We've Been Busy!

Every time I recognize that we should be doing an update, I never feel like that there's anything that's been particularly interesting. I think I've admitted this before. The truth is that we've actually been doing a lot of work. It's just not immediately obvious on the front page of this site. The long and the short of it is that we've still been collecting amps, and pedals, and PCBs and kits for pedals.

We don't believe anyone wants to read, "Look! I just bought this (thing)!" We don't care about reading others posting, "Look what we bought!". At the end of the day, it's what you DO, create, or share with the new things that come into your life and create that's important. Mere acquisition of things is not a particularly interesting activity.

Building Pedals 2021 Thermionic Studios Collection
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Misadventures in Sourcing Vintage Electronics Components, Part 1

Sometimes it's really only possible to recognize an earlier victory that you've captured only after you've put a whole lot more hard work in. Going through this slog was pretty tough. And it was only after starting to go through it that I'd realized the possible mess I'd gotten myself into.

Here's a view of the carnage after the fact (what we'd won)...

It was an auction site that was new to us, and a slightly new way of bidding, so there was some discomfort, naturally. But the site and the auctioneer also made available something I'd never been able to do before on eBay: Actually go look at the real, physical items I would be bidding on!

Estate Auction of an old Gearhead. So much stuff!
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One Year Out: Has Gibson Really Turned Over A New Leaf?

When I first started writing this article, I thought I was going to be rehashing some old material about Gibson (under owner Henry Juszkiewicz) and one particular completely crappy business practice: "The Bumblebee Capacitors".

But while doing research for that article (the bumblebee capacitors debacle is still a pretty interesting and an instructive case study), I was lead to a whole lot of other things: namely the information that is now this article. Most notably that there was a whole chain of events, playing out across several years, under Juszkiewicz's leadership that caused the failure of Gibson, and the forced sale that threw "Henry J" out, and that brought in new investors and new company leadership. Early last month, it had been a year since Gibson went through that ownership and leadership change.

Henry Juszkiewicz acquired Gibson in 1986 for $5m. 5 Million Dollars. That's it. Now, 1986 is quite a bit different from 2019 in terms of how much inflation has devalued the dollar, but $5 million still seems a pittance given the storied Gibson name...

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What Happened to Rock Music?

"What Happened to Rock Music? Will It Ever Come Back?"
by Ben Kleschinsky, studied at Nashua Community College

I think (I have a good set of reasons why) rock music and the local music scene in general really disappeared. You have to understand the economics of the whole situation, and why in the 90’s we started seeing rock bands getting little exposure.

So to begin we have to look at the music scene in the 1950’s, 60’s, and 70’s and look at what allowed rock music to dominate economically. It had to do with our FCC. Not many people know this because of a media blackout.

Think of personalities such as Cousin Brucie, Wolfman Jack, Pat St. John, Tom Kelly, Johnny Holliday, and Dave Hull. If the people liked what they heard, you moved up the ladder. It was a form of music democracy, the people not corporations were in control.

Heavy Music and Its Popularity
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Tom Tom Drums: Sizing and Other Considerations

Like many drummers, I’ve not given a lot of thought to drum sizes other than small drums have a higher pitch and large drums have a lower pitch. I bought my last kit because its made of Birch and did not pay much attention to the tom tom diameters. After all, It has a small tom, a medium tom and a large tom. What else do I need to know? I’ve looked at some of the big drum companies to see how they dimension their drums. I’d like to make my drums similar to the industry standards. It turns out there are a few different sizing schemes in use by the big manufacturers.

Traditional Tom Tom Drum Measurements Chart
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DIY Drum Shells

Being a woodworker of sorts, I have been itching lately to make my own drum kit. There are several options for making your own kit. You can buy shells already made and add the hardware and finish or you can attempt to make the shells yourself.
A few months ago, I decided to order the shells already made from a drum making supply company. Of course, they still have not arrived and I'm not sure if they actually will arrive. Custom drum stuff seems to take a ridiculously long time. I ordered a custom floor tom from Pearl years ago and it took about 7 months to get it.

Building a DIY Drum From Scratch Using Maple Staves
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Rick Allen and Thoughts on Electronic Drum Kits

On Saturday, my wife and I went up to The Forum in Los Angeles to see the final night of the Journey / Def Leppard tour. As a drummer, I was very interested in the difference between Rick Allen’s (Def Leppard) kit and Steve Smith’s (Journey). As most everyone knows, in 1985, Rick Allen lost his left arm in a very tragic car accident. As a result, he plays a highly modified kit that allows him to use both of his feet and his right arm to compensate. (he does this very well, in fact. His playing today is just as good as it ever was.).

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Opposite bowed pieces of plywood
Carpet affixed to the plywood slab
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Diagram on how Plywood is made
Diagram on how plies in plywood should be arranged
Demostration of Bowing in Plywood
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