Get in there and do it, man!

I have 2 nice Gibson les pauls a 59 junior and a 2013 r8( pics on page 1 or 2 of this thread) I would be willing to trade for the right pinball machine(s) and/or a good cutaway acoustic , plus or minus cash either way if anyone is interested. all offers considered!

Doing another stream tonight...

We did another rock block tonight - hope you like it! Got a better mic for the phone makes a big difference:

That was a lot of TV dinners!

it’s not as bad as it looked we saved up 6 weeks but yeah...I eat 2 or 3 a week for lunch and I have to admit there’s been some 2 am munchie victims.

I’ll be doing an all night ambient live stream with the pedal steel guitar (and lots of pedals). 9:30 EST. Tune in at https://www.facebook.com/batoutofhellbymeatloaf

This is clearly not mine, but it's a pretty awesome Fender Custom Shop made from a Wizard machine.

https://reverb.com/item/11223668-fender-custom-shop-pinball-telecaster-wizard-amplifier-set

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I have pictures of that thing on my phone from the Fender room at Winter NAMM in 2019. It was really cool...but I'm pretty sure the guy didn't pay even close to $80k for that. Pisses me off when there are asshole flippers in any hobby that buy something that somebody who might have wanted for their personal collection just to make a profit. I hope he doesn't get even close to what he's asking.

I've got a couple of recording projects in mind. I wanted something other than keyboards to hold down the low end, so enter the new-to-me 2005 SG Bass!

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It's in really nice condition, like it barely got played. The finish is beautiful. It plays super fast, and the tone is expansive. As a guitar player, I'm really comfortable with the short scale neck.

Double threat, SG style!

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Nice!
What's going on with that bigsby SG? Is that one of those "tribute" models?

I've had this amp for more than 20 years and it's been broken the whole time. I just fixed it myself after all this time.

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What was wrong with it and how'd you fix it?

No. It's a 2000 faded special that I bought new and have hot-rodded a bit. I pulled the open 490s and replaced them with the P94s seen in the photo. The Bigsby is aftermarket, too.

It always made a buzzing/crackling sound. I finally took it apart and reflowed the solder on the capacitors and now it sounds great.

I have a late 90s Squire Fat Tele that I've always thought played very nicely, but the electrics were crap. I took one of the 490s from the SG pictured above and put that in the neck position. Then I replaced the single coil at the bridge with a genuine Fender Custom Shop Texas Special that I scored cheap on eBay. I also rewired all of the pots. That sleeper Tele is now a screamer. It's one of the hottest passive pickup combos I've ever heard.

I feel like amp tech work and pinball work has a lot of crossover. Been meaning to get back to some of my amps that don't work... I've got an Ampeg B-25 which as been fucked for ages.

Few swirls in the works...

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Nice! Always wanted to try this.

Backyardace, did you ever get your Positive Grid Spark smart amp? If so, give us a review!

Just got this new Rotary pedal in. For $130 on amazon (or cheaper if you buy it used heh heh heh) it is a pretty impressive pedal. Highly recommend it for any stereo heads out there. Best Leslie/Rotary pedal I've used yet.

Now acts as the main stereo splitter for my pedalboard. The Mid-Fi Random Phase Vibrato is getting replaced with a Strymon Ola next week. If you haven't checked out any of the Mid-Fi pedals, you're missing out. The orange pedal I have one the right is a custom build of his. Doug is kind of the guy who mentored me into the pedal world, which has by in large brought me to the pinball world (fixing things, wiring, pcbs, ect.) and his products are definitely worth checking out.

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Wow, how did you make these swirls?

Quick summary -
- Large old rubber trash can, 30-35 gallons filled 3/4 with water
- Add 2-3 cups of Borax
- Bring temp up to 75-80 degrees
- Get oil-based enamel paints (I used the tiny cans of Humbrol) and mix them 50/50 with paint thinner
- Add colors to the surface of the water with an eye dropper in concentric circles - always adding a color to the center of the previous color dropped
- Get ample paint on the surface and pull the colors from the edge to the center with a wooden skewer, create the desired swirl
- Be brave and dip the guitar (with many of primer/paint base coats) through the surface of the water, slowly moving back and forth, until fully submerged
- Agitate the surface, moving the remaining paint to the edges of the can
- Pull the guitar out, and hang it to dry

I can finally join in the party with my first build:

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A close friend of mine had always mentioned he wanted a 12-string guitar but couldn't justify buying one for himself since he already had some guitars and only a select set of songs are cool on the 12-string.

His 40th birthday was this year so I built one as a surprise for him. I've never built a guitar before but I had some guidance and the fretwire kit took me a long way.

I haven't posted it anywhere because with covid we were just able to meet up today and I gave it to him. He loved it!

More pics here:

https://imgur.com/gallery/m7RkOmc

Thanks! I bet he and I will do a little video in the future. He is working through learning how to play it while I'm continuing learning bass. Our goal is to play some 12-string songs together.

Some of the ones we are learning are Wanted Dead or Alive and Maggie May.

Probably unlikely with a 12-string, but it would be appropriate if that guitar was used for playing the blues.

I take a stab at the Sabbath classic!!

Now I finally know what NIB stands for. New In Box!

Nayman in Black!!

rd

Needs Intervention Badly.

Oh yeah!

My first swirl put back together - plays and sounds great.

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The swirl is stunning. Is it a smooth surface, or does it have texture/layers. Tell us about the fretboard inlays.

I've been collecting guitars since 1994, when I bought my Alvarez acoustic. My parents were so pissed at me for spending $600. A couple of these guitars are ones I wanted for years, but couldn't afford. (The Wolfgang and the Jackson PC-1) Most of the rest are custom made Carvin/Kiesel guitars. I built the green Strat myself from Warmoth parts. The cabinets started as Ikea bookcases.

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Ha!

Honestly it took me a few years in the hobby to stop thinking sabbath when someone in pinball mentions NiB

Thanks! Took lots of Clear coat and wet sanding but it’s a pretty smooth surface. Inlays were done by the factory - this is a guitar I’ve had for a couple decades, just decided to redo the finish. It was white.

Fantastic way to display!!!

Advice needed! Trying to pick a pickup color / neck combo for this swirl. Let me know your choice!

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I prefer the dark neck (rosewood?) with the green pickups. Upper left corner.

Bottom middle.

Maple Board.

Green Pups

Should have known everyone would like a different combo!!

I'm going Carol or Greg, #2 or #3, 1st row middle and right. Maybe a slight edge for Greg.

Ok, down to these - the final four!

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You are all clearly blind!!! My opinion should clearly carry more weight in this purely subjective exercise!

Rant aside, of the final four, I’d probably go with the maple and green. I don’t care much for the custom inlay pattern, and the neon magenta pickups induce painful flashbacks of the ‘80s.

I wouldn't be upset with any of those choices, but I'm picking green with the maple neck pyramids.

You have that beautiful green-swirl body. That should be the center of attention. That’s why I originally went with the rosewood dot neck and color matched green pickups. You want those elements to disappear. I feel like the other feature options just compete with what should be the primary focus: the color dipped guitar body.

Whatever way you go, I really appreciate your sharing your process here. That was a bold move, to take a guitar that you have owned for so long and risk the plunge. Well done!