Blog - The Guitar Learner

“Only they who believeth in their guitar quest shall be granted passage”

pedal board Aluminium DIY for analog effect pedals

So I’ve tried few DIY about guitar and this is my favorite, making pedal board for my analog effect pedals. why does it become favorite? because it’s easy! And i consider this will be everyone’s successful first try. I really forgot to taking pictures while i made the pedal board, I only can show the result and make a list for this DIY pedalboard.

First, I took the used aluminium bar on my warehouse, and yes, it was for curtains actually.

and then I cut it into pieces. I didn’t have any idea about the size at first so i decided to use my Boss GT 8 dimension so i can put it in the GT 8 softcase.

Aluminium pedal board using Boss GT 8 size dimension

well, it works. I use screws for joining the edges, using drill machine to make holes and it turns out okay.

Aluminium pedal board

As you can see I’m not good at making things. this pedal board isn’t exactly precise, there are gaps between joints, BUT, the Aluminium bar is strong enough to keep my rough craftsmanship’s result in rigid condition.

by the way, I put used paper board below the pedal board to cover the cables so they don’t come out and messy.

I’m not using velcro, I’d prefer Double-Sided Bonding Tapes to put my pedals on the board. but if it’s not strong enough, I’ll replace the tapes with velcro or something else.

Aluminium pedal board

right now while I’m watching my pedalboard, I have some tips for everyone:

– For every DIY project, please take enough time to make blueprints. my first and fatal mistake is, I’m in hurry in preparing my stuff for next performance and I was just too excited about DIY things, in matter of fact, I’m always too excited about guitar things.

– We can also use wood, but IMHO, aluminium is great material, considering it came from used stuff. you have to buy good wood for this, you just can’t pick any used wood. DIY project is great with all-new-bought stuff, but for me, recycling used stuff comes first.

– you might wanna upgrade your cable connectors for your analog pedals. there is rumor about my cheap cable connectors reduces tone, and I’d like to read more about cables and put that topic in other posts

– instead of making one, surely you can buy a pedalboard.. a Boss bcb-60 pedal board will satisfy your needs and it saves you a lot of time BUT >>>

if you bought brand new pedal board, you will always be haunted by CURIOSITY, HAHAHAHA

March 2, 2015
MBC-1 Matt Bellamy Cort signature guitar

Get the note, Manson Guitar Works and Cort guitars have made brand new signature guitar for Matthew Bellamy, the notable frontman of Muse. manufactured by Cort and designed by Hugh Manson and Matt Bellamy, the Cort MBC-1 is taking the same body outline as Bellamy’s previous custom MB models. the MBC-1 is manufactured by Cort and NOW available to pre-order from Manson Guitar Works. The full launch scheduled for NAMM 2015 in January. This MBC-1 Matt Bellamy Cort signature guitar with a UK retail of £499.00, will offer incredible value for money for all guitar players seeking a quality and unique shaped instrument.

The controls on the MBC-1 are simply versatile. There is a single volume control, master tone and a three way switch. This controls the humbucker/single coil pickup combination. It all works together with the kill button and the overall instrument design to give you a highly creative and great sounding instrument.
specs:

MBC-1 Matt Bellamy Cort signature guitar specifications

– basswood body
– maple neck
– rosewood fingerboard
– Manson-designed pickups (single coil – neck, humbucker – bridge)
– kill switch
– three-position pickup selector
– fixed bridge
– Model Name: Cort MBC-1 Matt Bellamy Signature Model
– Brand Series: Signature / Artist
– Color/Finish: Matt Black
– Body Shape: Matt Bellamy / Manson Signature
– Neck Shape: Soft ‘V’
– Fingerboard Radius: Compound Radius
– Scale Length: 25 1/2 “
– Machine heads: Height Staggered Locking Machine Heads
December 5, 2014
Black Friday – Cyber Monday Guitar Deals Hunting

At the end of the year, this will be the best time for you to buy a new guitar, add some pedals to your rig, and maybe some bad ass dog-barking amps to guard your back on stages. The online guitar shops offer great Cyber Monday deals and you know what? The black Friday deals starts now. It’s time for your to get your saving and make the best guitar deals. Here tips for you to get the best of it. (if you are new to guitar stuff and want to get the best deal for your first guitar, go here)

first, list your guitar needs in priority and make them in hierarchy. This is very important considering there will be a lot of deals-off and discounts those distracts you in completing your needs. Make your list clean and minimal. I’d prefer to divide my list into primary and secondary, for example here are my lists:

primary needs:
– A 1×12 cabinet + head > brand: Ibanez TSA15H Tube Screamer 15W Tube Guitar amp + TSA 112 Cabinet
– Pickups > brand: Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates
– Guitar strings > brand: elixir

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Ibanez TSA15H + TSA 112 C

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Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates

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Elixir – Nanoweb – Light 0.10 – 0.46

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secondary needs:
– Guitar strap
– guitar hard case for les paul guitar model
– mono-jack cable > brand: unspecified
– A NEW GUITAR. (it’s a heartbreaking to put this on secondary list, but I guess everyone is understand)
– A NEW PEDAL. (here comes the second regret)

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PRS SE guitars

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ibanez ts9 tube screamer overdrive pedal

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Well, I shouldn’t add more stuff here, because I know I can’t get them all in this end of year’s deals. But,… Brand names will help us to make standards for product quality. It is necessary for you if you just can’t find them on this End of year’s sale while you need them at most. Try to get other products with similar capability with good endurance.

Then i stick to my list while go to the second step, and that’s,

finding available coupon codes on online guitar shop sites. If you get a good deals with coupons for your first list, this will help you a lot in fulfilling your secondary list.

the third step is hard. go online and get price comparisons. Here you will need your lists to be printed and stick them on your face. You will meet many guitar deal-offs those will distract you out from your lists. you don’t wanna end up buying stuff you don’t actually need for now,right? save your budget by keep sticking on the lists. ( here’s the idea about this. “product knowledge is very important for guitar learning process”. you need to know every detail about the sound you want, and the quality of products which you learned will help you a lot about that)

well, it’s easier to say than to be done, but i hope this article helps you. happy black Friday and Cyber Monday guitar deals hunting.
November 25, 2014
Old Guitar Pickups, is it worth the sound?

This question is bothering me sometimes. I’m sort of a retro-music style fan and likely I’d like to have a set of vintage guitar equipments which i can bring them on stage and meet these days’ standard live performances. Reason i have for this is Legendary songs were built in old times with that times’ technology. Old Amps and cabs, old guitars, old pickups.(while I know nowadays the old equipment is aged by time and some of their quality are decreased) So I made a simulation with old and rusty stuff, and i only have an old guitar pickup, a 1×10″ cabinet and a my tiny Xenyx 502 Behringer mixer for this purpose.

Old Guitar Pickups

here’s my old cabinet

And I installed this old guitar pickups to my first guitar

now it’s ready for shoot out. here’s the video:

now, here’s the thing. I use Boss GT 8’s preamp modeler which i shouldn’t in this shootout, but i made no equalizer setting for this, so i guess it’s fair enough because i meant to play this with my own stage setting.for the pickup, i added a magnet bar below the pickup to increase the audio signal capturing.

the conclusion:
– about old guitar pickups. It’s the matter of technology. better pickup wiring and shielding, pole pieces positions determine the result. This old pickup has a huge microphonic feedback which is unacceptable on stages. still it has nice sound i guess. On the video I used both direct line in record to my Zoom Q3HD and using Zoom Q3HD built-in microphones. You might want to use old pickups for recording purposes to get some unique old audio signal then you can process it later on recording softwares.
– about old n rusty cabinet. well this is interesting. The speaker speaks uniquely. It maybe rusty(it has holes on its cone) but that’s what became the sound color. you can check on the video and listen the differences basically between direct recording and mic recording. noted that no matter what the amps are, the cabinet and speakers have big role in sound coloring for mic recording

well, you can consider this post is a junk and a worthless experiment, but i made it originally for the cure of my curiosity and for my guitar learning purposes. see ya later 🙂
September 17, 2014