Tag Archives: electronics

Taming the Fender Hot Rod Deluxe with VVR power scaling.

Guitar,

It’s common knowledge that the Rod Rod Deluxe is a fantastic amp, it’s also LOUD.  I play live a lot, but almost all my playing is with my amp mic’d and run through a PA, so really need to maintain a manageable stage volume without loosing the sound of driven tubes, especially the sound of saturated power tubes (yum).  Plus as much as I like the sound of my playing, when practising the same lick over and over, I don’t know that my wife and kids really want to listen at full volume.

Time to find a solution that didn’t involve buying another amp.

Hot Rod Deluxe III. 40W of sonic gold.
Hot Rod Deluxe III. 40W of sonic gold.

Continue reading Taming the Fender Hot Rod Deluxe with VVR power scaling. →

Fixed IC-208h with no power with remote head.

Uncategorized,

It’s my fault, I fiddled.

Radio was working fine, then I attempted to DIY a remote head cable as they can’t be purchased any more.

Funky remote head cable for IC-208h
Long story short, after trying my funky cable, the radio wouldn’t power on any more, so assume some pins shorted one of the other lines perhaps.

I left it for a couple of days, trying it again each morning, in the eternal hope that by some magic or via electrical fairy helpers, it would spontaneously start working again.  I kept telling myself things like “Perhaps the capacitors need a little more time to fully drain.  Yes.  that’s why it hasn’t started working again.”  For a hyper logical person like I am, it’s amazing the flights of fantasy we can summon in times of need.  I even offered a little prayer, while all the time knowing that in the grand scheme of things, there were more worthwhile causes to which God’s attention could be better addressed.

Continue reading Fixed IC-208h with no power with remote head. →