Kevan Posted October 10, 2002 Report Share Posted October 10, 2002 This thread is for the super-obscure tech stuff that's not found in manuals or elsewhere online. By some freak chance, someone might find the info they're looking for here. Not all of it will be about guitars, but it will all be guitar, FX, amp and/or cabinet related. From pickup to speaker cone, this is where the hard-to-find stuff could be. I figured we could add at least one per day. I know you other folks have some odd stuff lodged in your mental HDD....or maybe it's just me. LOL If you can, please note your source. I'll start off with a few: - Rivera TBR-series amp cooling fan size: 80mm x 80mm (Source: Paul Rivera, Sr.) - Most of the output jacks in guitars built today are made by Switchcraft. [www.switchcraft.com] They have been the industry standard for decades. (Source: my years of tearing apart guitars) Feel free to add on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gilmoreguitars Posted October 12, 2002 Report Share Posted October 12, 2002 I thought I would add my two bits. When you are re-fretting an old Fender strat, you need to remember that the fretts were slid in through the slot, and and not hammered in. This means that when you are pulling fretts from a strat, you have to be extra carefull because, by pulling them up the fret tangs will pull up pieces of your fretboard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted October 12, 2002 Report Share Posted October 12, 2002 Hence the lesson, heat with soldering gun tip and slide out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GEdwardJones Posted October 14, 2002 Report Share Posted October 14, 2002 The "blue" on an Ibanez Jem7 BSB is actually Minwax "Deep Hunter Green" Todd Crawford found that one out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
horstausmforst Posted October 17, 2002 Report Share Posted October 17, 2002 The color of the baseplate of the QM and V series pickups is silver, while i'ts gold on the F series. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cerealk Posted November 7, 2002 Report Share Posted November 7, 2002 *bump* Anyone with some more tech tips? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted November 9, 2002 Report Share Posted November 9, 2002 The average "Black back" pick up isn't really all that special it just has electrostatic paint on the base, to kill the signal interference from below. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cerealk Posted November 15, 2002 Report Share Posted November 15, 2002 not really a tech note but... First seen by me in the Kevan Geier beach-front residence in LI, NY an ironing board is an excellent work bench for re-stringing guitars or any other work. I have modified the ironing board with the hi-tech addition of a towel (a soft one) to further cushion the guitar. A light coloured towel will enable you to locate dropped screws, springs etc. The board is often adjustable to height whether you want to work on your guitar standing up or sitting down. Position the apparatus (the board) in the middle of a room and it is possible to approach your guitar from any direction. The ironing board and towel apparatus is fully reusable and can easy accomodate both 6 and 7 string guitars. Cheers Simon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Deno Posted November 15, 2002 Report Share Posted November 15, 2002 A few years ago I built a 'roadie board'. What's a roadie board, you ask? It's a plate of wood fitted with shaped blocks to hold your guitar in place while you work on it/re-string it. I built mine out of an old cabinet door and some 'appropriated' building blocks from my kid's room. Been using it ever since. LJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GEdwardJones Posted November 15, 2002 Report Share Posted November 15, 2002 Want a handy place to put all of your screws while working on a guitar? Two words: Altoids Can Most people throw a way bunches of them. Keep four or five around that way you can seperate out your screws, put the top on them and the screws won't fall out and they make you're guitar minty fresh and your playing curiously strong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bus Bob Posted November 19, 2002 Report Share Posted November 19, 2002 The small counter-sunk, brass screws that hold the threaded plate under the saddles on some Lo Pro Edge trems, between 1998 & 99 were glued in. They will break when trying to unscrew. Soak the trem plate in Mineral Spirits for 5 minutes and they will break loose. Source-Self. Replacing the broken screws requires connections in the industry. Really obscure, as few have the glue. I was just lucky enough to run into it twice. I do not know if Mineral Spirits damages the chrome on a trem. I wouldn’t think so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jehle Posted November 19, 2002 Report Share Posted November 19, 2002 One of the slots in a metal eraser shield is perfect for laying across the fretboard while exposing just the fret. You can protect the wood on the fret board and dress up the fret. Plus you dont have to worry about masking tape goo sticking to the fretboard. Source, some ancient Guitar Player magazine. I used this technique to fix a few dented frets when I thought it would be "cool" to use the microphone stand as a slide. Never again... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted November 20, 2002 Report Share Posted November 20, 2002 At different points both Ibanez and Fender were made through the same Japanse factory Fuji-gen Gakki Guess thats history more than a tech note but I thought it was interesting to say the least Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveK Posted November 21, 2002 Report Share Posted November 21, 2002 Did you also know that Kramers were made at the ESP plant?:o My question is...Why did Kramer go out of business at the height of their popularity? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted December 11, 2002 Report Share Posted December 11, 2002 In 1933 Saga musical instrument company was granted a patent on a revolutionary new adjustable rod that they inserted into the necks of their guitars, commonly known as a truss rod in todays industry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhczar Posted January 12, 2003 Report Share Posted January 12, 2003 Alternate use of guitar-related equipment: Ernie Ball polish makes a terrific cleaner for eyeglasses, when used with a well-worn cotton bandana. No streaks at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveK Posted January 12, 2003 Report Share Posted January 12, 2003 Alternate use of guitar-related equipment # 2: The "Micro Mesh" sandpaper that Stew Mac sells Not only does this stuff buff out finishes like nothing else I have ever seen..... It repairs even the most damaged & scratched Compact Discs! I have rescued HUNDREDS of dollars of Thin Lizzy & TNT import CDs with this stuff! You can't even tell there was ever any damage!!!! Well worth the investment! Dave K Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremywills Posted January 12, 2003 Report Share Posted January 12, 2003 now theres a tip i can use, hell i been taking my cds to cd exchange and they hit you 2 bucks a wack to run that disc doctor machine on them, its gotten old, thanks dave btw speaking of sandpaper, if your ever taking apart an old fender and theres sandpaper in the neck pocket, leave it there and dont lose it, just for nostalgia and the fact that its kinda interesting they did that to help keep necks from slipping, also, common sense, be careful with a soldering iron, it really doesnt react well with instrument finish, and dont spend tons of money on a nice pedal board or a padded pedal bag, go to home depot or any good hardware store, you can usually pick up a piece of scrap plywood for free or minimal amount of money, cut a handle into the top, love that jigsaw, spray paint it black, and then just drill some holes and zip tie your pedals to it, i later screwed a couple of 2 x 4 blocks at the top on the bottom to give it a slight angle, and for the power supply, i just took a 6 socket power strip with the extra space for a block transformer and zip tied that on as well so bamm, plug in the pedals and plug in the strip and instant pedal board, anyways a fyi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveK Posted January 12, 2003 Report Share Posted January 12, 2003 Or you could use Toolbox metal (think in terms of Boogies Dual Rectifier metal) rater than paint it... It's what I did in my "Hairband 80's " days It's also what Zack Wylde does with his pedal board! Does that mean that I was ahead of my time???? Dave K rock Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveK Posted January 12, 2003 Report Share Posted January 12, 2003 Oh, and Jeremy...those Dics Doctors are the BIGGEST scam in the world!!! One pack of Micro Mesh saved me over 50 CD's & they are still holding up! You may see VERY slight surface scratches, but it will NOT affect playability (although for some reason, in a couple of days these scratches MAGICALLY disappear!) Hot TIP #1: Hold the CD up to a light. As long as you don't see light coming through, you can repair the disc! Hot TIP # 2: Use this stuff on your scratched up pickups! (someone else on the forum actually sugested this tip to me) Hope this helps! Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevan Posted January 13, 2003 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2003 Want a handy place to put all of your screws while working on a guitar? Two words: Altoids Can Two more words: Muffin Tray. A tad bit more pricey than Altoids, but most have 12 'cups' for screws and such. They also come in handy when it comes to sequence. You can number them (Sharpie, nail polish, etc) so you know what screws to use when you put it all back together. (Source: many years working on motion picture gear; a standard item at many work benches) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GEdwardJones Posted January 13, 2003 Report Share Posted January 13, 2003 Two more words: Muffin Tray. A tad bit more pricey than Altoids, but most have 12 'cups' for screws and such. They also come in handy when it comes to sequence. You can number them (Sharpie, nail polish, etc) so you know what screws to use when you put it all back together. (Source: many years working on motion picture gear; a standard item at many work benches) However, your screws will not be minty fresh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremywills Posted January 13, 2003 Report Share Posted January 13, 2003 yea i just might get some of that micro mesh then, ill let ya know about it, btw i use a fishing tackle box for most of anything i do when it comes to taking something apart, that way i have all the little compartments for screws, parts etc........ and i can close it up and lock it so no one messes with it, yea tin cans, muffin trays, etc. are great but it they get knocked off the table, bammm everything flys out, now yes tackle box can get knocked over too, trust me i know, but at least everything stays intact, otherwise i used to place screws etc... in a small danish cookie tin, one of those round ones, and sadly i knocked it off the table and bamm, here i am on my knees with the flashlight looking throughly on the carpet for those lovely little screws so thats why i bought an extra tackle box and open it up just when i need to either get something outta it or to place something in it and then the lid gets closed and it gets latched, i had to spend almost 2 hours one time looking for about 20 screws, it was stuff from several things i was working on, they werent even guitar related either, so this works for anything with teeny tiny screws btw having a roll or two of solder before hand saves you an extra trip midstream, i know this all too well too, be prepared before you start, because its usuallu sunday and no one is open at least thats how normally works out for me " Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave M Posted January 13, 2003 Report Share Posted January 13, 2003 I did the plywood pedalboard thing, but I then took another peice of plywood, screwed 2X4s to the sides of it, and put guitar case latches on it. after the gig, I took the makeshift cover, and latched it onto the pedalboard. Never had smashed up knobs, and busted cable connectors on my pedals after that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cerealk Posted January 13, 2003 Report Share Posted January 13, 2003 Dave M-do you have any pics of the pedal board? best wishes Simon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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