Its brilliant finding some of Phil's older videos, guys fantastic, got into him late, so on catch up, but what a lovely guy, iv'e learned so much, he just makes it so interesting, he is so honest.
I tend to use alcohol for glue removal. 90% is better than 70% if you are trying to stick something to it afterwards. It has the benefit of not needing to clean oily residues off afterward!
When putting velcro on boss pedals I unscrew the base and put it back on upside down, so the velcro sticks to the metal plate and doesn't mess with the rubber.
That is a great tip. I never thought about that. I find that sometimes the velcro will come off when moving or taking it of board. Thanks for the advice.
This is a great video for someone who loves to hack but knows nothing about basic electonics. I recently came across your channel, and learned an amazing amount of information from it already. Thank you for making all this gear seem so simple.
I use a cable with the alligator clips to test guitar wiring. Attach the clips to a multimeter, plug into your guitar and you can ohm check your wiring. Love it.
Intead of of WD 40 user Naptha (lighter fluid) and common sense (eg no smoking and dispose of the rags appropriately). If you want to spend a little more GoofOff works even better. As a side tip Naptha is a great degreaser for guitars. I use it instead of polish on both nitro and poly finishes.
Never use an instrument cable (as shown) for speaker connections. The cable design and wire gauges are not correct for speaker loads. It can be done for quick testing, but not for regular use or extension. A lamp cord or power cord is a MUCH better choice. That same clock radio he shows in the yard sale bin has a 5 foot power cable. Cut that off and use the wire from that for speaker cables.
The outer part on the DC barrel type connector is POSITIVE on the typical Boss - like pedal power connectors! Most power supplies are NEGATIVE on the outside, so DOUBLE CHECK THAT!
You can also check a speaker by connecting the corresponding terminals to the positive and negative of a 9v battery. The speaker will jump out and stay there some the battery is still connected. At this point if there's any rips you should hear it flapping. If the speaker is still in the cabinet you can simply contact the battery positive to the tip of a speaker cable and the negative to the sleeve to get the same results.
I've been a DIYer for my 35 year career as a musician (the results of being dirt poor for the first 11 or so years of that). So I thought I already knew all the hacks. Phil, I gotta say that last one was pure genius. I don't know why that never occurred to me, but thank you. You keep making these because I'm sure that you have a few more of these hacks I've never seen or discovered on my own. My iron is heating while I write this as my half dead cable box and my booger box of electronic parts are contributing to the manufacture of about six of those test cables as Christmas gifts to fellow musicians/techie type friends.
Thank y0u Phill ! - I had t0 buy a delay pedal in a hurry as my 0ld 0ne packed up h0urs bef0re a gig . . I was s0 relieved t0 find 0ne within my buget ( m00er) that I didnt even realize at the time that I c0uld n0t use it f0r street perf0rmance . Happy n0w !.
I have been using WD40 to clean scratchy pots and switches for about 38 years and it has worked great and I have never had any adverse affects from it.
Just want to say thank you... followed your tutorial on the 9v battery clip, and rocked a one-off-type gig last weekend - powered my Caline Pure Sky into someone else's amp... worked too well... I threw my pedal, DIY power, and cables into the gtar case, and walked in and out with one case in my hand... Cheers.
You would do well to forget the term "ground." You are making a cable for a 9V battery. The red wire is positive, the black wire is negative. That's all you need to know. Ground is outside under the grass.
Ground is absolutely correct here. Referring to the negative of a battery as ground should be true for nearly all curcuits, except for those which require negative voltage and thus have positive as ground
as an owner of a soul food pedal (and other ehx pedals) that first "hack" is great! i always have batteries in my pedals even with the power source on my pedal board, but if that ever shorts, you dont need a screwdriver to get into the pedal. really great man!
Thanks for the alligator cable idea. By the way you can also use cooking oil to take off that sticky gonk from anything. It's also safe for guitar finishes.
Good tips, Phil. I learned a lot of that stuff when I was on the road. It can be a short learning curve when something falls apart or quits at a gig in the middle of nowhere, 1000 miles from home.
The "Make a Cable for a 9v" is great advice, THOUGH keep in mind if the battery is starting to run low, or it's a cheap 9v brand, it might have enough juice to light it, but not to activate the actual effects. Happened to me with a Joyo Time Magic Delay. Swapped for a trusty Duracell and all was well.
1:00 not sure exactly what you are saying. "Outter wire, copper colour, will be the ground. Inner wire will be the hot" On most electrical equipment this is the case for their power connector but on guitar pedals the power is center negative. outter positive. This is so they can use the switched terminal for battery connection that gets disconnected when PSU jack is inserted, to prevent the battery from Draining. So if someone tries to wire as you describe here they will be reversing the polarity.
Excellent hacks that can be done with items we already have. The 9v supply hack reminds me of an inexpensive item available for purchase that you showed us in a previous video.
that last one I'll have to do! can't tell you how many times I've wanted to check a pickup before installing it and I just solder it straight to an input jack, but this will be much easier. thanks!
Hey Phillip! I think a cool idea for a vide would be to go through iconic fender, marshall, two rock, peavey amps, specially for the new players that are looking for great tones to have references on great classic sounds and know which amps can deliver them
Hey Phillip just a heads up about that signal tester man, you can use a VERY similar setup to test the circuits of pedals and even tube amps but you heed a small capacitor inlinenwith the tip(pos) lead. 1-10 mocrofarad and at least 150v will work.
What about tip polarity, for most pedals this would need to be negative center... Dammit now, where do i get a premade one with neg center? How do i even search for one? I googled but they never state the polarity.
The first cable I think most people would use in the exact opposite way that you do, which would be to use an adapter to power a pedal that normally only take batteries.
Isopropyl alcohol is better for removing sticky stuff. If its only a light coating of sticky stuff you can use wipes from fast food outlets (they contain Iso)
I know it's been mentioned before, but just so people who didn't notice see... Make sure you use proper speaker cable if you're connecting a speaker to an amp, a guitar cable isn't built to support that kind of energy and could burn up or damage your equipment in other ways , the alligator clips are a great idea though, just make sure you're using the appropriate wire
Nobody is implying that you're gonna play the amp at full volume for 4 hours, just to see if a speaker works or not. But since people are concerned (and rightly so), use a weak, run-down 9v battery directly across the speaker terminals. You can also check the speaker's polarity at the same time. When you touch the battery to the speaker terminals, the speaker should move. You can make it move in the direction toward the audience, or flip the battery & move it in the opposite direction. If the speaker moves toward the crowd, the positive speaker terminal is the one connected to the positive terminal of the battery. Just don't use a fresh battery. Keep in mind, they don't always have the speaker terminals marked properly. Naturally, this is the most-useful when you drive more than one speaker. If the speaker is enclosed in a cab, well, now you have Phil's cool adapter cord to use, along with the half-dead test battery.
PSA: Do not put 9v batteries in the same place loose as small metal items such as Allen Keys. They have a chance to cause the battery to discharge via short circuit.
one of my hacks for boss pedals is that I take a flathead screwdriver and rip the rubber bottom off. Clean the glue off with some goo gone, slap on some velcro, and it's attached to the pedalboard/pedal way better than if you had the velcro attached to the rubber. Disclaimer: You either have to accept that this is your pedal now and you're not going to resell it, you're going to lose money on it, or I guess you could strategically glue the bottom back if you want
I actually have been using an old SEGA Genesis AC adapter to power my pedals. I believe it's the same (or very similar) specs that most pedal manufacturers use, and it's a lot cheaper than getting a new one.
Idea for a video! I have a combo amp that I love but the one 12" speaker isn't cutting it for me, you should do a video showing how to add a speaker output jack so I can connect my combo to a 2x12 or 4x12 instead. If it's possible
7:20 Colin (CSGuitar) said using guitar cable for connecting to speaker cable can damage the amp. Are you sure that the tester cable can be used that way?
Solomon Oh I am glad that someone mentioned that. And to everyone that reads this, please dont use this cable on speakers because it doesnt have the right impedance. Engineer talking..
When using a passive speaker that has no connection to anything other than the cable, amplifier damage would be unlikely at low volumes. The biggest risk would be if the speaker had a connection to ground or something else that was ground-referenced. Also, such a cable may make it easy to accidentally short the outputs. Many amplifiers will tolerate a shorted output at low volume, and some will "tolerate" one even at high volume (they may shut down, but would not otherwise be damaged) but some may be unforgiving. Another suggested use for a clip lead may be to test pickups. That wouldn't be useful on the road, perhaps, but could be useful around the shop if one does any guitar modding. Finally, with regard to the 9V battery hack, I'd suggest it may be worth considering using a 6AA battery holder rather than a 9V battery. Pedals that are designed for use with batteries will likely try to be at least somewhat power-efficient, and those which are designed for use with wall bricks might be efficient anyway. On the other hand, a set of 6AA cells may supply a high-current load for an order of magnitude longer than a 9V battery,. A pedal that draws 250mA and needs at least 7.2 volts would run for about 30 minutes on a Coppertop 9V, but 6 hours on 6 Coppertop AA cells.
Great video though mate, really handy. I knew the first one and have some but I'm gonna make that last testing cable as soon as I can mate. Nice one! :-)
Its brilliant finding some of Phil's older videos, guys fantastic, got into him late, so on catch up, but what a lovely guy, iv'e learned so much, he just makes it so interesting, he is so honest.
Some of the most helpful videos on the entire internet...hands down.
I tend to use alcohol for glue removal. 90% is better than 70% if you are trying to stick something to it afterwards. It has the benefit of not needing to clean oily residues off afterward!
If you want to remove glue from something that you can't use a petroleum solvent on, say a food container. A little vegetable oil will also work.
light fluid works fast and doesnt leave crap behind
When putting velcro on boss pedals I unscrew the base and put it back on upside down, so the velcro sticks to the metal plate and doesn't mess with the rubber.
That is a great tip. I never thought about that. I find that sometimes the velcro will come off when moving or taking it of board. Thanks for the advice.
pure genius !
Endless Nameless
But definitely not Clueless.
@@mojoden im making this reply because that is beautiful
This is a great video for someone who loves to hack but knows nothing about basic electonics. I recently came across your channel, and learned an amazing amount of information from it already. Thank you for making all this gear seem so simple.
i feel being into electric instruments is the finest balance between being into electronics and music!!
I use a cable with the alligator clips to test guitar wiring. Attach the clips to a multimeter, plug into your guitar and you can ohm check your wiring. Love it.
Intead of of WD 40 user Naptha (lighter fluid) and common sense (eg no smoking and dispose of the rags appropriately). If you want to spend a little more GoofOff works even better. As a side tip Naptha is a great degreaser for guitars. I use it instead of polish on both nitro and poly finishes.
Love the 9-volt battery hack! Pure genius.
Some of the boss pedals you can just unscrew the baseplate, flip it, and you have a nice shiny surface to attach pedal tape to.
you own a hair dryer?
Notice I didn't demo that part, I would have to borrow one. LOL
i was certainly just messin' with you. i enjoy your channel and will be ordering things from you soon!
LOL
With that answer I wouldn’t order anything
Never use an instrument cable (as shown) for speaker connections. The cable design and wire gauges are not correct for speaker loads. It can be done for quick testing, but not for regular use or extension. A lamp cord or power cord is a MUCH better choice. That same clock radio he shows in the yard sale bin has a 5 foot power cable. Cut that off and use the wire from that for speaker cables.
This is one of the best guitar channels in YT, good job Phil !
Most pedals will look for power from their drained internal battery unless the battery is disconnected,then it'll look to the power supply for power.
Whatever it is that has us Really liking Your Vids, don't change a thing. Perfect pace for talk/play. Great subjects.
The outer part on the DC barrel type connector is POSITIVE on the typical Boss - like pedal power connectors!
Most power supplies are NEGATIVE on the outside, so DOUBLE CHECK THAT!
About to say the same! Good catch.
Best guitar equipment testing vid on the web hands down! I'm putting a few of these together right now!
You can also check a speaker by connecting the corresponding terminals to the positive and negative of a 9v battery. The speaker will jump out and stay there some the battery is still connected. At this point if there's any rips you should hear it flapping. If the speaker is still in the cabinet you can simply contact the battery positive to the tip of a speaker cable and the negative to the sleeve to get the same results.
Phil you have outdone yourself. These are amazing.
Thanks Phillip! I always look forward to picking up something new in your videos. Glad it is going well! Keep them coming...
#1 can ruin your pedals if you're not careful. Not all pedals tolerate overvoltage or reverse polarity.
I've been a DIYer for my 35 year career as a musician (the results of being dirt poor for the first 11 or so years of that). So I thought I already knew all the hacks. Phil, I gotta say that last one was pure genius. I don't know why that never occurred to me, but thank you. You keep making these because I'm sure that you have a few more of these hacks I've never seen or discovered on my own.
My iron is heating while I write this as my half dead cable box and my booger box of electronic parts are contributing to the manufacture of about six of those test cables as Christmas gifts to fellow musicians/techie type friends.
Agreed, I hadn't thought of that one! Great job Phillip! :)
Phillip, you're the best! Thanks for all the hacks. Enjoy watching your videos.
Phil, thanks for doing a video just for your patrons crew. I support a few UA-cam guitar channels and nobody does anything for us like that.
Thank y0u Phill ! - I had t0 buy a delay pedal in a hurry as my 0ld 0ne packed up h0urs bef0re a gig . . I was s0 relieved t0 find 0ne within my buget ( m00er) that I didnt even realize at the time that I c0uld n0t use it f0r street perf0rmance . Happy n0w !.
I have been using WD40 to clean scratchy pots and switches for about 38 years and it has worked great and I have never had any adverse affects from it.
The alligator clip cable hack is so simple and I can't believe I didn't know that. This old dog learned a new trick! Thanks dood!
Just want to say thank you... followed your tutorial on the 9v battery clip, and rocked a one-off-type gig last weekend - powered my Caline Pure Sky into someone else's amp... worked too well... I threw my pedal, DIY power, and cables into the gtar case, and walked in and out with one case in my hand... Cheers.
You would do well to forget the term "ground." You are making a cable for a 9V battery. The red wire is positive, the black wire is negative. That's all you need to know. Ground is outside under the grass.
Ground is absolutely correct here. Referring to the negative of a battery as ground should be true for nearly all curcuits, except for those which require negative voltage and thus have positive as ground
That first hack is going to help me out soooo much with a mod I’m working on
as an owner of a soul food pedal (and other ehx pedals) that first "hack" is great! i always have batteries in my pedals even with the power source on my pedal board, but if that ever shorts, you dont need a screwdriver to get into the pedal. really great man!
Wait, Phil has a hair dryer?!?!?! I'm confused ;-)
This episode brought to you by manscaped.
I GOT PROBABLY 30-40 PHONE CHARGERS FROM BACK WHEN I WAS IN BUSINESS FOR MYSELF AND TONS OF THOSE 9V CLIP THINGS, THANX FOR THE TIPS PHIL
Thanks for the alligator cable idea.
By the way you can also use cooking oil to take off that sticky gonk from anything. It's also safe for guitar finishes.
Good tips, Phil. I learned a lot of that stuff when I was on the road. It can be a short learning curve when something falls apart or quits at a gig in the middle of nowhere, 1000 miles from home.
have to match the the transformer MA to pedal thats all great job
many guitar pedals have the center connector as the ground and the outer as the hot ........ check your polarity.
The "Make a Cable for a 9v" is great advice, THOUGH keep in mind if the battery is starting to run low, or it's a cheap 9v brand, it might have enough juice to light it, but not to activate the actual effects. Happened to me with a Joyo Time Magic Delay. Swapped for a trusty Duracell and all was well.
1:00 not sure exactly what you are saying.
"Outter wire, copper colour, will be the ground. Inner wire will be the hot"
On most electrical equipment this is the case for their power connector but on guitar pedals the power is center negative. outter positive. This is so they can use the switched terminal for battery connection that gets disconnected when PSU jack is inserted, to prevent the battery from Draining. So if someone tries to wire as you describe here they will be reversing the polarity.
your stuff is always spot-on dude
Seriously this is a great video, proper life hacks! Thanks Phil!
getting rid of glue gunk tip is one I've needed many times, thanks for the ideas.
Excellent hacks that can be done with items we already have. The 9v supply hack reminds me of an inexpensive item available for purchase that you showed us in a previous video.
that last one I'll have to do! can't tell you how many times I've wanted to check a pickup before installing it and I just solder it straight to an input jack, but this will be much easier. thanks!
Zippo lighter fluid is also fantastic to get glue off. no slick residue either.
You could use isopropyl alcohol instead of WD40, removes the goop and is meant to work with circuits.
Hey Phillip! I think a cool idea for a vide would be to go through iconic fender, marshall, two rock, peavey amps, specially for the new players that are looking for great tones to have references on great classic sounds and know which amps can deliver them
Hey Phillip just a heads up about that signal tester man, you can use a VERY similar setup to test the circuits of pedals and even tube amps but you heed a small capacitor inlinenwith the tip(pos) lead. 1-10 mocrofarad and at least 150v will work.
You deserve a few hundred thousand more subscribers you are literally so helpful. Thanks for all the tips Phil! can we call you phil?
Cool tricks bro.
What about tip polarity, for most pedals this would need to be negative center... Dammit now, where do i get a premade one with neg center? How do i even search for one? I googled but they never state the polarity.
The first cable I think most people would use in the exact opposite way that you do, which would be to use an adapter to power a pedal that normally only take batteries.
These are great hacks! Totally gonna make the 9V and alligator clip ones. Those will come in handy like crazy!
Isopropyl alcohol is better for removing sticky stuff. If its only a light coating of sticky stuff you can use wipes from fast food outlets (they contain Iso)
WD40 is "bad for electronics"?? Then why is it advertised as contact spray?
I've been doing that for years . I just wired a 2.1 mm jack to a battery clip directly . Didn't have to cut up any wires.
I know it's been mentioned before, but just so people who didn't notice see... Make sure you use proper speaker cable if you're connecting a speaker to an amp, a guitar cable isn't built to support that kind of energy and could burn up or damage your equipment in other ways , the alligator clips are a great idea though, just make sure you're using the appropriate wire
Excellent tips, thank you Phill
Another great video, thanks! Keep 'em coming!
Thanks for all the useful hacks!
Great video Phillip! Thanks for the tricks!
Any advice for getting rid off the radio station coming out of the amp (even with short cables)?
It's w"D" 40 old mate.
i like these videos. im new to guitar and i like knowing things.
Thanks for the video Phillip. Very helpful stuff.
You can get battery cap from old 9V batteries. Nice tricks btw. Love your channel.
That is really some great information. I hope to acquire some pedals and will keep that in mind about the Velcro.
Using your jack to test a speaker thats made from instrument cabel is risky. You could blow your tube amp if the cabel melts through
Nobody is implying that you're gonna play the amp at full volume for 4 hours, just to see if a speaker works or not. But since people are concerned (and rightly so), use a weak, run-down 9v battery directly across the speaker terminals. You can also check the speaker's polarity at the same time. When you touch the battery to the speaker terminals, the speaker should move. You can make it move in the direction toward the audience, or flip the battery & move it in the opposite direction. If the speaker moves toward the crowd, the positive speaker terminal is the one connected to the positive terminal of the battery. Just don't use a fresh battery. Keep in mind, they don't always have the speaker terminals marked properly. Naturally, this is the most-useful when you drive more than one speaker. If the speaker is enclosed in a cab, well, now you have Phil's cool adapter cord to use, along with the half-dead test battery.
Very helpful video. thx alot. Real good content as usual.
Imo you deserve way more subs. Load s of helpful stuff and i also dig the Fun facts a lot
The 9Volt battery hack is awesome
bery good video man, you deserve more views, i'm gonna share this stuff!
This is a brilliant idea, thanks! I'm off to make a few to take as back ups for gigs.
Very nice and informative, as usual.
Phillip, I love you, man. But I went to this link hoping for so much more. haha. You ALWAYS have great videos, though. Love your channel.
Can you explain polarity on pedals v. Imp. With 9 volt battery..
Great tips. I plan on using them. I love this channel!!!!!!!!!!
Excellent tips in this video. Good job, ...and thank you.
PSA:
Do not put 9v batteries in the same place loose as small metal items such as Allen Keys. They have a chance to cause the battery to discharge via short circuit.
Great tricks. Regards from Brazil.
Great video!! Thanks for the hacks. I love portable battery power supply.
one of my hacks for boss pedals is that I take a flathead screwdriver and rip the rubber bottom off. Clean the glue off with some goo gone, slap on some velcro, and it's attached to the pedalboard/pedal way better than if you had the velcro attached to the rubber.
Disclaimer: You either have to accept that this is your pedal now and you're not going to resell it, you're going to lose money on it, or I guess you could strategically glue the bottom back if you want
Great video Phil. I would like to see more like this. :)
Agh this is an awesome video!!! Thank you so much you rock!!❤️🌷
I actually have been using an old SEGA Genesis AC adapter to power my pedals. I believe it's the same (or very similar) specs that most pedal manufacturers use, and it's a lot cheaper than getting a new one.
This was very very helpful. thank you very much!
I checked the merchandise link but your shirts are too small need a 3x at least. They're cool shirts though. Love the videos keep'em coming!
Great hacks Phil!
Genius - thanks Phil!
i think this is awesome i honestly want more vids like this lol
Great cool video Phil, thanks.
All awesome Hacks!
It's a Malin Feral Cat. I got lucky when Phil moved his elbow out of the way.
Idea for a video! I have a combo amp that I love but the one 12" speaker isn't cutting it for me, you should do a video showing how to add a speaker output jack so I can connect my combo to a 2x12 or 4x12 instead. If it's possible
Hey Dude, i did not know this trick!! Thank you very much. I will make one of these.
7:20 Colin (CSGuitar) said using guitar cable for connecting to speaker cable can damage the amp. Are you sure that the tester cable can be used that way?
Solomon Oh I am glad that someone mentioned that. And to everyone that reads this, please dont use this cable on speakers because it doesnt have the right impedance.
Engineer talking..
I don't think there's much risk if it's just for testing at low volumes.
If you short the output transformer you can do some damage.
When using a passive speaker that has no connection to anything other than the cable, amplifier damage would be unlikely at low volumes. The biggest risk would be if the speaker had a connection to ground or something else that was ground-referenced. Also, such a cable may make it easy to accidentally short the outputs. Many amplifiers will tolerate a shorted output at low volume, and some will "tolerate" one even at high volume (they may shut down, but would not otherwise be damaged) but some may be unforgiving.
Another suggested use for a clip lead may be to test pickups. That wouldn't be useful on the road, perhaps, but could be useful around the shop if one does any guitar modding.
Finally, with regard to the 9V battery hack, I'd suggest it may be worth considering using a 6AA battery holder rather than a 9V battery. Pedals that are designed for use with batteries will likely try to be at least somewhat power-efficient, and those which are designed for use with wall bricks might be efficient anyway. On the other hand, a set of 6AA cells may supply a high-current load for an order of magnitude longer than a 9V battery,. A pedal that draws 250mA and needs at least 7.2 volts would run for about 30 minutes on a Coppertop 9V, but 6 hours on 6 Coppertop AA cells.
I had the same question. Don't think you should run a lot of ohms through this - probably not good for the amp.
Please don't connect a speaker to an amp with that Alligator Clip cable.
Why not? My speakers are wired to a 1/4 inch jack with speaker zip cord. Works for me.
This is next level McGuyver shit ... Love it
I love your videos Philip, helped me so much with guitar!!! :)
Great video though mate, really handy. I knew the first one and have some but I'm gonna make that last testing cable as soon as I can mate. Nice one! :-)