What's your current headache?

I agree with everyone's sentiments about the partscaster. If it would not cause the guitar to be late for Christmas, I would be happy to level, crown, and polish the frets and do the set up so the playability of the partscaster exceeds the Dusenberg.

Plenty of techs in the Chicago area though! A little extra investment in a superb set up to make the guitar really enjoyable to play might just be the comeuppance your brother needs.
 
Mentaltossflycoon said:
If my two kids one day each give me a guitar for Christmas, I'd be sooooo happy. Also I think the "handmade is more meaningful" thing applies to more than just greeting cards.

That is a dick move on your brother's part tho... he could've gone with something to accompany your build like an amp.
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It's so easy not to be a piece of shit that you gotta wonder why so many people are. I can totally understand your brother being like "hey that's a great gift I want in on it" but the thing to have done was definitely buy an amp; can you imagine how cool it would have been for your dad to open that gift that his sons collaborated on, and no one's toes would have been stepped on. Jesus.
 
Hot tip for a non-douche gift that your brother could have done. I recently serviced a beat to death silver face Champ. Was pretty much Rocky Mountain Way in a box. Had been recapped and all I had to do was retube and replace a few resistors that had drifted. I’m a believer in Champs now and I seriously had to be talked off a ledge to let the customer have it back.
 
jcpst said:
Give your brother a bag of dog shit for Christmas
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@drgonzo1969 - and make it a partscaster dog shit, too, with contributions from all your neighbors' dogs.
Let your brother feel the extra effort you put into it!
:ROFLMAO:

ps: everyone above is right, your father will definitely know the difference between a store bought guitar and a hand-selected & hand-built one.
 
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My current headache:

70s tube amp picks up noise at my rehearsal space which is located in an old building. There’s commercial services located in same building. Excessive noise happens when there’s activity in bakery and barbershop. I managed to catch freq shift on noise as something was switched halfspeed when amp was on, but without guitar cord plucked in. Other day amp was quieter as shops we’re closed. I suspect it’s DC offset or airborne interference fed from barber and/or bakery equipment.

I don’t own oscilloscope nor other equipment for rehersal spaces AC line analysis and I’m not so intressed getting myself into measuring things I’m not able to fix if something’s wrong in wall outlet wiring. So I need to look into less risky trial and error solutions. I’ve read sound-au and other worthy opinions about snake oilery in power conditioning in audio industry.

So far been looking into:
-Ferrite beading guitar jack, amps power cord and speaker cable
-Brennenstuhl premium line strip with emi/rfi filters
And ultimately after everything else fails
-DIY solutions as salvaging computer PS or pcbs for hifi people with golden (show)ears and belief over matter (sorry about that)

Do any of you have experience about this AC offset or airborne interference and was there a fix to make it more bearable?
 
JohnnyCreepy said:
My current headache:

70s tube amp picks up noise at my rehearsal space which is located in an old building. There’s commercial services located in same building. Excessive noise happens when there’s activity in bakery and barbershop. I managed to catch freq shift on noise as something was switched halfspeed when amp was on, but without guitar cord plucked in. Other day amp was quieter as shops we’re closed. I suspect it’s DC offset or airborne interference fed from barber and/or bakery equipment.

I don’t own oscilloscope nor other equipment for rehersal spaces AC line analysis and I’m not so intressed getting myself into measuring things I’m not able to fix if something’s wrong in wall outlet wiring. So I need to look into less risky trial and error solutions. I’ve read sound-au and other worthy opinions about snake oilery in power conditioning in audio industry.

So far been looking into:
-Ferrite beading guitar jack, amps power cord and speaker cable
-Brennenstuhl premium line strip with emi/rfi filters
And ultimately after everything else fails
-DIY solutions as salvaging computer PS or pcbs for hifi people with golden (show)ears and belief over matter (sorry about that)

Do any of you have experience about this AC offset or airborne interference and was there a fix to make it more bearable?
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My old apartment had a lot of noise because of old wiring. I never managed to get rid of it even with a power conditioner. Switching to an isolated power supply instead of daisy chain for my pedals reduced the noise a bit but it was still bad. These are really hard to fix issues.
 
giovanni said:
My old apartment had a lot of noise because of old wiring. I never managed to get rid of it even with a power conditioner. Switching to an isolated power supply instead of daisy chain for my pedals reduced the noise a bit but it was still bad. These are really hard to fix issues.
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Thanks for your input!

What conditioner you tried? There’s wild variety of marketing between conditioners and manufacturers are not so open are their products using MOVs, diodes, capacitors, transformers/coils or something in combination.

And yeah, I have uprgraded my pedal power with proper isolated supply. Amp is the problem children here and I already beefed filter caps.
 
JohnnyCreepy said:
Thanks for your input!

What conditioner you tried? There’s wild variety of marketing between conditioners and manufacturers are not so open are their products using MOVs, diodes, capacitors, transformers/coils or something in combination.

And yeah, I have uprgraded my pedal power with proper isolated supply. Amp is the problem children here and I already beefed filter caps.
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I have a Furman power strip conditioner. I haven’t tested my rig without it in a while so I’m not sure how effective it is.
 
giovanni said:
I have a Furman power strip conditioner. I haven’t tested my rig without it in a while so I’m not sure how effective it is.
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Maybe thats the reason why you didn’t experience any noise relief? What I read from different forums, suggest Furman strips may not be useable other than spike protections as they don’t have x- and y-caps paralled.

Guess I’ll try locally available Brennenstuhl strip first as it’s more industrial type product without hype and should atleast include some filter caps. If that fails, time to do ferrite beading and socketing with a proper IEC mains filter as I have knotted cord in my amp waiting to fail! :eek:
 
JohnnyCreepy said:
Maybe thats the reason why you didn’t experience any noise relief? What I read from different forums, suggest Furman strips may not be useable other than spike protections as they don’t have x- and y-caps paralled.

Guess I’ll try locally available Brennenstuhl strip first as it’s more industrial type product without hype and should atleast include some filter caps. If that fails, time to do ferrite beading and socketing with a proper IEC mains filter as I have knotted cord in my amp waiting to fail! :eek:
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I gotta say, I live in a place with a brand new electrical system and a music room with a dedicated breaker so the noise floor is pretty low. Be careful messing with high power electronics!
 
JohnnyCreepy said:
There’s commercial services located in same building. Excessive noise happens when there’s activity in bakery and barbershop.
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It could be from SCR relays that aren't zero-crossing in that oven. I.e., the best controllers switch the power on or off when the AC voltage crosses through zero, to generate a lot less noise. But those are more expensive than non-zero crossing relays. And bakeries probably aren't that concerned about ac noise.

If this is the case, you need to make sure you have no ground loops, everything is grounded once (ideally at the same point).
 
darwin999 said:
If this is the case, you need to make sure you have no ground loops, everything is grounded once (ideally at the same point).
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Clearly interference is AC induced as on last rehersal amp was much more quiet with barber and bakery closed.

I started to suspect my heater wiring too as the twists are on the loose side and near first main filter cap. There’s also flux residue on component board which I should check for voltage leak.

Here’s a pic inside chassis before changing some caps and resistors.
IMG_5404.jpeg
jwin615 said:
I don't know ferrite beads on cords will work that well. That's more for rfi and I don't think that would be generated by a baker or barber. It's more likely poor wiring mixed with emi and dirty ground.
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Amps also quite suspectible for getting cellular interference.

I’ll give a go for ferrites and AC filter cord before looking anything else. Divide and conquer?

edit. Just picked this for 29€. I was in need on extension cord anyway and if this helps with my issue, good!
IMG_5882.jpeg
 
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Pauleo1214 said:
I agree with everyone's sentiments about the partscaster. If it would not cause the guitar to be late for Christmas, I would be happy to level, crown, and polish the frets and do the set up so the playability of the partscaster exceeds the Dusenberg.

Plenty of techs in the Chicago area though! A little extra investment in a superb set up to make the guitar really enjoyable to play might just be the comeuppance your brother needs.
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@drgonzo1969 have you met @Gordo yet? He's a tech in the Chicago area, if you're looking for a setup to put the build over the top. And he's a cool enough guy that I feel comfortable volunteering him ;)

I still need to bring him my 335, I've been too busy the past few weekends and haven't made it out that way.
 
Pardon me for answering a question with a question....

If one enters the wrong address at checkout where do you think the shipment will be delivered? And is it the fault/responsibility of the shipper when the package arrives in a timely manner at the address that was entered incorrectly?

Maybe this should be a poll instead. :ROFLMAO: :rolleyes:
 
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