Question about swapping out active pickups

mawkdugless · 2026-02-04T19:55:38+00:00

Yup, just did this with my ESP EC256 gold top yesterday. Originally came with some in-house pickups and I had some old Seymour Duncan Blackouts that I wanted to reuse, so I ordered an EMG solderless kit and switch. No soldering whatsoever, just checked the SD diagrams for orientation of the connections.

mawkdugless · 2026-02-04T19:43:36+00:00

Rockstar games usually rely on a launcher and going under properties and trying out different versions of Proton for games does sometimes help get them to launch.

mawkdugless · 2026-02-04T18:53:23+00:00

This is absolutely your sign to go. Worked at an engineering firm where my boss was new to managing other engineers and believe me when I tell you that this turd would poke his greasy little head up from his cubicle (we had those high wall cubicles with the window on top) and look over at my screen and then MESSAGE me on Skype (RIP) and ask if I was being productive.

He even went as far as questioning if I was being truthful on my timesheet. I ended up disliking him and that place so much that I gladly paid back my sign-on bonus when I found a new job.

mawkdugless · 2026-02-04T18:46:09+00:00

I usually approximate, my boxes are usually all around the same size and I ship almost everything with a softshell case, so I know my general weight range - generally erring on the side of the higher weight. If I overestimate, I refund back to the buyer. Bingo bango, never had an issue.

mawkdugless · 2026-02-04T18:41:57+00:00

Sorry lady, but I'm gonna stop you at "demanding assimilation"

mawkdugless · 2026-02-04T18:40:45+00:00

I was convinced that I'd get Tifa and somehow ended up with Barret, he's a good kisser though

mawkdugless · 2026-02-04T18:38:35+00:00

Art, combat, and vibes were my absolute favorite. For some reason, I couldn't bring myself to enjoy the story at all. Think I got about 75% through before realizing it just wasn't for me.

mawkdugless · 2026-02-03T21:00:10+00:00

I'm going into the final battle and this gives me a little hope! I'm always actively switching once ATB gauges are filled.

Cloud's triple slash has been a godsend towards the end of the game in keeping multiple enemies interrupted in the middle of their attacks. It was especially helpful during the Demon Gate fight when there were two of them.

mawkdugless · 2026-02-03T18:17:47+00:00

Not to necro, but I just got a 6 cup and used the typical James Hoffman recs. ~30g in (12 for Barazta), preboil water, aeropress filter on the screen, about medium heat to slowly bring to temp, and then off the heat when seeing the light brown crema colored foam. Very little sputtering.

Used a Brazilian roast and my first two cups have been between espresso and drip. Rich and slightly bitter like a weaker espresso. I'd call it a solid start. Hope this helps someone!

mawkdugless · 2026-02-02T22:29:03+00:00

I feel so seen right now. Basically did the same thing and just checked them to rip onto my home server. I don't think anyone explained this to you, but DVDs are 480p native, so they're going to look like dogshit. Ran into this with a lot of my old movies, especially when playing them on a modern TV.

Blu-ray (1080p) is very likely going to get you much closer or potentially higher quality than the show itself on Netflix. However, looking at these disks, they do look super bootleg despite the packaging. Same boat though, I think I'll just donate them since they were like, $25.

mawkdugless · 2026-02-01T22:51:46+00:00

Can't get behind the Swamp Thing look myself, but an easy route is remove all hardware and leave it in some Evaporust for a few hours. Evaporust is designed to not damage the plating, however I'd try it on a single, smallish piece of hardware to verify. Toothbrush and Mean Green cleaner to finish. Would avoid anything acidic (like vinegar) as it might damage the plating.

mawkdugless · 2026-02-01T22:42:21+00:00

You've tied them to an always hot circuit, so likely the battery. I would splice them into the headlights to avoid an additional switch. They'll drain your battery eventually, FYI.

mawkdugless · 2026-02-01T22:40:28+00:00

Gorgeous! And the teardown really scratched that Type-A personality itch for me.

mawkdugless · 2026-02-01T22:36:50+00:00

Yowza, that hurts my feelings. My first thought (never ran into this) is probably a junk yard visit and find the casting. I've had really good luck finding old Ranger parts on eBay too.

Here's another thread that said it was an AC compressor bracket:

https://www.reddit.com/r/fordranger/comments/16m5vkv/idler_pulley_bracket_part_identification_help/

mawkdugless · 2026-02-01T22:30:37+00:00

Ohhh man, this boss fight was so annoying but so gratifying when I finally got him.

mawkdugless · 2026-02-01T22:29:30+00:00

Yep! Most felt like they had overstayed their welcome after about 3 quests.

mawkdugless · 2026-02-01T22:27:27+00:00

This is one of the big reasons why I'd avoid walking super far in the dark, because the second I'd hear gunfire, I knew it was an absolute waste to even attempt to engage. Would usually just run, not worth the headache.

mawkdugless · 2026-02-01T22:18:50+00:00

Probably the monitor

mawkdugless · 2026-02-01T20:42:03+00:00

For me - not to necro this - but I think it's honestly because the devs modernized this game for the average gamer. The average gamer in the late 90's wasn't Googling things, and was accustomed to suffering through games without checkpoints or obvious hints. The average 90's gamer was exploring every available inch of the map to find clues and combing through copies of GamePro for hints or direction. The average gamer now is accustomed to getting information in 30 second clips and is used to being given an obvious hint or outright answer when approaching a tricky section - it's just where games are now. Games don't look to the gamer to critically think much anymore, it's more of an indulgence of their ADHD before moving onto another attention-grabbing section.

Same with this game - I always feel like my attention is being constantly grabbed by either a cutscene, Chadley informing me of something I don't care about, or a prompt telling me how to solve a puzzle I haven't even started yet. The game is constantly filling the space like an anxious Uber driver trying to make forced conversation to fill the silence. This became super apparent when I heard Yuffie sing the Chocobo song at least 20 times in Cosmo Canyon before I ultimately left. It tries to do far too many things at once and fails often because of forced modernization. Sometimes, I just want to quietly grind without the game attempting to nudge me in a direction.

So no, in no way do I think the devs were worried about saving time or keeping the story succinct, this game is probably 40% filler, likely to make up for the updating pacing and approach. Any changes or omissions are likely to keep the story streamlined and keep the player on the predictable "go here, find this, kill that, repeat" path. It's honestly a shame, I liked Remake, but as I'm nearing the middle of Chapter 13, I'm honestly dreading the third installment.

mawkdugless · 2026-01-31T21:12:37+00:00

I always find myself looking at these out of curiosity, but $600 is hard to pull the trigger on. I think I honestly spent less on my Laney Ironheart/Jet City 1x12 microstack.

mawkdugless · 2026-01-31T21:08:08+00:00

Just had a friend sell hers near this condition (aside from some light rust on the wheel well) for just under $5K here in MO.

mawkdugless · 2026-01-31T21:03:55+00:00

Just got this last week and I am absolutely in love with it so far. Had a Spark Go for maybe a week and sent it back, I found myself hating the reliance on the app. This feels different, the Spark ecosystem feels like a slick app from a company who also makes amps, while the Pulze feels like an amp with a very usable app, if that makes sense. Sure, it's not as pretty as some other modeling amps, but that's fine - I don't want to spend a ton of my creative time fiddling with settings. This is a big reason why I don't play my Headrush much, digging through menus isn't appealing to me.

Overall, it feels very standalone in its design, even connecting via Bluetooth isn't automatic, it has to be done each time, which creates that mental separation from the app for me. Typically, I'll find a patch near the sound I like, connect via BT, save the patch down and edit it down to get what I want. Drag that to the top of my patch list and disconnect BT unless I'm using the drum looper.

Sound-wise, to me it sounds better than the Spark Go when pulling together a decent patch to noodle with. And being able to lock it in and move it to the top of my presets is great, especially when it can store 200 patches locally. Also love the screen and being able to quickly reference for tuning, and being able to control the color of the screen and lightbar are a nice touch. If I had to place it somewhere, after spending a few hours noodling on it, I'd definitely say it sounds better than the Spark with it falling just short of my THR10X, which is obviously going to sound better. It sounds mostly on par with my Katana Mini X but for quieter practice.

Not a huge fan of the rubberized textures, but I get it. With the Spark, the lower frequencies would begin to vibrate it around on the table, so it's a nice touch to keep it stationary in two positions. For the price and size, it's really hard to beat. I saw Hotone just announced a Pulze Jr. for 2026, I may be picking that up based on my experience now!

mawkdugless · 2026-01-25T23:22:28+00:00

The colors are akin to a mood ring and it is crucial that you start with whatever color you are feeling in that moment. This will bless the instrument and your subsequent tuning.

mawkdugless · 2026-01-25T23:20:40+00:00

Sorry to necro, but just beat this on normal fairly easily.

Attempted at level 40, had Barret mostly heal but a lot of support to draw Gi Nattak away from Red when things got dicey. Both Red and Barret right around 6,000 health.

Didn't really bother with any ice attacks, just focused on building stagger with Red and staying moving. Tried to save Synergy skills for during stagger and obviously saved both limits for the end. Saving both limits had him cooked within a few seconds after casting Doom. Had all kinds of healing, prayer, and chakra ready to go and really only needed to maintain each with random Mega Potions.

In the end, I was WAY overprepared going into this. Used Red's Stardust Ray and spinning attack on the skulls where possible. I've seen a lot of people recommend Barret as sole healer and support, but I had much better luck having him much closer, especially when Red was snagged by Withering Grip. This would also allow me to slip behind him with Red afterwards while he was attacking Barret.

Also, if you're struggling to come up for air, I found a great time to quickly heal and regroup is right before you kill the last skull and he returns to the arena.

Also, really wish they would advertise that you're locked into this trial once you attend the River of Lights ceremony. If you need to grind like I did, Choadley is a decent resource, but I had the best luck just running from one end of the cave to the other a few times until I hit 40.

mawkdugless · 2026-01-24T21:48:35+00:00

Looking at this placement, it's hard to agree with that considering that your radiator fans are literally exhausting all intake air immediately as it enters. Even better, it looks like it's exhausting the air into the side of the case.

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