Saturday, June 23, 2012

Only sorta electronics related

So I got this phone, right?  And my girlfriend has the same model phone, do you follow?  

We took these pictures right after one another with our respective cameras.


There's no filters involved in this trickery... just a good old fashioned broken lens.


That's right, ladies and gentlemen, I have a custom made one of a kind analog instragram filter.  For only 2 easy payments of $44.95, I would be willing to make this modification to any camera or lens you have.  Just think... no more waiting for your instagram to finish processing!  You can claim your photos have an obscure one of kind analog filter!  (I'm looking at you, hipsters...)*** 

Here's more examples of this amazing filter!

Make rainbows glow!

Give that "vintage" look to your "vintage" electronics!

Amazingly low resolution!

Raspberries?  More like gray berries!  Am I right?


Fool your friends into believing your house is haunted!  See that grey blur?!?  It's a ghost!
***Warning, results not typical, actual analog filter may vary, analog filter may not be removed. ***

Monday, June 11, 2012

Light Attack Drums in action

So, Battle Toys played a show last weekend and I got the video footage.  The sounds is a little funky, as we are so darn loud that it overloads the camcorder, which goes into some hi volume compression mode (I think).  Either way, here's the light attack drunk kit in action!



Saturday, June 9, 2012

Getting closer

The time has come!  I removed the two 12'' speakers from a Crate GLX212 that I purchased about 10 years ago, and secured them to the baffle.


I used #8 Brass screws and Tee nuts to secure the back plate


Connect the speakers!

Screw the baffle on.

Amplifier put in it's case.


Booyah!

So... there's a problem already.  That cabinet is enormous.  I can barely get my arms around it.  I brought it upstairs from the basement and wasn't able to get my hands on the side handles.  I had to just squeeze either side to get a hold of it.  By the time I got it up two flights of stairs, my forearms were like jelly.  I could barely play a bar cord.  I have a looper pedal that has some stuff recorded already, so I just turned on a loop to see how the amp sounds.  There's something off about it...  I think I hooked up a speaker backwards.  There's some point where ones head is directly in front of the speakers where it's very quiet, but it's quite loud a foot to the right or left.  Hmmm...

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Vinyl! Vinyl!

Vinyl finally arrived from backorder!  Wooo!

My phone was out of batteries so I didn't take any pics during the vinyling.  I found some tutorial videos online and got at least an idea of how this should be done.  I used 3M Super 77 spray adhesive, which was recommended on every tutorial I found.  I ended up running out of it and switched to Super 90 adhesive, which I happened to have.  The odd thing is, the super 90 seemed to dissolve some of the adhesive between the vinyl and the backing, and it caused some bubbling.  Lo and behold, a few hours later the bubbles were gone...  suspicious... closer inspection to follow...  

Also annoying, I completely screwed up the vinyl covering on the corners.  I thought the corners would extend farther, but I was wrong, and had to cut off some of the vinyl and add some tiny squares... oh well.  Without a close inspection, it shouldn't be noticeable... I hope.

Anyway, I got the vinyl and most of the hardware on the head and cabinet, but I ran out of time, so here's where I leave you!


Amplifier head case... looking pretty!

Notice the corners... extra square of vinyl

Soon...

This is so close to being done... I can taste it.  I'm terrible excited.  The time for guitars is nigh!

Friday, May 25, 2012

Waiting...

I've was practically peeing my pants all last week in anticipation of that sweet sweet vinyl so I can finish up the amp and cabinet enclosures...

To my dismay, the package arrived with the grill cloth and piping, but no vinyl.  Evidently my vinyl was back ordered and I have to wait another week or two.  Bllllalaaarrrhhghghgh!!! /shakes fists at sky

In the meantime, I constructed a frame for the grill, and painted the inside of the amp enclosure.  Also, I built an amp enclosure.

Amp enclosure, unpainted (in case you couldn't tell)
Since the inside of the enclosure will be partially visible, I just hit it with a few coats of black spray paint.

I also put the cabinet pieces together and stared longingly at it.


It says to me "I'm naked!  I need my vinyl covering!"

I guess all good things come to those who wait, and I'm stuck until the vinyl arrives.  I can only hope that the package is delivered by Gandalf, on his mighty steed, Shadowfax.  I heard that horse can run fast.

Friday, May 18, 2012

No more Outkast puns for my guitar cabinet

Not much time to work on the cabinet last night...  Did manage to get the edges rounded, holes for the handles cut, and test fit the hardware.

Used 1/2'' round router bit for those smooth as a baby bottom edges.

Harsh edges
Smooooth edges, like yacht rock

Better be sure to draw the proper outline for the handles.  I did it right on the first try, which rarely happens.


Finally, the cabinet and I turned the lights down, and I dolled her up with some corner hardware, a side handle, and just for fun, a top handle (which will eventually be on the amplifier enclosure)
I'm a pretty girl!

This must be the feeling that young ladies get when they dress up their dolls...

Well, silly me.... I'm not getting my vinyl and grill cloth delivered until next week, so I'm kind of at a stand still.  Maybe this weekend I can get proper enclosure ready for the amplifier, but other than that, I'm stuck until the vinyl arrives.

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

The Cab Below

Yo ho!  Had an interesting time tonight working on the cabinet.  I know my speaker needs a circular hole of 11'' diameter... so I pounded a nail into the center, and tied a string (5.5'' length) around the nail and to a pencil.  I don't have a proper compass... oh well.  I drilled a 1/2'' hole near the edge of the cutout region, and then cut the circle out freehand with my brand jigsaw... the one that I bought JUST for this project.  Hooray for new tools!

Gonna cut me a hole... gonna put a speaker in it


Black spray paint for the baffle. 
I learned from searching forums that you should probably paint your baffle black... otherwise the light wood will show throw the speaker grill.

In order to secure the backplate and baffle to the enclosure, I added battens (I still am not sure that's what they're called) of 3/4x3/4 all the way around the interior for both sides.


Add caption

Then I still had time to cut a hole for the jack plate in the back panel  I cut the hole a tad too big... but it's still going to be workable.  I'll remember to cut the holes for the handles a wee bit too small; you can always make the hole bigger!


That jack plate, by the way, is awesome.  You hook up two 8 ohm speakers to it, and by using different inputs, you can get either a 4, 8, or 16 ohm impedance... awesome.

I also stopped by ax man to pick up that awesome red vinyl... but they were sold out!  Oh well.. that's what I get for not purchasing right away from ax man.

I ended up purchasing some similar vinyl from Mojotone.com, as well as some piping and grill cloth.

ETA for handles/corners, tomorrow night.  ETA for the mojotone stuff, two days.

Awwww yeah!