Recent content by spleenharvester

This pedal came to me in a job lot about 15 years ago I bought for £20 (which included an Able Bassmaker, a DS-1, a GCB-95 and an EQ pedal, probably the most ridiculous haul I've gotten to date). I forgot it existed until it fell into my lap again today after my parents had a clearout. It...

I have a 2009 MXR Chorus pedal here that I bought as faulty. Advertised as no power, but on receipt it does power but the potentiometer is damaged - PCB fractured in multiple places. It's marked as "10C470K", no other markings. I've pulled the PCB off the pot and it measures a combined total...

I bought a Blackstar HT-1, upgraded it with a Tung-Sol 12AX7 and an Electro-Harmonix 12AU7 + a Celestion Super 8 speaker. Put a Tech21 Sansamp Classic in front of it and absolutely loved it, it's the tone I've been trying to chase for years. I found a 2012 Blackstar HT-5 for a silly price so I...

Upgraded my Seagull S6 with an LR Baggs Anthem and really loving the sound of it. I'm recording through a Behringer MIC500USB valve preampdirectly to Audacity. However I know bugger all about recording and I'm not sure where to start. The MIC500USB is set to gain +43dB, output +4dB, preamp mode...

I have a 2010 Fender Blacktop Stratocaster in cherry (MIM). The tuning stability isn't terrible but it could certainly be better - it only takes one overly hard strum on the E string to knock it way out of tune. Was wondering where to start re upgrades, it's all stock Fender hardware. Am...

Hi all, Odd problem with my blacktop stratocaster - initially the volume knob would turn the volume down but never all the way to zero. Now the volume knob does nothing at all. Wiring diagram is below. With a complete circuit, I measure about 8kOhms between each of the three volume pot lugs...

I've pulled the amp apart for some testing. Here are my findings: Measured live > chassis ground and neutral > chassis ground. Meter reads OL, which according to this means there's an issue? Having trouble figuring out the power transformer pinout, there's no data sheet for it anywhere. Am I...

Hi all, apologies if I've put this in the wrong place - unless I'm being really blind this forum doesn't seem to have a section for mics and their gear? I've just bought an SM-58 for vocals, together with a Behringer MIC500USB tube preamp. It's currently just plugged into a crappy pair of...

Received my new Soul Food today, 99% sure it's faulty but just want to check I'm not doing anything stupid before I return it. The signal pathway is a Blacktop Stratocaster > Pedal > Blackstar HT1. When the Soul Food is plugged in the middle it makes an extremely loud buzzing noise and the...

I have a Blackstar HT-1 (soon to be a HT-20R MkII) with a Fender Blacktop stratocaster, Slash APH-2B in the bridge and soon to be Seth Lover in the neck. I really love the sound of the APH-2B through my Sansamp Classic, but it seems to struggle with neck pickups sound very muddy. I'm told this...

Really loving the sound of my new HT-1, so I'm thinking of replacing/adding to it a HT-20 for when I start performing again. I really like the look of the HT-20 MkII's 20W-to-2W feature as it'd mean I can use it at home. But I'm reading a lot that the HT-20 MkII just doesn't sound quite as...

Through the magic of 3D printing and lots of dickery I have been able to fit a Tele hot rail into the neck of my Blacktop stratocaster (yes it is the bridge version, so it's wildly unbalanced with the APH-2B in the bridge - it did used to live in the bridge but I decided I was happier with it in...

Hi all, I'm in the market for two amps - a small (1W or similar) tube amp for bedroom use, and a big boy gigging amp, which I'll be buying later in the year (once we've financially recovered from buying our house). What I really want to do is replicate the rhythm sound from Pat Smear's gear on...

Hi all, One of the machine heads on my Vintage V300 just failed. I'm not too bothered about finding one that is perfectly matching as it's a fairly low-end instrument, but I am having trouble finding one that lines up at all. It has a 90 degree screw hole to lock the tuner in place, unlike...

Hi all. I've started taking my AC15C1 to gigs at my local bar (first time today). The journey was uphill and fairly rough (the power LED has already fallen inside the amp for example), so it seems I will need to invest in something more protective than just a trolley. Flight cases look nice...