mybud
Well-known member
- Build Rating
That was the week that was...
First, I installed the new Fender noiseless pickups in my Tele and changed the strings. I prefer this bridge pickup's sound to the original Mexican Tele ones (fatter and less strident than the originals) and the neck pickup seems a little less boomy than before. I'm wary of confirmation bias here because the other factor is the new strings. I think this is a plus, although probably sensible to play a bit more before deciding. Quieter they certainly are...
Then yesterday I went to our local post office to collect some new boards, including the Mercurial which I was very keen to try. I carefully drilled a 1590B, tried a test fit which looked fine, and then proceeded to assemble the whole bangshoot. What I failed to take into account was the height of the elcaps and in my desire to dispose of these oversized fellers, I disregarded the fact that I have enough smaller ones to fit without challenges. A cautionary thought crossed my mind for a second but being a stubborn and hasty old fool, I carried on. Bench tested the circuit, which sounded great and then did a test fit. Oops! The caps are too high for the lid to close.
Next, I thought: why not use a spare 1590BB and try a first combo build? A good idea but I badly borked the measurements and bent the pot legs to attempt a fit (which had worked fine on the 1590B but were less accommodating in the bigger enclosure). In testing there was clearly something amiss and it produced marvellous oscillations and not much else useful.
So, with due apologies to all concerned, I'm relegating this round of Mercurial versus yours truly to the bin of 'irretrievably compromised borkups' and will try again another time. Totally chalking this up to impatience and carelessness on my part...as they say, there's no fool like an old fool. That said, however, ironically there was a positive takeaway for me from this disaster: I for once took it calmly, didn't go into a self-kicking exercise, and ascribed blame where it squarely belongs: on my own shoulders. Sure I'm annoyed with myself and there are some unusual parts (dual 100k audio pot, which I'll have to re-order in time) but it's not the end of the world.
To try to redeem myself, I built a first (of two) Clandestine preamps today. I measured this with great care (once bitten, twice shy) and got it working without mishap. I'll do a full report once it's properly housed but glad it's functioning at least and sounds fab. I angled the board down slightly to ensure the 220uFs didn't cause the same problem as the Mercurial and it fits in a 1590B as you see.
The best remedy for falling off a bicycle, we're told, is to get back on and ride again, so there you have a week of mixed fortunes in a TL;DR format. May the pedal gods smile on all your endeavours meanwhile.
First, I installed the new Fender noiseless pickups in my Tele and changed the strings. I prefer this bridge pickup's sound to the original Mexican Tele ones (fatter and less strident than the originals) and the neck pickup seems a little less boomy than before. I'm wary of confirmation bias here because the other factor is the new strings. I think this is a plus, although probably sensible to play a bit more before deciding. Quieter they certainly are...
Then yesterday I went to our local post office to collect some new boards, including the Mercurial which I was very keen to try. I carefully drilled a 1590B, tried a test fit which looked fine, and then proceeded to assemble the whole bangshoot. What I failed to take into account was the height of the elcaps and in my desire to dispose of these oversized fellers, I disregarded the fact that I have enough smaller ones to fit without challenges. A cautionary thought crossed my mind for a second but being a stubborn and hasty old fool, I carried on. Bench tested the circuit, which sounded great and then did a test fit. Oops! The caps are too high for the lid to close.
Next, I thought: why not use a spare 1590BB and try a first combo build? A good idea but I badly borked the measurements and bent the pot legs to attempt a fit (which had worked fine on the 1590B but were less accommodating in the bigger enclosure). In testing there was clearly something amiss and it produced marvellous oscillations and not much else useful.
So, with due apologies to all concerned, I'm relegating this round of Mercurial versus yours truly to the bin of 'irretrievably compromised borkups' and will try again another time. Totally chalking this up to impatience and carelessness on my part...as they say, there's no fool like an old fool. That said, however, ironically there was a positive takeaway for me from this disaster: I for once took it calmly, didn't go into a self-kicking exercise, and ascribed blame where it squarely belongs: on my own shoulders. Sure I'm annoyed with myself and there are some unusual parts (dual 100k audio pot, which I'll have to re-order in time) but it's not the end of the world.
To try to redeem myself, I built a first (of two) Clandestine preamps today. I measured this with great care (once bitten, twice shy) and got it working without mishap. I'll do a full report once it's properly housed but glad it's functioning at least and sounds fab. I angled the board down slightly to ensure the 220uFs didn't cause the same problem as the Mercurial and it fits in a 1590B as you see.
The best remedy for falling off a bicycle, we're told, is to get back on and ride again, so there you have a week of mixed fortunes in a TL;DR format. May the pedal gods smile on all your endeavours meanwhile.
