Over the long holiday weekend, I had a little bit of free time and began working on a few projects that I had acquired.
2 of them were Crybaby wah pedals that I had mysteriously come into ownership of. It is mysterious because I don't know where they came from or why exactly they were in the condition they were.
Both wahs were the same model except one featured the J-Fet buffer and the other had an older style pot.
Having two similar (although not identical) pedals in front of you can be pretty helpful when you don't feel like thinking too hard about where each wire is supposed to go. There are slight wiring differences between the two pedals but the color coding of the wires and their general paths are the same.
It was clear on the one crybaby with the older style pot and no buffer that the pot had a wire break off of it because the pot came loose. I resoldered the wire and tightened the pot into place. When I went to fire up the pedal for the first time, I got absolutely nothing. I was admittedly a bit stumped until I noticed that the PCB connector was not keyed and could be reversed. I tried that and I now had 1 of the wahs working as intended. It didn't sound the best and the pot was a little scratchy, but at least now it functioned as it should.
The other pedal clearly had more wrong with it. The pot was missing the gear and c-clip that retains the gear. Additionally, the switch was completely loose within the pedal. After acquiring the proper tool to put a new c-clip on (which comes with the gear if you order the Dunlop part), I reinstalled the pot with its new gear and used a loose nut from my bin of parts to secure the switch in the correct spot so that it activated at the extreme toe position.
Again I fired it up and again I got no sound. A quick flip of the same PCB connector and my pedal was once again working. I don't know why they were both backward but I suspect that probably had something to do with why I had both of them and neither of them were working.
I was surprised at how much better the buffered wah sounded than the non buffered. I don't know if this is true of all buffered wahs or just the two I had worked on.
I didn't have any white lithium grease to lubricate the rack and gear so I used some sort of grease that I bought for my vise. It is sticky but doesn't really like to stick to the plastic of the wah parts so should I even need to go inside of either of those again I will probably switch it up for white lithium grease as the factories use.
Another pedal that I had very recently purchased was a 1970's Electro-Harmonix Small Stone. It was an ebay purchase that I was surprised to have won for as little as I did. It is missing the battery door (as 90% of them are) and through the hole you could see that there was some electrical tape holding some wires together.
I really wasn't sure what to expect when I opened the pedal up but inside the only thing that had been tampered with was the battery clip. I removed the electrical tape to reveal the wires hadn't even been soldered. They were just being held together by the tape and being twisted around each other. Worse than that, both wires of the battery clip went to the wrong places internally.
The positive lead was sent straight to the ground and the negative lead was put on a non switching part of the power jack. I took a new battery clip and soldered it on the correct terminals and then reassembled for test.
Immediately I was greeted with the warm and smooth sound of the Small Stone Phaser. It is a really neat sounding pedal and in my opinion, the black and orange 1970's pedal sounds quite a bit better than the green Russian Small Stones (which also sound excellent!). The Small Stone has always been one of my favorite phasers because of how good it sounds! The only other phaser on the market that I have ever liked is the DOD FX-20B Stereo Phasor (at least I think they spelled it with an "o").
Both phasers use Operational Transconductance Amplifiers (OTA's) instead of the more common matched FET system. I don't know if it is the particulars of the circuits or the OTA's, but I think both of those phasers are the best!
Unfortunately, neither of them are available new. However, neither is particularly expensive used either. This is especially true when you factor in the cost of modern boutique pedals which are no longer only for the wealthy but are becoming more of a common thing.
One thing I like about the Small Stone is the simplicity of one knob and one switch. Plus the footswitch can be modified for true bypass if you have to have it (which I don't - another story for another time). The Small Stone has speeds that are nice and slow to just plain silly.
The DOD on the other hand uses a buffered bypass scheme like almost all modern pedals (Boss, Ibanez, etc.). The switch itself is just a cheap tactile switch. I know a lot of people are not fond of the DOD pedals because of the case itself. It does appear to be cheap (it is!). Bear in mind that DOD pedals were always the budget pedal when compared to Boss. One place that the DOD trumps the Small Stone is for actual control. It has 3 controls which allow you to really dial in your phased sound.
Another positive of the DOD is the price. It is significantly less money than the Small Stone which has more than just a cult following.
One quick note about the DOD FX-20B is that the FX-20 (no B) is not the same pedal nor is the FX-20C. The FX-20B is a 6 stage phaser while the FX-20C is only 4 stages. The FX-20 has 1 less knob and isn't stereo.
Sunday, July 14, 2013
Monday, July 8, 2013
What happened to the ammo? And why does it cost so much? Why not try reloading?
The same day I bought my S&W 1911 Pro, my sister bought her first gun (a used S&W 669). The clerk at the store asked her if she wanted any ammo. My eyes popped out of my head when he said that it was 35$ for 100 rounds of WWB 9mm.
I told her I'd give her a box and that she'd be able to find ammo online cheaper or at Walmart. Wrong on both counts.
What happened to all of the ammo? Following the wave of mass shootings and fear of new gun laws plus the demand for ammo as more guns are being sold, the supply dried up! Loose boxes can be found here and there but at prices nobody should have to pay for a box of 9mm. I saw a box of American Eagle 9mm for 21$ a box! It almost made me regret not buying the 35$ box at the store. Almost.
I even saw the same box priced as high as 60$ from a dealer which claims to price their good for less than soil. I'm not sure where they get their mud from, but around here, premium gardening soil is only a couple of bucks for a 20 pound bag.
The last time I bought 9mm I paid just under 12$ a box. With the trend indicating that ammo is not going to get cheaper any time soon, I decided to reconsider the hassle of reloading 9mm.
After hours of research, I finally decided on a single stage press. The Lee kits look good, and I am sure they are for the money, but I had read that aside from the press itself, most of the remaining parts of the kit ended up getting replaced later for better quality components. Ultimately, I ended up getting an RCBS Rock Chucker kit. The lifetime warranty and high praise from others helped make that decision.
While the press itself was readily available (and with a 50$ rebate!), some of the other supplies necessary for reloading are not so easily obtained at the moment.
The die I ordered is on backorder and I won't be seeing it for at least a month. Additionally, primers and powder are impossible to find at a fair price. So for now, it looks like I'll be set to order the components when they become available.
Fortunately, I have enough 9mm to last me for a while and this will give me some time to collect my brass.
I told her I'd give her a box and that she'd be able to find ammo online cheaper or at Walmart. Wrong on both counts.
What happened to all of the ammo? Following the wave of mass shootings and fear of new gun laws plus the demand for ammo as more guns are being sold, the supply dried up! Loose boxes can be found here and there but at prices nobody should have to pay for a box of 9mm. I saw a box of American Eagle 9mm for 21$ a box! It almost made me regret not buying the 35$ box at the store. Almost.
I even saw the same box priced as high as 60$ from a dealer which claims to price their good for less than soil. I'm not sure where they get their mud from, but around here, premium gardening soil is only a couple of bucks for a 20 pound bag.
The last time I bought 9mm I paid just under 12$ a box. With the trend indicating that ammo is not going to get cheaper any time soon, I decided to reconsider the hassle of reloading 9mm.
After hours of research, I finally decided on a single stage press. The Lee kits look good, and I am sure they are for the money, but I had read that aside from the press itself, most of the remaining parts of the kit ended up getting replaced later for better quality components. Ultimately, I ended up getting an RCBS Rock Chucker kit. The lifetime warranty and high praise from others helped make that decision.
While the press itself was readily available (and with a 50$ rebate!), some of the other supplies necessary for reloading are not so easily obtained at the moment.
The die I ordered is on backorder and I won't be seeing it for at least a month. Additionally, primers and powder are impossible to find at a fair price. So for now, it looks like I'll be set to order the components when they become available.
Fortunately, I have enough 9mm to last me for a while and this will give me some time to collect my brass.
Sunday, July 7, 2013
Cleaning out the safe...and bringing home a new toy...
After a difficult internal conversation, I decided to part ways with a few guns that I just didn't find myself using.
Some were guns I obtained on impulse...others curiosity or maybe even desire.
Whatever the case, I decided they no longer fit my needs and I traveled to my favorite gun store.
I had brought my Mauser P38, S&W Model 19, S&W Model 686, Sig 229, and Beretta 96G.
2 of those guns I had bought and literally never shot.
Anyway, the Mauser was in nice shape with no import marks as many P38's have. It also had a bunch of Nazi markings on it. I don't recall the year but I only ever shot it once with a friend. It was fun to shoot in single action but the double action trigger was absolutely awful. It might have been the worst double action trigger I have ever used. I am not sure if this is indicative of ALL P38's or just the one I had owned. I liked that it was 9mm and the magazine release at the butt of the gun was neat. Spare parts are readily available which was also nice. Anyway, it will reside better in a collector's hands or maybe even just a shooter.
The S&W 19 had a 4" barrel that unfortunately somebody added a red ramp to. I am a big fan of the red ramp but they did a sloppy job. It could have been touched up upon and made to look nice but I wasn't really looking to invest any money into it. The blueing was in okay shape and it was a pinned and recessed model. But the K frame .357 magnums are known for falling apart under repeated magnum loads. I literally had never shot the gun and only bought it on an impulse because the price was so stupid cheap. I hope it ends up in a shooters hands. It was a truly nice revolver.
The S&W 686 that I parted with had the 8 3/8" barrel and was a 686-1 without the M stamped into the frame. This means that it was never sent back to Smith and Wesson for the firing pin bushing modification. However, the gun was in absolutely perfect condition. The barrel looks like the previous owner never shot it and neither did I. It came with a shoulder holster too which felt odd to wear since the gun was touching your hip (because the barrel is so long) when you wore it. I imagine a hunter or a collector will find this gun and take good care of it.
My Sig 229 was in .40 S&W. I originally got it so that I could convert it to .357 Sig. I never got around to it. After shooting it a couple of times I figured it didn't need it as it already kicked like a mule. Strangely, the Sig 229 kicked more than the Sig 239; both in .40 S&W. I would have expected it to kick a bit less. The double action and single action trigger pulls were nice enough and the gun never gave me any trouble. But I hated the decocking lever being where it was. Half of the time I wasn't sure if I was going to decock the gun or hit the slide release.
The original plan was to get the sub compact for carry but I never got comfortable with the gun and ultimately just started carrying my Beretta 92FS. I really wanted to like the .40 S&W. I still do want to like it. I just haven't found the right platform for it and me yet.
I decided to try the Beretta 96G since I loved my 92FS so much. I couldn't have been more off in my judgement. The ergonomics were familiar but the gun was absolutely horrible to shoot. The Beretta 96 series goes down as one of the guns I've liked the least ever. I don't want to say that it was the worst ever, but my mind is drawing a blank as to what I liked less.
All of these guns left the comfort of retirement that my safe had to offer.
And I decided to use some of my newly found funds to bring home a S&W 1911 Pro in 9mm! Talk about a beautiful gun! It is everything I could want in a 1911. I'd never spend that kind of money on a gun normally, but I figured trading off other guns to get it made it okay.
I like what the 1911 platform has to offer but I find my Colt 1991A1 a bit expensive to practice with and a bit rough on the hands. Maybe I'm a baby about recoil but pistol recoil bothers me much more than revolvers. I can take a .44 magnum with no issue but a .45 ACP is just plain nasty.
I haven't had a chance to shoot it yet but I just tacked on 3 extra magazines to a MidwayUSA order. I'm sure I'll have a lot more to say about it after I shoot it.
Some were guns I obtained on impulse...others curiosity or maybe even desire.
Whatever the case, I decided they no longer fit my needs and I traveled to my favorite gun store.
I had brought my Mauser P38, S&W Model 19, S&W Model 686, Sig 229, and Beretta 96G.
2 of those guns I had bought and literally never shot.
Anyway, the Mauser was in nice shape with no import marks as many P38's have. It also had a bunch of Nazi markings on it. I don't recall the year but I only ever shot it once with a friend. It was fun to shoot in single action but the double action trigger was absolutely awful. It might have been the worst double action trigger I have ever used. I am not sure if this is indicative of ALL P38's or just the one I had owned. I liked that it was 9mm and the magazine release at the butt of the gun was neat. Spare parts are readily available which was also nice. Anyway, it will reside better in a collector's hands or maybe even just a shooter.
The S&W 19 had a 4" barrel that unfortunately somebody added a red ramp to. I am a big fan of the red ramp but they did a sloppy job. It could have been touched up upon and made to look nice but I wasn't really looking to invest any money into it. The blueing was in okay shape and it was a pinned and recessed model. But the K frame .357 magnums are known for falling apart under repeated magnum loads. I literally had never shot the gun and only bought it on an impulse because the price was so stupid cheap. I hope it ends up in a shooters hands. It was a truly nice revolver.
The S&W 686 that I parted with had the 8 3/8" barrel and was a 686-1 without the M stamped into the frame. This means that it was never sent back to Smith and Wesson for the firing pin bushing modification. However, the gun was in absolutely perfect condition. The barrel looks like the previous owner never shot it and neither did I. It came with a shoulder holster too which felt odd to wear since the gun was touching your hip (because the barrel is so long) when you wore it. I imagine a hunter or a collector will find this gun and take good care of it.
My Sig 229 was in .40 S&W. I originally got it so that I could convert it to .357 Sig. I never got around to it. After shooting it a couple of times I figured it didn't need it as it already kicked like a mule. Strangely, the Sig 229 kicked more than the Sig 239; both in .40 S&W. I would have expected it to kick a bit less. The double action and single action trigger pulls were nice enough and the gun never gave me any trouble. But I hated the decocking lever being where it was. Half of the time I wasn't sure if I was going to decock the gun or hit the slide release.
The original plan was to get the sub compact for carry but I never got comfortable with the gun and ultimately just started carrying my Beretta 92FS. I really wanted to like the .40 S&W. I still do want to like it. I just haven't found the right platform for it and me yet.
I decided to try the Beretta 96G since I loved my 92FS so much. I couldn't have been more off in my judgement. The ergonomics were familiar but the gun was absolutely horrible to shoot. The Beretta 96 series goes down as one of the guns I've liked the least ever. I don't want to say that it was the worst ever, but my mind is drawing a blank as to what I liked less.
All of these guns left the comfort of retirement that my safe had to offer.
And I decided to use some of my newly found funds to bring home a S&W 1911 Pro in 9mm! Talk about a beautiful gun! It is everything I could want in a 1911. I'd never spend that kind of money on a gun normally, but I figured trading off other guns to get it made it okay.
I like what the 1911 platform has to offer but I find my Colt 1991A1 a bit expensive to practice with and a bit rough on the hands. Maybe I'm a baby about recoil but pistol recoil bothers me much more than revolvers. I can take a .44 magnum with no issue but a .45 ACP is just plain nasty.
I haven't had a chance to shoot it yet but I just tacked on 3 extra magazines to a MidwayUSA order. I'm sure I'll have a lot more to say about it after I shoot it.
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