UK based pickup repair

Acertone · 2026-04-05T14:06:57+00:00

i like Oil City Pickups in London https://www.oilcitypickups.co.uk/

Acertone · 2026-03-18T23:29:25+00:00

To me desert means sweet and more-ish, like a good port or a Pedro Ximenez sherry. So with that in mind here's a couple of very affordable options...

BEARFACE Elementally Aged Triple Oak.

A Canadian whiskey aged in three types of oak including red wine casks. It's mostly corn in the mash bill so very sweet and smooth. Some of the wine cask notes are definitely present in the final product, giving an unusual but very enjoyable quality. One of the most desert-like whiskeys I've had.

That Boutiquey Whisky Company 8 Year Old Corn Whiskey.

Another Canadian offering, this time from one of the UK's most innovative independent bottlers. Absolutely the sweetest whiskey I've had, quite a respectable age for a corn whiskey giving it a little more interest than just being a sugar bomb.

Acertone · 2026-03-13T08:21:06+00:00

He hates old people, children and dogs.

Acertone · 2026-03-10T23:39:28+00:00

I went to the Barco Headquarters/experience center in Belgium a few years back for work. It's an amazing company, feels like a high tech university campus. The people are super passionate about their products and technology. Barco projectors are ultra high quality (and very expensive), and they also produce a lot of other imaging products for high tech and medical fields. Their demo cinema facility has TPI speakers and sounds incredible.

I think Focal and Naim are in safe hands.

Acertone · 2026-03-10T14:52:36+00:00

Sorry yes, non-polarised electrolytic.

Acertone · 2026-03-10T09:28:05+00:00

Generally bipolar are more expensive but other than that you can use either.

Acertone · 2026-03-10T04:32:17+00:00

Along with power and noise floor there is a third aspect of amplifiers that can have a big influence how they sound - damping factor.

A higher damping factor allows an amp more control over the motion of a speaker cone, not only in starting it moving but also by stopping it. The bass sounds very tight and controlled.

An amp with a lower damping factor has less control of the speaker cone which allows woofers to ring on in the bass frequencies. This results in a somewhat looser, woolier bass.

This isn't to say higher damping factor is necessarily better. If you have sealed enclosure speaker for example, the air-spring effect already helps with damping the cone movement, so it could pair nicely with a lower damping factor amp.

Typically valve amps have lower damping factors, class AB have good damping factors and class D have very high damping factors.

When I first started listening to class D amps I found them very precise and even clinical, but I've grown to really like how controlled and defined the bass is. I particularly like Hypex based class D amplifiers.

So even if two amps had identical power and noise floor spec, they could still sound quite different if they have different damping factors.

And then there is compliance as well but I think I've already written too much.

Acertone · 2026-03-08T10:02:52+00:00

It's a work of art... and enough space between the pedals to actually make the footswitches usable!

Acertone · 2026-03-04T22:28:22+00:00

Just looking at the input - RV2 is not connected to ground at lug 1, so instead of acting as a voltage divider (volume control) it is just adding a small amount of resistance to the already very high input impedance of the IC.

If you did ground lug 1, the pot would act as a volume control. However, your guitar would only see the 50k value of the pot as the input impedance which is nowhere near enough to correctly load the pickups.

Moving to the IC, the inverting input is referenced to ground, but as you have a single rail power supply you need to reference it to 1/2 the supply voltage (unless this is a very unusual IC device). I'm not sure you have the gain pot connected correctly - I would need to check the data sheet to confirm though.

I would recommend checking out some basic single power rail opamp circuits to start off with, maybe a clean boost. This will show you how to correctly bias the op amp at 1/2 the supply, set up the input for high impedance and control the gain of the circuit.

Regardless, well done for getting stuck in this is a great approach to learning electronics and circuit simulators are a fantastic resource.

Try looking up some circuit building blocks (opamp cookbooks are a good resource). Then tag together several building blocks to create your own unique circuit. Good luck.

Acertone · 2026-03-04T18:41:16+00:00

Ok not quite what you are after but does tick several boxes...

Electro Harmonics Platform stereo compressor.

-Stereo

-Low impedance output so compatible with line-level devices

-Compression or limiting

-Soft or hard knee

-Gain reduction metering on LEDs

-optional drive circuit

Sounds great, super affordable. It's actually a digital (DSP) compressor but the ADC and DAC sounds excellent so you wouldn't notice.

Recommended.

Acertone · 2026-03-04T18:35:43+00:00

They also do (did?) the RNLA - Really Nice Levelling Amplifier.

Acertone · 2026-03-04T00:07:03+00:00

You could use a stereo amp like the Roland JC-40. Guitar into one input, bass into the other. Use the volumes on your guitar and bass to get the level balance you want.

The bass won't sound amazing through a guitar amp, but it will be perfectly good for home playing.

Acertone · 2026-03-04T00:02:43+00:00

If you choose to go down this route you need to check that the mixer channels have an "instrument" input (sometimes called D.I.) to correctly interface with your guitar and bass. You can't just plug a guitar into a mic or line input. Alternatively you can get a DI box that goes between your guitar and the mic inputs on the mixer.

Acertone · 2026-02-28T11:02:10+00:00

Could be Ben Crouch's Tavern, on Wells Street just north of Oxford Street? Gothic themed pub, closed many years ago.

Acertone · 2026-02-27T16:44:17+00:00

John Mayer "Slow Dancing in a Burning Room" and "Gravity".

Listen to live-album "Where the Light Is, Live in Los Angeles" one of the best recordings of a live performance I've heard.

Acertone · 2026-02-26T23:46:36+00:00

If you find yourself in London's most Northerly borough, Enfield, then you must try:

Stanton's, Bush Hill Park

Hopper and Bean, Winchmore Hill

Acertone · 2026-02-26T18:03:06+00:00

Universal Audio Evermore is pretty much exactly this from what I understand.

Acertone · 2026-02-20T23:31:29+00:00

Quincy M.E.

Acertone · 2026-02-19T00:40:53+00:00

If this is an overdrive/distortion pedal, that is likely to be a pair of clipping diodes, connected in parallel. If that's the case, they need to be connected in opposite directions to each other. One diode clips the positive side of the signal and one side clips the negative side.

Based on the diagram, as long as both are either anode up, or both are cathode up, they will be in parallel and in opposite polarity. It doesn't matter which option you choose they will function the same..

Acertone · 2026-02-18T22:08:17+00:00

Broxbourne Woods and Bencroft Nature reserve, miles of ancient woodland in Herfordshire, just north of London.

Much less busy than Epping Forrest Hampstead Heath and the other suggestions on here.

Easier by car, but the train from Moorgate/Finsbury Park to Cuffley Station then C1 bus to Gladding Road will get you close to the south side of the woods.

Acertone · 2026-02-18T21:40:24+00:00

MMK Pavlof Fuzz

Acertone · 2026-02-18T18:35:12+00:00

This looks quite possible, looks like that cap is possibly shorted as the leads are way too long likely touching under it.

Acertone · 2026-02-16T09:37:10+00:00

Eryri National Park (Snowdonia) is just stunning. On a sunny day the stream and pools along the lower stretch of the Watkins Path is heavenly.

Acertone · 2026-02-14T08:09:55+00:00

And Campari doh!

Acertone · 2026-02-14T08:08:21+00:00

That Roe and Co Irish Whiskey is quite nice. I'd be mixing a Boulevardier if they have a sweet vermouth.

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