08-03-2021, 10:25 PM
(This post was last modified: 08-03-2021, 10:26 PM by Mattias Westlund.)
(08-01-2021, 07:07 PM)Samulis Wrote: Hey, those look great! I wish I was savvy enough with a soldering iron and such to do this kind of stuff... it seems like a lot of fun.
To be honest, soldering isn't all that difficult unless we're talking PCB's. I've been soldering guitar pickups and cables and whatnot for 30+ years and I've sort of picked up what skills I have as I went along. I'm sure you could learn the basics in a week if you actually wanted to. That said, it does seem like a skill that is becoming increasingly esoteric. Just a few days ago, one of the kids was going to throw his LED light strip in the bin because our dear rabbits had chomped off the power cable. I told him it's an easy fix, it's just two wires. Some solder and heat shrink and it's as good as new. And he was like, "...you can actually do that??" And he's 17!
(08-01-2021, 07:07 PM)Samulis Wrote: I agree completely. It is the same thing with mics; different tools that provide you different lenses through which to experience music and make what you want to make. No wrong answers, only the journey along the way.
Exactly! And just like in the case of guitar gear, I know there's tons of mic snobs out there. Obviously a condenser is going to be better than a dynamic mic at certain common tasks, and vice versa, but other than that, I think being obsessed with a certain make and model of a piece of gear is really focusing on the wrong aspects of what we're doing as musicians.
(08-02-2021, 02:10 AM)Nayrb Wrote: Looks cool! Good idea making a second cab. I also still have a Rage 158. I think it's in the garage right now. I got it when I was 10 and it's held up like a rock for 24 years, but it doesn't sound all that great. It just doesn't get hot enough. I liked that for practice though, because it really pushed me to be accurate.
What vintage of Rage 158 do you have? There's a few of them. I have the all-black early TransTube one, from (I think) the mid nineties. There's also an earlier one with a teal stripe, as well as a newer model with details in red. Might even be a modern one with the silver knobs, I'm not sure.
(08-02-2021, 02:10 AM)Nayrb Wrote: Speaking of unexpectedly good tone: years ago, I had this computer-based thing called a Black Box that had a pretty decent sound for 2006. I did some bad recordings with it, but the guitar never sounded totally awful (unless I was trying to be "black metal" about it). I gave it away, unfortunately. Kind of miss it.
Huh, never heard of that one. Computer-based? Like the Line 6 POD's you could hook up to your computer via USB?
(08-02-2021, 02:10 AM)Nayrb Wrote: I don't really have pics to share, but I recently refretted a friend's project guitar (under his supervision and using his tools). It also involved a soldering iron
Refretting or fret dressing is something I would never attempt! Looks very difficult and time-consuming and you need to absolutely know what you're doing if you don't want to wreck the guitar beyond rescue. But I'm thrilled to hear you liked doing it, we need more people with such skills
