My cat is skeptical. Multiple readers have asked some variation of that question since I launched this blog last month. I’ve been wondering myself as I prowled the local music emporia, searching for a fun, but seriously funky guitar to experiment on. […] 
Cheap chic: The Italia Maranello bass I’ve got this weird Italia Maranello bass I picked up years ago when I was playing in the Eels. It looks like it’s from the ’60, but is, in fact, a modern instrument designed by Brit luthier Trev Wilkinson and built in Korea. The only “Italy” in […] 
Here are the instructions for Part 3 of our first DIY Club project: building a bad-ass distortion pedal. In this installment, we transfer the circuit we customized in Part 2 from the breadboard to its permanent home on a piece of perfboard. Once you get the hang of this technique, you’ll find it easy […] 
"Me am play 'Rain Song' again, okay?" Here are the instructions for Part 2 of our first DIY Club project: building a bad-ass distortion pedal. Not to spoil any surprises, but in this installment, we take the loud, raw sound we arrived at in Project 1, Part 1: Raw Distortion …and refine it […] 
It's not like these pickups NEED a hot tub disco light to be exciting, but hey, a little mood lighting never hurts. I recently upgraded a beat-up old Les Paul with a pair of Seth Lover humbuckers, a journey detailed here and here. While I was in a makeover frame of mind, I […] 
Okay, DIYers—get ready for Part 1 of our first project. Warning: It ends with a bang! Download the step-by-step instructions here. (You might want to print out a copy to use on your workbench.) Post any thoughts, questions, or curses in comments. […] UPDATE, Sunday, October 2nd: We had a nice little online meeting Friday eve. I’ll be posting a PDF with step-by-step instructions for Project 1 on Monday, the 3rd. Check back here! Now that people have had a few days to assemble tools and parts, we’ll be diving into our first project after the weekend. Again, […] Check out this short article from Beavis Audio Research. Great advice on choosing a soldering iron, and a nice introduction to some of the basic moves, plus a few good jokes. Many other fine tutorials at this superb DIY site.
My fave of many youtube soldering tutorials. He should have added: Don’t touch the hot end of the iron. Work in a ventilated space. Wash your hands afterwards. Don’t eat the solder. Sheesh! What’s wrong with kids these days? 😉
WARNING! This post contains the answers to the quiz! If you still want to take the test, stop reading now and challenge your ear here. Don't worry, it's only Photoshop. We would never inflict anything this hideous on one of our winners. It was only two weeks, but it feels so […] |
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