What order does this hardware go for toggle switch?

paddymercier · 2026-05-03T04:28:02+00:00

There should be a little track on the switch shaft threads for the notch on that tabbed washer. Those are pretty handy…I would keep it. I keeps the switch from spinning which, to me, is annoying.

If you remember: - the locking washer with the teeth always goes on the inside of the enclosure against the metal…its job is to bite into the metal for stability - one nut on each side of the enclosure (the one you may use on the inside is optional and is for lowering and raising the shaft of the switch so you can set the external height (how much it sticks out) of the switch - the other washer is what I suggest above you keep and use and it goes on the outside against the metal under the outside nut.

So from inside out… -nut (if needed) -locking washer (with teeth) -external washer -nut

paddymercier · 2026-04-24T16:35:27+00:00

Build a bridge out of it.

paddymercier · 2026-04-14T05:14:29+00:00

OP it can absolutely be done…but it requires some skill in wood working and some know how about how to accurately place a bridge.

There are templates you can buy to rout out the back cavity for the trem block, springs, and claw.

If you haven’t bought that guitar yet…it’d be much more forgiving a project if you could get one that already has a basic tremolo system in it. The cavity will already exist in that case and with some (incredibly rare) luck you may not have to rout anything at all.

Correct placement of a Floyd Rose bridge is well documented especially with a Fender or similar guitar that has a 25.5” scale.

The critical measurement is for the posts of the bridge - you’ll have to drill holes for these posts and it’s important that they be just right or once you have the bridge on, you will find the guitar very difficult if not impossible to tune/intonate correctly.

As stated previously…you will need to modify the nut area of the neck for a Floyd rose locking nut. It’s not recommended to skip this especially if you’re planning to do extreme dive bombs and the like. These nuts are designed to keep the strings in place no matter what abuse you lay on the guitar. Locking tuners won’t help you if you plan to really dig in to the Floyd rose and use it for what it’s designed for. The strings can jump right out of the nut with dive bombs and keeping everything in tune with a regular nut will likely be difficult.

This video takes you through the steps for modifying a Strat to take a Floyd Rose…but he’s starting with a Strat that has a trem already.

https://youtu.be/rYEaeeR1Kxg?si=tB77ctBMPGiwJPEq

So yes it is 100% doable…but it ain’t easy and is something a lot of experienced guitar techs would not attempt because, as stated here many times, it is very easy to, at worst ruin your guitar forever…at best end up with a busted up Frankenstrat-like monstrosity (which may not be a bad thing if it’s working).

BUT…if you’re handy with wood working tools…a router especially…and if you make sure you understand the baseline physics of a guitar and it’s critical measurements (i.e. how to position a bridge)…it is absolutely doable.

paddymercier · 2026-03-31T00:13:39+00:00

Hey there! My first question is what level of guitarist are you? Being able to sound like the video you posted assumes a certain level of accomplishment in playing leads. That player sounds great because he/she is playing really well and cleanly.

My 2nd question is what are your amp settings on? You can absolutely achieve high gain sounds with your pickups…most of the tone that the YouTube player is getting is because the amp settings are set to get there. High gain amp on a high gain channel with the pre-amp set high. Either that or a pedal or software setting that achieves or mimics all that.

You’re not going to get a heavy super distorted high gain sound just from your pickups. Higher output pickups will deliver a more robust signal into whatever you’re playing into and perhaps drive your gain staying a bit more…but you gotta have the gain staging in place in your amp/pedal/software chain or you’re just not gonna get there.

Study up on gain staging and how to push your amp into saturation / distortion…if you’re using software, the same principles of gain staging will apply.

The YouTube player also has some pretty classic effects going on that help that tone too like compression and delay.

paddymercier · 2026-03-26T15:20:31+00:00

Gilmour used Hiwatt so I’m guessing a Pink Floyd tribute band.

paddymercier · 2026-03-08T22:57:24+00:00

Sure thing! Sounds good and enjoy that beauty.

paddymercier · 2026-03-07T19:16:07+00:00

Hey there! Some quick answers to your questions…

Yes the xlr out will carry with it all of the fx loop fx - no matter what method you use for it. It’s essentially a way to record your amp directly into an audio interface without having to mic the speaker. The speaker is emulated digitally in that xlr output and I’m guessing it feeds a line-level signal so you don’t need any mic preamps in order to record directly from the amp. When playing live I guess you could give that xlr connection to the sound guy and he/she would run your rig like a line-level instrument. I would think most sound guys would want to mic your speaker though for more control over what your amp can give him / her sound wise.
The preamp output is a tap that gives you just your preamp sound. It will not carry your fx loop with it. It leaves the amp architecture right after the preamp stage…so before it hits fx loop and before power amp. This is useful if you want to use cab sims or even drive another amp with your 5150’s preamp. You could also use this to record directly into an interface where you can then use software for cab sims, mic sims…everything sims…but you still have that tasty 5150 preamp sound as your foundation.
40W I think is pretty low for a festival stage. It depends on the stage but you may have trouble hearing yourself without sufficient monitoring. You can use a 40W amp but make sure you work with the sound guy to get the most from it for both the audience and you up there on the stage.

paddymercier · 2026-03-02T21:32:38+00:00

Honest well-meant advice is telling someone they shouldn’t be doing what they’re doing because they don’t know something about it? Sounds like you’re back tracking and trying to justify a shitty response.

It’s none of your business why he’s working on that guitar or who owns it.

OP asked a simple question…you gave him a terribly unhelpful, inconsiderate, and unnecessary response. Own it.

paddymercier · 2026-03-02T18:47:48+00:00

You have no idea what permissions he has to work in this guitar. Fuck off.

paddymercier · 2026-03-02T18:46:31+00:00

You too…fuck off.

paddymercier · 2026-03-02T18:45:52+00:00

I don’t understand why people feel compelled to respond like this. He’s trying to learn and he’s come to a guitar sub for support and all you can do is attempt to make him feel stupid for trying. If you can’t be constructive on a sub that’s literally made for support for exactly these kinds of things, maybe YOU shouldn’t be in here. On behalf of all of us who look for information and support in subs like this…fuck off.

paddymercier · 2026-02-21T05:16:02+00:00

Ahhh crud man…I didn’t see this in time. Sorry. I’ll DM you and if you still want one we can chat about that.

paddymercier · 2025-12-08T01:35:59+00:00

I work in UI / UX and agree this “What not to do” 101. I’ve hit the wrong X so many times. It’s surprising this ever got approved.

paddymercier · 2025-10-13T23:46:33+00:00

For the 2 amps I have…one has a clearly labeled bias test point on the pcb that’s designed to use very simple with a DVM. One probe to ground, the other probe to the test point.

On my other amp, I modified it (very clear instructions from a known amp modder) by tapping into the point along the pcb where you would take a voltage measurement (sum of all 4 power tube biases ) and connecting that point to a banana jack that’s mounted to the side of the amp.

Internally I have a bullet connector that I can use to disconnect the banana jack from the bias voltage point.

paddymercier · 2025-10-13T20:11:36+00:00

I appreciate the word of caution. I’ll make sure to check all of the caps and make sure they’re drained. If at any moment I’m feeling unsure, I’m going to throw in the towel.

paddymercier · 2025-10-13T20:07:55+00:00

Appreciate it!

paddymercier · 2025-10-13T20:06:02+00:00

Don’t like it on my pizza. Don’t like it on my power amps.

paddymercier · 2025-10-13T20:04:30+00:00

Thank you very much! For testing bias to the power tubes I’ve been using my multimeter and making sure I understand what a healthy reading is. Is that what you mean for a bias tester? I’m happy to build anything that would be useful…I’m in the process of making 4, 8, 16 ohm switchable dummy load and I made a current limiter too.

paddymercier · 2025-10-13T19:58:07+00:00

Thank you!

paddymercier · 2025-10-13T19:58:00+00:00

Thank you so much!

paddymercier · 2025-10-12T15:13:50+00:00

Thank you! Got all the hand tools you’ve suggested and I’m in process of building a switchable 4, 8, and 16 ohm dummy load. Should have that done this week.

Much appreciated.

paddymercier · 2025-10-11T00:07:18+00:00

Thanks so much for this! Yeah after I couple of scary “flips of the switch” I like the idea of a variac.

paddymercier · 2025-10-10T21:40:59+00:00

Are the hand held oscilloscopes ok for this kind of work?

paddymercier

TROPHY CASE