Hey David very well done on the new tune mate that sounds Mint - like Belinda said would fit right in a movie

juju :-)

I'm liking the Desert Heat song...can imagine it being played on a movie soundtrack : -)

yeah those slides are quite big...mine was sort of oval, so I use the thinnest bit on the strings..and made it fit snuggly on my finger using the adhesive moleskin Randy sent with it (very fiddly to get it stuck inside...ended up like a surgical operation with tweezers and everything!!)....and thanks for the comment on my singing : -)....only wish I'd written the song!!

how's it going?...have you got your slide from Randy yet?

Hi Smojo,
Not sure if you know that Ted Crocker has his own CBG site now
http://handmademusic.ning.com/
Regards,
David

No worries mate - it's a strange set-up with the Hyperlinks aint it - i was the same added a hyperlink in the message , all looked good till you post it and no hyperlink !!

whats the Book on Valve Amp Building you got ?

thanks i'm real pleased with the Amp Mods - dont get me wrong the Rat Amps sound Killer as they come - it's just me with a pocket full of cash that was burning a hole in my pocket along with reading up about the superb unmatched sound that Mullard Valves produce so one thing led to another while i was on the look-out for Mullard Valves i came accross the Webber Speaker so i bought that aswell hehe!!
i have just noticed that the latest Rat Amps have a reverb Fitted now so that maybe another Upgrade later on - have to sell some more guitars first though
just sold the Diddley bow to Slim Picking from Japan , just boxed it up for him so that's another one of my so called Keepers sold :-(

cheers mate
juju :-)

Yes i was looking at the next model up (5w) last night seems to be a lot more features for little more money - think i'll try that one myself yes thats right i did buy a Rat Amp and it's superb - but i've even modded that now :-) - i'm never satisfied always got to play around with stuff lol! - i have Changed all Three Valves - fitted a NOS Mullard ECC83 (1962)Pre Amp , NOS Mullard EL84 (1965) Power Output and a NOS Jan Philips Millitary Spec 6L6 Rectifier Tube (1982) along with a new Speaker replaced the Celestion Super 8 with a Hand Made Webber VST Alnico magnet Blue Speaker - The nearest sounding Speaker you can buy in 8" to the Famous Celestion 12" English Blue from the 60's which now cost about £400 so my little Rat Amp now stands me at just over £500 but it sounds Killer - just need to learn to play now lol!

i noticed you asked about adding Hyperlink's to a message - first you copy your hyperlink then past it to your message then click on the Add Hyperlink Tab and paste the Hyprerlink again ( remove the http// from the Box First )or it wont work - hope this helps juju :-)

Hello my freind , glad to hear you had a good Christmas - i noticed you mentioned you have received a Book on Valve Amp Building - i am also considering having a crack at this myself been thinking of ordering this kit which i have seen just to get familiar with the Valve Amp set-up (mono)- this kit sounds pretty good and it would also be great to make either a Cab Head and speaker Cab for it or a Combo Box - sounds like a good project to me
Here's the link for it have a look see what you think

http://www.ampmaker.com/ak00x.asp

have a good new year mate
juju :-)

Hi, thanks for the video comment!....that ghostly effect at the end was done with the echo effect (in Adobe premiere Elements 4)...it seemed a bit temperamental to use, but eventually managed to get something I liked!!

Ha! A simpler explanation Im afraid.... I was getting confused with there bein 2 Randys on here - must be an age thing lol
Hows things anyway? Much happening? Im just about to take 2 weeks off for xmas - bit of R&R and hopefully come back fresh and full of new ideas :o)
Hope all is well :o)
Roosterman

whoops oh yeah you're smojomusic...watche SO many YouTube videos of people playing CBG's over the last few weeks I've gone slighyly crazy : -/

ha did I get it wrong?

ha yes it's on my Christmas list!!....seems like you got the timing ok on the video I saw...but yeah I can imagine it would take a bit of practice....it seems such a great way to experiment spontaneously...

oooh I'm jealous you've got an Akai headrush!!...is it easy to use??

Gonna have a crack at some recording today. Got a new effects pedal - Akai Headrush delay/looping thingy. What a fantastic toy that is. If I come up with anything listenable I want to try getting recording it.

Smojo,
just wanted to say thanks for your help.I got a lot of great ideas for my first couple of attempts from your blogs.They were the best advice I found.Thanks again!Lomg may you roll!
ross harper
south coast ,australia

Sorry, for the inconvenience. I provide lessons for free online while the series is in production. After the series is done, I take the lessons down and sell them on www.ebay.com Search: Keni Lee (CD 4 - 3 string CBG Only $9.99 plus S&H) I will begin a new series soon on 4 string CBG tuned Dgbd or 5135. Thank you for your interest and please feel free to write if you have any questions. Enjoy.

Smojo, you're famous!! :o)
http://www.cigarboxnation.com/forum/topics/an-ojo-overload

It was good to meet you in Birmingham and fascinating to see your amps. I was so inspired by your work that I've begun experimenting myself. I've built the works of a little LM386-based amp and had the reassuring experience of ending up with a functioning device (pic posted on my page). I'm now trying to understand some of the subtleties of LM386 circuits to see if I can improve the sounds or usability and I wonder if you can help.

I've learned quite a bit by studying the Beavis Audio and runoffgroove.com websites. I've also got the datasheet for the LM386 and the documentation that goes with the Maplin 1w amp kit. So I know a bit about the basic arrangement of LM386 circuits and some of the simple variations found in things like the Little Gem, Ruby and Smokey amps. However there are still a few things which are either beyond my electronics knowledge or are simply not well explained in the stuff I've read.

Firstly, some designs have a capacitor wired between pin 7 of the LM386 and ground (in fact the only design I can see where it's omitted is the Little Gem). The only description or explanation I can find is on the LM386 data sheet where pin 7 is described as "bypass". Any idea what they mean by "bypass" and what effect it might have on the sound of an amp if this is connected to ground via different capacitance values?

Also, I note some designs have a capacitor on the input (eg. Little Gem) while others don't (eg. Smokey and Maplin 1w). My first build doesn't have an input cap (partly because it was based on a Maplin PCB for convenience) and it seems OK. Can you suggest any reasons either in favour of or against adding an input cap?