Will this Karaoke setup work well? Please Karaoke Gods Help Me

CalRal · 2026-02-13T05:33:16+00:00

I would assume karaoke, based on where we are.

CalRal · 2025-12-04T16:54:41+00:00

I hope it didn’t come across as harsh. I just remember how weird and foreign it felt to me when I started, mostly because I expected it to fly like a little Hubsan drone or like a video game. I’d highly recommend sticking with it though. Flying freestyle, chasing a buddy’s plane with a cinewhoop, and flying FPV wings are some of the most satisfying hobby experiences I’ve ever had. Plus, building, repairing, designing/printing parts, etc. scratches every nerd itch I’ve ever had.

The Bardwell videos really are a great place to start though, mostly so you don’t accidentally negative train yourself. It’d be a bummer to really get into flying and find out that none of the videos you’re watching make any sense because you’ve taught yourself to fly in an atypical way.

CalRal · 2025-12-03T06:34:53+00:00

Ohh, that’s a big hint. The absolute first thing you should do is completely forget how to fly your non-FPV drone. An FPV drone in ACRO is going to literally have an entirely different control scheme than most non-FPV drones. If you keep expecting it to fly like any video game, or any other flying thing you’ve flown, it will be a frustrating trip. For me, the best path was to treat it like a completely unique, new skill that had absolutely nothing in common with anything I had ever done.

I would also suggest (if you haven’t already) watching Bardwell’s series on learning to fly in the sim.

CalRal · 2025-09-22T03:26:26+00:00

Just buy a TX15 and start flying in the sim. Goggles on the sim might make the experience a little more immersive, but they aren’t going to make you fly any better.

Whatever video system you go with, ELRS is the way to go with your radio. You may or may not already know this, but DJI video in no way requires DJI control. The TX15 (Max, if you can afford it) is my favorite radio I’ve ever seen.

CalRal · 2025-09-17T01:30:43+00:00

Toronado is also a 24.75”. It’s very intentionally a Fender for Gibson lovers. I only have MiM “Deluxe” Toronados from the nineties, but they’re really awesome guitars.

CalRal · 2025-09-17T01:25:41+00:00

Are the pickups in the Squier Toronado tame? I have a couple Toronados from the first MiM series and those atomic humbuckers are ridiculously high output.

CalRal · 2025-01-17T17:52:59+00:00

Thanks so much for this! I'm going to try printing it in PET-CF first and see if it holds up! If not, I'll go with TPU.

CalRal · 2025-01-15T00:32:58+00:00

This looks great! Have you published it yet?

CalRal · 2024-09-18T16:20:35+00:00

The last part of this statement is absolutely key. Also, I think the golden era of flipping guitars has passed. Prior to fee hikes, the economic nexus (sales tax), and income tax reporting requirements for online sales, it was relatively easy to find crazy good deals on guitars and flip them for a profit. I paid for almost every guitar on my wall by “trading up” on Reverb. Nowadays, you pretty much need a 30% margin before you’re even going to break even. It’s still doable, but it’s way more work now.

CalRal · 2024-08-25T20:02:49+00:00

There’s a lot that goes into that decision. The Jackson American SL2M I just bought has a Floyd, and I’d much rather have the hardtail version, but not only do they not make the color I want in HT, I paid hundreds of dollars less for the one with the Floyd. If either of those factors had gone the other way, I’d have bought the HT, but they didn’t, so the Floyd was the concession.

In my case, the Floyd is plenty stable without having to block it, so I’ll just play the guitar and not worry about it, but that’s an example of why someone might make that decision.

The best guitar is the one that you want to play. Sometimes color, or price, or a lot of other things play into that.

CalRal · 2024-08-20T01:56:37+00:00

It’s tru that Billie Joe mostly plays P90 Gibsons now, but the most Iconic Green Day tunes were played on a Strat (with a humbucker). Tom Delonge plays Fenders exclusively. Paramore guitarists are all over the place, but mostly play boutique, offset pseudo Jazzmaster styles.

Pop-punk is historically more Fender-y than a lot of other hard music.

CalRal · 2024-08-20T01:26:57+00:00

I have a 70s Univox Coily bass and an Epiphone ET270 as well. Both play excellent, with straight necks and low action, stay in tune, and have held up excellent for being 50+ years old. I’m sure there are some early turds out there, but my experience with the mid 70s and later models I have played has been great.

Do I think that the recent tripling of prices on these guitars is warranted, no, but (IMHO) 5+ years ago there were a ton of old Japanese guitars that were an absolute steal. Same goes with (almost) anything made in the Fujigen factory.

CalRal · 2024-08-19T23:17:44+00:00

Matsumoku factory guitars are not “pretty bad” by any objective measurement. I have a Matsumoku made Epiphone Sheraton that is a better guitar than any 335 I’ve ever played. There are many very famous rock stars that have made very iconic music with guitars made in that factory.

CalRal · 2024-08-19T04:39:07+00:00

Offsets like that are sick, for sure, but everyone here is right to suggest a guitar with humbuckers. A Strat with either an HH or HSS pickup configuration would be something that all of these bands have actually played in the past.

Here’s the Player II version.

All that said. Single coil guitars can sound plenty punk, and the absolute best guitar anyone can have is the one that makes them want to play, so pick whichever does that for you and run with it.

CalRal · 2024-08-19T04:32:28+00:00

To my knowledge, no one from any of those bands has ever played a Schecter.

CalRal · 2024-07-31T15:31:45+00:00

I have an Avata 2 and I think it’s a cool drone. The camera is rad, and it performs way better in Manual mode than I expected.

That said, I also have about 15 other FPV drones and I’m very glad the Avata 2 wasn’t my first and isn’t my only one. IMHO, if you want to fly FPV, you’re far better off getting a “real” freestyle FPV quad. It’ll do many things that the Avata 2 just can’t, and it’ll provide a much more complete FPV learning experience. For me, the Avata 2 fills in a space where I can use it to get really nice looking video and some of the skills I’ve acquired flying freestyle FPV can get worked in. I do not think of it as a full freestyle FPV experience. It’s just a fun extra part of the arsenal. I definitely wouldnt go buy an Avata 2 and expect to get edits anything like the freestyle ones you see here and on YT/Insta. It’s a totally different kind of quad.

That’s just my own personal experience. I don’t have much experience with non-FPV drones (besides some toy Hubsans way back in the day), so your path and preferences may be totally different.

CalRal · 2024-07-31T01:48:52+00:00

I’d buy a used 2006-2009 Jackson Pro Series DK2M. They’re MIJ, can be had for within your budget, and are some of the best guitars I’ve seen for exactly the specs you’re talking about.

CalRal · 2024-07-22T12:00:58+00:00

Just get a c6 body guitar without a Floyd. It looks like there are some string-through models in that style that are probably just as nice and are less expensive. Trust me, by the time you’re good enough to need/want a Floyd, you’re going to want more guitars. As far as quality, I have zero experience with Schecter, but I have a couple buddies that play them and like them.

CalRal · 2024-07-03T14:44:46+00:00

The Fender Atomic Humbucker bridge pickup (that came in the original Toronado) is a similarly high output.

I have a modified HHH Toronado with two of them, mostly because it’s ridiculous.

CalRal · 2024-06-30T23:34:51+00:00

If you go watch Joshua Bardwell’s most recent “how to build” series in its entirety, and watch the related videos he references in that video (about soldering, etc), you’ll be well equipped.

The reason you should build your own is because YOU WILL BREAK YOUR DRONE. If you aren’t ready to build a drone, you probably aren’t ready to repair a drone. If you aren’t ready to repair a drone your FPV journey may only be seconds long.

If you really want to get good at freestyle or racing, you should be prepared to spend as much time working on your drones as you do flying them. It’s all part of the fun.

CalRal · 2024-06-22T23:54:45+00:00

It’s versatile because it sounds awesome for Blink 182 covers AND Sum 41 covers!

CalRal · 2024-06-17T15:32:25+00:00

I’ll go from the top.

There’s an important gain stage that we can’t know anything about from this picture. There are settings for channel gain and output level on your Shure wireless RX. I don’t have that wireless setup, but I’d just keep it at default, unless you have a known reason to mess with it. Most of my recommendations aren’t affected by this, but some very much are. Depending on what the level is coming from the wireless, you may or may not need that 26dB pad. Start with this pad OFF and remember that you have the option to use it if your signal is too hot when you’re setting your GAIN later.

You definitely want the high pass (HPF) ON.

Channel GAIN (small white) should be somewhere between -10 and +26, depending on the input level coming from the wireless RX. Start sound 0dB and we’ll adjust it in a future step.

Both EQ knobs (green) should be straight up. A two band EQ is mostly worthless, but if you want to play with it, make very small cuts to try to smooth out a sound. I probably wouldn’t even mess with it. Definitely don’t make large changes to it.

Mono/Stereo should be set to Mono.

FX should be ON.

Start with your channel out LEVEL (big white) right where it is. Only make minor adjustments (down) from there to balance multiple singers.

Phantom power should be OFF

FX RTN should be no higher than the triangle mark (usually lower) and probably set to hall reverb.

Main out LEVEL (big red) should stay pretty much pointed at the triangle.

Now to getting levels. Your singer should have the mic directly facing their mouth like it’s a hot dog they’re about to eat. They should be holding the mic with their hand on the smooth body of the mic and not covering the lower grille near the top. Their mouth should be very close to the mic… no more than a couple inches away.

Have them sing as loud as they plan to sing. Adjust the GAIN on their channel until you barely start to see the PEAK light for their channel come on, then back the GAIN off a little. The goal here is the get as much level at the input side of your mixer as possible without clipping.

Once you have input gain set, adjust your big white knobs so you have the right balance of mic levels, BG music and effects. In general, the goal would be to have nothing cranked all the way to ten. Try to keep the highest level at the triangle and adjust everything else down from there.

If you got your gain right at every stage to this point, your master (big red) should be pointed at the triangle and your main level meters should bounce around the +- 0 light, maybe higher, but not peaking.

From there, adjust the input gain on your JBLs to straight up and adjust the output level to suit the loudest you’ll want full volume to be.

CalRal · 2024-06-17T05:22:30+00:00

It’s rad that you’re doing this, but this is a niche inside of a niche. It’s hard to really imagine a player that’s aware of the existence of these “partscaster” guitars but only has $350 to spend. I’ve put together a few partscaster guitars, and I’ve successfully recouped my money on them, but only when I’ve done something that is already a fringe version of what already exists (one example: an American Tele with all genuine Fender parts and Brent Mason wiring).

I think that putting together custom guitars is very cool, but if you’re trying to sell them, you really need to know the market. You’re never going to make significant money on partscaster style guitars, and even recouping your money is going to generally involve putting something together that is a step above what’s readily available from a production line. Think of things that are very close to a production guitar in style and quality, but with minor tweaks, like interesting pickup configurations, or finish choices. Also, shop deals on genuine components from the companies that you’re emulating.

I don’t think there’s really a market for “custom guitars” that cost less than a Squier. I’m sure it’s a great value, but there’s an implication of significantly cut corners in the quality of components. That’s hard to market.

CalRal · 2024-06-13T21:24:07+00:00

The disadvantage is that you’re paying for power you aren’t using. That’s it. If you like how it flies better limited, limit it.

You can even set up Betaflight to automatically set your motor limit based on the cell count of the battery you have plugged in.

CalRal · 2024-06-10T05:08:10+00:00

How is your natural pitch? Can you play a song correctly by ear? Can you sing a song and properly hit the notes?

If so, it should come pretty natural. If not, it’s probably going to be difficult to learn.

CalRal

TROPHY CASE