10 DOLLAR ALDI SUCTION VISE

ok, besides their awesome sweet potato fries, cheap cereal, euro chocolate, and biscuit tins, Aldi has once again made me glad to be a customer. because, today I picked up this awesome vice for under 10 bucks!
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I was planning on eventually getting a panavise model to match my panavise jr, but now there's no need. Aldi flips their stock regularly, and changes these specialty items out all the time, so there's no guarantee that they'll have them. but, if you see them there, pick one up, because they'll probably never carry them again!

PROTOTYPE FUZZ

i thought i'd take a little time to show you guys how i build my prototypes. this is a new fuzz i've been working on that is a kind of cross between the fuzz face and the fuzzrite. usually when i build up a proto for the first time, i'll just grab a piece of vero and start populating, and that's what i did here. i'll try to cut a piece of vero that looks like it's got plenty of room, but this time i think i just made it.;) the boxes that i usually use are these computer switching boxes that i bought on ebay for super cheap. i think i got 8 of them for 15 bucks or so. sometimes i'll stip the paint off with acetone, leaving the box sit in the chemicals for days. what ends up happening is a really cool weathered and corroded finish that lightly rusts and changes with age. i really like the look of it. the pots i've been using are these used mil spec Allen-Bradleys that you can get on line for a buck a piece. i'll spray clean and lube them up to try and bring some life back into them if they need it. knobs will be whatever i've got lying around. many times my pots and knobs don't match, but i don't really care, it's just for me to use. i've got a number of pedals that i've made up for myself like this. usually i'll etch a pcb and put it in a nice box from PE.com if i am happy with the sound. hopefully this helped some of you out there with building your proto effects!

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I put this guy through hs paces the other day with great results! I'll post a full write up soon.

OSVALVE TONE STACK ARTICLE

here's another little gem I found on the Osvalve site. a great article on tone stacks. enjoy!

http://www.ozvalveamps.org/tonestacks.htm

a comment from a Russian friend.

I received this very nice comment from a reader of the blog who lives in Russia, so I thought I would share it here.

Good day! I apologize for my English. I'm from Russia. Build your overdrive. Used j201, 2n2222, 2n2907 and 2n5458. I want to thank you for the scheme. Great sound! Previously collected your panzerfuzz. In Russia, the guitar forums, are often discussed your scheme. I wish you further success! People need to like you.
All the best!
Dmitry. Rassia.

thanks a lot, Dmitry! that means a lot, and I'm glad you are enjoying the schematics! I didn't know that anybody talked about any of my projects on Russian forums. that's very cool! if you could provide a link to the forums, I would love to see it. thanks, again, and please tell other Russian builders, that I am glad they like the projects!