bass." Can't imagine plucking the strings with my fingers. Even so, I'd love to own one.
  7. There may be other DAWs with that functionality, or perhaps even a plug-in that can perform this function. Do a web search. Melodyne is a well-known pitch correction software plug in, but it can supposedly extract pitch (and therefore MIDI) data from polyphonic (chords) tracks. No doubt the pitch-to-MIDI process works better on individual tracks versus stereo mixes. And if you're laying down tracks with a synthesizer or use a drum machine, it's very easy to record audio and MIDI data simultaneously. There's at least one hardware "black box" that converts audio to MIDI, but it's apparently intended to have a monophonic musical instrument as it's input (like a bass or guitar) so the MIDI output can trigger an outboard synthesizer.
  8. Apparently the D.A.W. (Digital Audio Workstation) software "Logic" can extract MIDI data from audio. See YouTube for more info, I have no experience doing this... the process is only partly "automatic" as you'll most likely have to "clean up" the MIDI data after it's generated, because pitch-to-MIDI conversion isn't perfect. Logic is an Apple product, and will only run on MacIntosh computers and not PCs.
  9. ^^^ Your board overfloweth. Here's my jumble o' crap...most of these pedals were $50 or less. Right to left: Green box is a re-housed ProCo Brat. $30 bucks from GC's used junkpile Arion compressor, $40 used Nady TD-1 tube distortion. This is my always on "foundation" tone, dialed in for my dirty rhythm guitar tone. $50 Used from GC, in basically mint condition with the box, instructions and warranty card. Nux Chorus. $30 used Boss DSD-3 delay. I bought this back in the early 90s, used, but I think I paid close to $100 for it. The switcher is the Acoustic (GC's brand) loop switcher, it does what it's supposed to do.
  10. The tone control is a simple treble-cut type, similar to what's used on guitars. You could change the tone capacitor out for one with a smaller value to increase the treble, I'd try one that's half the existing value and tweak from there. Mind the working voltage too, make sure your replacement cap is sufficiently rated for it. Sounds like some DC current is leaking out of the inputs and causing the crackle when you turn your knobs. It's probably too low to worry about. This is a quirk of this amps simple resistor mixer. Turning down the aux control puts a resistive load to ground. There are series isolating resistors, but still you go from a 1.33 Meg parallel load to a 330K Ohm parallel load when you turn the "aux" control down all the way. Just leave it turned up.
  11. Mr.Grumpy

    Amplifier board

    I'm definitely NOT an expert, but this sounds like a power supply issue. Have you installed de-coupling caps on the chips' power supply input? Refer to the "PVCC decoupling" on the schematic provided on the data sheet.
  12. I really think this is a bad idea...<insert standard warning about "tube amps contain lethal voltages" blah blah blah...> I think you'd be better off buying and assembling one of those tweed Fender clones, several 'small shops' make them. Having said that.... I've highlighted some components that could be changed to potentially increase the gain and bass response of the preamp. Remember this amp is built without bleed resistors on the power filter caps, so YES, it could have 300 - 400 volts DC on the B+ supply even when it's turned off and unplugged. Both of the capacitors I've highlighted have one side tied to the B+ line. Don't attempt this unless you own and know how to use a multimeter, full stop. 1. 0.01 mfd coupling capacitor between 1st and 2nd preamp stage. This could be changed out (or paralleled) with a larger value cap which will pass more signal and more bass frequencies from the V1a to the V1b stage. Maybe try 0.02. 0.05, 0.10, whatever. Too large a value may make the distorted sound farty or flubby. 2. Similar to #1, but it's the coupling cap between the V1b stage and the power amp. Again, a larger value cap will pass more signal and more bass on to the next amplifier stage. On both #1 & #2, you need to pay attention to the voltage ratings of these caps. The B+ voltage should be measured and any caps used should be rated for that plus at least 10% more for safety and reliability. 3. 330 K Ohm coupling resistor. This could be swapped for a lower value, it won't change the bias point because the grid is at DC potential. Similar to changing the cap in #1, changing it will (may?) drive the second stage harder. 200K ohm? 100 K? 50 K? See what happens! 4. 430 Ohm cathode resistor on V1a, changing this to a lower value may increase the output of the V1a stage. It could be as low as 100 ohms as it is on V1b, but I'd try something higher, 330 or 220 ohms. This WILL affect the bias of V1a, so don't do this unless you know how to read the plate current by measuring the voltage drop across the 220 K Ohm plate resistor. Also due to the current, this resistor should be rated for 1 watt. 5. Never mind, leave this one alone. The neon light is at an interesting place in the circuit...I suspect it may be more than a simple pilot lamp. Neon lamps have a fixed breakover voltage, so that neon lamp may be acting like a zener diode to regulate the voltage on V2 grid.
  13. I don't understand the logic behind having a roller nut AND a locking nut right behind it. You're probably thinking of pickup phase...which is only an issue when both pickups are on. I don't have a lot of experience with Floyds, but I've read you can have tuning problem if the knife edge on the bridge plate and/or the pivots of the bridge posts get gnarled up. For passive pickups, I'd recommend 500 K ohm pots for both volume and tone, as it traditional for passive humbucker guitars. For the tone cap, standard value is 0.047 or 0.05. There's no tone improvement from a pricey "orange drop" tone cap, any low voltage film cap of the right value will work, and usually take up less space than an orange drop. For the neck pickup, I'd get something fairly high output to balance the level with the bridge humbucker. I'd probably do a dual-rail humbucker if it was my guitar. For the bridge pickup, check your string width, you may want to go with a wider "F-spaced" pickup so your magnetic pole-pieces line up. I'm not going to recommend any particular pickup, that's really a matter of personal taste. Should be fairly simple to put a coil split (or serial/parallel! ) switching on a push-pull pot, I would use the tone pot for this. I found that switching a humbucker to parallel yields a sound that's very close to the split coil sound, but is still noise cancelling. For either diagram, check out GuitarElectronics dot com. Oh, yeah, the output jack. Since your guitar won't be active anymore, you can ditch the 3 terminal TRS (stereo) output jack if you wish, but there's no reason you can't re-use the existing jack either, which I would do if it's not giving you any trouble. Leave the "ring" terminal un-connected or tie it to the sleeve (ground) terminal.
  14. Who knows? Looks like a homemade pedal, possibly a re-house of a commercially-made pedals. Based on the "Fuzz" "Sweep" and rotary selector and name, it might be an envelope filter ('auto-wah') with fuzz. A "Sitar" pedal, bleah. Danelectro made a Sitar pedal. This pedal looks home-made too, is "Burford Electronics" a real pedal company? Clearly a home-made clone of the "Zen Drive", a famous boutique overdrive known for it's smooth and transparent OD tones. Probably a kit-built clone. This one looks like a commercially-made pedal, from a small "boutique" maker. The only knob I can make out is labeled "Attack", so possibly a vintage style fuzz pedal. "Dirty Little Secret" is an amp-type overdrive pedal sold by boutique pedal company Caitlinbread. I don't think this is that pedal, it looks to me like an OD/Distortion pedal built from a kit from one of the two big kit makers, BYOC or GGG. Looks like a Joyo pedal of some kind, or possibly a "clone kit" from one of the companies I mentioned above. Probably another OD pedal... Based on the controls, it's most likely a compressor. Looks to be a commercially-made boutique pedal. With most pedals it's pretty apparent what they do when they're plugged in and played through... To find out what's really going on, you'll need to at least open up the back and look at the circuit board, and if possible, a look at the component side of the circuit board, and that would probably answer any question as to whether these are commercial pedals that have been put in new or "redecorated" enclosures, or if these are built from kits, perfboard, whatever. IF the 'Shape Shifter' and 'bar code' compressor are commercial products, they may have some value. But they could be home-made pedals too, just with better graphics. Presuming the other pedals are either kits or DIY rehouses, those pedals don't really have any collectible value. Search google, Reverb and this place: https://www.effectsdatabase.com/#
  15. Definitely no tubes. The battery is only to maintain the memory chip that holds your presets. If the internal battery died, you would lose any custom presets you programmed. Pretty sure it wouldn't affect the audio quality. There's many different kinds of noise, each with their own source. There's electric hum ("mains hum" in England) and it's close cousin, buzz. This noise is always at the frequency of your local electric power. There's "white" noise, which is a hissing or whooshing sound, especially common with high gain setups. Of course, high gain makes any noise picked up by your guitar much worse. Are you using the noise gate or hum cancelling features? A digital modeling amp like this is going to be unfriendly to any DIY repair attempts. The most I would attempt would be to spray the smallest possible spritz of De-Ox-Id pot cleaner/lube, but only if: It's an "unsealed" pot. If it's a sealed pot, then the only avenue to get cleaner in is to spray down the pot shaft and sometimes works but then a bunch of crud drips out of the pot and on to the circuit board. I would contact Line6 and see if they have a certified repair center near you. Or, consider that 15 years is a pretty good run and consider upgrading - modeling technology has improved greatly, and there's a good selection of modeling amps out there from Line 6, Fender, Roland/Boss and others.
  16. The shunt grounds the input when nothing is plugged in; it's to prevent open-circuit hum when nothing's plugged into the amp.
  17. They make USB HUBS, which allow you to connect different USB peripheral devices to a single USB port on a computer. They wouldn't work to connect to computers though, and I wouldn't even attempt it. To do what you are wanting to do will almost certainly require a manual switch; I wasn't aware that such a box existed until I did a web search, but it does. It specifically mentions that it's intended for your application: sharing the same peripheral between two PCs (or Macs in your case). https://www.showmecables.com/usb-manual-button-switch-box-2-way?gclid=Cj0KCQjw-NaJBhDsARIsAAja6dPBQWfn45AX5tcc9v1gnL3RKA6VnkaX1d0BIb4SzffrD8u4rpr0T5EaAnuwEALw_wcB
  18. So I bought some wedge cut sound absorbtion foam tiles from the giant "A" mail order place. Surprisingly cheap, about $24 for twelve 1' x 1' (30 cm x 30 cm) tiles that are alledgedly 2" thick (about 50mm). A rather small box arrived, this can't be them, can it? I can hear stuff shaking inside the box loose. Open it up, and it looks like two thick jumbo sized mouse pads that have been shrink-wrapped in clear plastic film. Two bundles less than two inches thick. I'm a little confused at this point, but get out my pocket knife and begin cutting away the shrink wrap... OH!! The foam tiles have been tightly compressed and then shrink wrapped. Each bundle is 12 tiles. Unfortunately, one half of one dozen tiles were apparently shrink-wrapped too quickly after coming out of the foam-making machine; those tiles did not "un-compress" to their normal size. I was able to get some of these prematurely-squished tiles to "fluff up" by using my fingers to lift up the peaks of the wedges, but they're still not at their full thickness. I don't want to deal with returns, so I'll probably just slap these thin ones up in less critical places. Getting "normal" foam tiles like Auralex shipped is expensive because the product is very bulky.
  19. This has been discussed ad nauseum. Where have you been? This place (Harmony Central in general, not just the bass sub-forum) has been a ghost town for several years. I think it was about 10 (?) or so years ago that there was an "extended outage" of the forum due to new forum software being implemented. Then several other forum shutdowns that lasted days at a time. Between those and the rise of Facebook, participation here fell off a cliff. There have been some ownership changes too, it was recently owned by Gibson, not I believe it's owned by Sweetwater Music. Forum founder Craig Anderton and longtime head honcho/moderator Phil have departed. For bass guitar/upright bass forum-ing, I'd recommend Talkbass; they're still pretty active. Some of the other forums seem to have small (very small) groups of regulars that hang out.
  20. It's only one "m": game-if-i-cation. I didn't know either, so I did a g-search: https://www.google.com/search?q=gamification+definition&oq=gamification&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j0i131i433i512j0i433i512j0i512l4j69i60.5219j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
  21. Probably a STEREO amp with STEREO chorus!!! Probably has a glorious clean tone.
  22. I wonder if these one-question-and-never-return "posters" are search engine "bots" or something. Maybe just some poor intern at MXR's "social media" team trying to gauge name recognition for their products. Besides EVERYONE knows the best ever boost ever is the GOLD HORSEY KLON! For at least a couple of years, one of our local (Dallas, TX) Guitar Centers had a gold Klon pedal in their used effect display case, priced somewhere around $3,500 as I recall. It's not listed in GC's used gear database, so maybe it sold. Hi, Jodi!!
  23. I built about a half dozen DIY sound absorption panels for my home studio. I used 1 x 4 lumber to make rectangular frames 48" tall by 16" wide, just the right size to go around batts of 3 inch thick "Roxul" mineral wool insulation. Then I covered the exposed surface of the mineral wool with a layer of polyester quilt batting, then covered the whole mess with gray open weave burlap fabric from a craft store. The individual materials aren't too expensive, but with all the materials needed, it adds up quick. I also bought a cheap pneumatic stapler for attaching the fabric to the frame, which was worth the $25 cost. The best stuff to use is rigid mineral wool or fiberglass insulation board, but it's mostly a commercial product so it isn't sold in home improvement stores. You can order it and have it shipped to you, but because it's so bulky, the freight adds a lot to the cost. By the way, it's almost impossible to "soundproof" a room so that a band playing inside can't be heard outside. What you want is to deaden the flutter echoes, ringing and resonances inside to minimize the weird effects especially on bass frequencies.
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