Russian Big Muff

I have a friend who had a Big Muff pedal that was intermittently cutting out. Knowing that I'm a tinkerer and build pedals I was asked if I could look at it. Of course my response was yes.

Since I don't own one of these glorious distortion devices I though tit would be a great opportunity to play around with this "Made In Russia" monster of sonic madness.


I initially thought it might be a faulty switch.  Once I opened it up and tested it with the circuit board exposed I came to the conclusion that the switch was fine but there was a loose connection somewhere.

Since EH uses a ribbon wire that is split off to the various connections on the pots, switches, and circuit board I basically started re-soldering all the connections on the pedal.

Fortunately, after I did the switch the tone control and the volume control the pedal came back to life and the sound was loud and proud with no cutting out.














Check out the demo of the revived and revitalized pedal.

Random Abandoned

While out on my various adventures I often come accros intersing or abandoned things that, while cool do not really warrant a post or video of their own.  I decided to put together a short video of some of these things that I have come across in the past few years.



Enjoy this look at the random abandoned I've found around Santa Clarita over the past few years.

Get by with a little DIY…..

How many times have you had a pedal that sounded good but you thought, “it could use a little more bass” or “a little more mids would be nice”. Maybe you think, “I don’t know if I want a fuzz pedal enough to spend the dough”. Maybe you’re just naturally curious and like to tinker. If so, the I’m here to help you get bit by the DIY bug.


I got into DIY pedals about 10 years ago simply because I wanted an octave pedal but didn’t have the cash to buy one. I had a new baby and I couldn’t justify spending the dough on a pedal I didn’t really need. So I thought, “I can build one”. Sure why not. I quickly found out that DIY does not equal cheaper, but it sure is fun.


I surfed the net and found lots of great information and some not so great information. Here are some of my favorite sites to get you immersed in the world of DIY pedals.

Kit Sites

• General Guitar Gadgets
• Build your own clone
• Officially Licensed Circuits

General DIY info

• DIY stompboxes
• R.G. Keen’s site
• AMZ

Required reading

• DIY wiki
• Geofex how to’s
• Geofex debuggin page

Basic Electronics references

• Basic info on Capacitors,resistors, etc..
• Ohms law calculator
• Ohms law chart

Parts

• Small bear electronics
• DIY stompboxes store
• Jameco electronics
• Pedal Parts Plus

These are just a few of the many sites out their devoted to DIY stomp boxes. Look around and you’ll find a whole world of information to get you on the road to building your own pedals.

Scott

T.C. Electronics Flashback Delay

Delay is one of those effects that seems to have two camps. One camp believes delay is a crutch to cover up poor playing and the other camp views delay as a vital tool utilizing multiple delay units for different purposes.

For the former camp, read no further, for the latter camp, the T.C. Electronics Flashback is definitely something you should have in your toolbox.

A wide range of delay sounds as well as the tone print technology allow you to dial in the perfect delay for your needs.

Check out this demo of the Flashback complete with a simple little trick to let you use the Flashback as a chorus pedal.

Mentryville,Historic Oil Town

The Santa Clarita Valley was practically built on Oil.  The rich deposits from Placerita, to Pico,to Elsmere Canyons had oil wells dotting the landscape for years. 

Mentryvville is a famous oil town in the West Santa Clarita Valley which has been preserved over the years. While there are no longer any residents of this town the remnants of this historic oil town are still around and available for the public to see.

The Schoolhouse

When you gotta go, you gotta go….

The foundation of an old building,

Oil drilling equipment.

A marker for Pico #4 the first commercially successful oil well in the western united states


























Up the hill to Odeen #1. 





The marker for Odeen #1.  A less than successful well but a spectacular view.

Why I love Guitar

To most people, the experience of playing guitar, whether for yourself or in front of an audience is a mystery.  For those of us that have this experience we know what we know.

I’ve often said that those of us who have the gift of music should share it with the world. Not everyone has this gift and we should not take it for granted.  This is part of the reason I love playing guitar.

The feeling of creating something out of nothing.  The feeling of hitting that right note that just sings to you.  the feeling that nothing else exists in that moment but you and a chunk of wood and steel.


I also love the visual aspects of the guitar.  The curves of a strat or Les Paul.  the clean lines of an Explorer.  The wild shapes from companies like B.C. Rich or Jackson.  There is something primal about seeing that six string work of art that makes me want to pick it up and play my heart out. 


I wish I could channel this experience and share it with people who have not yet been able to go down the path of guitar bliss. I wish I could share the emotion, joy, angst, and euphoria that goes with playing guitar. 


I also love the feeling when I’ve created something totally new. Yes, I know nothing is totally original in the music world but when I create something new to me, I feel like a proud parent.

With the technology available today I don’t see why more people cant pick up a guitar. YouTube as well as other online outlets and DVD lessons make it easier than ever to learn to play guitar  Guitar Center has offered pretty low prices on entry level guitar packs too.  For around $200 you could get a beginner guitar pack and use the internet to start learning the ways of the six string. 


I’m challenging the internet to go out there and start playing guitar.  Make some noise, jam with some friends, write a song that speaks to you. The world can only be a better place when this happens. Go make some noise!!!!

Plutonium Fuzz….Meltdown in a box

Fuzz pedals have been around for over forty years now. They were among the first pedals us guitarists had to use to create the distorted rock and roll sound we all love. A few years ago while learning the ropes of pedal building I built the Plutonium Fuzz. It was based on Fuzz Central's Axis Face which was a Fuzz Face variant. I did some tweaks based on information found on the various DIY sites and ended up with a really cool pedal.

I've had the schematic and perf board layout on the DIY stompboxes forum for a while but I think it's time I put it here for everyone to see.


The Schematic

The Layout



The Lowdown

This Fuzz is not subtle. It is not completely out of control either. It has lots of gain but with careful tweaking of the controls you can get a great maxed out fuzz sound while still maintaining some clarity and minimizing noise.

When building this there are a few things to be careful of. Make sure your input and output wires are as short as possible. Also don't let the input and outputs cross. Nor should you let any signal carrying wires cross the power supply wires.

 Fuzz circuits are a magnet for noise and you will be faced with some ugly hum, his and oscillation if your are not careful.

Here’s a link to a video demo from my old guitar blog days…..yes I probably talked too much
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDbTzIldEY4