current DIY projects you are working on .. or planning on.

[scrotescape]

I am a diy guy so cost is no object but realizing My back is priceless.
Me 50 hp tractor helped move gravel close to building but all digging and fillin was done by me n'a spade.
I am familiar with digging prudently around buried utilities more than the average person so that helps. You must contact your local buried utility locating service prior to doing this-- if you hire it out they should have locates marked/flagged. Private stuff will not be located
So pay attention to where pipes, wires etc come out!
If you go through the trouble you want to do it right...I chipped away at this and seems to be ok, but digging back and installing a membrane over foundation seems most legit--if you have sump pit that could be an additional Concern.
I wonder about the approach if building up grade to encourage drainage and burying an impermeable layer of sheeting material to skirt a structure... I do have drainage issues/water ingress in part of a below grade section of a utility building that gutters have not helped, hoping to conquer that in spring.

[endofanera]

I am a diy guy so cost is no object but realizing My back is priceless.
Me 50 hp tractor helped move gravel close to building but all digging and fillin was done by me n'a spade.

Yeah, the landscape group we hired had plenty of gear, but all of this excavation and backfill work was done by hand like you describe.

The landscape work was part of a larger project and was focused more on low lying areas further from the house, not up against the foundation.

For me, it was a dual value -- not hurting myself and getting it done well in a timely fashion. I didn't want to fuck around with this and delay progress. They got it all done in like two days, plus another day of punch list stuff. Punch lists are much better when someone else is on the hook to fix them. Instead of me digging out again and cursing at myself, it was a simple photograph, email, and let them sort it out.

[uglysound]

Just finished testing and calibrating this today. Now I have to pack all of my tools up and get ready to move across the country.

[endofanera]

Just finished testing and calibrating this today. Now I have to pack all of my tools up and get ready to move across the country.

Holy cow! Where you headed to?

Also, cool looking box! Tons of options!

[uglysound]

Holy cow! Where you headed to?

Also, cool looking box! Tons of options!

I'm moving to Oakland. My son lives in the East Bay with his mother, so I've been trying to get out that way for a while. Finally got a good enough offer to get by out there, so I'm pretty excited.

I've built 5 or 6 of this particular panel, and it's still a huge relief to finish one and get everything working. Tons of wire, and the circuit boards don't sit in a perfect line like you see in a Serge panel.

[scrotescape]

sausage ground from goats I raised and slaughtered.

remember when hot doug closed the shop cause he was injured? what did his employees do while the shop was closed?

anybody wanna make some footwear outta goat hides?

[the finger genius]

searched in this thread, not sure if there's another better thread - anyone have any recommendations on an amp kit for a first time builder?

[TylerSavage]

Regardless of who you buy from, get a Champ kit - you will learn more if you finish a project and a champ is easiest to finish, debug and then mod (which ultimately you learn a ton from) plus there’s not really any point in your life where you can’t benefit from owning a champ

[bassdriver]

finished racking 2 of the Freevox channel strips I found on a flea market. added phantom supply and output transformers. also added signal indicators using those big lamps I pulled from an old plasma cutting machine at work. used 2 vu meter buffers to trigger LEDs.

looks like Freevox got inspired by old Altec peramp design. nice sounding pres with 2 band active equalizer.

[Dr Tony Balls]

searched in this thread, not sure if there's another better thread - anyone have any recommendations on an amp kit for a first time builder?

I started with a Weber kit and I like them. Very affordable and most of the parts are of reasonable quality. If you need help or advice determine what you might want to replace, I'd be glad to help. I've built a number of their kids or used them as platforms for builds.

Also I strongly disagree with notion that you should make a Champ because you need to go easy. Make the amp that you are gonna want in the end. If that's a Champ, cool, but other models aren't that daunting. I started with a plexi build and it went just fine.

[TylerSavage]

searched in this thread, not sure if there's another better thread - anyone have any recommendations on an amp kit for a first time builder?

I started with a Weber kit and I like them. Very affordable and most of the parts are of reasonable quality. If you need help or advice determine what you might want to replace, I'd be glad to help. I've built a number of their kids or used them as platforms for builds.

Also I strongly disagree with notion that you should make a Champ because you need to go easy. Make the amp that you are gonna want in the end. If that's a Champ, cool, but other models aren't that daunting. I started with a plexi build and it went just fine.

That’s a good point, you’ll tend to finish the amp you want. I’ve just met a lot of folks who decided for some reason or another building an amp was not for them and in the end a champ is less of an investment - I always enjoy having a champ in whatever room I’m in.

[the finger genius]

Thanks guys, I was thinking of one of the Weber kits. I like the idea of something as simple as a Champ, but would prefer something with a bit more volume, maybe 15W. I'm also tempted to jump right in with this: https://www.tedweber.com/6s100-c-kt

I just ordered the Dave Hunter book, so maybe will read through that before I make a call on where to start.

[llllllllllllllllllllllll]

Thanks guys, I was thinking of one of the Weber kits. I like the idea of something as simple as a Champ, but would prefer something with a bit more volume, maybe 15W. I'm also tempted to jump right in with this: https://www.tedweber.com/6s100-c-kt

I just ordered the Dave Hunter book, so maybe will read through that before I make a call on where to start.

If you go with the 15 watt option you might consider a 5e3 Deluxe! They’re famous for the Neil Young thing but you can get more sounds out of them than you might think, and they sound good with a wide variety of guitars.

[Dr Tony Balls]

I've built both a Weber 5E3 and 5E3x2, and both of of those are real simple to build and you get a sizeable, potentially more useable in a live setting amp. My first build from them was a 6M45P (plexi) and that was after some convincing by members of their forum that it wouldnt be too much to handle, complexity wise. The 6S100 is really pretty simple....i wouldnt be afraid to start with that. The only amps from them that i'd avoid as a first kit are any of the BF Fender stuff, the Soldano clone or the Dumble clone. Stick to single channel with no effects.

As far as dodgy parts from Weber, i'd definitely replace the tubes. Last I checked their plastic jacks were dodgy, and their pilot lights were usually not the best. Their pots and rotary switches also arent the best, but useable. The big stuff like iron and chassis was all just fine.

[JohnnySomersett]

Spent this morning converting a Peavey 115 with a blown driver to a 410 for guitar. I loaded it with some speakers from an old late-70s SVT I have been using for a few years that sound fantastic - plus a modern replacement for one that was blown.

Had to smash & chisel out the old baffle as it was glued and stapled in. Quick and easy frame followed by a baffle cut from 18mm ply, plus a quick spray of black paint and it went together pretty smoothly...

[Party Chief]

searched in this thread, not sure if there's another better thread - anyone have any recommendations on an amp kit for a first time builder?

I just had my first run through of a champ kit from Tube Depot. Circuit board construction. I put it all together and it powered up and I didn't burn the house down but it sounds kind of funny. I sent a clip to the folks at tube depot and they think I have a grounding issue. I tightened down the ground points and the amp sounds a little better but I still think there are issues. I think I will take it apart and start checking connections to see if that improves the sound. I feel like it will be a win-win.

I went with tube depot cuz honestly...I liked the guys videos on youtube. I think they really helped to give me the confidence to try it. I guess the dude no longer works for the depot but his videos are good. The build process was really fun and oddly relaxing. I get kind of lost in myself soldering:)

I also learned a lot. I think I would rather work with eyelets or turrets as opposed to circuit boards for my next attempt(after I troubleshoot this one). The next one will be this amp I saw on youtube from some guy named Frenchie. He didnt design the circuit but he put together a series of videos of his build. A 5e3 with some dumble mods. Looks fun. Or maybe a hiwatt following the good doctors advice.

[TylerSavage]

I finished two Auratone 5C clones in MDF with cheap materials: MDF, wood glue from a chinese bazar, recycled electrical cable and Pioneer speakers from a car, in the wait of a pair of Visaton FRS8-8. Each box without speakers is under $20 of cost. It was my first DIY project for a lot of years and now I am so motivated that I can not sleep because of the incipient bizarre ideas that plague my mind such as the leather or cork pickguards.

next things:

- A kind of plate reverb with electro dynamical exciter attached to a metal sheet instead of a regular speaker: http://www.visaton.de/en/industrie/koer ... 60s_8.html with additional ideas to learn acoustics like static positioned handmade piezo pickups.

- 8ch passive mixer, simple as the DOD 240.

- Double cut telecaster with recycled hardware, lipstick pickups from a broken danelectro 56, bridge and tuners from an epiphone lp.

Those sound like great projects.


I ended up binding my headstock only to realize my peghead had shifted enough to cause me issues on the top of it. So I routed it back, only to realize I routed off the mitered corners of my binding. ARGH! I got discouraged and gave up for a couple weeks to do other things. Came back and I think I got a decent fix, but I had never bound an open book headstock and it was hard. Especially hard since I was rebinding in an old slot - definitely clean out the slot, I would recommend just re-routing the whole slot. I should have from the start - old glue made binding super frustrating.
Going to touch up my screwups before paint but here it is so far

The irony of my desk being covered in necks in various stages of perfection is not lost on me

This part wasn't DIY at all anymore as a co-worker sprayed this for me but beyond happier with this finish than the previous ace freely clown-burst.



Sanding the neck pocket now to get a flush fit

[llllllllllllllllllllllll]

Shit, that is looking nice!

[TylerSavage]

I'm going to try and turn some new knobs for it because the old ones are terrible but despite being a multi-axis champion, I'm deathly afraid of lathes and need to get better there.

[TylerSavage]

Pretty happy so far - might change some stuff but glad I spent the time scotch-briting the gold off the hardware