Fixing a Half Functioning MXR Pedal

Somewhere on the America west coast, in a bar or venue somewhere, lays my original missing MXR Phase 90 potentiometer knob. It went missing at some point on tour maybe 6 years ago. It bothered me ascetically and I could no longer tweak the large knob with my toe on the fly. I replaced the knob at some point a year later. However, up until a few weeks ago I didn't realized the damaged that had been done while not having that knob there. I should preface that I love MXR pedals and the Phase 90 is my all time favorite phaser. It does however have a small design flaw that people should know about.

While recording a few weeks ago I pulled out the Phase 90 for a slow moving phase effect. My pedal somehow didn't seem to modulate below 12 o'clock. It worked perfectly at a faster rate; how I usually have it set on my board. I was perplexed. I couldn't understand how only half the pot functioned correctly. After taking the pedal apart and poking around a bit, I noticed the pot shaft was able to be pushed down. I then see the bottom of the pot split and bulging downward every time I pushed the pot shaft. The bottom of the pot was FR-4 PCB type board material . The shaft of the pot had at some point been stepped on and pushed through the bottom. An easy thing to happen with any MXR pedal or “stomp box” missing the knobs. Without the knob covers, anyone could easily accidentally push the pot shaft down and destroy the pot function.

Here you can see the crack in the carbon element

The strange part about how my pot broke, is it cracked the PCB board at a point where the wiper was still able to make contact with carbon composition resistance element. The crack only disabled the pot for half of it's function (modulation). Crazy it took 6 years for me to notice it. The original pot is an odd one. It's a reverse audio 470K. I didn't have any of those on hand, so I swapped a 500K linear pot instead. The sweep of the effect is slightly different, but not enough for me to special order of seek out the 470K reverse audio. The new pot has a metal encasing which should be sturdier.

Bottom of the pot. FR-4 Board (easily broken)

So this is a PSA. If you buy or have an MXR pedal that's missing its knobs, replace them as soon as possible. It's the only line of defense from that pot shaft going through your pedal.

My new roadie approves of my repair job!

Born to Stir Shit Parody Documentary

Some friends made a fake rockumentary about the jerk punk band we made.  Kind of a This is Spinal Tap of foreigners in Japan making fun of everyone and everything around them.  Well, hopefully someone finds it funny.

Homemade Lap Steel

About ten years ago, I played a show with my old cheap lap steel an hour south from Portland, in Salem, Oregon.  After finishing the show, packing up and hitting the road back home, my car's lights started to dim.  Next thing I know the engine stops and I'm coasting off the highway up an off-ramp just outside of Portland.  Dead alternator.   I starting pushing the car into a parking lot, when some guy yells, "bro, let me help you!"  A really nice random guy stopped, helped me push my car, packed my guitar rig up, and gave me a lift home.  I miss old Portland.  After getting home and unloading what I thought was all my guitar stuff, I realized I'd probably left my lap steel in that random strangers car trunk.  I suppose it would have been a nice parting gift for the good samaritan, however most people probably would just see the lap steel as a guitar with really high, unplayable action.  

The simplicity of that lap steel led me to thinking.  I decided building my own lap steel would probably be a fairly easy task, considering there is no action or truss rod with fine tuning.  I just had to get the fret markings and bridge mount carefully measured.  I found this site years ago and had always wanted to try it. http://www.buildyourguitar.com/resources/lapsteel/ I found it to be extremely helpful. At the beginning last year after tearing a fretboard off of a bass neck to swap truss rods, I had a bunch of extra cheap looking rosewood. I ended up tearing the frets off of the old bass fretboard and turning it around to saw new fret markers on the other side.  I painted the new "frets" and markers.  I kind of copied the design of a Rickenbacker and some old lap steels fret marker styles.  I thought the straight line at the edge of the painted frets would act as a good guide while playing. 

I pretty much followed that sites instructions step-by-step.  I did make a few changes however.  I had only hand tools, so the headstock cut I changed to a more sloped one.   I also made the control cavity a bit larger for a tone knob.  I also regrettably tried to make the finish a sparkle finish.  Which I got the idea from this old thread on a tele forum.  the-emeraldcaster-project-aka-son-of-meloncaster

The finish proved to be the hardest and most time consuming.  I basically started painting a base coat of black acrylic, then sprayed a light coat or clear coat and started lightly shaking the glitter on the wet clear coat.  (Warning:  do this over a box to catch the glitter.  It isn't called the herpes of the art world for nothing)  I then started added what seemed like hundreds of coats of clear coat.  He's where

I almost messed it up.  I got impatient and decided to add clear lacquer to speed up the process.  Firstly, lacquer, it turns out dries a lot slower when put on thick.  Mistake number one.  And my second mistake was trying to layer the lacquer.  Lacquer is extremely solvent and melts already dried layers of lacquer and acrylic.  I found gas bubbles and all sorts of nightmares in the finish.  I also had to wait even longer for everything to dry.  So, my finish never turned out extremely smooth.  Even after multiple layers and wet sanding.  Sparkles aren't the easiest finish for a guitar.  If I had to do it again, I'd try to make everything thinner, and keep to one paint type.

The other thing I would have done differently, would be the bridge choice.  The Les Paul Jr. bridge is very simple, easy to mount, and small.  However the direction the strings pull at the bridge is slightly upwards and towards the neck.  I found the wood I had used was a bit too soft to hold the bridge perfectly straight upwards.  It has a slight tilt, even after wood glue and shims.  I think I would opt for something with a screw-on mount like a Strat bridge one a raised piece of wood.

All and all, the guitar is playable and looks good enough.  It was a learning experience.  I might get a better pickup in the future and raise it's position.   I finally have a unique replacement lap steel.  

New headstock slop

Measure 3 times!

Gluing the fret board on

Not the smoothest finish

Basic Telecaster wiring with out a switch.  Also a lifesaving 1250 V ground "fuse".

First Music Video (Maybe Last)

Office Destruction!!!

I Hate Your Band (Free Stream)

I Hate Your Band (New Punk CD)

That same old collective of enraged expats living in Japan came together for yet another album.  And by album I mean 13 songs coming in at 8 minutes.  I recorded and mixed this, and managed to add guitar work to it with a fractured arm.  Everything and everyone in Fukuoka, slagged by this group of A-holes.  No one is safe.  Even ourselves.  All our grievances in a minute or less per song.  The full CD can be downloaded here: I Hate Your Band

youtube stream coming soon. 

CD Release Party

We put together a little lineup of bands and people we like at a venue we like. Should be a good time with good people. 

Godzilla Snacks - Bender

Out now for streaming and download. Only 19 CD's sold at shows or by special requests. 新しいCDストリーミングとダウンロード。 CDはライブにあります
https://godzillasnacks.bandcamp.com/album/bender

Cheap Truss Rod Swap!

So by no means am I a luthier.  I don't recommend this procedure for every guitar.  I had a cheap bass that was unplayable and ready to be turned into firewood.  If you have a guitar that's not worth the cost of fixing, this could be an option, only if you're willing to part with the guitar if something goes wrong.

Removing the fretboard with a common iron

I bough this old Epiphone Thunderbird body and neck for about $15 off a scrap pile in a store here in Japan 3 years ago. After making a nut and trying to adjust everything I learned an important lesson. Loosen up the truss rod nut first on an old rusty neck and put some lube on it before you ever try to tighten it. While trying to fine tun the neck bow I snapped the truss rod. My heart sank. I got the bass up and running, but there was always so much bow in the neck, that it was painful to play. The strings were probably about 3/4s of and inch over the frets.  I mostly used it in a down tuning so I got away with it for a while. Replacing the neck would be tricky as the neck pocket was smaller than most p-basses and jazz basses.

Junk neck with fretboard and truss rod removed

Fast forward to this spring, I was rummaging through another free scrap heap in a guitar store and found a cheap Chinese looking neck that looked about the right size for my Bird. It was! However it was a 24 fret neck and the mounting position would make the scale totally wrong. So the neck sat there for a few months bothering me. I tried thinking of ways I could mod the neck, everything. Then not long ago I just decided, "hell, let's rip off the fretboards on these necks and see if I can just swap truss rods."

So, I opened up a weird chili beer I found, grabbed my clothing iron, puddy knife and hammer and went to work. Knowing that one of these ideas would be a mistake. But, a cheap learning experience.  I slowly worked the knife with the iron on the top frets moving up the neck;giving nudges with the hammer as needed. It worked!  Turns out this is the way pros remove fretboards. 

New Truss Rod installed

So, I get both fretboards off and notice the cheapo free one had a nice strong and new looking truss rod. However the receiving neck had a much thinner rusty truss rod. I needed to route out that channel a bit thicker for the new truss rod. No power tools. To the hardware store and I get some hand chisels. 2 hours later with some sandpaper, I have the new truss rod flush with the neck.

I buy 5 C-clamps at the dollar store and a few cheap stamp pads, and glue the fretboard back with wood glue I bought in the States. Taping off the nut end to block the glue from seeping in.

Re-gluing the Fretboard

Surprisingly the instructions said only 24 hours to dry was enough. I waited a bit longer. No creaks, no cracks. Put it together.  Low action. It's worked.  I now have a functional truss rod.  I saved a cheapo cool looking bass for little money and a little sweat. 

Here she is!

Total costs:
Junk Neck $0
Glue $4
C-Clamps $5
Hand Wood Tools $8
Sandpaper $3
Rubber Pads $3
Hammer and Puddy Knife $5
Already owned the iron.

So a job that could have cost well over $300 costed $28 total.   Pretty good option for a guitar that wasn't worth the professional repair cost.