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What, am I a Wizard?

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  • #31
    Originally posted by Justin Thomas View Post
    ...
    COME ON! WHICH NOTORIOUS CITY?

    Tell us!

    Justin
    HA! You been there, you know what it's like. The crack & murder capital, Newburgh. No, we ain't got no lobsters! FBI moved their regional HQ there some years ago, the action is so thick. They cart away busloads, yes literally bus loads say 50 to 80 at a time, of ghastly gangsters but don't worry kids, we'll make more. And they do. So tough, if the arm holding the axe that's breaking down your door in a bust, that arm is paved with tattoos, the other one too, that's our local FBI chief! Scary guy - I'm glad he's on our side. They had an excellent police chief for a very short period. Politicians hounded him until he packed up and left. Teenage girls get shot & killed at Valentine's day parties. 13 year old girl shot in the legs just walking down the street. Heck maybe it's safer if you're not a teenage girl but I'm not going there to find out. Beware bruddah beware. I steer clear of Newburgh on general principles.
    This isn't the future I signed up for.

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    • #32
      Originally posted by Justin Thomas View Post
      I learned amp repair after I felt bilked by a tech...

      Justin
      Me too.

      I looked at the ridiculously small price of resistors and coupling caps and the availability of parts over the internet and thought "All you need to do is to buy a multi meter, respect high voltage for safety, get a little better at soldering, and ask questions". Asked questions as they popped up, and got some really great answers, so that emboldened me to go further.

      That's how I eventually (2 years later) found this community, the one were all the very smart electronics wizards hang out, and were there is very little BS !

      In my mind I can do the basics, and will take at least a couple of decades to "Catch up" (if ever), and it's a very rewarding thing fixing and modifying old electronics ! There is a sense that as long as there a parts available, you can keep tube stuff alive forever.
      Last edited by HaroldBrooks; 05-23-2019, 04:45 AM.
      " Things change, not always for the better. " - Leo_Gnardo

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      • #33
        You never stop learning, especially since technology is always advancing.

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        • #34
          Originally posted by Dave H View Post
          Or electric, I once opened the door and a neighbour was standing there holding a toaster. “I was told you work with electronics. Can you fix my toaster? It won't pop up” she said. I looked down the slots, there was about half a loaf of old breadcrumbs clogging it up so I opened the little flap on the bottom and shook them out. “There you go” She was delighted, said it worked a treat after that.
          Being the "local wizard" at the rehearsal studio & equipment rental depot here, even the multi-talented head of building maintenance comes over with his wife's hair dryer that stopped working. Having rescued a great hair dryer from the trash my roomate had thrown out decades ago because the switch had burned out, I just bypassed the switch, with everything else working, and it's still working, after re-wiring the cord a couple times, replacing the mains plug...........so sure, grabbed his wife's hair dyer, verified the switch was bad, bypassed it, now working fine at all settings, and just advised that it's on when you plug it in, and unplug it to turn it off, using the plug, not yanking the cord. Disregard the tiny flash when plugging/unplugging if the lights are dim.

          The $20 Hamilton Beach coffee maker is still running, after finding a suitable replacement power switch, and then finding the appropriate hi temp silicon rubber water tank hose that feeds the heater pipe. Five years now. Next, will, of course, be the thermal fuse in series with the heater. I got 8 years out of the last one, which finally melted down...then I tossed it, saving the pot of course. If ya can't cobble, what good are ya? Learned a lot from my Cal Tech Graduate dad, who had a work shop in the basement. I started with bicycles & an erector set.
          Logic is an organized way of going wrong with confidence

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          • #35
            Not knowing where you are exactly (no need to disclose), I had three guesses: Newburgh, Poughkeepsie, or Beacon...

            A while back I Goofle-Earthed Liberty Street. Found my first house that I have conscious memories of. 36 years ago, it DID have a roof... Took it to Mom, she confirmed. Even saw the building I lost one of my first birthday presents to: a water&air propelled rocket. My cousin did first launch, went right on the neighbor's roof. He tried to get it but the fire escape was so shoddy he didn't feel safe...

            Anyway, enough hijacking.

            Justin
            "Wow it's red! That doesn't look like the standard Marshall red. It's more like hooker lipstick/clown nose/poodle pecker red." - Chuck H. -
            "Of course that means playing **LOUD** , best but useless solution to modern sissy snowflake players." - J.M. Fahey -
            "All I ever managed to do with that amp was... kill small rodents within a 50 yard radius of my practice building." - Tone Meister -

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            • #36
              Long story short, in 98 I got a Prosonic. Got a schem from Fender along with all the tech notes, cuz it had the switch pop. BAD. So I tried my gand at fixing it - just a resistor or two...

              I was tired, messed up the job a bit. Called the tech guy. Told him exactly what I did & if he could just move it to the right tab on the jack for me. Sure, no problem, easy... Even left the service manual & schems in the back... 2 weeks later, a bill for $140 parts & labor.

              Maybe it's sour grapes on my part, but I felt that was a little excessive, given he didn't have to troubleshoot anything, or move a PCB connection. Less work than an input jack.

              So yeah, I felt bilked... Haven't been back since.

              Justin
              "Wow it's red! That doesn't look like the standard Marshall red. It's more like hooker lipstick/clown nose/poodle pecker red." - Chuck H. -
              "Of course that means playing **LOUD** , best but useless solution to modern sissy snowflake players." - J.M. Fahey -
              "All I ever managed to do with that amp was... kill small rodents within a 50 yard radius of my practice building." - Tone Meister -

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              • #37
                Originally posted by Justin Thomas View Post
                .....Even saw the building I lost one of my first birthday presents to: a water&air propelled rocket. My cousin did first launch, went right on the neighbor's roof. Justin
                Ah....those blue transparent plastic rockets ya pump up and let fly! THOSE WERE SOOOOO COOOL TO MESS WITH.....until they land in someone's back yard or on the roof. I hadn't thought on those for decades.
                Logic is an organized way of going wrong with confidence

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                • #38
                  Originally posted by Justin Thomas View Post
                  Not knowing where you are exactly (no need to disclose), I had three guesses: Newburgh, Poughkeepsie, or Beacon...
                  Somewheres in there, one of the smaller municipalities. And - rumor has it no less than Doug of Doug's Tubes is contemplating moving from Long Island to this area, maybe Highland/Lloyd right across the river from Poughkeepsie. If he does it will be a treat to have a high rep tube dealer within an hour's drive round trip. Won't that be good!

                  OK back to the topic at hand wizzards!
                  This isn't the future I signed up for.

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