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Ok, so, with the completion of my repair to the Genz Benz El Diablo I (used to) own, and the meandering point I often fail to make through these posts, which I haven't committed to in what has most likely been years, I will no longer be posting to this page.


I do hope that the information contained here, as poorly written and nonsensical as it is, has been of help to even a single person.

Trying to remember if I left copies of the schematics on here.  Whatever.  If you need them, you know where to find me.

I have begun a new, less focused, further senseless blog on music and music technology at

gghostboy.blogspot.com

don't expect much.


Thanks for the patience and love, or whatever.

G.g.

first, untie me : rig simplification and compression

Cut the elD from my rig

and here's why

having such a complicated rig makes it impossible for me to focus.

Ol' diab was always the master of gigging, due to it's gnarly snarls and broken glass in your eyes.

not so much via DI and emulated cabinet.  just washed out sounding.  I came close to having tones that I didn't hate on more than one occasion, however, these presets couldn't be vitalized to the point of usability.  

Several months later  o---]=======>

Update in progress...
please wait.

After turning a Marshall AVT20 (20 watt practice amp with 1x12ax7 tube for a preamp) in to a head, I managed to get my hands on a Line 6 Spider IV in exchange for a car audio amplifier.
Which I subsequently turned in to a head.

Easily enough accomplished if you have a spare box lying around or just cut the cabinet down and drill a hole for a speaker jack.

Dropped the El Diablo from my rig
Dropped the Line 6 M13 from my rig
Added an Electro Harmonix POG2 to my rig (because all I was using the M13 for, eventually, was an octaver)

The AVT20 is being used by a bassist I'm starting a project with
and I was getting really sick of the distortions in the eleven rack
so I decided to jam with the Spider IV a bit, just out of curiosity.

The downfall of the AVT20 is that it has no native footswitch capability.  Lots of variation with the ability to change tubes, which I have a large selection of, but you can't add a FSW to go from clean to dirt.
**Recently acquired a 12AX7WS solid state tube to test in this motherfucker.
more on that later.

The biggest upshot for the Spider IV is that it is everything.
Three different distortion channels, hidden noise gate and distortion boost
and when I finally added the FBV MKII to the head, oh my gosh, it is simply the most versatile.

RN the rig looks like this :
Mandi > POG2 > Spider IV > Eleven Rack
This rig is something to behold.  Incredible levels of versitility, and with the addition of a midi FSW/controller, being able to footswitch effects on the 11R makes it infinite.

**FBV MKII also doubles as a midi controller

Pointless bottom line to this post is that you should grab up unique practice amplifiers and see what you can fucking do to them because, most of the time, it goes way beyond practice.
The native speaker and voicing of the amplifier is not etched in space ships.

we need some heat over here : updating the speaker load simulator

spkrld sim was getting pret warm after two plus hours of playing
which we no like.
even with master volume (100W op mode) at three, heat persistently accumulated past heatsink ability to dissipate, which was unforeseen.

decided to add small 12v fan
powered by 9v
boosh.

power cell hiding in it's knoll.  pain in the ass to change.  

Innovation, intonation, nonsense.

Built a prototype of this thing
that I wanted to exist
and did not
when I get a provisional patent, you can buy it from me.

Standing here the other night, with my guitar strapped on, and a screwdriver in my hand, I decided to finally tackle a task that's been looming high in my mind for 10 years.
Learning how to set intonation on any geet
took about half an hour to grasp
and complete.

Turns out a bunch of my shit was way out of intone, all sharp.
If you haven't done this, do it.

-Was getting a hot buzz out of the amplifier.  swapped around the EH tubes, and rotated in a couple of JJs... buzzing persistant and strange.  Gut feeling was preamp tube or preamp tube socket, as

I've historically had problems with the pretube socks my entire relationship with this amplifier (internally, it is obvious that cereal yogurt was left in chassis unattended.        )
Had to totally wreck one to get it out
which reminds me

*No food or drink around the modern precambrian tech

I have to pull out the preamp PCB and properly install R1 so I don't feel guilty about playing guitar with such a shitty solder job inside.  Hopefully I don't get carried to unfamiliar by harpy resolder distraction.

*do not lube your straploks with graphite.  it will pack in and screech like a dick vulture

---postedit---

I actually got pull all the knobnuts, remove the prepcb, resolder R1, reassemble, and practice, without a failure or detractive noise.  First time ever.

+rotated EH in to valve 1

+rotated JJ in to valve 2

-/+ left china in valve 3

got some ronk compression grind from her tonight.  really satisfismo with the tones coming through the silent tube throbs.  

Rather than playing it : Active pickup voltage increase

Been reading about adding a second battery to active guitar circuitry--
apparently you can just slap a second battery in series with the existing cell, and you get magic attack boost and laser strings.

there is also information on further increasing to 24v, but all pertinent information is in regard to EMG active picups; according to the manufacturer, you won't get as dramatic a magic between 18v  to 24v as you do 9v to 18v.

*extra six volts are achieved by some form of adapter whatever 12v batteries whatever

pictured :
-9v battery
-velcro
-9v terminal, prepped for installation
-two position / nine terminal toggle switch

quarter for perceive














Since I pulled (the volume and tone pots out of) my rod, there's plenty of room for an extra battery.



*I hate using a noise gate for anything but removing tube hiss.  seriously, I effing hate it.  therego, one of existing body hole become cut-switch.  easy peasy wtfe.



cut switch is a hot lead to ground switch, as opposed to power snap k-k-k-k-k-k-k--killszone

*Insulate the battery casing.  It's steel.  If your battery becomes dislodged in the main compartment and shorts something delicious, it'll burn your beans on the grill.  seriously.  don't chance it. velcro strips are cheap and easy to strap on like fake dick.

+prep cavity for new cell (sticky shit, velcro)

+measure distance from battery to inner compartment plate

+attach appropes foam thick for to support batts

+Appropriately wire terminals of switchbob

She works.

But I've rediscovered Prior Problema that drove me for a while - 

Farty clipping through any interface. 

Even at the lowest gain settings,  padded way down

Straight to the amp

And through the M13

I had fixed the situation

Whence first the problem arose
by reading a reputable book or journal and creating a source page.  

that a passive volume pedal was the cure,

It was in spades

that

prior setup was : 

Guitar >vol>M13> computer : crystal clear and free of parasites

this allowed me to practice with headphones and without the need to use the EDstack.

But along the way the ernie ball VP Jr  potentiometer begin to disassemble itself and was cut for insubordination, purpose forgotten. 

Not realizing tone had been compromised by great lover, continued to chase clipping through amplifier components and in-line effects. 

Now having completed  construction of  monolithic recording interface, again  is realized that tone has remorseful clip directly from guitar. 

18v mod will supposedly quash pup clipping, however it failed to do so for EMG 81/85 setup.
with 2x spanking Sony 9v (9.67v ondameeter)

Again the VP was called upon to attenuate signal.

Totally worth increasing voltage to 18v. 

This will not be contested. 

Sounds are infinitely cooler and more dynamic. Headroom is crazy. No tube noise discernible when running high gain and not playing.  

After being taken completely apart and rewired to permattenuate hot hot signal,  and plugging in properly (multiple times backward,  beforehand) signal chain clips free. 

*If you have active EMG pickups, it's worth all the time it takes to add a second 9v.

*If your active EMG pickups sound farty and distorted, even when you're on a clean channel, with minimal gain --
you have clip.  Figure out how to simulate the potentiometer or buy a replacement potentiometer and wire it in a juice carton.  Tone will be thank.

***Also realized I had marked R1 on Preamp pcb as bad, it was so totally like 0.whatever ohms.  and I was like, you should be 1M.  so i dug through some shit and found a metal film .96whateverM and I'm about to test it. Porbus the source of chassis noise I've been getting from preamp valve one, because it sits right in front of it.  makes sense.

Udate:: new 1M resistor at prepcb R1 does not cure clipping from 81/85 18v combo. Difference with  VP JR is slightly decrease volume with no clipping.

Ultimate answer (chpmode) is buy the potentiometer and stick it in a box. Or the T-pad thing; get resistances from both sides of the pot and user resistors.  Since i had the components on hand it was simpler. Fuck off. 

G.g.

Jesus take the wheel : active guitar pickups and removing those pesky volume and tone potentiometers

Volume and tone pot useless

only stand to add possible component failure or maladroit

remove ASAP

if you have active pickups and you pull the rear cover of your geetr, you'll notice the bullshit wiring inside.  duh.  

it usually looks like shit, and that's because it is.  no exceptions.  

To your (my) output jack, you've got three wires - 

-black lead from the battery compartment

-black lead from wherever

-white lead from (3 pos) switch

switch has four terminals, 

as illustrated by mspaint (photoshop).

*output is determined by switch position, center egnages both internal terminals which results in allowable signal both pickup escape escape

Procedure:

+trace pickup leads to compartment, and back, and back again.  

+locate main positive and negative circuit connections

+locate grounds that will be disconnected when pots are removed

+remove (cut) volume control

+remove (lick) tone control

+twist and solder negative circuit leads to pickup braid where prior grounding (via tone pot chassis) has been broken.  This is probably where I'm actually soldering to a shielding or ... whatever, and it works, but probably not for the right reason, and I'd love to know why, but I don't care right now.  email me.  

To fill the teeth knocked out of her, grabbed some organ parts, peryoush.  

Little buttony bore adaptations

to make her pretty in public

and not dirty inside

I'll admit I tried this before replacing two power capacitors (Power PCB C11, C12) this evening

+replace C11, Power PCB

+replace C12, Power PCB

first test - no ground on pickup leads, so no signal.  

+scratched head

then I just figured I'd try gator clipping things together until I figured it out,

+and I figured it out.  

second run

bridge switch pos - bridge pickup noise, works.

middle pos - blend noise, works

neck pos - neck pickup noise, works

*active pickups are, apparently, less magnetic than passive pickups, and work best when the pickup is really fucking close to the strings.

+raised pickups

shifty eyes.

aslo

*if you're adding tension to your output jack, don't just mash the whole arm toward the male pin; push the curled part (toward the ghostly male phallus) as an alternitive.  It will work instead of not.  

Glovepie II : pie rise - script for controlleer

It took nearly twelve hours to figure out scripting for glovepie.
But I got it.

entirely yours,
glovepie script--

//numpad to midi
debug = midi.OutDevName //Display midi device
midi.DeviceOut=2  /

Swallow (numpad1, numpad2, numpad3, numpad4, numpad5, numpad6, numpad7)

toggle(midi.channel1.Control50) = NUMPAD1/1 //mod
toggle(midi.channel1.Control28) = NUMPAD2/1 //delay
toggle(midi.channel1.Control36) = NUMPAD3/1 //reverb
toggle(midi.channel1.Control63) = NUMPAD5/1 //fx1
toggle(midi.channel1.Control86) = NUMPAD6/1 //fx2

//A1 (my dirty cabinet patch)
if numpad4 then
if var.prog1 > 1 then
var.prog1 = 1 - 1
midi.instrument = var.prog1;
end if
end if

//A2 (my clean cabinet patch)
if numpad7 then
if var.prog1 < 1 then
var.prog1 = 1 + 1
midi.instrument = var.prog1;
end if
end if


Given how many people are using their stupid fucking wii controllers to do things via glovepie, you would seriously think that the information would be easily accessible.

A1 and A2 above are in references to eleven rack patches.   Because it utilizes a series of banks and patches to store rigs, program change commands are used to achieve swap in hyperspace.
I got all souped in to having figured out the CC strings and took myself down a dark road, eventually victorolling.

So all that's left is the underbelly of my penis button snake--
except for getting glovepie to display all keyboards, sequester the foot controller, and program it in.  boosh.  kkkillzone.