Bathroom Effects

[soapbarstrat]

I'm aways picking up stuff people put out for the trash, although I don't dig through their trash cans, I usually just get what's sitting next to the cans, if it look like something I can use. I often see good stuff and don't get it for whatever reason.

So, this one time someone was throwing away some tracks for shower doors. Since it was all aluminum, I cut it up and took it to get some money for it. I kept one piece of it. It's the piece that goes on the wall for the shower doors to close against, if you can understand that.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v398/soa...hower-track.jpg

I cleaned it off, but it still had some caulking junk on one side.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v398/soa...wer-track2b.jpg

Then I had an idea what to use it for, but it needed some modification. I cut the sides off, so it was no longer a U shape piece.I scraped the caulking off with a razor blade, then nibbled the protruding ridges, or whatever you call them, off with an end-nipper. Basically, I wanted it all flat, and about 1/8" thick or less. So, that wasn't hard to do. I double stick taped it down and filed/sanded the one side flat. I left the other side just as it was.

A friend had given me this old radar dectector that was broken, so I took everything out of it, and also got rid of the plastic front and back. The black shell that was left, was aluminum. Then I made a front and back from the shower door aluminum. I made a circuit for a "tube screamer" over-drive effect. I only had to buy the tone pot and the chip for the circuit board. Everything else was off of junk I found. I drilled the holes, and made the square switch holes by first drilling some round holes, then squaring it up with small files.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v398/soa.../screamer-b.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v398/soa...screamer11b.jpg

When I was sanding the one side of the aluminum shower door track, I was tempted to sand both sides. But I'm glad I left the one side alone. I actually like the little lines in the aluminum as they were made at the factory.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v398/soa.../screamer12.jpg

The knobs are from a japanese tape deck that someone had out for the trash.

I wish I would have kept more of this aluminum. The only piece I have left is big enough for one face-plate for an amp, or a few for smaller effects like the TS I made.

Rob

Edited November 26, 2004 by soapbarstrat

[benno]

Whoa. What an adventure and bit of clever thinking and recylcing

People pay money for old shower door tracks?!

You obviously didnt want it as a stompbox? I cannot see a footswitch on it. But thats cool. Im just hoping I can get my TS going

At the moment i am waiting on parts for my tubescreamer and I plan to get some liight rectangular prism scrap metal and weld sides on it to create my stomp box. But I found this metal in Dads metal heap. I didnt want to spend good money for an encloser i could make up myself, specially becasue it would have to be sent from the US.

Keep up the original thinking.

Ben

[soapbarstrat]

If it's aluminum, they will give you money for it.

I'm not crazy about laying effects on the floor, so I built it to sit on top of my amp. It was actually a great sounding TS, but I realized that's not the type of sound I'm looking for anymore. So when it stopped working, I didn't bother to try to fix it. Electronics trouble-shooting is not my thing. Maybe I'll eventually decide on an effect that that suits my sound better, and I hope it can go into that box without me having to hack up the panels for more knobs.

I recently found 3 huge aluminum beams, but I don't think that will work for effects, but I have a hell of an idea for a new 'neck-jig' with a huge alluminum beam. I'm not taking it to the scrap place this time.

Edited November 26, 2004 by soapbarstrat