HyperSonic Audio

A poor (now former) college student and musician who finds time to tinker with gear.

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Had some fun outside with the Tele Deluxe and pedalboard today!

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Decided in the middle of changing strings on the old Strat that I'd give her a nice fret polish to keep her looking pretty. Now I'm wondering if I've got enough tape laying around to do the rest of my guitars. The answer: Yes I do.

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Double new pedal day! Commence face melting!

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Haven't had many projects lately, but I did finally buy a strap and pickup system for the mandolin. Had to drill a larger hole for the endpin jack and then all was well. Should have a hard case coming for it and a new pedal day coming tomorrow as well! I'm itching for another guitar project, and I'm thinking I own too few offsets (i.e. 0), so a Jazzmaster should be just the thing I need to "offset" my collection. 😑

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When you've got more Snarks lying around than bag clips.

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Trying out the Chandler ClearFuse plugs and Spectra2 cable to wire up the board. I was tired of having cables that were too long. Two kits was exactly enough connectors to do the whole board, and I've got plenty of cable left over if I ever need to redo any cables. They've been very easy to put together, and not a single bad connection so far. Very small plugs help with tightening everything up as well. Rearranged a few things since the last pic, and I also swapped out the 9V DC jack on the Black '65 because the stock one stuck out too far. I'm not a fan of the DC jacks where the nut threads on from the outside for this reason, and it also looks tackier IMO. More pics after its all finished up!

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Made some changes to the board since the last post, and brought the board home from the practice space tonight for more changes. I bought an H9 Max which has been amazing and I don't see it going anywhere, in fact I'm adding an expression pedal just for further control. The Haymaker is practically always on; I just love what it does to my sound and gets me that edge of breakup clean sound that I can't get enough of. The Black '65 is new and still finding its place. The RAT is just being a RAT and devouring everything. The Strymons are awesome and the trem on the Flint is my favorite thing ever, to the point my band mates give me strange looks now because I turn it on for songs that don't even need it. Playing around with the DIP switches on the SL Drive to find its place on the board, but for now the RAT is as dirty as I need things. Might use the SL as a cleaner boost if I can tweak it to do so. Can't wait to wire things back up and really excited about the expression on the H9, since I loved it with my Pitchfactor. Might look into getting a full size volume pedal as well :D

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"Chip Comes Alive" is now in full swing!

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All the parts are in for the Aria Les Paul project, so it's finally time to finish off the wiring and string it up!

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Wiring the switch to the Les Paul project and listening to Dawes. My kind of night.

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The 1980 Aria Pro II Les Paul project is underway! The first order of parts came in: Grover Rotomatic locking tuners, Switchcraft switch, CTS pots, some knob indicators, Dunlop strap locks, 50ft of the braided shielded wire that Gibson uses, and all the various gold screws that will be needed. Now I just need to order pickups, the ABR-1 and tailpiece, truss rod cover, and gold speed knobs. Pickups will be a Gibson 57 in the neck, 500T middle, and 57+ in the bridge. Control configuration will be 3 volumes and a master tone with a 3-way switch. The middle pickup will be always on, but blended in with its volume knob. The only bad thing I've found on the guitar is the binding on its hind quarters. The clear coat cracked around the binding on the back and the binding is just crumbling apart. I've already scraped some of it away where the guitar would rest on my leg. Eventually I'll have to replace that outside strip of binding and re-clear the back, but luckily that's the extent of the damage. Not bad for a 36 year old guitar!

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They're finally all together in one place. The Wall of Fender can resolve all your queries concerning the ever elusive...toan.

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We lost a member of the family today. But where there is death, there is life. In actuality, no one died, but I did trade the Mesa Express 5:50 for a Fender SuperSonic 60W head. The Wall of Fender grows mightier! Big brother ToneMaster is at the band practice space, but he is here in spirit. I also might have stumbled upon one of the nicest clean sounds I've ever heard in the SuperSonic's Vibrolux setting on the vintage channel.

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Just bought a new project guitar that will be in the works shortly. Hint: Chip Comes Alive!

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More board shots, plus some artsy bokeh stuff that I know you weirdos rub your nipples to  :|

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Well now I'm just making stuff up. At least I think I am, but I'm probably subconsciously ripping something off. In any case, I'm making it up as I go, so don't hurt my feelings. Haymaker into El Cap. I think the Haymaker is going to get a lot of use on this board.

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Having fun with the new board. Forgive my rustiness with the Band of Horses tune. Haymaker into DD-500 and El Cap just because I can.