Alexis Drosopoulos

I've been waiting for a couple of months to share this, but here's something interesting I designed late last year. When you work on electric guitars one thing you must be able to determine is the magnet polarity of pickups. This becomes particularly useful when you want to combine pickups from different manufacturers or you're experiencing out of phase issues with a guitar you're working on. There are a few ways to determine the magnet polarity of pickups. Two commonly used methods are a) using an analog compass or b) using a magnet with a known polarity and placing it above the pickup and see which side of the magnet gets attracted to the pole piece. Although these are two perfectly fine methods I'm not really a huge fan of either of them. So, I decided to make something that I wanted to use myself. Here's what I came up with. It uses a latching magnetic sensor so you can easily see via the two LEDs the magnet polarity and it's powered using 2×CR2032 batteries with an on/off slide switch. That's pretty much it. It's simple, but it works great and above all, it's something I'd use myself. That being said, if you want one too they'll be available for 18.5€ + shipping. Batteries are not included. Please contact me at [email protected] for more info! Check the second slide for a short demo of it being used on my Sire S7 Vintage. #adrpedals #diypedals #guitarpedals #guitarpedal #guitareffects #effectspedals #pedalbuilder #guitarpickups #guitartech #guitarwiring #guitarrepair

A few months ago Miguel told me about an idea he had. He asked whether it was possible to take the Greasebucket tone circuit from Fender and make it adjustable just like I did with my "Up to 11" treble bleed PCB. As you can see the answer was that of course it is. This PCB takes the Greasebucket circuit and with the addition of a DIP switch you can select between a 22nF, a 47nF capacitor and a third value which Miguel specifically asked me to include. Let's call it the "Balam" value. I'll let Miguel tell you more about that third capacitor value that he likes so much if he chooses to. And for those who might be guessing, no it's not 56 or 82 nF. That's why I called it the "Balam" value. It's unexpected, but according to Miguel it gives a different character to your tone pot. The Greasebucket tone circuit is different than the normal single capacitor passive low-pass filter that most guitars have. This is a band-pass filter meaning that it affects both the low and the high frequencies of your guitar. It's a much more flexible tone circuit that allows the player to have a better control over the tone of the guitar. These are sold by Miguel in Mexico and if anyone's interested in purchasing one in the States or in Europe, let me know. Price is 13€ + shipping. There's something called "Principle of Simplicity" which is Einstein's statement that everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler. Having just a DIP switch, which on the other hand has a huge impact on how the circuit works is my approach to that statement. It's elegant, yet provides huge flexibility for the player. 3 solder pads for the pot lugs and one for ground and the installation couldn't be simpler. It can be attached on the back of the pot using some double sided adhesive tape. These photos were taken by Miguel. He's really down to earth (pun intended) when it comes to his photography skills, but these boards look great! *Disclaimer : I don't own the rights to the name "Greasebucket". That's a registered Fender trademark.* #adrpedals #diypedals #guitarpedals #guitarpedal #guitareffects #effectspedals #pedalbuilder #guitarwiring #guitarsetup #guitargear #balamworkshop

Given that Doug @guitarspecialistinc already made a post about my little creation, it's only fitting that I make one as well. If you've seen Doug's post from yesterday, then you should have a pretty good idea as to what this small PCB is. For those of you that don't, here is how I describe it in my instructions. <quote> I call this small PCB “Up to 11”, because it exceeds the limits of all commercially available treble bleeds. It may be an overkill, but it can do it all. Capacitor in parallel, Duncan or Kinman all selectable via a switch. Not only that, but if you decide that you no longer want it in your audio path, you can simply just switch it off without having to desolder it. It has a 5 position DIP switch, which is used to select different treble bleed configurations as well as a 100KΩ linear trimpot for fine adjustments. The trimpot lets you increase the parallel resistor value from 100KΩ to 200KΩ as you turn it clockwise. The capacitor values are meticulously chosen to give you the most popular combinations for both single coil and humbucker pickups. Decreasing your volume shouldn’t affect the tonal characteristics of your guitar and with this treble bleed you can make sure of it. </quote> It's one of those things that fit in the "necessity is the mother of invention" category. It's something that I designed, because I needed it. Yet, it seems that people are showing a keen interest in it. If it's something you like and you want to purchase, please send me an email. Check the link in my bio for it. It's 20€ with free untracked shipping in the USA. For shipping prices anywhere else, please contact me via an email. If you're in the USA please contact Chad @cwinnstrings . You can find the instructions for it in my bio #adrpedals #diypedals #guitarpedals #guitarpedal #guitareffects #effectspedals #pedalbuilder #guitartech #guitarsetup #guitarwiring #guitarelectronics #guitartechworks #treblebleed #treblebleedmod

Some players have similar taste! ÆTHER WIZΔRD COILS (GLOW) @adrpedals @gilbert6567 @guitartradingmofo ΔGW

Swapping the stock pots for some really nice CTS pots for this beautiful Ibanez that belongs to my buddy @thodoris.digas . The stock pots have an 8mm shaft diameter and the new US spec pots have a 9.5mm shaft so the potentiometer holes of the body had to be enlarged, to fit the new shaft. In my opinion, there are many ways to accomplish that, but only one correct and that is to use a reamer. Using a reamer is safer and there's no risk of chipping the paint. The "before" was actually pretty decent and better than most factory wirings that come to my bench, but I always try to make them even better. I gave the pot casing what I call the @padalkaguitars treatment, by polishing the back of the casing and making sure the solder will have a clean surface to adhere to. I also shortened some wires and replaced the old ceramic treble bleed capacitor with an MLCC of the same value. Make sure you check Thodoris and his band @wearereversed at their upcoming live shows! #adrpedals #diypedals #guitartech #guitarwiring #guitarrepair

PART III Here's the third and last post regarding the overhaul of the Squier Strat. New stainless steel saddles, to replace the stock zinc ones and a heavy new brass trem block. I'm sure my buddy Chad @cwinnstrings approves of this mod. If you pay close attention to the photos from my last post showcasing the wiring I did, you'll see the new saddles and the gold brass color of the trem block picking through the hole for the trem arm. This staggering 195% increase in weight, from 92g to 271g, will help significantly with sustain and harmonics. The last thing I did as far as the tremolo, or vibrato to be correct, is replacing the stock trem springs with some high tension silent ones from @g_gotoh510 . This ensures that the trem will always come back to equilibrium even after the most intense use. I don't know if this could be considered a mod, but I replaced the stock cheap plastic washers that Squier use for the strap pins with some nice white felt ones. In the last four photos you can see the new hand made bone nut I made for this guitar, the new 1:18 locking tuners from @guykerofficial , as well as the new RG30 string retainers from @g_gotoh510 . These mods, combined with the mods I did to the trem unit also will help tremendously with tuning stability. One thing I didn't cover in the photos, but is a must when it comes to making any guitar play as good as it can is the LCP (level, crown, polish) that is the final thing before the setup that this guitar had. In the final photo, you can see the end result. I honestly couldn't be more proud of how this whole project turned out. I won't hit you with a clickbait title like "THIS GUITAR PLAYS LIKE A 1500$ STRAT", but the pickups sound nice, it intonates perfectly and it holds tune great. As always, a huge thanks to @rigged_guitar_workshop for the lovely neck rest he made me! #adrpedals #guitarpickups #guitartech #guitarwiring #guitarrepair

PART II I know I said this post will cover the electronics, but I also made a cable for my buddy and it was too good looking to leave it out. Now, let's focus on the actual electronics. The goal here was to make an improvement over the stock pickups and components, but still keep it on some kind of budget. For the pickups, I used some really nice Fleor Alnico SSH pickups, with the single coils measuring around 6k and the Humbucker at 13.5k. I won't go down the slippery slope of comparing them to much more expensive pickups, but for the money I have zero complaints. They sound really nice and definitely much better than the stock ceramic pups in my opinion. The first volume and tone pots are 16mm Alphas and the second tone pot is one of the pots that already came with the guitar, since I was out of 500k pots and this was working just fine. The pickup selector is also a new Alpha and although people usually diss on these switches, I've never had any issues with them. Yeah, they're not as smooth as Schaller, but they also cost 5 times less. Each to their own. The cap is a 47nF Cornell-Dubilier film cap. It doesn't get much better than this. I don't have a photo of the output jack so you'll have to take my word for it, but I used a Switchcraft SC-11. So far everything is pretty standard. Now for the mods, a) I added two 510k resistors for the single coils, in order to get the 250k pot value that I wanted for singles, b) I added a toggle switch that splits the Humbucker and c) I added one of my Up to 11 treble bleed PCBs for that perfect frequency response even with the volume turned down. Lastly, I painted the cavity using shielding paint and I added copper tape to the pickguard to minimize any electrical noise. This and the use of shielded cable for the output signal made the guitar pretty much noiseless. The next one will cover the rest of the mods I did to this beautiful Squier strat including a new bone nut, but I won't spoil the rest. If you pay close attention to the photos, you may find an Easter egg or two. #adrpedals #guitarpickups #guitartech #guitarwiring #guitarrepair

Celo 5 electronics by @adrpedals

Shout-out to @loudsilence.band and @godsleepofficial for an incredible live show yesterday. I highly recommend checking their work, especially if someone's a fan of heavy stuff! #adrpedals

PART I This is a project I've been wanting to do for quite some time and when my best friend, that I've known since I was 6 years old, told me he's interested in starting playing the electric guitar I immediately jumped on the opportunity. My goal here is taking a relatively cheap stock Squier strat and turning it into a proper partscaster. In the next 3 post, I'll try to cover the work I did to the guitar to make it play and sound like a much more expensive guitar. The first issue with the guitar and one of the most common and overlooked issues I find with cheaper priced instruments is that the neck screws don't actually clear the holes of the body, but actually thread into them. This is a big no no when you're trying to press two surfaces together and create the best body to neck connection possible. A deeper explanation can be found in a great video that @slight_return posted on YouTube a while back. Lastly I put a slight chamfer at both the neck holes and the body holes. This ensures there isn't any wood fibers protruding thus again, improving the body to neck connection. In the next post I'll cover all the work I did to the electronics of the guitar. After all, this my area of expertise and the heart of an electric instrument! #adrpedals #guitarpedals #guitareffects #guitartech #guitarrepair

I haven't posted in a while, so here are a couple of pedal related jobs I did during my social posting absence. The first pedal you see is built around the Empyrean PCB from @aionfx and it was commissioned by my buddy @spurossiannas . The project has excellent documentation and building it was really a breeze. The PCB was designed for through hole ICs and finding a through hole version of an MC33178 op-amp is pretty much impossible today. Thankfully, it's easy to design an SOIC to DIP adapter, so I was able to use the SMD version of that op-amp and get the sound of the pedal as close as the original. The second pedal is a USA made ProCo Rat that belongs to @phildiamondmusic . It came to me with a faulty footswitch and since I'm a sucker for modding pedals I also swapped the power jack for a standard BOSS style DC jack and instead of a DPDT footswitch that the pedal originally came with, I replaced it with a 3PDT and I also added a power indication LED. #adrpedals #diypedals #guitarpedals #guitarpedal #guitareffects

Final prep for the @high.desert.luthiery using my @adrpedals polarity checker (I love this little tool 🖤)! Two Henry’s, Two Rosa’s, one 1969 period correct set. I can’t wait to get to NM and meet with everyone at the show. I am going to be making a big push to get everything ready and packed up. I am ready for some green chili 🌶️ (only let me pick this red guy)