What’s on *YOUR* workbench?

On the Bench today: Ever tire of the hook probes? I made up a little breakout board for my DCA75.I will make a backing board to have the DCA and the board mounted with the DCA at a tilt up for easier reading. I have the hook probes on the banana plugs so I can hook up that way too!

Anyone wanting one of these boards, I have 4 more and can include the jacks and ZIF socket connector. just solder and hook up your wires to the colors. DM me.

1772687113796.png
 
bean said:
I dig that a lot, dude. I endeavor to have a green guitar myself someday just because. What's the neck wood?
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One of my faves: Wenge.

Don't get a splinter. They tend to go septic.

But its stiff as hell and you kinda *need* a dual acting truss rod in a back of this stuff. Especially if one uses 10s.

But...well. This one's probably gonna be in C-standard with 11-56s. So, it'll have some good tension.

Open porous, has a great "raw" feel to it. Warwick uses it on their basses all the time, and I'm a man who likes me a Warwick. Though I could never justify one.

Ihre Bassgitarren sind wunderschön. Ja.

It's a *cheap* aliexpress neck. Got it for like, a hundy. Stainless steel frets...but they needed some work. After I leveled em and slapped it on another body they were just...eh. Too short.

So I disassembled that one, yanked the frets, and...like...*really* hunkered down to level out the fretboard. Made sure all my fret tang snips were perfectly flat, then refretted with Jescar SS jumbos. I only found two high spots...which...I gotta say...not too shabby for a beginner!

The result: I mean, you won't mistake it for a pro's work, but *goddammit it works*. Perfect guitars are boring.

Tomorrow I'll re-shim the neck and properly slot the nut, slap the strap pegs on. Might even try to polish up the frets a bit. Last step is gonna be branding the headstock. Literally.
 
Fever2112 said:
also on the other bench: Diamond saw makes fast work for PCBs.

I know... I know... I can have them all scored/cut at the factory but they started to charge extra... and since I have the means and am a frugal dutchman....

View attachment 112788
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I did this with my i2s/c isolator and clock and 1:3 spanning buffer board for my ADC - much cheaper when you can fit everything on a 4 layer prototype board that they're giving an entry discount on :D Now I have 9 remaining sitting around..
IMG_0962.jpeg IMG_0961.jpeg

I should get around to doing the same with power regulator boards (some ultra low noise LDOs and even do a high voltage maida regulator with a LDO.. hell, even make a compact version of the tube based compressor), should get a load of instances on a single board then cut.. Can never have too many regulators..
 
Stickman393 said:
One of my faves: Wenge.

Don't get a splinter. They tend to go septic.

But its stiff as hell and you kinda *need* a dual acting truss rod in a back of this stuff. Especially if one uses 10s.

But...well. This one's probably gonna be in C-standard with 11-56s. So, it'll have some good tension.

Open porous, has a great "raw" feel to it. Warwick uses it on their basses all the time, and I'm a man who likes me a Warwick. Though I could never justify one.

Ihre Bassgitarren sind wunderschön. Ja.

It's a *cheap* aliexpress neck. Got it for like, a hundy. Stainless steel frets...but they needed some work. After I leveled em and slapped it on another body they were just...eh. Too short.

So I disassembled that one, yanked the frets, and...like...*really* hunkered down to level out the fretboard. Made sure all my fret tang snips were perfectly flat, then refretted with Jescar SS jumbos. I only found two high spots...which...I gotta say...not too shabby for a beginner!

The result: I mean, you won't mistake it for a pro's work, but *goddammit it works*. Perfect guitars are boring.

Tomorrow I'll re-shim the neck and properly slot the nut, slap the strap pegs on. Might even try to polish up the frets a bit. Last step is gonna be branding the headstock. Literally.
Click to expand...
Running one's hand down a freshly sawn piece of wenge is like the woodworkers version of nails on a chalkboard. Love the stuff but hot damn it's some of the most pain inducing lumber I've ever handled.
 
Fever2112 said:
On the Bench today: Ever tire of the hook probes? I made up a little breakout board for my DCA75.I will make a backing board to have the DCA and the board mounted with the DCA at a tilt up for easier reading. I have the hook probes on the banana plugs so I can hook up that way too!

Anyone wanting one of these boards, I have 4 more and can include the jacks and ZIF socket connector. just solder and hook up your wires to the colors. DM me.

View attachment 112787
Click to expand...
Great idea! You just need some pads to measure SMD transistors!
 
Mentaltossflycoon said:
Running one's hand down a freshly sawn piece of wenge is like the woodworkers version of nails on a chalkboard. Love the stuff but hot damn it's some of the most pain inducing lumber I've ever handled.
Click to expand...
Truth.

But...man, when you get it sanded smooth. Assuming the sawdust hasn't fully fully sensitized you into a fits of nerve-gas like seizures and stomach cramps...it's a dream to play on.

It's also a motherfucker to work with. Splinters like what like woah.

So: I've done some tweaks. Shes almost there.

First thing: goddamned tremolo cavity was too shallow. I couldn't get the spring loose enough to keep the bridge at "neural" without the block slid into place.

So. I had to open her up and *very carefully* hog our a 20mm disc in the trem cavity with a drill and a portable drill guide with a depth stop. Cause I only had like, 11/16ths of an inch to work with there, and I needed to shave off a bit less than a quarter inch.

Boom:

1000058539.jpg


I shimmed the neck another half a degree. Now the bridge is sitting a good couple mms above the body and I can get 0.04" on the treble side and 0.05" on the bass side.

Got strap buttons installed too. Pickups are a little low...gotta bring those up a bit. Now, though, im finding that this is buggin me:

1000058540.jpg


So...I chamfered the edge of the pickguard in such a way where the bottom lines up with my brass plates. I don't really like the way this came out. I think i'm gonna move that edge out so that the top aligns with the edge of the plates. Just gotta make some edits on my design and slap it through my CNC again.
 
MichaelW said:
Are you making the gerbers for this available? Looks awesome by the way!
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Attached are my Gerber files without logos. Note that the ZIF connector works for every 3 sockets. You can see in the traces below. I use the Banana sockets (Tayda sells them <-click link) and they have the solder connection underneath. If you do not want to cut off your hook probes, you can just hook them underneath the board.
1772819735494.png 1772819756968.png

1772820109195.png 1772823048139.png

Download the file and remove the .txt extension. The forum doesn't allow ZIP file extensions...
 

Attachments

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Fever2112 said:
Attached are my Gerber files without logos. Note that the ZIF connector works for every 3 sockets. You can see in the traces below. I use the Banana sockets (Tayda sells them <-click link) and they have the solder connection underneath. If you do not want to cut off your hook probes, you can just hook them underneath the board.
View attachment 112859View attachment 112860

View attachment 112861View attachment 112866

Download the file and remove the .txt extension. The forum doesn't allow ZIP file extensions...
Click to expand...
Thanks dude! Have you tried the SMD pads? I used a SOT23 adapter with my Peak and I need to push down slightly on the SMD to get a reading.
 
Did a carbon repair on the driveside chainstay. Despite some nicks and scratches, the finish looks pretty good for a 25 year old bike! Outfittes with Dura-Ace 7700 and Rolf Vector Comp wheels.

Wondering if I should replace the Thompson Elite seatpost with a Ritchey seatpost that is black.
20260306_122602.jpg
20260306_122648.jpg

Also got my hands on my first Colnago frame. Not Italian made but not a common model either. CX Zero Disc in aluminum.

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MichaelW said:
Thanks dude! Have you tried the SMD pads? I used a SOT23 adapter with my Peak and I need to push down slightly on the SMD to get a reading.
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I just added the pads. I have an adapter for my Peak as well (see image).

1772838003352.png

Yes, pressing it down is necessary to make solid contact. back end of a pencil with an eraser head would do it... :)
 
Pauleo1214 said:
Did a carbon repair on the driveside chainstay. Despite some nicks and scratches, the finish looks pretty good for a 25 year old bike! Outfittes with Dura-Ace 7700 and Rolf Vector Comp wheels.

Wondering if I should replace the Thompson Elite seatpost with a Ritchey seatpost that is black.
View attachment 112872
View attachment 112873

Also got my hands on my first Colnago frame. Not Italian made but not a common model either. CX Zero Disc in aluminum.

View attachment 112874
View attachment 112875
Click to expand...
Love that trek. I like the seatpost as is, matching the crankset.
 
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