Handy Tips

[newey]

I've started this thread for folks to list those handy little tips they may have, tips on maintenance, set-up, wiring and soldering, woodworking, recording and live sound reproduction, etc. Not so much playing technique tips, those belong in Theory and Technique.

I figure this will end up as a rather random collection of ideas. So that future readers don't have to wade through pages to find a tidbit, it would be greatly appreciated that, once you post an initial tip, any future tips would be added to the original post (as an "edit"), rather than adding a new reply. This way, we'll have member-by-member lists, e.g., "newey's tips", "fireball's tips", and so forth.

The purpose of this, or any, board is the sharing of knowledge, and it doesn't have to be the big things. If something you add here helps someone else avoid frustration, cursing, and other unsociable antics, then the world has been improved, if only a little.

So, I'll start- Newey's tip #1:

I use the blue velvet drawstring bags that formerly housed bottles of Crown Royal for storing unused pedals, spare cables (short ones, anyway), and all other manner of stuff. These are tough lil' boogers, and soft on the inside. I label each with an adhesive label so I don't have to root through each one to find what I'm looking for.

I get these on Mondays at my local watering hole. The bartender saves them for me, they go through a half dozen or so bottles on a busy weekend, and he puts them aside for me rather than pitching them in the trash. I just bought him a beer and asked nicely!

[gitpiddler]

Bless those who have hurt you, for they have taught you much.

If it flies, floats, or f*cks, RENT IT ;D

On air-cooled motors: Chrome won't get you home.

When possible, change one string at a time. When winding new strings on a non-locker, stop just before tension and give a tug around the bridge to let the ball end twist in line with the rest of the string. After tight, stretch it a few times, then push down on the string at the saddle. Always tune up to pitch.

Don't label your Crown bag "stash"

The mic on a Fishman blender works pretty well as a backup vocal mic.

[ijustwannastrat]

1) If you like having money, don't play guitar

2) Don't be pompous. You can be the best guitar player in the world, but I don't care if that's all you talk about. And don't talk down bad players. It hurts our feelings...

3) Respect your elders. They may not play like you, or play what you play, but they still know something worth listening to.

[ux4484]

Tin (cover in solder) and wipe your ENTIRE soldering iron tip at the beginning and END of every session. You can keep a tip for years this way (I had one 15 years).

Pencil lead and chapstick are your friends to lubricate string contact points on your guitar (usually pencil on the headstock and chapstick on the bridge).

Don't change your bridge to accommodate heavier gauge strings (especially on a bass), that's what a drill is for.

Don't use a gig bag, pay a few bucks more and get at the least a foam case, it's worth the extra cash for the protection. If you MUST use a gig bag, get a padded one.

When gigging:

1) Always have extra strings (a full set and extra G, B, & High E strings), Bass players should have a set, or at least a G.

2) Always put picks in multiple places (some in your case, some velcro'd inside your amp, some in your pocket) and have plenty of them. A (neighborhood) band at our Parish festival last year lost picks (windy) and broke strings. I helped them with the picks (had a few in my watch pocket), but they were SOL on the strings. Lead Guitarist broke a G, it cut short their show. It was especially surprising as they were my age/older, you think they'd know better by now.

3) Always have more cables and mics than you need (in crown royal bags ).

4) Never work on your guitar the day/days/hours before a show (unless it's actually broke, even then; use another or borrow an Axe if possible). When you do work on your guitar, test it with your live gear at full tilt to uncover any "surprises" that may have occured.

5) Don't let the drummer load up on caffeine before a show (personal VERRY bad experience on this one).

6) Generally you shouldn't drink alcohol during a show, but if you're going to..... wait 'til the break before the last set (after you've won the crowd over). If you do drink on stage, make it in a quick turn between songs while doing something else. It really turns audiences off (especially in small venues) to see you chugging at the mic (again, if it's the last set, and you've won them over you can probably get away with it). Remember you still have to break down and pack up your gear... not good to be $h!t faced doing that.

7) Almost NEVER turn down a house P.A. system (After you've tested it of course). Unless you've got some $$$ system, the house system is probably as good or better than yours....and it's a gob of gear you don't have to haul then.... though you may want to use your own mics (house mics are usually beat to He!!).

8) If you sing (even just backup) Never NEVER eat ice cream, custard, ice milk, salads with sour cream/mayo. OR drink milk, egg-nog, or coffee with cream before or during a show (it will tank your pipes, again BAD personal experience)

9) Lots of guys will say have a spare Guitar/Bass and amp. I can say that NOW that I can afford it, but back in my band days none of us had enough $$$ to have spare instruments. We had stuff that we could borrow from others in a pinch, but if something big broke at a show, we would have been sunk (we were VERY lucky in that area).
So I'd make it: Make sure your stuff is in Good working order and fix things as soon as they are even mildly an annoyance.

10) Get to the show early so your stuff has time to adjust to the local temp/humidity and tune BEFORE the show starts. Coming out and announcing your selves and then tuning just tanks a show (I don't care if the Grateful Dead did it).

[D2o]

Ux,

While I don't do any public appearances - wouldn't want to reduce the perceived value of my "act", don'tcha know - I recognize a few of those as valuable nuggets. +1 for that.

For me, what does come to mind is that I now put only the necessities in my guitar case (strap, picks, capo, tuner, string tool & spare strings, small chamois ... whatever you need). That way I can't forget it.

I put all of my other little pieces of "crap" in a plastic tote instead (extra capo, harmonicas, finger ease (yuck! ... I have not used it in years), sound hole cover, slide, "et cetera, et cetera, et cetera" ... whatever you don't NEED). That way, it doesn't matter if I forget to bring it.

D2o

P.S. In case it has any impact on the context of my comments, I play acoustic most of the time (less chance of catastrophic shocks while playing through vintage tube amps with my socks * in a puddle of beer.

* I think I picked that tip up from Ash ... the puddle of beer one.

[ux4484]

Thanks D2o,

I've definitely played in a puddle of beer, but not in my socks ;D
Essentials in the case is a good idea... as long as they're in compartments and not bouncing around against your axe (another plus to foam cases, they usually have extra pockets inside and outside the case (I know my Road Runner and Kaces models do).

Newey,

Excellent Idea, you may want to make a seperate thread for comments (like these) on the main context.

[D2o]

Ux,

Good point about the compartments - and the main reason I included a note on the acoustic context of my comments.

As you know (you still have your Yamaha and Maderia (Guild)? ), but some others may not ... Runewalker sure as hell doesn't know anything about them sissy acoustics! ;D ... a typical acoustic dreadnaught hardshell case has a generous, lidded storage compartment that the neck rests on. The compartment will measure roughly 3" deep, at least 6" long, and whatever the inside width of the case is - usually 5" or more.

I don't put my leather strap in the compartment, though - I sort of roll it up and just leave it under the headstock ... even if it moves about it won't hurt anything.

D2o

[ashcatlt]

I've got all kinds of little tricks that I do covering many areas of the forum's interest, but I can't think of a flingin' thing when I sit down to write.

newey's post about his new amplifier reminded me of one: Extension cords, zip-cord, lamp cord, these are all exactly the same thing you find in the fancy ($$$) heavy gauge speaker cables. If you happen to have speaker terminals (banana plug or those springy types) on both ends, then there's no assembly required.

The "orange" types usually have an outer sheath with two (or more) color-coded insulated conductors inside. With the other types, though, it's a little more difficult to tell the two conductors apart, or to keep them straight from one end to another. They are always delineated, though. Sometimes there's a stripe or print on one side but not the other. Quite often there's a ridge or set of ridges. Since it's only wire, which of these is "hot" is completely up to you, as long as you wire both ends the same.

Most often you'll end up wanting to solder a 1/4" phone plug on at least one end. The plugs that are fairly standard sized for guitars work just fine for lamp cords and "brown" extension cords and the like, but I've found that the heavy duty outdoor "orange" extension cords can sometimes be too big, and may require the jumbo sized plug.

When I first figured this out (can't believe it's almost 20 yrs) I bought a pair of 100' orange extension cords on sale for 10' a piece, 4 x Jumbo plugs for like $3 per. I also went over by Radio Shaft and picked up a pair of banana plugs (don't remember the cost but cheap) and a pair of inline 1/4" jacks (also cheap) and used a brown extension cord my parents had around the house to make adapters. I used these (on and off) for about 10 years, and only stopped because I lost track of them.


And this brings up some other stuff. To my mind, having the one cable I need RTFN is infinitely better than having two cables I don't. I have been known to splice cables together at the gig, using a knife, my teeth, and whatever tape I can get my hands on. Electrical tape is best, and I have an irrational fear over the metallic appearance of duct tape, but I have used both masking and even "scotch" tape in the past for temporary situations. Wire nuts work great, but (like bartenders) are never around when you need them.

Obviously, best is to cannibalize connectors and soldered them to either end of the cable, but... If you can't solder, or are working with molded ends, make sure you leave plenty of cable to work with on all ends. This includes the ends you don't need right now, because you never know when you might. If possible, leave more cable than you need.

Be very generous with your stripping . Excess wire can be trimmed and/or taped after a good physical connection is made, but if you don't have enough wire to work with, that connection cannot be made. This is true any time you're working wire including guitar wiring, pedal circuits, everything!

When you're ready to splice, put the connectors together, or at least lay them in the same direction and then twist the corresponding conductors together. Your cable will not end up straight, but will be much more robust, and much easier to tape up. Often, I'll tie a knot in the cable right before this splice for some stress relief.

12/18/09
(am I supposed to be numbering these?)
Many times when you've got a 2- or 3-way PA cab, it will have normal input that goes through the internal crossover. There will also often be a second input which goes straight to the high frequency drivers, for bi-amping with an external crossover.

Unless you actually use it this way (don't know anybody who does) and especially if you sometimes have other folks helping you set up, disable this HF input. It's often as easy as removing the nut from the outside of the jack and pushing the whole thing into the cabinet where it's inaccessible.

In the heat of the moment, in a dark venue, reaching around to behind the cabinet where you can't see, or handing a cable to somebody who doesn't know there's a difference and doesn't bother to read or ask, it's too easy to accidentally patch the entire mix in through this, and that's about the best way I can think of to blow your driver.

[D2o]

That's some good stuff there, learned the hard way - my favorite.

+1

[JohnH]

One small electrical idea - to quickly check the status of internal batteries in stompboxes and guitars, where they are inaccessible behind screwed panels, pick guards etc

This works for those types where inserting a mono jack plug switches on the battery power.

I have a stereo jack plug with a short wire soldered to the ring terminal. When I push it into the jack (which would usually engage the power with a normal plug), I can then measure voltage from the ring terminal to the barrel.

The voltage is being measured through the units circuitry in series, so its not quite accurate, but is a bit low by 1/4 to 1/2 volt. But that is on the safe side for deciding if I need to open up the unit, and if I know what it was with a fresh battery, I can get a fair assessment of the battery condition that way.

cheers

John

[ashcatlt]

John, that's a great idea! I've got a number of short TRS patch cables. Combined with some alligator clips, they'd work the same way.

Also, bump because I added something above.

[JohnH]

This is about a ‘garden shed’ approach to measuring frequency response and estimating gain, without any special equipment.

The freebie program Audacity , lets you record into your PC, and I just use the line-in on my basic audio card. The program lets you select a short section of a recording and produce a frequency response graph. I’m sure many other programs do at least this.

On the input side, I downloaded a short .wav file of some white noise, and I have it on my MP3 player. It has a linear mix of all frequencies 20-20kHz. So that gets fed into whatever is being tested, and recorded. Then Audacity plots the response, or for gain, I can see how many db it will let me amplify it without clipping, and then compare that to a reference (eg, new a stompbox tested on then off). If I’m checking out a speaker, then the same is done recorded through a mic.

All of the above are non-scientific, because they are not calibrated and not easily repeatable. And they are further coloured by the equipment/mics used. But they are very helpful in comparing two settings.

Yesterday I was doing this to figure out how to set two different amps so they both sound good with the same modeller patches – and the other day, I was comparing the gain Im getting on a new overdrive design, with that predicted by Spice modelling.

Cheers

John