Christmas -> New Year projects

[Paul_C]

I've got a few things I've been sitting on for a number of months and four days free with absolutely nothing expected of me, so it's time to get them done.


I've just finished the first, which was making a voltage doubler board to run an old Vox Chorus off a 9v power supply rather than buy an 18v power supply for a pedal I'm not likely to use that often.

No pics as yet, I'm afraid, but maybe I'll take some once the other project is complete

Project #2 is a bit more involved, I want to put two joysticks into a enclosure along with four jack sockets and hopefully I'll then be able to control four expression variables with one unit.

I don't know at this point if the idea will work without me having to do a bit more than the above, but I'm going to start by wiring one joystick to one jack socket and hook that up to a pedal before I start drilling holes in enclosures.

If I'm feeling really enthused I could do a bit more on my eight fuzzes in one box (I've made all the boards but there's a lot of drilling and wiring to do) but we'll see about that.

[Paul_C]

I have wired a stereo jack to one of the pots on the joystick and it appears to be working as expected plugged into a Dwarfcraft Happiness and a Count To 5.

Based on that I think I'll go ahead and build it, as much for the fun of it as anything else

[Paul_C]

I went in a different direction today, and defretted my Westone (the one I added frets to).

The extra frets just made my head spin, so I thought I'd go fretless instead

I've filled the original slots with white plastic card as they're handy for reference and I'm filling the micro-tonal slots with a mixture of wood dust and glue.

Pics to follow once it's finished, hopefully tomorrow.

[Paul_C]

Here's a traditionally rubbish pic of the finished Westone



I might go a little heavier at the next string change (it's currently got 10s on) but other than that it's great - much better for my old head to deal with than the extra frets and I can go even more micro-tonal if there's room for my fingers

[coldbrightsunlight]

Looks cool! What tools did you use to remove the frets? Still need to get round to doing this with my old guitar but the last time I tried on a beater bass it went alright but I ended up with a few more chips out of the fingerboard than I'd like

[Paul_C]

Sorry, I missed your question.

I use some small pinchers which I ground down so they run under the fret and lift it, while pressing on the wood so that it keeps the chipping to a minimum.

You still get some, but it's better than anything else I've tried so far.

In other news, I've drilled the enclosure and fitted the two joysticks and ordered some stereo jacks, so I should have my ridiculous expression twiddler finished this week.

[coldbrightsunlight]

yeah that sounds smart. Don't have the toolage necessary so will be a more hacky job from me. it is a real beater so the stakes are low.

Intrigued by the joystick machine

[Paul_C]

A couple of pics before I wired it up, it's finished now.

I've not got round to trying it out yet as I need four TRS cables to hook it all up, though I will have a hunt around to see what I have that might do the job.

[fuzzonaut]

A couple of pics before I wired it up, it's finished now.

I've not got round to trying it out yet as I need four TRS cables to hook it all up, though I will have a hunt around to see what I have that might do the job.

Hi Paul,

this is super cool! Makes we want to build one too.

Do you mind sharing some information? Like where did you get the joysticks? And how did you wire it?

Cheers!

[Paul_C]

Joysticks from ebay (cheap).

The wiring is currently Tip to middle, sleeve to 1 and ring to 3 for all of them, but I haven't tried it with everything yet, so I might have to change some.

[fuzzonaut]

Thanks!