JDub's Blog

It’s no rat, it’s Siberian hamster…

JDub — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 21:42:42 +0000

After building Warren’s HBD, I got bitten by the DIY pedal bug and have been busy again! This time I’ve built a Rat distortion pedal clone.

See here for more details

Hotblack Desiato

JDub — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 09:21:30 +0000

Well it’s Warren’s birthday and many (many) years ago I promised him an overdrive/distortion pedal. I thought it would make a nice 40th Birthday present so I made this: -

I’m really pleased with the result and it sounds fantastic (in my opinion!!!). It’s based on the classic TS808 Tube Screamer circuit. For full details see the owners manual.

Bye bye AC30…

JDub — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 21:22:32 +0000

Finally sold the AC30 I couldn’t really justify keeping it any longer as I hardly ever use it these days. It’s also too loud and very heavy. But I loved it!!!

Anyhow it’s gone to a really good home. A nice guy by the name of Joe has bought it off me. You may hear it at his musical projects The Slow Revolt or The Sound of Brenda

I’ve just delivered it to him at Banbury station. Also gave him my homemade treble booster. They kind of belonged together!

One last look…

Hello Harley Benton GA-15s…

JDub — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 19:54:31 +0000

As I’ve decided to sell the AC30, I’ve bought 2 x Harley Benton GA-15s from Thomann. The look quite retro and are a steal for an (almost) all valve 15W amplifier:-

I’ve always loved the way Brian May and the Edge have used more than one amp to create their sound so hope to be able to emulate this now I have two amps.

They are inherently noisy and need some mods to make them usable. I will document the mods as and when I do them here…

Chicken Salad & Callaham Bridge

JDub — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 18:53:42 +0000

Received both the Chicken Salad pedal and Callaham bridge today!


Just waiting for the new Strat body now from Kavanagh and I’ll be able to start building my David Gilmour Black Strat clone.	The Chicken Salad is a cheapo vibrato pedal from Danelectro. It works on a similar principle as the Univibe and as such is a cheap alternative to it. See my Univibe Clone page for further details

Windows 7

JDub — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 23:15:15 +0000

Just installed Windows 7 Beta. First impressions are excellent. Installation was trouble free. So far I’ve installed Firefox, AVG Free and some Windows Live Essentials (Live Writer & Messenger). Office can wait till tomorrow!

On another front, had the invoice today for the guitar body. Sold the old body on eBay so will be sending off payment for the new one in the next few days.

Still wrestling with whether to buy a Callaham bridge or not. Not sure whether to get that or the Seymour Duncan SSL-5 for the bridge position.

Decisions, decisions…

Tube Screamer arrives & Bev gets in touch!!!!

JDub — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 22:32:23 +0000

Tube Screamer came today and it sounds great. Plugged it into my small practice amp inline with the MXR DynaComp and the Boss CE-2. Had some fun playing with that for a while.

Also kicked off ordering the body for the Black Strat. Looks like it’ll be 6-8 weeks before I get it Still undecided what to do about the Callaham bridge and Seymour Duncan SSL-5. Will have to flog some more stuff on EBay!!!!

Oooooo, shiny stuff!!!!!!

Also spoke to Bev Baker on Facebook tonight for the first time in ages!!. Must be over 5 years since I last saw her! Great to get in touch again!!!

Pedalboard Update

JDub — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 11:34:33 +0000

Went around to Paul’s last night to look at the latest progress. Latest pictures can be found on the construction page.

Tube Screamer at last but no Miles Hunt gig!

JDub — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 15:50:16 +0000

Was supposed to be going to see the ‘Shared’ gig put together by Miles Hunt at the Birmingham Town Hall this evening with Dave G. However I couldn’t find the confirmation email for the tickets so I called up the box office. They kindly told me yes I had booked tickets but the gig was last night…

I was a bit miffed about this but on a brighter note, finally got around to getting an Ibanez Tube Screamer! Won it on EBay.

Hopefully should get it by the weekend so that Paul can continue with the pedalboard.

Beginning the Process

JDub — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 22:51:14 +0000

Decided to kick off the Strat transformation by selling the existing sunburst body on EBay to fund a new black body.

I’ve been looking at the bodies on this EBay Shop but getting one to the UK seems prohibitively expensive

The other alternative is to buy a custom made one. I’ve been in conversation with Kavanagh Customs and they seem a better alternative. I’ll get a hand crafted body with a proper nitro-cellulose finish.

I’ll update the Parts page when I’ve took some photos.