GuitarNuts10!

[JohnH]

Greetings to all GuitarNuts!

Following some liberal clues and hints recently, we can all be proud to celebrate, that on April 23 2015 (or 24th, if you are this side of the world), GuitarNuts2 will be 10 years old!

That is a long time in the history of the internet, and it is a great pleasure to note that it has always been a friendly and enjoyable place to hang out, and it remains so today, thanks to all of you, the members of GN2.

So lets PARTY!  

A bit of History...

I was here on day 1, and so was Wolf.

Most of you may know that the original GN site, run by John Atchley, had been a very successful place for guitars and guitar-tech for a number of years, featuring Johns special guidance notes and wiring schemes.  Wolf was the main goto guy on the forum for wiring schemes, and he still is such today.

A day or two before this site started, the old site got hacked and all the threads were deleted. As a matter of fact, I was online at that very moment, typing a reply to Wolf having recently reawakened my interest and joined the old forum. Quite a surprise to press the 'enter' key, and see everything disappear..)(Ooops! but it really wasn't me!)

Anyway, RandomHero set up this new site on 23rd April 2005, and John a restored his main webpage content, which we can still access. Our wonderful  admin team of sumgai and newey joined up in Decembers 2006 and 2007 respectively, and have kept is on track for most of that time, (most of the time). I really want to thank them both for running this place with such generosity and a light touch.

So...

So, this is a thread to look back at 10 years. Please post whatever is noteworthy to you, and particularly, show us links to old threads and posts that you found, helpful, amusing, interesting or otherwise worthy of merit, particularly cool snippets that have been long buried but are worth showing again. There's plenty to remember out of 7,178 threads and 74,319 posts! (plus this one).

So onwards and Happy Birthday GN2 ! 

[newey]

Thanks for the kind words, John. This wouldn't be the same place without your input over the past 10 years, so thanks to you as well.

In thinking back over the past years, I was trying to think of the one post that I had probably linked to the most, the one I most often referenced to others. And, I think it's this one:

ChrisK's Free Neck On Switch

I recall when I first saw ChrisK's idea. Brilliant yet simple, I thought, like so much of what Chris did. And his diagrams were simply the best.

I'm sure, as we all think back over the history here, Chris' contributions will figure prominently.

[sumgai]

All and sundry,


Hear, Hear! Three cheers for the Nutziest place on the Innerwebs!


As it happens, I'd like to present my list of links that I keep on tap, in a separate file that also links to my off-board smilies (like the Welcome sign-waver, and Rollie):


Link to Quieting the Beast
"Quieting the Beast"

Link to The Dreaded Tone Suck
The Dreaded Tone Suck!

Link to Brain Scanning Through A Nostril
Brain Scanning Through a Nostril

Link to Pete's simple earthing of guitar signal versus incoming house current
Shielding a Telecaster

Link to John's Guitar Freak (frequency calculator)
JohnH's Guitar Freak

Link to John's JFET buffer (and in-plug pre-amp)
John's JFET Pre-amps

Link to how to post images:
How to post images

Chris's Togglecaster picture:


Link to Don Till's java applet about pickup positioning:
www.till.com/articles/PickupResponseDemo/index.html


John figures in there no less than three times, while "poor" Chris gets only one shot. Perhaps that shouldn't be, but as newey points out, these are links that I find helpful as references for newbies when they ask these kinds of questions - or for reminders for us old geezers!

And yes, the first and last ones don't go somewhere on this forum, they go elsewhere. But I think they're handy, and so do a lot of Nutz (and former Nutz), or so my Inbox and various replies over the years lead me to believe.

BTW, speaking of years.... I confess - mea culpa! I first showed up in December of 2005. During the course of the next 9 months or so, I posted nearly 1800 times, usually answering questions, but getting in my fair share of licks too. Somewhere during the summer of '06, Channelman signs up, and professes to be an Engineer. A month or two later, and he pops out with a thread on "Free Signal Boost", or some such. I gently (at first) chided him that he wasn't quite on-target, that he was taking liberties with the accepted definitions of what constitutes an appropriate signal level designation. (In fact, this argument could still go on, but that's another story.)

After several postings, each more severely worded than the previous, I finally threw in the towel, picked up my marbles and went home. That was in early October, if I recall correctly. Unklmickey and ChrisK both kept jostling me via my off-board email. Finally, just before Christmas of 2006, Chris quoted to me a posting by a then-very-active member, something to the effect of "You are missed". Wherein that member thanked several of us, but called me out specifically, for the help he received.

Well, to make a short story as long as possible, I came back, and started out with a topic titled "You rang?" .....

.....


.....


Well, wouldn't you know it, but the thread is still extant - go here. The last reply therein has a missing image, which I should re-up, but right about now I'm too lazy. And the very person Chris referred to is there, in the middle - that would be gfxbass, with whom I carried on several PM conversations, later in life.

All of which explains why you can find postings/threads by me that "predate" my signing up in December 2006. It took me that long to get over my snit with Channelman. Whom, BTW, never did respond to my overtures at making amends... seemingly, no amount of apology could sway him to publicly or privately acknowledge my confessions of error. He left shortly after I returned, never to be seen again. Man, his departure still bugs me.

It was in February of 2007 that RandomHero decided to turn over the keys to the kingdom to me, after a short "voting period" by the members. And that brings us up to date, so let's leave off for now, and let others get a word in edge-wise.




sumgai

[gumbo]

Well sg...I seem to remember some vagueness about your standing around that time, but I think I put it down to the fact that you drove on the wrong side of the road..

I WOULD like to say however, that this has always been the place where I have felt most 'at home' on the 'net, and even with my excursions into the Vguitar world over the years, I have never come across a nicer bunch of like-minded old geezers...

May this place continue to be around for another ten years (at least!!)


All the best from g-f-b

...derailing threads since June 2006

[sumgai]

Apr 16, 2015 6:11:51 GMT -5 gumbo said:

...derailing threads since June 2006

That's all I could envision, when I saw who the lastest poster was - another 179 degree tracking failure, powered from Down Under. (Sorry, Mr. Sooty and Ozboomer!)

Folks, this may be a first.... gumbo (aka gum-for-brains) may have actually stayed on topic for more than two sentences in one post - that's gotta be a first! Where's my diary?




sumgai

[haydukej]

Ten Years Gone! My hats off to the founding and core nuts of this humble community that got it started and have kept it going. I dare to say it's probably the go-to place, if not the place most end up, for those looking to modify their gitfiddles.

I first checked in as it happens a little over 3 years ago on March 18. The thread that did it, was the Strat Lovers Strat in which JohnH and Runewalker collaborated to "enhance" JohnA's Strat Lovers Strat schematic to form the Other Strat Lover's Strat. Like most first attempts, but not all, at modifications, my outcome wasn't 100% operational. So I reached out for help. My request was responded to by reTrEaD, who promptly apologized as my post "fell through the cracks". I found that post odd, as his response was less than 24 hours before my initial post. But I think that shows a great deal of what kind of community and dedication has been built here. I was walked through the troubleshooting, found the issue (wiper on 5-way wasn't making the contact it should have), and ended up very happy with the mod. I have been pursuing the threads ever since, contributing where/when I can. It would be scary to see how many hours at work I have spent here and I'm sure higher-ups would not be happy about that. 

Favorite thread(s), hmm, I would probably have to go with asmith's World Tour of the USA. That thread could be read perhaps as a scratch pad for a modern Kerouac's On the Road, had that story been set 60 years later with more guitar playing. Documenting ace's hop across the pond and jumping around from the east coast to the west coast. Earning his keep, and learning the value of shoveling horse , and hitting the blues clubs of Chi-Town with Cynical1, visiting the Rock Hall and a 5 hour? road trip with Newey. Then jamming with JFP and SG on the west coast. Again what a testament to the community here.

My post/contributions here in the 3 years have been minimal and perhaps limited with actual helpfulness, but yet I still feel welcomed by all. Here's to another 10.   

   

[sumgai]

The Duke,


You've just reminded me.... A while ago I dredged up from the deepest bowels of the basement my photos of Ace in action, while he was here. I PM'ed him, asking for permission to post them publicly, and he said yes. And what to I do? I fudge it up.

I'm starting another thread in a moment, with those images. Please stand by.......

[gumbo]

Apr 16, 2015 20:24:39 GMT -5 sumgai said:

And what to I do? I fudge it up.

I'm starting another thread in a moment, with those images. Please stand by.......

That would be right... what did I say about driving on the wrong side of the road?

FWIW, that was one of MY favo(u)rite threads too...


...now put a double entry in your Diary sg..

[wolf]

Geez, where did the time go?
Thanks for mentioning me John. Yes, we were here way back when. (Back in those days, electric guitars ran on coal).
I used to do a lot of posting here, but maybe over the last 4 years I've visited here quite rarely.
It was just a coincidence that I came back here about a month ago.  I was even unaware about the "Big 10" celebration.
I'm glad I came back.

[newey]

Jfrank's video of Ace seems to be MIA from the "World Tour" thread.

Another one of my favorite threads was this one. For those newcomers who may be wondering why the acoustic sub-board is titled "Beer Can Holders":

D2o's "How to extract the most tone from acoustic guitars"

The thread exemplifies the spirit of experimentation inherent in our community. D2o, our resident Canadian, hasn't stopped by lately, but those who know him well know not to give him a saw if he's in the vicinity of an acoustic guitar . . .

[JFrankParnell]

Congrats, everyone!

I'm coming up close to my 5 year mark, too

I remember I didnt think I'd be posting more than a question or two and so, i didnt even bother to CamelCase my user name. I've learned a ton and had a ton of fun!

[ashcatlt]

Apparently I signed up a little more than a year in. I recall lurking for a bit even before Katrina, after following links from John A's site. IIRC, my first post was regarding re-wiring a Strat 5-way as a stepped attenuator in place of the V pot. That escalated quickly!

I'm not really able to name a favorite thread, but I'm pretty glad I finally seem to have lived down (maybe I should say through) that thing with the socks and the beer and the concrete floor.

WTF happened to fobits?

Edit - Also, I don't remember how long it's been since y'all made the mistake of making me a mod, but I still catch myself hitting Edit instead of Quote way too often! At least I'm actually catching it before I hit post, though...

[JohnH]

I'm finding it too hard to put a list together of threads in GN2 that have meant a lot to me. So I think Ill post over a few days.

Starting off, I have to say that I really enjoyed pushing the envelope with Runewalker developing a bunch of crazy wiring designs. In 2006 and 2007, guitar wiring was like a whole new sand-box to play in.

You can find them in the schematics section. But I just want to post a small graphic snippet from the 'HHcubed'. This is from RW's rendering. And he does this using the graphics tools on MS Word, which are usually only intended for making boring business diagrams with important-looking boxes with arrows on them. But just take a look at the care that went into drawing the double push/pull pot and the jack socket. Pure nutz!

[JohnH]

My favourite ChrisK thread was his 'S-none' Strat switching designs from 2009:

The S-none switch

Basicly, he took the electrical  design of the American Deluxe Stratocaster, one the most complex wirings ever built into a mainstream production guitar, and simplified it enormously. He has a few versions there, but the last one presented adds only a standard dpdt switch to stock Strat wiring, to achieve 9/10 of the Am Deluxe settings, based on the mid 2000's version. That's probably 99% of the useful functionality, for the addition of just a $3 switch!

[Deleted]

Well I cannot specify any thread in particular here, just a note that I have always found this place extra friendly and filled with skilful people. It saved me not in few occasions, even when I wasn't really in danger I'd like to emphasize on the lutherie section. IMO here the SNR is really high. I can't believe this site is so clean with so minimal moderation. Maybe because it targeted techies since day 1?

[Runewalker]

Happy 10th Anniversary Nutz!

I had to go back and rediscover when I actually joined this august group of visionaries. I did not realize that the “birthdate” of the Forum was April 23, 2005 and I formally joined May 18. 2005. So while there was a legacy forum that was blown up, I feel like I was at the Labor and Delivery table for the birth of this baby --- especially since I probably lurked for 3 weeks before I formally joined.

The Net is a funny place in that I know people who are, in person, at worst a little gnarly, and are frequently meek --- but turn them loose anonymously on a keyboard and they become Tyrannosaurs Rex gobbling up the landscape and all the small reptiles and (especially) mammals within the path of their vicious fangs. All of you have seen real jerks (and that is the nice term) in various other forums, and while this Community has strong minded individuals it still has the continuity of constant civility. The final assurance of civility is the firm guiding hands of Newey, John H, Sumgai and others to ensure a Forum that has at its core a welcoming courtesy --- a club that beckons to all who have caught the disease of wanting (needing) to squeeze more tones out of their instruments.

The posting activity has ebbed and flowed. I seem to remember the early days being intensive boundary pushing of essentially 1940s and 50s technology --- that continued for a number of years. I was very active for a period of 3-4 years when I was exploring ideas and begging help from the likes of John H, the dearly disappeared Uncle Mikey, Sumgai, Chris K, Wolf and others. I was purely a technician – a bench builder and not a theorist ---- but had a bunch of crazy notions and the real engineering types patted me on the head and hid their smirks at my lack of electronic knowledge while painstakingly working through design options and prototypes to help me obtain what are now my 3-5 go-to wiring schemes for my primary builds: SSS, SSH and HH.

My work demands kicked up several notches around 2010 with expanded scope and more travel --- I began to wither in frequency of posts, but still lurked and occasionally cleared my throat to remind the old timers I was still around. My childhood friend, Son-of-Sonny (Sono) does practically all of the luthier and solder work now, as I travel frequently for business. And I am grateful for his good natured indulgences. Between us we have probably built and re-re-built 50 guitars. Many have found homes in the hands of working musicians who are in awe, as we are, of the palates of tones that can be unlocked.

Our basic build principle is to make workingman guitars – guitars that play better, sound better and can legitimately cover Strat-Gibby-Shredder tones within one instrument --- while at the same time costing ¼ to1/3 the price of an American Strat, and even a smaller fraction of a Les Paul retail price. All while not caring if you bang it up on stage or stumble behind a little excess of adult beverage intake. And if something happens to the guitar --- just build another.

It has really freed up the fun factor in playing and there is a kind of alchemy in selecting and matching components – neck-body-pups-wiring to achieve intentional tones.

I am still struck by constant surge of ideas and variants around the basic configurations of SSS, SSH, HH and sometimes HSH.

What are the posts I return to? Mostly the key designs I use or contemplate using that are in the General Guitar Schematics and Truly Nutzoid subBoards.


The Strat SP hss - 85 sounds, no extra knobs
Strat with two volume controls SSS, HSS & HHH
HBD: a HH (or HSS) Daemon MoBucker
HH Cubed

We use the last three over and over. The SP is still pending.

I feel like there are some real engineering geniuses on this board. I did most of my imagining with John H and owe him a special toast of gratitude. reTrEaD (and JH and others) also helped me a couple of years back on a design that is still in the pipeline to execute (a double barreled 5 way switch design that is different from J Atchely’s --- Yet another HSS/HH idea), but the design process dialogue enlists significant contributions from those previously mentioned above and others. Many others contributed to the dialogue and finished designs. The design process itself is invigorating and I am grateful to all named and unnamed that contributed, helped me and indulged me.

I toast the founders and especially the members for creating and sustaining an incredible Net resource. I wish there was a way to quantify the number of customizations and complete builds the forum has facilitated – I am sure it is in the 1000s if not more.

Within the archives is a tremendous body of knowledge, ideas, information and designs that an archivist/writer could condense and edit into a reference book for all aspiring modders. That will probably not happen, because if you ever find an interesting extrapolating tread there are a few thousand words of tangents to have to read through to extract the core info --- but that tangential outflow is endemic to the art and knowledge of the Board. So keep practicing your Boolean logic and search for what you seek. I bet you will find it within. If you want to go back to the beginning though you will now have to set you days-to-search to at least 3650 Days. 

Please accept my admiration and thanks to you all…

Here is to the next decade – Clink  --- Cheers, Salute and “first of the day, fellers” nyic, nyic, nyic (Jack Nicholson – Easy Rider).

RuneWalker

---

PS As a flashback here is one of the first design projects I contributed ideas (or confusion) to:

John H's ToneMonster2, Oct 25, 2005 :

And here is an actual (opposed to virtual) manifestation of the design:



Built for my daughter, Nov. 2005 (14 years old at the time) who was completely perplexed (and blase) about its vast options. (I know - no Knobs -- who needs 'em anyway).


Fun Fun Fun

RW

[sumgai]

And for those newcomers who want to see what the above guitar finally metamorphosed into, may I present Runewalker's Ultimate Tone Machine:

[Runewalker]

Thanks SG. I nearly posted that one when I was looking perusing the PhotoBucket account to find a relevant pix for the post. But I was trying to play it straight.

While lacking knobs on the red one, I clearly made up lost ground on the Midas.

RW

[ashcatlt]

Apr 21, 2015 15:11:31 GMT -5 Runewalker said:

If you want to go back to the beginning though you will now have to set you days-to-search to at least 3650 Days.

Not to be that guy, but it's actually 3652. Leap years were.

[nikogo]

Apr 21, 2015 17:42:09 GMT -5 sumgai said:

And for those newcomers who want to see what the above guitar finally metamorphosed into, may I present Runewalker's Ultimate Tone Machine:

And where is a GPS?
I am lost...  

[newey]

Now you see what you've stumbled into here, nikogo. After 10 years, we are all Nutz™.

[sumgai]

And we made it!


Happy 10th Birthday to all Nutz!


(Window dressing and such left off until after my morning cuppa.... It's the thought that counts.)





sumgai

[lunaalta]

Well, I'll be a guitar nut.........

I just checked my profile, and it seems I moved over here on April 30th 2005!

I don't post very often, but I really enjoy reading about all those amazing guitars and things you guys are fixing or putting together.

Kudos to the handful of members that just seem to have so many answers. Having just a basic knowledge of electronics (more of a fitter, myself, LOL), I'm usually left scratching my head when the theory papers come out......

No favourite threads, here. I enjoy most of them........

So, congrats to the Nutz, and here's to the next 10!!

[JohnH]

Happy GN2 day!

onwards to 11...

[sumgai]

Alright, alright - the party's over. Now, everybody back to work!

[gumbo]

Apr 24, 2015 12:31:05 GMT -5 sumgai said:

Alright, alright - the party's over. Now, everybody back to work!

...Party Poop!

[ashcatlt]

Apr 25, 2015 7:01:37 GMT -5 gumbo said:

...Party Poop!

Poop Party!!!

Wait...maybe that's a different thing...