More guitar nerdity

I bought a cheap guitar on Craigslist and started swapping out the electronics. Initially I ordered regular sized pots to replace the old ones, but when I tried to pre-fit them before wiring them, I noticed the control holes were so close to the cavity edge that one would need mini pots. So I ordered some mini pots. Last night I checked to see if they were the right diameter and sure enough they were, so I made a little cardboard wiring harness and started soldering.



After about a half an hour, everything was wired and I plugged it in to test - and everything sounded great!

So I proceeded to insert the pots through the control holes.... and..... the shafts were too short! Aaargh!! Here's the old long shaft pot and the new short shaft.



Now I gotta desolder everything and just try using the old pots. Oh well, lesson learned - even though you measure twice and cut once, sometimes you gotta measure all dimensions, even the not so obvious ones!!

Here's the guitar prior to the pickup swap (notice it's red but it's different from the one in my previous post):

On the work table (Strat)

Here is a I guitar I made this weekend to use up all the spare parts I had lying around my music room. The spare parts I had were: 1) a Mighty Mite maple Strat neck; 2) some really old Music Man tuners; 3) a pair of Gibson burstbuckers that someone gave me after I wired up his Duncans in his Les Paul; and 4) an old white Strat pickguard.

To make the guitar complete, I picked up a Strat body with a Floyd Rose on eBay for $79. Peeking in the neck pocket it appears to be a nice solid piece of wood and by the weight I'm guessing alder. I also had to buy a set of bushing adapters for the tuners (these were the smaller diameter tuners and the neck was drilled for bigger tuners), and a Gotoh locking nut on eBay. I mistakenly bought a lock nut without the cutout on the bottom for the truss rod, so I had to buy another one. Damn, now I have an extra locknut..... I guess I gotta start another project. Finally I had an extra 500k pot from the guitar I'm fixing up for my niece-in-law, so I used that as well.

Here's the guitar on the workdesk:



Here it is all put together:



A couple of issues - I need to work on the nut shelf a little more. I routed it by hand, but it could be a little lower. I also need to adjust the intonation. But the wiring is perfect and it sounds killer. I may scallop the fretboard. I thought of doing an EVH paintjob, but since the Floyd is recessed and there's a neck humbucker, it ruins the authenticity. On the other hand, since EVH now plays with a recessed Floyd and a neck humbucker, this could be a hybrid of sorts. Yes, I am a guitar nerd.

I like the ghetto looks. I'm sure it would look "nicer" with a pickguard, but that's not what I'm going for. I'm going for the EVH just put it together and play it vibe.

Also, that white stuff around the pickups are paper towels. I stuffed em in there to stabilize the pickups since I haven't mounted them yet. Direct mounting pickups is tricky. When they're mounted to a mounting ring, you want to make sure the screws are attached to the bracket. But direct mounted, you have to ream out the holes so it moves freely (a foam pad underneath the pickup will push it up). I'm not 100% convinced that I want to destroy the threading in the pickups for this project, so right now they are temporarily mounted. Once I work on the nut and can make this a killer player, I will also commit to the pickups.

Oh yeah, and the pickguard is black because of duct tape. For me, two humbuckers, a volume control and a pickup selector are all I need. These buckers were easy to install because they're the single conductor type with the braided shielding.

All in all, a really great guitar and a relatively cheap way to use up all my spare parts.

Hoku's

We went to Hoku's tonight as a belated Valentine's dinner (we don't like to go out on the actual night - too crowded!)

We love Hoku's but we haven't been there in awhile. Partly because they stopped serving lunch.

(note: I took these pics with my new camera phone so the resolution isn't as great as my point-and-shoot)

I love the ahi dip and ciabatta rolls that come out nice and warm.



Next they brought out more complimentary stuff - this was a cracker with baba ganoush.



We ordered an "innovative" sashimi platter as an appetizer. The platter had hamachi with avocado and grapefruit, ahi tataki with jalapeno and yuzu, hirame with pickled onions and apples, and salmon gravlax with soy almonds and fried chiso.



I love how they do a simple 'nalo greens with heirloom tomatoes, hearts of palm, persimmons and a balsamic dressing that's really light.



For our main entree we had a Kilauea salt rubbed prime rib eye (for 2), carved tableside and served with potato risotto, roasted beets and a red wine sauce.



Dessert was the coco loco, which was milk chocolate mousse, haupia cream in coconut sponge, and coconut-macadamia gelato.



Finally, they brought out three complimentary truffle lollipops.



Yum! Wish we could afford to eat there more often!!

Roast duck whole wheat pizza

Nam Fong is a popular shop in Chinatown that sells cooked meats like roast duck, char siu, roast pork, etc. Yesterday we walked into Chinatown, so I stopped at Nam Fong and picked up some duck to make pizza. I also picked up some green onions and plum sauce.

First I made the whole wheat crust, which was Mitch's Pizza Dough Recipe, halved and substituting whole wheat flour for white flour. While the pizza stone was heating, I let the dough rise and mixed together some hoisin and plum sauce. Then I deboned the duck and sliced it into small pieces. After precooking the crust for two minutes, I covered the crust with sauce. Normally I would precook the crust for only a minute, but because the hoisin/plum sauce has so much sugar, I didn't want it to burn. So because I'd have to cook the topped pizza shorter, I wanted to make sure the crust was crispy by precooking it a tad longer. Next I added the duck and covered it with shredded mozzarella. After I took it out, I topped with sliced green onions.

L said that the wheat crust really didn't taste much different from the white ones I usually make.

Pancit and Pork Guisantes

Today we had a lunchtime party for my wife's family (I really don't like saying "wife's family" because I really feel like a part of the family as well). I made pancit and pork guistantes.

Since we thought of lunch today as a memorial luncheon for my mother-in-law (who passed away 10 years ago) I made her special dish - pork guisantes. In recent years I modified her recipe to add carrots, potatoes and bell peppers, which made it into a dish that L's aunty really liked. L's aunty passed away just before Christmas, and we attended her funeral yesterday. L's uncle and kids came to lunch today, so I feel like the dish had a lot of meaning.



I also made a pancit with bihon and canton noodles. I even had the kalamansi for it!

Surprise birthday party for Mom

We had a surprise birthday party for my Mom last night. My mom invited everyone over to her house for Chinese New Year dinner, and after dinner she went into the room to wake up my daughter (it was like her napping was part of the plan!). It was the perfect time to sneak the cake out. Mom came out and we were all standing around the cake, singing the opening lines of Happy Birthday. She was so surprised!!

The cake was made by Dee-lite Bakery on Dillingham. The picture is one of Mom running away with a chair because she didn't want anyone else to sit on it.

Dad took the picture and scanned it at work, but it was left in the scanner. Mom saw the picture in the scanner and asked why it was there. A web of lies ensued, and (we think) Mom was none the wiser.

My son's sketches of me

Here's a sketch of me he did a few years ago:



Here's a sketch he did last year of the singer singing on one of my recordings (little did he know it was me):

Cinderella made it home before midnight!!

S ran in her Grand Am today. She was all smiles as she ran, and fortunately her pumpkin didn't fall apart!!! Whew! I was ALL ready with the tape and the scissors.

Slippin Away at Gordon Biersch

Another tune from our Saturday night gig at Gordon Biersch. My favorite song of all of our originals.

Pumkin carriage..... racecar......

I finished S's pumpkin carriage for the Grand Am at preschool. It's a bit of a hybrid carriage / car, though, with the license plate and bumpers. What was hard about this project was trying to make it kid proof - a lot of time went into stabilizing it so that the kids won't destroy it. I AM a little concerned about the wheels though - they might fall off. When I made E's car several years ago, one of the wheels fell off during the race, but he still won!

I sprayed some pearlescent coat over it and added some sparkles, but they came out uneven. I used a guitar strap for the strap that supports the carriage around her neck.

Another Movie at Gordon Biersch

My band, the Desert Sea, at Gordon Biersch 1-17-09

Played a set at Gordon Biersch tonight

Unfortunately, the only pics I have are stills from my video camera and they're pretty blurry (I'm the blur on the right). I'll post the videos later when I create them.

The gig went fairly well. We haven't played together in quite some time, but I think we played the songs pretty solidly. And most of all, it was fun.

I also haven't played Gordon Biersch in about 10 years. The stage is now a lot nicer, and the sound is great. We actually got a sound man!

Da Poke Stop

After several years, we finally have a restaurant nearby other than McDonalds. It's Da Poke Stop, and we ate there last night. L had the fried moi with brown rice and salad:



I had the Sous Chef Special, which is kal bi, garlic fish and poke with brown rice and potato salad:



And the kids split a bento which had kal bi, hot dog, fish and fried chicken wings with kim chee:



It was really good! Soon there will be a ramen shop and a chinese restaurant in the same strip mall.

Marshmallow fondant

I tried making marshmallow fondant to make E's birthday cake, but I didn't have enough powdered sugar, so it wasn't firm enough. I had to use it more like firm frosting. Fortunately with some refrigeration, the fondant became firmer on the cake, but not before it melted a little bit. Oh well, at least it wasn't really for lack of following instructions - I was just too busy to go back out to the store.

Home today

Near hurricane-speed winds were predicted today. At 4:30 yesterday it was announced that all public schools would be closed. When I picked up S, they told me that preschool would be closed too. When I got home, there was an announcement that all non-essential State workers should stay home.

This morning the high speed wind warning was called off, and you can see from the picture above that it's really not very windy at all! Yay! Free day!!

The last thing that was wrapped this Christmas

I wrapped up the last part of the artificial Christmas tree in kitchen wrap this morning. That kitchen wrap stuff is excellent - I also wrap my suitcases in it to store in the garage!

The breakfast of champions

Sorry KitchenForager, the Spam Musubi is the Breakfast of Champions. Alternatively, it's the Breakfast of High Cholesterolians, or the Goodie Bag Snack of AYSO Kids, or the Lunch of Kids Whose Parents Gotta Pack Home Lunch Super Fast.

This morning, it was Breakfast of My Kids (and me). And Dad's always a Champion when he makes this for breakfast.

Grand Am, Part II

I did more work on the Cinderella pumpkin carriage today. I started on the base, which has quite a bit of reinforcing.



Then I painted it white.


Finally, here's the pumpkin part on the base. It's still pretty lightweight - I'd say maybe 2 pounds.



Next comes the decorating so that it doesn't look so much like a German tank. Or maybe I should just put a turret on it.

Grand Am, Part I

Every year, the class that my daughter is in has a Grand Am. Parents are supposed to make a car out of a cardboard box. I made one for my son when he was there, and this year I wanted to make something different for my daughter. About a year ago I was thinking about it and wanted to make Cinderella's Carriage, which is shaped like a pumpkin.

The frame is made out of cardboard. It took a LONG time to make it! To get the first curved pieces attached to the circular horizontal pieces was REALLY hard, so I ended up suspending it from my newly installed ceiling storage to attach the pieces.



Next I put some newspaper around the frame, then put poster paper around that. Now it looks like a big ole garlic! I wish it looked smoother, but I don't think I want to make changes at this point. I am debating painting it either pearlescent white or orange like a pumpkin. Originally I was going to do it changing from a carriage back to a pumpkin but I don't think the scale warrants that level of detail and I'm sure it would confuse some kids.




After I paint it I'll need to add the wheels, and put a lid of leaves around the top. I think the wheels might take a while, to fix to make it kid proof. Oh, and also I gotta start thinking about the suspenders for my daughter to wear it.

Kalua pork

My friend Neal at work makes homemade Kalua pork all the time, so I tried doing it last night. It's pretty easy - you cut slits into a pork shoulder, and put Hawaiian salt in the holes. Then you rub liquid smoke all over the outside, and wrap in ti leaves (which I got courtesy of my next door neighbor), wrap in foil, and bake in the oven for 4 1/2 hours. When you take it out, it's fork tender and shreds up easily.

After I installed the ceiling storage I came in and made Kalua Cabbage, which is my son's favorite thing to eat.

Measure twice, cut once

The old adage "measure twice, cut once" doesn't tell you one very important piece of information. And that piece of information is: "READ THE INSTRUCTIONS THRICE, DUMMY".

I was installing a ceiling storage system in my garage this morning, which was the source of that enlightenment. Actually, I had installed one of these before, so I rushed through the instructions and didn't carefully read the following:



I actually had mistaken it to say 69" on center. I spent so much time making sure everything was perfectly centered, everything was perfectly square, and everything was exactly to dimension, and that one measurement was off!! Fortunately it was really easy to move two of the downrods over from this:



And after that it was relatively easy to finish up.



All I need to do now is to patch up the mistake holes, and no one will know the better. Except everyone who has read this post.

Star Wars - the Clone Wars

Speaking of the 70s, E has been getting into Star Wars the Clone Wars on Cartoon Network. I've been getting into it too - it's a great cartoon. In fact, it's time to stop blogging, Clone Wars is beginning soon.

Space Invaders

After the bake sale this morning I took E to Dave and Busters, where he played Space Invaders for the first time. He was loving it!! It's so funny to see a kid in 2009 playing the same game I used to play back in 1979. I guess even after 30 years it's still a classic. Next I gotta get him into Donkey Kong, Centipede, PacMan and Galaxian.

Bake Sale

This morning L, E and I went to S's preschool bake sale. Early this morning. With an emphasis on early (yawn..... stretch). It was fun. The kids all stood in front of the baked goods and handed them out to the eager parents looking for breakfast. Some of the kids would just hold stuff out and make cute faces. Very hard to resist!

It was so early that other kids were having crying meltdowns. But not S! She was in a great mood despite waking up an hour earlier.

Two other projects on the bench

Aside from the Star guitar, I have two other projects - the Sparkly guitar I mentioned earlier (on the left in this picture):


and a project to use up the spare parts I have lying around the music room. I picked up a Strat body for $94 shipped, which included an original Floyd Rose! What a deal!!



I will attach a spare neck that I had sitting around:


And an old pickguard and some old pickups. I may give it an Eddie Van Halen paint job, but at the same time it would be nice to make it my own so I may do something different.

I love working on guitars. Unfortunately, I've never had a parts guitar that I made that was as good as a name brand guitar, but as my luthier skills improve hopefully that'll change. I really want to start learning fretting and nut making next, and these projects are a perfect opportunity since everything was cheap!