George L's....Mod Up-Date....

I've started setting up my new toy....

GigRig's G2....it needs a hell of a lot of connecters....and thanks to Sarah from Kewaunee...."you still need to get back in touch"....I've decided to stick with George L's....after a few trail n fail attempts here is what I've found to be the best method of fitting the mod....

 Wrap the amalgamating tape round the cap like your putting on a scarf....

Cross the ends and wrap them round the cap again....press them together and pull the ends tight to thin the second wrap....

You should end up with a rubber band of equal thickness round the inside of the cap....the second wrap around is to keep the two ends coming apart and also not getting a thick bit that ends up bulging out from the cap when you make up the cable....This one in the photo is too thick....it needed pulling tighter....

Batch one started....Pedalboard is going to take about 48 connecters....Had to take a trip to Sounds Great....needed 12 new ones to finish off....

Had to exit Sounds Great as quickly as I could....They had one of those new Jim Kelley Amps....ooh momma....k.j.

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Up-Date No2....The amalgamating tape can bind up in the thread when screwing down the Top Cap....I have been using a squirt of Deoxit to help with initial contact and cleaning when making up my George L's for ages....But....I have now found that Deoxit makes the amalgamating tape turn to mush....If you use Deoxit on your plugs they need to dry completely before you use this mod....If you brush the amalgamating tape with a dab of water "I am talking about the merest amount here" when screwing the Cap down you will not get the binding....The water will help to lube the amalgamating tape when screwing down....It will then evaporate leaving the rubber band to lock the Top Cap on....or you can lick it....that works too....k.j.

EVR-C30....Update....

I have now finalized the Air Duct....

This new Air Duct works better than the bigger one....It directs the flow of air up and over the tubes more....I made one that moved the fan to the bottom of the duct....blowing the air directly up onto the tubes....While this cooled the tubes very well....it was very noisy....too noisy....Just need to make the duct out of wood now....I will post the measurements if anybody wants them....

I dropped the rear cover down to make a wider gap....Helps vent the hot air away from the amp....and also reduced the fan noise....

I have also been suffering with tube rattle....I put it down to the combos size or a bad tube....But when I was fitting the new air duct I noticed that the amps metal chassis was rubbing on the speakers metal frame....The speakers vibrations were traveling into the amps chassis and cursing the tubes to rattle....Not Good....I have glued some 2mm thick strips of rubber...."pond liner" onto the amps wooden chassis mounts to lift the chassis away from the speakers frame....No more annoying tube rattles....and yes I did try and shift the speaker down on their bolts but they were as low as they would go....the rubber strips were the best and easiest fix....

EVR-C30....still awesome....k.j.

Yamaha SA700....Beautiful Nonetheless....

The pick ups in my 35 year old SA700 were acceptable at best....But the pole pieces were not adjustable....so I could never set them up for the neck radius....

I don't beleave Yamaha would have done this to their pickups....

 

After I had decided to re-use the Yamaha MSG pickups for replacements in the SA700....I would need to make up some new mounting rings....because of the body contours this was going to be a challenge....luckily the MSG pickups have 3 mounting holes per side so I could use the original black mounting rings without filling any mounting holes....

 

Again luckily for me Yamaha had used identical rated pickups in the MSG....The Bridge....I'm assuming....may have lost some power over their 25 year life...but as the wiring in the SA700 calls for a longer cable in the routing of the Bridge pickup....The original Neck pickup was now perfect for the Bridge position in the SA700...

 

The hook up wires on the MSG pickups do not adhere to the standard configuration but work in the same way as 4 hook up wires....confusing if your expecting 4 wires....

The red wire is the Hot Signal...."both coils"....The white wire is the Tap...."single coil"....The bare wire...."as always"....goes to Ground...."earth"....

Cover up the white wire....it's not needed for the simple humbucker wiring in this guitar that I had replaced a few months earlier....I could have put in coil taps for both pick ups....but....maybe next time....

Remember to cover all of the guitars body when your soldering....Solder can spit....One drop of hot solder will make a mess of a guitars finish in a moment...."and you will cry"....

Simple....and now comes the nightmare of putting all the controls back through the F Hole....

All done....

I love the woods grain on this guitar....It's not as pretty as a flame top....But there is a beauty in the curves of the grain....showing it for what it is....nothing exotic....just a plain piece of wood....Beautiful nonetheless....k.j.

"and again I did mean to do a video for this post....but I spent all day playing the SA700 and forgot to do one....as soon as I get chance to do one in the next few days....I will....and post it here...."

Sarah's George L's Mod....This is Awesome....

Sarah from Kewaunee, Wisconsin, USA....Got in touch to say she has used George L's for the same amount of time as me....and after having a good look over all her GL's Plugs has found no plating coming away....That's good to know and was what I was hoping for....Sarah also gave me details of a trick she uses to keep her GL's from coming loose....

Sarah uses thin strips of  self amalgamating silicone tape wrapped once over into the small cavity above the thread of the plugs screw down cap....This acts as a locking seal....stopping the caps from coming loose and breaking the signal....

I hope you can see what Sarah does with her plugs from my photos....I have made up all my cables that I use on my smaller pedalboard using this mod and I am amazed at the difference this thin piece of tape makes....

The caps of the GL's plugs are solidly held in place....self amalgamating tape does not use any adhesive....so there is no mess....and when needed to be removed is as easy as removing a rubber band....This tip is truly awesome....Incredibly easy and incredibly cheap....and makes the George L's plugs pretty much perfect....well....just as long as no more plating comes away....



Sarah....I Thank You a thousand times over....Please get back in touch as I have deleted your comment by mistake....k.j.

Evil Robot EVR-C30....and finally....Up-Dated....

Sorry to everyone that's moaned....it's been ages since my last post....I had wanted to do some vids for this post before I posted it....Summer and doin stuff...you know how it is....I will add the vids as soon as I get round to doing them....Honest....

So I've had my Evil Robot EVR-C30 for a bit now...I still don't like the footswitch (F/S)....I know it's meant to look retro like the amp it's self....but it's nasty and way to big to fit on my pedal board and in my view not up to gigging and that is after all what this amp is all about....Your first tube amp for your first band swaray....The amp itself is built as good as anything with the vinyl covering applied expertly....No flaky seems coming unstuck....The chunky handle is a nice touch....I really....really like the black stove enamel paint on the chassis....very classy....It would have been nice if the front name plate was the same black stove enamel....but I guess the matt black finish looks better on stage.... 

Apart from the F/S the only cost saving measure I can see is the metal back plate that caries the ohm selector switch and F/S input....it's a flat plate that is secured from the back and would have looked so much better if they had kept the one from the prototype amp....it looks a bit ugly....oh and the 3 pin power cable input is under the back cover sandwiched between the transformers making it nearly impossible to plug back in without removing the back cover....Why not a hard-wired power cable....it would have been better and saved a few penny’s....

It's a class A amp so it gets hot and the tiny fan in the back helps to cool things down....but could be better....One of the first things I did was make up a box to channel cool air more directly over the tubes....very easy to do and works 100 times better....

The speaker in the C30 is specially designed to sound like the very worn in speaker in Phil X's Magnatone Tonemaster that the Evil Robot's are all based on....Apparently the speaker in Phil's amp could fail at any moment and John Kasha went to great lengths to match the tone of this nearly dead speaker.... The amp has a speaker out so that it can be used with a extension cabinet and act as a head unit....

The Vibrato and Loop is one or the other....not both....the Vibrato is very nice....but I'm going to ignore it as I use the tube buffered loop constantly for my delays and reverb....The loop seems to be very transparent and does what its supposed to do perfectly....

The High and Low inputs are awesome and I have been using them more than switching between the A and B channels....If they could be switched via the footswitch together with the channels the amp would be as near to perfect as you could ask for....

The 3-Way Tone Switch together with the Tone Control is again all you need if your playing live with a band....The C30's tone is very in your face and up front sounding....In the Bright position you get a small volume boost that adds some grit which is nice....things never get spiky or harsh....But for home use I have to admit I would prefer a 3 band “bass, middle, treble” EQ.... Don't get me wrong I'm not saying the EQ is the Evil Robot's achilles' heel....but because the C30 will work with so many different tubes and is therefor capable of so many different tones it does scream out for a 3 way tone control....I use a modded Boss GE-7 in the loop that let me tweak the tone....nothing stupidly boosted....just shaped more to my liking....

The Loudness A and B works by adding an extra tube into the channel....giving you a nice kick between the two channels....This works really well together with the High and Low inputs....giving you the same tone but one is hotter than the other....It's all you need and never leaves you wanting more....

I have to admit when I first played through the amp I said to myself....”OMG....THIS IS SHIT....” It sounded raw and not the amazing sounding tone machine that I was expecting....I put this down to the very nasty looking tubes that the amp came with....I changed the 6V6's for 6L6's then for EL34's and was again very unimpressed....but when I changed the pre amp tubes for 12AU7's the C30 came alive for me....

If I was Fretted Americana, I would ship the amps without tubes....then leave it up to the dealers to show how the amp can sound with different tubes....or at least ship the amps with AU7's instead of AX7's....

When I bought the C30 I knew I wanted it to have EL34's for a British rock tone....I was completely off....I have now gone for 6L6's and ended up with THE best Fender amp....Fender has “never” made....With 6L6's it's tone is unmistakeably a US Pete Townsend rock tone and together with the 12AU7's you get a very passable John Mayer Strat tone using the Low input....with EL34's your in British Jimi Page rock amp territory....I was lucky that I have a large box of old tubes that I could play around with....If your just starting out it could get very expensive to find the tone your happiest with....or you could never find your tone and sell the amp before you find out just how good the C30 is....

When you first get the amp....it's in Phil X mode....it's loud, brash and awesome....Then you plug into it....and your not loud, brash and awesome....you are in-fact a worst guitarist than even YOU thought you were....Loaded with AU7's instead of AX7's....the amp becomes more forgiving of the less talented....it still gets dirty as you crank the gain and takes boost pedals beautifully....But I do think that 70% of people who try the amp would prefer the “calmed the fuck down” 12AU7 version.

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The tubes I'm now using in my Evil Robot are....

V1 - 12AU7

V2 - 12AX7

These are the Channel Tubes....V1 drives Loudness B....V2 then gets added to V1 to drive the Loudness A into giving more gain....

V3 - 12AU7

This is the tube that the Vibrato runs through....A big Thank You goes out to Guillaume Clapeau for this next bit....The Vibrato doesn't work with a 12AX7....it needs a 12AU7....I don't use the Vibrato so have to admit to mising that....I do recall first getting the amp with just one 12AU7 and I assumed it was from the loop after I had messed with the tubes....I usually note things like that down for future reference....Again....Thanks to Guillaume for getting in touch and querying this....I had it down as a 12AX7....Never Trust the Internet....

V4 - 12AU7

This is the tube for the FX Loop....If you use the Loop you need to watch the volumes of any Delay and Reverb pedals you use as these need to be set up to not effect the amps volume....Too Low and you will reduce the amps overall volume....Too High and you will drive the Phase Inverter tube giving you more power tube break up but also more compression when the amp gets loud....You need to keep the loop at unity gain....

V5 - 12AX7

This is the Phase Inverter tube....This tube drives your Power Amp Tubes and is responsible for your Power Amp Distortion....If you want to know more about Phase Inverters read this article....HERE....over at Guitar Amplifier Blueprinting . com....

My Power Tubes are 6L6's for a more US tone....

V1 and V2 are both Tung-Sol's....All other tubes are JJ's....

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Because of the amp's up front tone....being able to scoop the mids with a 3 band EQ would maybe tame the feeling of nowhere to hide when your playing the amp....”I could be talking crap”....but in Phil X mode the amp was too much for my heavy handed....sloppy playing “style”....The in your face nature of the C30....over time will be a good thing as I'm going to have to become a better player....

I'm not saying that the Evil Robot is the best amp in the world....If your about to buy a Marshall because you want to sound like Angus Young or a Fender because you want that Fender twang....then the Evil Robot is not for you....But the tones you can get with the C30 are some of the best rock guitar tones ever....and that alone makes the C30 worth the asking price....But you also get an amp that sounds and feels like an expensive hand wired tube amp....and I wasn't expecting that from what is after all a cheap circuit board amp....Even at quiet bedroom levels it never looses the dynamics’s and feeling of a loud tube amp....Your playing jumps out of this amp....You have sustain in your fingers and you find out that you are in-fact a better player than you thought you were.... and in the process that puts a big smile on your face....

As yet I have not had a chance to play the C30 properly LIVE....but as it is set up now....this is without a doubt the best sounding amp I have ever owned....It's a ballsy sounding amp that managers to stay sounding ballsy as you drop the volume....”I have never played so quietly and yet still been happy with my tone”....It has the feel and dynamics’s of a hand wired amp three times it's price....The Fender Hot Rod Deluxe is a good amp but it ain't a Evil Robot....the 65 Deluxe Reverb is a better amp and again it ain't no Evil Robot....

Fender....Marshall....Blackstar....ETC....are all going to have to drop their prices or redesign some of their amps because the Evil Robot EVR-C30....has no right being this good....But it is....k.j.

Problem With George L's Cables....

I had a problem with some of my George L's cables awhile back....the nickle plating had began to come away from some of the solderless plugs....

I sent them off an email....

"Hi George L, I have just been moving my main pedalboard around trying to find a noisy cable that had started up and found that the nickel plating has started to come off some of your .155 plugs, I’ve found 6 so far. I don’t know how long I’ve had them but I’m getting worried, I must have 30 or so plugs on my main board and 40 on my other 2 smaller boards. Your Plugs are meant to be the best and as so are not cheap, you don’t expect them to only last a couple of years. 6 plugs, that’s £60 that I’m going to have to bin and I’m going to have to look inside all my pedals and clean any bits out. My fingers are cut to ribbons the bits coming off are like razorblades. I’m not happy. I’ve put some photos for you on my photobucket page so you can see for yourselfs. Don’t worry nobody looks at my page, as soon as you have seen them I’ll take them down, I’m not an idiot trying it on, but I’m not happy."

They replied....

"I am sorry that you are having problems with the plating. After some normal wear and tear it is possible for the plating to come off. My suggestion would be to use the brass plugs. We do have a lifetime warranty on the plugs. Please let me know where you purchased them. I will try to do whatever I can to make you happy. Thanks, Sandy"

And then....

"I forwarded your  last email to Moonphase and David would like to discuss this with you to help resolve the matter. Could you please give me a phone number where he can contact you? He requested that I ask you for the number. Looking forward to hearing from you. Sandy"


Here in the UK George L's are distributed by Moonphase Limited and David Cartwright (of Moonphase) was only too happy to swop the damaged plugs for new ones....

So this morning I'm making up a new board and swopping pedals and guess what....the nickle coating is coming off some more of the plugs....George L's web site now say's nothing about a Lifetime Guarantee and Moonphase now states...."a 2-year guarantee covering defects".

The thing is....Pedalboard plugs never get the same amount of "ABUSE" as regular guitar cables and I have cables that are easily 15 "or more" years old....have been plugged in and out hundreds if not thousands of times and I have never had a problem like this before.... ....the nickle has not worn away to nothing....its flaked off and is now lurking inside some off my pedals....AWESOME....has this been a bad batch or happening too many times to keep the lifetime warranty....I would have thought a lifetime is a minimum of 10 years for a cable plug...and then to come loose and fall apart....not to have to nickle peel off....

LAVA Cables looks like my next purchase....I don't know why I ever took up the guitar....nothing is ever cheap....k.j.

"I think I should have got a motorbike....or an addiction to tattoos like some of my other friends...."

p.s....Going through all my plugs....I have 4 more that have started to shed their plating....that makes 10 in all....that makes me think they all must be from the same batch and most likely to be the starter kit I bought first....Looking through old photos I got my first George L's the summer of 2008 and first had the shedding in 2010....Question is do I buy a Lava Kit "I need 14 plugs for my mini board"....then suck it up and buy a few more GL's when my GigRig G2 turns up and hope I don't get anymore shedding....It does makes sense to keep using the GL's....Grudgingly.... k.j.

Fender System One Tremolo....

The Fender Contemporary Strats and Teles were the first Fender Japan models to be exported as Fender models. The previous Fender Japan models exported from Japan were all Fender Squier's. The Fender Contemporary models were manufactured from 1984 to 1987 by FujiGen Gakki and these guitars were designed to be Super Strats with humbucking pickups and Floyd Rose like tremolos made by Schaller. There was a lower priced Fender Contemporary Squier model produced as well. The Fender Contemporary Stratocaster and Telecaster models were part of the Fender Japan E series model range.

My favorite guitar for 25 years

My very first guitar, bought used in 1988

When CBS sold Fender to its current owners in 1984 minus the Fullerton California plant, there was a transitional period from 1985 to 1987 where a new factory was being built in Corona, California. During that time, parts and bodies were shipped to Japan for assembly. USA production was limited for 3 years.

The Project

Finally Fender started to realize in the late 80's that these guitars and basses were the same if not better than the US guitars and basses made in California, they were discontinued and manufacturing stopped all together in the early 90's.  These Made in Japan guitars really do play better and sweeter and are just as good if not better than the USA models of the same era....FACT.

My Fender System One Stratocaster Project....I had bought the red sparkle Strat a while back from ebay and had just not got round to starting it....It was in very good condition for it's age with the System One tremolo made by "Schaller of Germany" showing hardly any signs of ware....

It had a few parts missing....The guy I got it off wanted £900 for it when he first put it on ebay...."pissed"....I think I paid £170 including postage in the end with amazing sniping skills...."he was not happy"....took him ages to post it and I think he was hopping I would accept a refund...."remember kids....making a winning bid on ebay is a legally binding agreement for both parties"....suck it up bitches....

The original tremolo arm was missing....two intonation screws and two of the three steel string pads in the string lock were also missing. All the parts are readily available from ebay but you can obtain genuine parts from Kahler Parts or Wammi World....both run by John Cecchini....always a pleasure to deal with and when on the one time he did send the wrong part....the replacement turned up in less than a week and considering it was coming from the US of A, was amazing...."Big, BIG Thank You John....

The Schaller System One tremolo, like a Floyd Rose just will not work without the stringlock....

The tremolo was stripped down to bits, cleaned and put back together with beeswax cream....

considering its age the tremolo look barely used

The site that has the most information on the System One Tremolo and Fender in general is StratConnection....PapaTom knows his stuff when it comes to Fender Made in Japan....His site is full of useful information and he sell's some truly wonderful vintage guitars....his used System One Tremolos and Parts are also first class and compared to ebay show hardly any signs of use considering the age of the System One stuff....Then again if you have a System One Fender you will probably already know about StratConnection....PapaTom pretty much has the whole internet to himself with the hard to find new and used parts....

Tele fitted with Bare Knuckle VHII

This Made in Japan Strat dates from 1985/86....The Tele is one of the first Made in Japan Fenders in 1984.... The body of the Strat is going to be filled, re-routed "H/S/H" and re-finished in reliced "off white"....but that could change to "surf green"....k.j.


http://www.wammiworld.com/
"the first place to look for help and parts"

http://www.stratconnection.com/
"never found Papa Tom be of any help what-so-ever....and his prices are ridiculous....lol" 

http://schaller-electronic.com/hp121090/Startseite.htm

https://www.kahlerusa.com/