NYC Journal

[Calzone]

Yesterday ran a lot of errands. The workweek is busy with childcare, a pretty serious job. The grandson is already about a month ahead in development according to the doctor.

We also started moving forward in looking at fixtures for the upstairs bath Reno. It will take a bit of time for the design to evolve and get finalized.

I’ll have the opportunity to do some plug and playing. I tweaked some guitars yesterday changed their setups.

I’m pretty sure I want to remove/disconnect the bright cap across the volume control on the National/Valco 1210. I can do without the brightness, and this will smooth out the tone. An easy mod that is not permanent.

Been looking into and doing research on building out a 6SL7 5-6 watt amp with a volume and tone control. This is a very simple amp that uses very few components. We are at a point now where the old carbon composition resistors required for the vintage tone are difficult to procure. They are no longer in production and are now getting scarce.

I have a stockpile that I kinda dumpster dived after the end of the Cold War when all the downsizing began as part of Ronald Ray-Gun’s policy. I wish I would have been greedy, because pretty much I could of stockpiled enough to start my own business selling parts and building guitar amps. Oh-well. Pretty much free for the taking.

I gave a lot of these materials away to friends to be recycled, but now my supplies are nearing running out. I moved around too much. Now that I have space and a home it would be great if I had these materials stockpiled. My friends Steve says that back in the day I kinda single-handedly downsized Grumman.

Anyways I had warehoused bulk material until about 12 years ago when I finally downsized to move to Manhattan.

​​​​​​​Cal

 

[PaulW128]

Paul,

I have a strong analog electronics background. Pretty much I built prototype electronics in research environments for about 20 years. This included Grumman a Fortune 500 Company when it was the 4th largest military contractor in the U.S., and two National Labs: Los Alamos and Brookhaven.

Then I became a Cyclotron Engineer for 20 years…

Some of my stuff I built flew on planes (military) and some even into space.

Know and understand that vacuum tubes are just a form of partial beam accelerator. The physics involved with guitars is somewhat simple and basic.

Also know I worked in a guitar shop and have built guitars (not a kit or just assembling parts, scratch builds).

Then also know I have an art background and art degrees. Understand that because I have the research background that I’m capable of building crazy things that are not only not commercially viable, but pretty much are one-offs.

Also know I am connected into the high end and vintage markets through my friends. Check out Mirabella Guitars. I have known Cris for decades and use to beat on him and abuse when he was almost a snotty kid.

Cal

Well that explains a lot Cal. You certainly have the background. Hell, compared to what you did in your past life, building guitars must be easy!

 

[Calzone]

Well that explains a lot Cal. You certainly have the background. Hell, compared to what you did in your past life, building guitars must be easy!

Paul,

EZ-PZ is not the point.

My pursuit is to take something simple, and using both skill and discipline along with thoughtful thinking, kinda evolves into art.

My friend Zingo, a Navy SEAL, learned just 7 connected deadly moves for hand to hand combat training.

Comes a point where people self inflict a complicated life where it is difficult to be happy. I find it easy to be happy with little or less. Also I never knew anyone who was really happy that had a complicated life.

Anyways think about people like Elon Musk or a Jeff Bezos. Are they human anymore? What is the point? And do you think they are happy?

Anyways photography or printing is not so complicated, but certainly it takes skill, knowledge and craftsmanship to be good at it. Back in the 70’s everyone that owned a camera called themselves a photographer. Really???

Today it is elevated to the point that printing is mucho high contrast, and there is over processing. Some people don’t understand IQ or never saw a nicely printed image. Think large format resolution and tonality for my idea of a good/great print.

Kinda funny how here on RFF someone posted a tread where they hated Fuji Acros because it lacked grain and looked “too digital” in resolution.

From coming from a guy who worked day jobs to live instead of pursuing the life of an artist, a life of a creative was sidetracked, but the talent and ways of thinking remain.

I find the entire world is kinda over-processed. There is a lot of spillover…

Think about how many unfulfilled people are out there and how many that are aimless and unhappy. Something about purity and simplicity that speaks truth and has meaning.

”Maggie” tends to overthink. She has an academic background and a PhD. She kinda makes almost everything complicated, and I find it interesting how simple things confound her. Also she has this propensity to live an overly busy life that gets pan-icked and frenzied that has unhealthy levels of stress.

I see Maggie’s behavior in many people. Pretty much self inflicted unhappiness.

So here I am alone relaxing, thinking, and enjoying a moment. Not really doing anything, but I’m happy. How many people do you know that can relax?

So I’m thinking of building a couple of different amps. I want to use parts I have on hand, and basically as impractical as this might sound, I can build a more durable, better, lower noise, custom amp that cost effectively will save me money over a high-ended boutique amp.

Kinda funny how one of my custom amps has no resale or commercial value.

Anyways I don’t fall prey to the marketing and consumerism, and I consider this work art because not only is it not mass produced, but basically it is built on ideas, concept, and was specially made to make a bigger statement and commentary of what we call civilization.

In the end who is more “civilized” me or the world? In my book, I’m on the right track, and the world is kinda messed up.

To hone the point: what is wrong with simple?

Cal

 

[MrFujicaman]

Cal,
I wish I'd joined RFF sooner. When I was cleaning out Dad's workshop and junk room, I threw out a footlocker full of old vaccum tubes and old resistors.

 

[Calzone]

Cal,
I wish I'd joined RFF sooner. When I was cleaning out Dad's workshop and junk room, I threw out a footlocker full of old vaccum tubes and old resistors.

MFM,

As always, thanks for being my friend and thinking of me.

I have a lot of pride and nostalgia about the electronics I built. For me every day is Veteran’s Day, and even though I did not serve in the armed forces, I helped win the Cold War. Because I was in research a real worry was getting laid off which only happened because of the end of the Cold War. I was talented enough to get in 17 years.

I have an amp that I purposely used mucho Grumman parts to build. It is laid out but not wired yet, and it has been in this state for many years. It is a clone of an Ampeg Portaflex bass amp that I built out to have 80 watts of power instead of the 35-40 watts. I used a black Hammond chassis and a wire cage as a cover for the trannys and tubes.

The RCA jacks have weatherproof spring loaded covers, and evidently they are an aircraft part. The 1 Meg pots are Mil-Spec. One of the switches is locking that might have been for locking the landing gear, or perhaps arming a missle. I even have a CNC’ed Grumman logo that I attached to brand the amp as “The Grumman.” I made it look as if a “Black Box.”

So I remember keenly the perfect job for a creative like me that had very skilled hands and an OCD weakness for neatness and order. Anyways 17 good long years, a pension, and the opportunity to be part of history. Pretty hard to forget.

As you see, I have lots of treasure…

BTW the NOS tubes are in very high demand and command high prices. I can see how the vintage amp market will get crazy mighty fast as a simple part like carbon comp resistors become more and more scarce.

Today I modded my new/old National/Valco 1210. I unsoldered one of the leads of a .001 if cap that effectively was a jumper for high frequencies on the volume potentiometer. I found the little amp to be overly bright in tone. Know that I can reverse this mod.

Then the fun began as I tested the amp. Kinda perfect and major tone heaven in a magical way.

This amp has a input design that was used in the 50’s even though it is an amp made in 1965, called Grid-Leak bias on the pre amp. Muy retro and for my style of playing (plug and play with no effects) the grid-leak bias makes the amp very touch sensitive. Problem is when using high gain pickups, effects, or a boost peddle the sound can get overly bright and mucho harsh.

So with an aggressive attack the amp kinda goes a bit crazy with a touch sensitive distortion that is light and not overdone, and pretty much a guitar kinda sounds like a horn. How cool is that? Anyway I can get lost for hours in the tone/sound. This is a great amp to do jump blues and old school jazz.

Did more research today and discovered a schematic for a simple and basic 6SL7-6v6-5Y3 amp from 1953. I think I will build two small 5-6 watt amps so that I can run them as a stereo pair and together get a reasonable amount of volume if I ever gig. The idea with one output tube amps is that the top end rolls over smoothly, and any distortion is mostly even order harmonic distortion because it is a “Class A” amplifier. The downsize is the low power.

My problem in life is that I have many interests and pretty much I can nerd out on almost anything.

Anyways, I also fired up my vintage amps to exercise them. Very brutal having a day of tone. “Maggie” went to her sister’s house to make Christmas cookies.

A day of peace for me…

I also got a very nice trail run in.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

After my trail run it was about 4:15 PM and I saw a Raccoon on one of my neighbor’s front yards. I stopped and gave him the evil eye.

I think around 3:00 PM everyday I’ll either take a trail run or a mountain bike into Blue Mountain Preserve. Seems like they are marking the trails a bit better, and I went exploring on my run for trails for biking that are not so deadly technical.

I found two that I could loop. Practice on obstacles and getting good at cleaning them is a good exercise. I’ll start off easy…

Cal

 

[PaulW128]

Cal,

I certainly didn't mean to imply that because working on guitars and amps is easy for you, that was why you do it! I think I now understand exactly where you are in life these days. It's such a cliche but it appears that you are living your best life and it's a mindset that i'm looking to strive for!

Over the years i've been dealing with stress/anxiety and low self esteem. I've been in therapy from time to time and it has been good for me. These last few weeks, and for whatever reason, things are starting to "click", a few more pieces of the puzzle are falling into place. I get stuck in my own head to the point that I shut down; I feel worthless that I haven't picked up my guitar for months, or that I haven't even looked at my camera let alone use it.

But now...It's different. I'm noodling a bit with my Martin, and more importantly i'm in the process of pursuing ballet dancers to photograph!! I have always loved that art form and instead of talking myself out of it, i'm actively pursuing finding dancers to collaborate with.

Cal, i'm happy for you and where you are in your life right now. And as Peter said, your posts about guitars, amps, bikes, etc serve a really important service for everyone on RFF who reads them!

 

[Calzone]

Like the 12-day’s of Christmas Guitar parts should be coming almost daily.

Let’s see if I did well with selecting a Duotron with a medium output. I seem to be counter trend and like underwound and low output pickups that are organically bright.

Understand that boost and effects add gain and brightness to color the tone, so if you play a bright guitar like a Tele the treble can easily get carried away. Also compression builds up and dynamics suffer. This is why I love plug and play, I want big dynamics and any distortion comes from an amp singing.

The once thing that is on trend is that small amps are miked for portability, so the huge amps and large speaker cabs are not so favored. Also venues are less after DJ’s became of fashion, and gigs are smaller.

One of the best sounds I heard was this jazz player in Santa Fe at a bar on Canyon Road. The guitarist played a Strat and used two early wide panel Fender Deluxe amps that used octal vacuum tubes for a fat sound.

I understood that he rode a sweet spot sitting on the amp. Many would crank the amp or dime the amp for distortion, but the sweet spot allows for a nice clean and breakup depending on attack. Also the volume control works more like a tine control, unlike a pedal the control is on the guitar. Muy bueno.

When I bought the National/Valco my friend Matt at the store suggested I buy another speaker to save the original vintage speaker, but pretty much the sweet spot for me and my guitars is with the volume exactly halfway up. At this point the volume is kinda loud and breakup and distortion is available through your fingers. On the guitar the volume is turned down just a tad so that if more “boost” is required to drive the amp a bit crazy all I have to do is dial it in.

Anyways the idea here is that tone pretty much is at your fingers and on the guitar.

BTW I’m not a big fan of the commercialization of Christmas. This is my way of coping.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

Cal,

I certainly didn't mean to imply that because working on guitars and amps is easy for you, that was why you do it! I think I now understand exactly where you are in life these days. It's such a cliche but it appears that you are living your best life and it's a mindset that i'm looking to strive for!

Over the years i've been dealing with stress/anxiety and low self esteem. I've been in therapy from time to time and it has been good for me. These last few weeks, and for whatever reason, things are starting to "click", a few more pieces of the puzzle are falling into place. I get stuck in my own head to the point that I shut down; I feel worthless that I haven't picked up my guitar for months, or that I haven't even looked at my camera let alone use it.

But now...It's different. I'm noodling a bit with my Martin, and more importantly i'm in the process of pursuing ballet dancers to photograph!! I have always loved that art form and instead of talking myself out of it, i'm actively pursuing finding dancers to collaborate with.

Cal, i'm happy for you and where you are in your life right now. And as Peter said, your posts about guitars, amps, bikes, etc serve a really important service for everyone on RFF who reads them!

Paul,

A key I learned when I was a performance artist for a decade was creating a “safe-place.”

Pretty much a place where you don’t have fear and can relax.

Pretty much it is up to you to create your own safe place. In my case I have many.

You are not alone with your struggles. “Maggie” has training and was a therapist, but she still is overly anxious and at times falls into a panic. At work I had to deal with many anxious people, and I’m mighty glad not being in that toxic space of chaos that was working with fools with PhD’s.

BTW be aware that a lot of anxiety is or can be self induced. Some Maggie examples: overbooking; trying to do too much; worrying about things beyond her control; getting involved in other people’s business; procrastination; being too busy; not taking care of yourself…


Cal

 

[PaulW128]

Paul,

A key I learned when I was a performance artist for a decade was creating a “safe-place.”

Pretty much a place where you don’t have fear and can relax.

Pretty much it is up to you to create your own safe place. In my case I have many.

You are not alone with your struggles. “Maggie” has training and was a therapist, but she still is overly anxious and at times falls into a panic. At work I had to deal with many anxious people, and I’m mighty glad not being in that toxic space of chaos that was working with fools with PhD’s.

BTW be aware that a lot of anxiety is or can be self induced. Some Maggie examples: overbooking; trying to do too much; worrying about things beyond her control; getting involved in other people’s business; procrastination; being too busy; not taking care of yourself…


Cal

Cal,

Trust me, i'm well aware that stress is self induced. I look back to when I was retiring 3 years ago, thinking that finally, the anxiety/stress would end! How naive!! I will find stress anywhere and everywhere but i'm getting better, much better lately at managing it. How you describe Maggie is exactly what was happening to me; I would start to spin out of control, try to do too much, get frustrated that I couldn't solve my and everybody else's problems.....but now when I start to get that way, I take a breath and chill.

 

[Calzone]

I sing my rendition of “I Wanna Be Sedated” by the Ramone’s to my grandson as a nursery rhyme. He always laughs and smiles.

My Baby-Dog was a special needs dog that we rescued. He cost us thousands over the 13 months we had him. Sadly we had to put him down. We did learn that as a hound he had a propensity to bark non stop, and this was in his genes being a hound.

An expensive dog trainer taught us how to make him stop barking once he stopped with the simple and basic command “sit.”

So this carries over to human behavior. When I see the grandson get all fussy, upset or crying I sing and it breaks the chain of behavior.

Now extend that to New York where life is both fast paced and stressful. This lifestyle kinda is learned where you kinda learn to like to be stimulated or overstimulated all the time. This can lead to a frenetic lifestyle that is not only maybe not sustainable, but also is not healthy. Pretty much I’m talking about conditioning.

Then there is my response. I question if living life so fully if it is really living because are you really in the moment? Also how many people do you know that can call themselves “Lazy-Slacker?” Or how many people do you know that are really relaxed naturally without being on drugs of stoned?

Then there are factors like capitalism, competitiveness, and status that kinda really is all B.S. and in my book is of little practical value.

Then ask yourself, “What do I really need to be truly happy?”

So here is where I draw the line: people get caught up in all the above, and if they really thought about it it is non-sense. So why do people build their lives around non-sense?

​​​​​​​Cal

 

[ptpdprinter]

To hone the point: what is wrong with simple?

Simple is relative. Take Jay Leno. He owns 180 cars. To simplify his life, maybe he should just keep his top ten favorite cars and sell the rest. Another person may say: "Ten cars! How many cars do you need to drive to the grocery store? One is enough." For a couple, two cars may be simpler, so you don't have to schedule who gets to use the car when. If you live in the city, no car is the simplest. The same applies to other aspects of your life. Do you have multiple interests? Maybe you should whittle them down to just one. They say: "Jack of all trades, master of none." Having one interest would be simple, but would it be fulfilling? We're all photographers. One camera and one lens would be simple, but probably not very much fun. I am not ready to become a monk, so I'll follow Einstein's advice: "“Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler."

 

[Calzone]

Expecting guitar parts deliveries starting later this week. Thursday are two deliveries and Friday a third. The bottleneck is the pickup which still has to be made.

Been hanging out in tone heaven and playing through all my amps. What was profoundly revealed in my exploration between my two vintage Mark Sampson Matchless amps is that the Spitfire with its simple single tone control is the most open and dynamic when compared to the Matchless Lightning.

Understand that both Matchless amps have a 2x10 speaker configuration that was rare and is no longer available, the output sections, driver, and power supply are all the same, and the only differences are the pre-amps and tone controls.

While the Spitfire has only one tone control the Lightning has separate bass and treble controls that are highly interactive, but also because of loses due to the more advanced tone control there is an extra stage of gain.

In comparing the two sounds the Lightning is more driven and the feel is a more compressed dynamics, meanwhile the Spitfire is less aggressive in tone, warmer and has a more dynamic feel that is more touch sensitive. To me the Spitfire is more akin to playing an acoustic guitar.

You should know that the Lightning is the more popular amp, and I kinda like that I’m countertrend.

Know that the New/old National/Valco only has a volume and not tone control at all. This suits me fine.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

An analogy that compares is how in modern times excessive contrast I think is overused and excessive in photography.

For me the use of distortion I speak of that perhaps was cool in the 60’s and 70’s that seams to be a bit played out for me now.

Excessive contrast masks detail. Excessive distortion also masks detail.

Why do we want to mask detail?

The right amount of contrast or distortion adds warmth and makes things interesting that adds detail, but excessive use adds harshness.

Perhaps a reflection of the world we live in where things are harsh and excessive.

Just saying…

BTW excessive contrast or excessive distortion is a way to get in your face, not subtle or nuanced.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

A nice surprise was that some guitar parts arrived a day early. I still expect a delivery tomorrow and one Friday.

Surprisingly this holiday season is a bit sedate and peaceful. I’m kinda relaxed and not frenzied at all.

Today the weather was very mild for December and was like perhaps a September day.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

More Guitar parts arrived today.

Did a nice long trail run exploring Blue Mountain. I think I discovered some nice trails that would be great for biking (less rocky).

This site is muy wonky and difficult.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

For Paul and our friend Robert there is this guitar player named Tim Lerch that I have discovered. Not only is Tim a great solo player, he is also a great teacher. Lots of free lessons and advice.

For me Tim is mucho interesting because he plays solo jazz on a Telecastor.

I learned today that if you sing as you play it kinda cuts off the conscious part of the brain that kinda inhibits and cuts you back. I kinda learned a lot of how to approach music in a way that is different in a great way that will help me move forward.

Best is all this is free on YouTube.

I guess the takeaway is that today I kinda learned a lot about style and how to put a concept together to learn how to make my own. Kinda like having a mentor because Tim is so personable.

Waiting on a neck that will arrive tomorrow and the pickup.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

Having second thoughts on the Duotron pickup. It has a medium output, but I tend to favor low output pickups that have a vintage sound.

Also since I canabilized the short scale neck off my carved top Tele, I think I might replace the Snakehead that is on the Snakehead body I call “Worm” because it features worm holes and is made from old barn wood with the new Snakehead neck that will get delivered today.

Know that the Snakehead neck on Worm was borrowed originally from the carved top Tele, so in a way this guitar reverts back to normal. The carved top Tele is semi hollow so it is kinda like a Gibson ES-335.

The carved top is going to get a pickup change, and I will likely put in lower output pickups. To me the lower output pickups have more dynamic range and versatility. Generally high output pickups generally like to be pushed with high gain amps or boost. For me the low output pickups are more musical, more interesting, and have more depth and demention.

I have distortion fatigue. Kinda like someone who moderates sugar or salt intake, I find a lot of processed foods overly sweet or too salty.

I guess the Duotron pickup is a bit of an experiment. I have never played a Filtertron, and even though it is humbucking for noise canceling (60 cycle hum), it still has enough treble due to a narrow magnetic field that it retains a single coil vibe and brightness. I selected it thinking the bass response would be an asset because this is a one pickup guitar with only a bridge pickup. There is why I decided to experiment.

We shall see…

Hiking around with the grandson is like carrying a 15 pound kettlebell. He is getting advanced. He can stand, and if he could balance he could walk. I kinda have him walking the “Runway,” which is basically my torso when I slouch in a chair. He takes big steps and basically climbs to my shoulders to climb “Mount Calvin.”

He smiles and laughs as if he is proud of his achievements, but pretty much I’m only balancing him. He is only 3 1/2 months old.

Two weeks ago at his last checkup the doctor mentioned how advanced he was. At three months he was displaying the development of a 4 month old baby.

BTW “Maggie” is a baby-hog.

Cal

 

[PaulW128]

For Paul and our friend Robert there is this guitar player named Tim Lerch that I have discovered. Not only is Tim a great solo player, he is also a great teacher. Lots of free lessons and advice.

For me Tim is mucho interesting because he plays solo jazz on a Telecastor.

I learned today that if you sing as you play it kinda cuts off the conscious part of the brain that kinda inhibits and cuts you back. I kinda learned a lot of how to approach music in a way that is different in a great way that will help me move forward.

Best is all this is free on YouTube.

I guess the takeaway is that today I kinda learned a lot about style and how to put a concept together to learn how to make my own. Kinda like having a mentor because Tim is so personable.

Waiting on a neck that will arrive tomorrow and the pickup.

Cal

Cal

Thanks for mentioning Tim Lerch. I will def check out his YouTube lessons. Playing jazz on a Tele!! Waaaaaaaa. I know John Scofield played a Tele on stage years back. Just goes to prove it's not the guitar, it's the guitarist (but I really would love a sunburst Gibson 335)

best
Paul

 

[Calzone]

Cal

Thanks for mentioning Tim Lerch. I will def check out his YouTube lessons. Playing jazz on a Tele!! Waaaaaaaa. I know John Scofield played a Tele on stage years back. Just goes to prove it's not the guitar, it's the guitarist (but I really would love a sunburst Gibson 335)

best
Paul

Paul,

I hope you are not disappointed. Tim plays the old school stuff.

John Scofield kinda plays out.

BTW if you close your eyes you would think Tim was playing a vintage arch top. I will tell you that he plays jazz with just his fingers, but I have seen him do blues with a pick.

I kinda do pick and fingers, and I can get a piano sound. Seems like Tim loves Gil Evans the arranger and pianist because he tends to use closed chords and voicing that favor a guitar.

I happen to love Gil Evans, especially this recording called “Sketches Of Spain” featuring Miles Davis.

I’m considering going up a gauge in strings and tuning down a half or whole step to thicken my sound. Tim does this. Also this kinda gets more into the range of my voice. In fact today I think I will remove the neck from the 49 Snakehead called “Worm” to reinvent my carved top. I have a new set of brass saddles to chop the top a little, and to add some warmth.

Had 12’s on this carved top before, but it was with a shorter scale neck. Now with a 25 1/2 inch scale, 12’s, and tuned down a half or whole step.

On a different note, did you know that Stevie Ray Vaughan used heavy strings and tuned his strat down? This is how he got so thick a sound that would kinda have some overdrive organically.

Anyways thicker strings have more harmonic content. They also sustain more and have more overtones.

If you ever played the thick strings of a bass guitar it would be rather obvious how thick strings and thick tone go together naturally.

Cal