Component Organizing Day and Announcement!

Every few months I've generally collected enough parts to require reorganization of the stash. At this point I have a set of parts bins for diodes, ICs, and transistors that I use to keep track of everything. I tend to try and buy in bulk when possible to keep costs down, and I prefer not to have to go on hunts while building a pedal!

EMG DG20 Partscaster Build

Fender electric guitars - especially the Stratocaster and Telecaster - by virtue of their construction lend themselves easily to modification. The necks bolt on, and in many cases the pickups are housed within the pickguard itself - so any modifications required fit a new pickup or even a totally new style of pickup don't require the skills of a high-end luthier. This fact quickly led to the birth of the "partscaster" - any Fender guitar that has had parts swapped, or even guitars built from parts from the outset. 

Prior to this build, I owned one Stratocaster - an overall black one with cream pickups - and yes it looks a lot like "The" Black Strat. As I'm (obviously) a David Gilmour fan, I also wanted to have a strat with the EMG active pickup set he started using in the mid-1980s. That being said, my existing strat is a special edition, and I kind of want to keep it stock. I therefore started looking for a way to build my own "partscaster" centered around the EMG DG20 electronics.

Anasounds Trémolo - A Decent Teaching Pedal

There are a lot of different sources for guitar pedals and kits out there, but one I've come across recently, Anasounds, is just a bit different in a lot of ways. They only have two kits available, well, technically three, but I'll come back to that, and they appear to be mostly focused on hand-built pedals with a fairly wide range available. However, with those two kits, they demonstrate a major focus on the "how to" part of pedal building, including understanding the circuit, tracing it, and really understanding the underlying electronic principles. Their instructions are extensive including methods for testing the circuit at every stage of the build - which is very cool! The downside is that if you go by the instructions, you're building the circuit boards in sub-sections - which can lead to some challenges later on getting components to fit in tight spaces. I've built both of their main kits at this point, and this blog will feature the first build - the Anasounds Trémolo.

P90 SG Custom Build - Finally Finished!

In late November I wrote about my first custom DIY guitar build, but at that time there were still a few important "bits" missing to truly finish the project. I was still waiting on a custom truss rod cover and toggle switch plate (AKA "poker chip") that were on order, but hadn't yet arrived. I was also trying to figure out how to get a custom pick-guard made for the guitar as Warmoth didn't offer one for the Diamondback body. However with a little work I was able to get a pickguard made and now the guitar is finished. I may eventually sign the back of the headstock or something, but all of the pieces are finally in place.

More Pi - Two New (for Me) Takes on the Classic Effect

The Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi remains one of the most popular and ubiquitous pedals out there. In a previous blog entry, I'd built up two of the Aion FX Halo boards in different configurations. I had a lot of fun with the project, but given there are over 20 variations on the BMP circuit I figured there was room to add a few more flavors to the stable. While I was at it, I decided to look at other board sources as well (though there will likely be more Halo variants coming out in the future!). One of the boards I built up was a Tayda Big Muff DIY board. It's relatively inexpensive and tiny, but the instructions do come with component lists for seven different variations of the board. The second build was a bit (read a lot) more ambitious. A friend and fellow pedal-builder from Kansas City sent me a bare bones board he'd etched for the Ram's Head Big Muff based on the pattern from the Effects Layout blog. I've done some of my own photoetching for hobbies - I first learned from the gurus at the Ohio State University Chemistry department's electronic shop - but I've never etched my own PCB. Therefore, this was the first time I'd attempt to use a truly "old school" board. That being said, now I've now found a completely new rabbit hole to go down - so look for some "home brew" stuff in future blog entries!

Updated Pi - Repainting a Friend's Pedal!

Back in September I posted a couple of versions of the Big Muff Pi I'd build using Aion FX's Halo board. One was done in silver with a Pink Floyd inspired font and recreated the circuit of the '73 Gilmour Ram's Head version of the pedal. The other one was done in Russian 4BO green and recreated the Red Army / Civil War circuit. A friend asked me to make up a second Russian style enclosure, so I did and sent it to him. Unfortunately there appears to have been an issue with my primer, as the paint started to flake on arrival which sort of ruined the effect. So he sent it back to me for a redo, and as long as we were doing it again, he wanted a bit of a variation on the theme...

Invoking the Spirit of EVH - the Wolfgang 5051

Despite passing away a little over a year ago, Eddie Van Halen remains one of the most influential rock guitarists of all time. I was a huge Van Halen fan in my youth, and one of my first concerts was their 5150 tour (the first with Sammy Hagar as lead singer). As is common with many prominent musicians, Eddie worked with various companies to develop his own lines of gear including guitars and amplifiers. Starting in 1993, Eddie worked with Peavey to develop the 5150 series which was produced until 2004. He then moved to working with Fender on the EVH line of amplifiers which were first released in 2007. This particular build creates essentially a preamp effect based on the Peavey circuit which can be used either as a pedal directly or in an effects loop - though with the sheer output it seems far better suited to the latter!