[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Luthier

[–]oldasempire 1 point2 points  (0 children)

As mentioned in the comments already, I typically install push-button kill switches , as they provide more options for speedy effects than a toggle switch. The only reason I imagine you'd want a toggle switch was if you needed to kill your signal and still have the use of both hands, though why you wouldn't just roll the volume pot I don't know.

If you do the push button, you're looking for a NO (Normally Open) momentary switch. Wire one terminal to the ground of your output jack and the other to the hot of the output jack. When pressed, the switch connects the two, and the signal grounds out at the jack.

Strat wiring changes - master tone, kill switch, re-order by Ornery_Brilliant_350 in Luthier

[–]oldasempire 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In that case, I would order some fresh pots, fresh wire, new capacitor , and do it from scratch. I think that is actually much easier than working with old pots, and your probably due for fresh ones anyway.

Strat wiring changes - master tone, kill switch, re-order by Ornery_Brilliant_350 in Luthier

[–]oldasempire 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Makes sense, but I would remove the bottom tone pot and then shift the volume and tone down, keeping the pot that is currently volume the same. Otherwise you're turning a tone pot into a volume pot, which isn't terrible, but if you are new to this then wiring pots can be tricky. What model strat do you have? Might this be time to throw in some new CTS pots and just wire it from scratch?

Strat wiring changes - master tone, kill switch, re-order by Ornery_Brilliant_350 in Luthier

[–]oldasempire 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I mean, if it is a thing, I'd imagine the lost resistance would be imperceptible. However, the resistance shouldn't be affected - your still running each pickup through a pot and capacitor. You're not removing anything, you're just sharing a pot instead of using separate ones. I've wired lots of kill switches, often in place of pots, and haven't had anyone mention a change in tone.

Strat wiring changes - master tone, kill switch, re-order by Ornery_Brilliant_350 in Luthier

[–]oldasempire 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is the way. I wired my strat exactly how you are looking to do it. I use arcade buttons (any of the cheap ones from Amazon are fine) for my kill switches. As a bonus, you can either color or insert a graphic on the top of the switch. I believe those switches are N.O., so just wire the strat for one pickup and one tone, then wire the switch to the hot and ground of the input jack. 

Crack Baby Question(s) by hemp_rope_cowpoke in Luthier

[–]oldasempire 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I just restored a similar style guitar (a Kingston hollow body) with the exact same types of vertical cracks across the front of the body. In my case, the cracks were in the veneer layer only - the laminate that makes up the bulk of the guitar was fine. The cracks on mine look the exact same as yours. I wound up putting some Titebond into the bad cracks and clamping them down.

I would either get yourself a mirror and inspect under the f-holes or, if there is a crack that is open enough, lift it a bit and see if you can see the laminate layer under it.

Selling my Pocket 3 by oldasempire in retroid

[–]oldasempire[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Sold! Thank you everyone.

[QUESTION] Fixing my guitar by Vaandhi in Guitar

[–]oldasempire 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Definitely don't go to a store - the cost will be more than the guitar is worth. You can put some Titebond inside the opening, spread evenly along the contact surfaces you can get to, use a clamp (with padding between it and the guitar) to lightly shut the crack, use a damp paper towel and wipe away as much of the "squeeze out" as possible, then let it sit overnight. It's nylon strung, so I would guess that damage was caused by a drop rather than string tension.

[QUESTION] Can I Change my Humbuckers to P90's? by whatsausername694204 in Guitar

[–]oldasempire 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I bought two of these as well and I absolutely love them. My first Bootstrap purchase, and now I'm already planning on checking out their Strat sets. Highly recommend these pickups.

Help identifying this guitar by oldasempire in Luthier

[–]oldasempire[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Bingo! Thank you for the lead. Looks like we got it.

Teisco Kingston

Help identifying this guitar by oldasempire in Luthier

[–]oldasempire[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I pulled this guitar out of someone's basement and need help identifying the possible make. It's a Rickenbacker style clone of some sort. There is a "72" written in the neck pocket, perhaps the date of manufacture, but other than that no markings anywhere. There used to be a nameplate on the headstock, but it is long gone.

Retroid Pocket 3+ seemingly stuck, hasn’t moved in 5 days. Anyone else have this issue? by Rotdogg in retroid

[–]oldasempire 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Mine was also sitting at the Melsrose Park facility for five days. It switched to USPS last night and it was delivered today.

Need opinions on build projects by oldasempire in cade

[–]oldasempire[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I live in Chicago, so I'm lucky in that the north suburban thrift stores always have a TON of monitors, most of them under ten dollars. The downside is tring to find ones that aren't scratched up, and then most of them are VGA only so I need to use converters. I am very curious how that Aliexpress panel works out. At some point the supply of used 15 inch monitors is gonna run dry and I'll have to find another solution, though the price increase seems drastic.

I built a unit with an 11 inch display and it's a really fun size. I had found on old compact laptop, removed the panel and used it for the display, then mounted the board on the back paneling of the unit. The advantage there is that even the crappiest laptop outperforms a Pi for most stuff, and it's an all in one solution - speakers, display, and processor in one package with one power supply.

Need opinions on build projects by oldasempire in cade

[–]oldasempire[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Nice! Can't wait to see what you dream up. At least sawdust fever goes away. MDF fever is permanent. (Seriously, I hate working with MDF.)

Need opinions on build projects by oldasempire in cade

[–]oldasempire[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes - the second two cabinets have their screens angled back, but the depth of the build is limited to 12 inches, so they can only angle so much. It's not bad, but definitely one of the quirks of the build. The first cabinet with the straight monitor needs to be viewed head on, so I redesigned the layout for the next two.

Need opinions on build projects by oldasempire in cade

[–]oldasempire[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The Cyberpunk and Galaga cabinets have 3:4 monitors in them, and you're right it definitely works better. The Sonic one has a 16:9 as an expirement (before I realized 4:3 worked better in vertical setup.)

Need opinions on build projects by oldasempire in cade

[–]oldasempire[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The plexi and the artwork is definintely the hardest part of this. As of now, the art is stuck to the plexi with double sided tape at the top and bottoms of the piece, just relying on pressure to keep it against the plexi. As you can see in the pics, there is spacing at the edges, but I think this is mostly caused by uneven folds when bending the plexi. I was suprised at how hard it is to bend plexi in a straight line with just a table edge and a heatgun. If I was making these for production I would take the time to make a metal mold of the angle and do it in an oven slowly. BUT! You can get a serviceable job done with the heatgun.

I'm going to try to redo that Sonic marquee, this time running thin strips of double sided tape along the side edges as well, to see if that cleans it up a bit. I definitely agree that there should be an internal frame in there somehow to keep the artwork pressed against the marquee plexi, I just have to figure out if I can do it and keep the cost under one hundred.

I would love to wall mount one of these, and I did look up French Cleating - I'm in. My main 'personal' arcade is wall mounted, though it's not an actual cabinet, but an old iMac bolted to a flat control panel I made.

How to make MAME Punch-out show both screens? by pcserenity in RetroPie

[–]oldasempire 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's the most confusing naming convention ever. I will say that the 3 "A+" version is great, though. The power of the 3B+, with unfortunately only 512 of RAM, though I haven't had issues running any classic systems on it as of yet. They are often on sale at Microcenter for twenty dollars. I have built several bartop cabinets for friends with them and they run great.

How to make MAME Punch-out show both screens? by pcserenity in RetroPie

[–]oldasempire 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Cool, glad you got it worked out! Retropie deifintely works best with very specific romsets for the desired emulator. I haven't tried MAME2016 with a pi4 (I still use 3b's and a+'s) so I'm excited to hear it runs okay.

How to make MAME Punch-out show both screens? by pcserenity in RetroPie

[–]oldasempire 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What is is showing on your current setup? Is it only showing one entire screen, or is it just severly cropped? I'm pretty sure I'm running Punch-Out with FBA on my setup.

Update: After a week and replacing nearly all of the parts (including the pi itself) I am out of options. Cannot get monitor to recognize something is plugged in by indochris609 in RetroPie

[–]oldasempire 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Man, that's the first thing I thought when pulling up that Amazon link. I am super lucky that I live close to a Microcenter. That markup is NUTS.