Stickman393
Well-known member
Attempt #2 up top. Actually like it a bit more. Was a little more splotchy on the darkening, which im liking.
Just letting the lacquer dry now.
What’s on *YOUR* workbench?
- Thread starter Bricksnbeatles
- Start date
Attempt #2 up top. Actually like it a bit more. Was a little more splotchy on the darkening, which im liking.
Just letting the lacquer dry now.
Stickman393
Well-known member
Brass is easy: got some brass blackener.
Which isn't the safest stuff in the world. All relevant PPE required.
But man...brush a little bit of this stuff on, and damn it works fast.
I wanted a dark, brushed finish on these, so I sanded with 120 grit in one direction, cleaned with ISO then applied, waited a minute, and rinsed off.
Hit it with some 220 sanding in the same direction to knock off a little of the patina, ISO, brush-on lacquer.
Which isn't the safest stuff in the world. All relevant PPE required.
But man...brush a little bit of this stuff on, and damn it works fast.
I wanted a dark, brushed finish on these, so I sanded with 120 grit in one direction, cleaned with ISO then applied, waited a minute, and rinsed off.
Hit it with some 220 sanding in the same direction to knock off a little of the patina, ISO, brush-on lacquer.
Cybercow
Well-known member
Doing the test-fitting of a DEFX 'Reflektor'. Man, you need some real manual dexterity and patience to fit all those pins together between the two boards.
{EDIT}: Just today (March 3, 2026) I learned about Pogo-Pins. They are spring loaded and touch nicely into the standard female header sockets with the same pitch width. Makes bringing two boards together easier and come in a few different flavors (styles).
{EDIT}: Just today (March 3, 2026) I learned about Pogo-Pins. They are spring loaded and touch nicely into the standard female header sockets with the same pitch width. Makes bringing two boards together easier and come in a few different flavors (styles).
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jimilee
Well-known member
GTFO a tube delay? How awesome!
EisengesisFX
Well-known member
Successfully wired up the Pelota 2 from @MichaelW yesterday and I share his praise-- warm af, but always intelligible and plenty capable of weird modulation too. I also really dig how with Feedback cranked, it oscillates without escalating fully into noise territory. I have other PT2399 joints that excel in that regard (Time Waster especially), so kudos to the creator of this one for dialing that in just right.
Today I've made good headway into a five-knob Carcass Fuzz with BC549Cs. Just gotta figure out wiring a pot in place of the mod switch and what pot I'm substituting for the A5K I don't have for the Hi-Cut control.
Today I've made good headway into a five-knob Carcass Fuzz with BC549Cs. Just gotta figure out wiring a pot in place of the mod switch and what pot I'm substituting for the A5K I don't have for the Hi-Cut control.
Stickman393
Well-known member
Solder in the pickups, mount the neck, setup and fret polishing...soon.
gtfields13
Well-known member
thats a clever way to speed test a batch!
gtfields13
Well-known member
The hot plate for SMD has a friend, as my new ultrasound bath arrived. It was pretty much exactly 1 year ago that ordered my first PCB to build, and I think the project is sticking, so for a milestone birthday I have been upgrading my kit.
BTW. I do appreciate the tips and ideas I get for better tools from all of your posts. If you recognize a tool you posted or shared (@MichaelW) take it as a sincere form of flattery.
Another not so recent arrival for me was a pair of high quality Lindstrom cutters (one ultra-flush and taper nose). I wanted to pass on that several of the Lindstrom tools are still (since December) heavily discounted at Micro-Tools.
The only thing not on my workbench are projects - I am either out of PCBs or parts to finish (2). So I just need to focus on designing some enclosures while waiting for my first PPCB order of 2025 to arrive, including my first non-spec. commission. And some JLCPCBs and AionFX pcb's including my first full custom, along with the Pelota 2 by @szukalski. I am guessing this weekend I'll have a bonanza What's in the mail post.
BTW. I do appreciate the tips and ideas I get for better tools from all of your posts. If you recognize a tool you posted or shared (@MichaelW) take it as a sincere form of flattery.
Another not so recent arrival for me was a pair of high quality Lindstrom cutters (one ultra-flush and taper nose). I wanted to pass on that several of the Lindstrom tools are still (since December) heavily discounted at Micro-Tools.
The only thing not on my workbench are projects - I am either out of PCBs or parts to finish (2). So I just need to focus on designing some enclosures while waiting for my first PPCB order of 2025 to arrive, including my first non-spec. commission. And some JLCPCBs and AionFX pcb's including my first full custom, along with the Pelota 2 by @szukalski. I am guessing this weekend I'll have a bonanza What's in the mail post.
Attachments
jessenator
Well-known member
Neon?
Will it explode if I plug it into mains? or will I just get electrocuted and/or burned?
Will it explode if I plug it into mains? or will I just get electrocuted and/or burned?
Depth marked both sides of the guitar back plate and then "hello to my little friend" as the excess wood was removed with the whirling blades of death (aka the power plane). Still have plenty of work left as I need to get down to the bottom of the little brad holes..
Can you spot the mistake.. one of the holes is a couple of mm lower.. (thankfully not through the top). I'm going to leave you now in torment attempting to find the ****er. Oh and happy Trypophobia..
The piece has growth (dark marks) which I knew about but I bought the piece for the tap tone, it didn't show much in the way of flame but it seems after hacking away.. there's a **** load.
Can you spot the mistake.. one of the holes is a couple of mm lower.. (thankfully not through the top). I'm going to leave you now in torment attempting to find the ****er. Oh and happy Trypophobia..
The piece has growth (dark marks) which I knew about but I bought the piece for the tap tone, it didn't show much in the way of flame but it seems after hacking away.. there's a **** load.
Feral Feline
Well-known member
I know it's a great post when I come away having learned a new word!
"Brad"
Kidding. I knew my friend's name was just short for "Bradley".
So... "trypophobia"...hmmm...
Say ...
"Tried to pop my pop's trypophobia by plopping tiny papers printed with typos populated with trios of perforations past his puny peepers"
... ten times (10x) really really fast.
Stickman393
Well-known member
Change my pitch up, slap my bitch up.
Shes gettingx close. Nut needs attention: standard setup stuffs.
I slapped a 1⁰ shim in the neck pocket preemptively...and my bridge is bottomed out before I hit my target of 0.04" @ the 12th fret, treble side. So I'll probably need at least another 0.25⁰ shim in the neck pocket.
Frets are nice and level, no buzz, but need a little attention in terms of polishing. I didn't have to do much leveling, and what I did was with 600 grit, so I wanted to see if I could get away with a little less effort in polishing.
Turns out, nope. Too rough. Gotta polish em up.
Not sure if I'm gonna stick with the plastics color scheme. We'll see.
Kinda tempted to pull the top plate of the trem, detach everything from it, scan it, trace it, and make a replacement from brass like the control plates. It doesn't actually pivot on that plate: it's just the thing that holds it all together.
I am quite liking the unplugged tone already though.
jessenator
Well-known member
Some green things to verify
bean
Legume Liaison
I dig that a lot, dude. I endeavor to have a green guitar myself someday just because. What's the neck wood?
Band of Dans
Well-known member
The pickguard/brass plates combo looks *really* nice to my eyes and complements the black plastics and dark neck IMO. Matching trem plate would look sweet with the whole caboodle.