A Comfortable Driver is a Safe Driver

I was given a book called "Motor Driving Made Easy" today and I thought I'd share some of the most charming illustrations. It was first published in 1919 by Iliffe and the edition I have is the ninth edition; published in 1946. The seventh and eighth editions came with a "wartime supplement" which would be nice to see. Here are some photographs:

Top albums of 2009

Shamefully I feel the need to produce a top of 2009 list on New Year's Day. It's seemed like a good year for music and it's spawned plenty of albums that I'll listen to again and again. In no particular order:

Converge - Axe to Fall

mewithoutYou - it's all crazy, it's all false, it's all a dream, it's Alright!

Dinosaur Jr. - Farm

Sunn O))) - Monoliths and Dimensions

Regina Spektor - Far 

Khanate - Clean Hands Go Foul

Archives - Decline

Isis - Wavering Radiant

Pelican - Ephemeral

Tortoise - Beacons of Ancestorship

The Humble Hoax - When Groves Were Temples

Happy New Year. Adam.

DIYstompboxes.com NPN Booster

I've been quiet on the blogging front and that isn't a reflection on whether or not I've seen any good films, read any good books, listened to any good albums, played any good guitars (quite the contrary) but rather a reflection on my level of enthusiasm towards blogging. Anyway, a new post is overdue and I've recently built the diystompboxes.com NPN Boost pedal in an effort to show how easy it is to get started with pedal building to the pedal-obsessed folks at afterthepostrock.com. Here are a few photos I have taken along the way along with my parts lists, the diystompboxes.com schematic and the layout I used.

The original schematic from diystompboxes.com

My, ever so slightly edited schematic with the 10k resistor from the 9v to the collector changed to a 5k resistor to better accommodate a change in the transistor from a 2n3904 to a 2n2222a.

Caps:
.1uF
10uF electrolytic
22uF electrolytic
47uF electrolytic

Resistors
2x100K
5K
10K
47K
5K Linear Potentiometer

Transistor:
2n2222a

and the obvious...

DPDT switch
Battery snap
Mono Jack
Stereo Jack

Parts list, add a 100k lin pot and a 10nF cap for the tone control.


My first rough and scruffy build straight from the edited schematic.

I then made a layout for a more compact, neater layout with the potentiometer mounted onto the board and decided to add a simple les paul style tone control to allow a bit of attenuation of the highs.

The layout I made up using a great, free tool from Storm Software. There are some breaks in the board that aren't visible on the layout these beneath C1, C3 and R3.


The version with the panel mounted potentiometer.


The finished pedal with neater wiring and tone knob. For the tone knob I used a 10nF cap but it's worth playing around with different values to see what you like. It doesn't make a huge difference to the sound but it's noticeable, easy and useful.

This was a fun build and the end result sounds GREAT. I'm using it to drive my little Vox combo into overdrive at home and it's been worth the effort. You can find everything you need to build the original here

Yamaha RGX A2

I've started doing some guitar repair work so I'm going to be doing some non-Harmony Central format reviews of the guitars that work on. I have just finished replacing the cylindrical style jack and sorting out one of the recessed knobs on a Yamaha RGX A2 and I'll talk about that guitar for a while.

Launched in 2006 the RGX A2 is Yamaha's attempt to create an innovative and futuristic guitar that "shatters the concept" of conventional guitar building listing their Alternative Internal Resonance system (A.I.R. for short), an LED pickup selection indicator and the bizarre choice of a cylindrical output jack that only Yamaha and Ibanez appear to employ in their guitars.

A.I.R. is a system used only in the RGX A2 and it's bass counterpart, the RBX4 A2, that claims to increase the resonance of lightweight guitars by spreading vibrations throughout the whole body of the guitar using "sound tubes". The absence of the system in any Yamaha guitars since the RGX and RBX suggests that the so-called "tonal revolution" of A.I.R. failed to spread to the consumer. After a while of playing the guitar it's easy to see why; you don't notice it. The RGX makes the same tonal sacrifice of other very lightweight guitars and A.I.R. makes little difference to that. I was not aware that the guitar used a design different to conventional guitar designs until I looked up the specifications on the internet so it appears to be no more than a marketing gimmick.

The other supposedly innovative feature of the RGX A2, the LED pickup selection indicator, is made essential by the inclusion of a 3-way rotary switch as the method of pickup selection. Although the LEDs are an attractive feature (see picture) their purpose ends there. The rotary switch is made fiddly by the stylishly recessed knobs and the guitar would be served better by a simple Les Paul style toggle switch.

Despite the gimmicks this guitar plays reasonably well and compares favourably to other Yamaha guitars in the price range (about £300 new), although it's nothing to rave about, it's a decent guitar. The £300 RRP puts it perilously close to the cheaper MIM Fender Strats and some of the better Epiphone Les Pauls, one a lighter weight and brighter guitar, the other a heavier and more tonally sound guitar than the Yamaha RGX A2. The RGX A2 is a compromise that is not strictly necessary and it's pseudo-futuristic gimmicks don't save it from being a less than sensational piece of kit.

Tortoise

Beacons of Ancestorship
"Post-everything" legends Tortoise have been quiet in recent years, their last release being a collaboration with the ceaselessly prolific Bonnie 'Prince' Billy. After 3 years in exile Tortoise are back with a new album entitled 'Beacons of Ancestorship'.

As the last notes of the dancy, angular 'High Class Jim Came Floatin' In' make way for the more familiar and jazz infused sound of 'Prepare Your Coffin' it is clear that the new Tortoise record is going to make for a diverse and captivating listen.

Beacons of Ancestorship is littered with glitchy electronic passages that wouldn't sound out of place on an Aphex Twin album but the songs also elaborate on the sound pursued by Tortoise on previous ventures. Effortless shifts in time and tempo flaunt the proficiency of the band as musicians without allowed the complexity to affect the fluid feel of their songs (a problem encountered by many of their imitators).

The Variety of musical styles detailed within the album is aweinspiring. From the frantic noise-rock of 'Yinxianghechengqi' to the twisted electronica of 'Monument Six One Thousand', Tortoise cover all the bases and do so with not only breath-taking quality but also a finely tuned sense of humour. 8.5/10