Intellitouch Freedom One: The First Wireless Guitar Tuner Pedal

Posted in Guitars Amps and Effects with tags , , , , , , on May 10, 2012 by RedDogMusic

Are you ready for something ridiculously exciting AND futuristic? Nice one, take a seat – we don’t want you to pull a muscle and/or wet yourself – and put your paws together for the first WIRELESS guitar tuner pedal. You heard us.

Wireless microphones have been done, wireless headphones, wireless speakers… so it makes sense that a wireless guitar tuner would eventually make its way into the land of brain-melting musical equipment. It’s very simple – OnBoard Research Corporation, the company that revolutionised the musical instrument tuning industry by creating the world’s first clip-on tuner, have taken the concept of the original guitar tuner, crossed it with the concept of the standard tuner pedal and created the Intellitouch Freedom One.

It fits onto your pedal board, as normal; the difference with the Freedom One is it comes with a high quality wireless link that plugs directly into the output jack of your guitar. All you have to do is whap it in and the Intellitouch sends a wireless signal to the pedal, saving you from having to plug anything in. You don’t even need to bend over.

Basically, stay perfectly in tune with minimal effort. Intellitouch does the hard work, so you don’t have to. Just like Flash.

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Let’s Submerge: Q&A with Roberta Pia of Red Dog Music

Posted in General, Music Industry with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 9, 2012 by RedDogMusic

Originally featured on Let’s Submerge (Interview by Nicky Carder).

The music industry is becoming an increasingly online experience with the exception of gigs, high street music retailers and physical press. It is by no means an easy job competing against low-cost internet companies and the slow demise of HMV, the last surviving chain music retailer, is a reminder of that struggle. Music shops are having to continually diversify and adapt to maintain their presence on the market.

Red Dog Music is the face of Edinburgh’s music community and provides a fine example of an independent music shop that has successfully reinvented itself out of the ashes of a chain store. Red Dog Music does more than sell the best music gear on the market. I have spoken to Roberta Pia from Red Dog Music to find out more…

1. If Red Dog Music is more than a music shop, what other opportunities and services does it offer?

We do heaps of stuff. It’s important for us to be more than just a music retailer because we have a shop space (unlike our online competitors) and a local music scene to work with. With this in mind, we produce our own quarterly music magazine aka The Dog. To celebrate each issue’s release, we usually throw a party featuring a hand-picked selection of local bands. As well as being an excuse for us to party like it’s 1999, it’s a cool way of celebrating the Edinburgh music scene.

We also run a free monthly showcase called Hair of the Dog Sundays, which was created to give upcoming bands more of a chance on the live music scene. I’ve heard complaints in the past about how hard it is to get gigs in Edinburgh unless you’ve made a name for yourself already – but if nobody gives you a chance, how are you supposed to start making a name for yourself? The only other option for unknown artists is open mic nights which, I guess, aren’t to everybody’s taste. We started up Hair of the Dog Sundays in an attempt to bridge the gap.

I think it’s incredibly important to have free live music events, most importantly to make it accessible for people who wouldn’t usually pay money to listen to live music. We also host regular in-store workshops and clinics – everything from home recording workshops to guitar tech clinics to Christmas parties. Our middle name is FUN.

2. What sort of information is included in The Dog? What/who does it feature?

The Dog began as a way to get Red Dog Music’s name out and about but has grown into a sort of music community magazine of sorts. I basically try to include anything that I think would be interesting or useful to musicians. I always try to interview one “big name” artist and one local artist.

The local artist interviews are important because I don’t think the Edinburgh music scene gets the recognition it deserves, probably because there isn’t one strong theme of music going on. But I think its diversity is what makes it special and I’m desperate to convey that to people. Despite Edinburgh musicians struggling against venue closures left, right and centre – we’re all working really hard at keeping what music scene we have left and I think the bands deserve some credit for how hard they work.

Obviously, being an instrument retailer, we include gear reviews in the magazine which are written by the Red Dog Music staff members. We also include guest articles from customers on whatever musical subject they fancy writing about. We include tips from local recording studios, features on local music projects or festivals and just any other musical subjects that tickle our fancy. The Dog goes out to subscribers of Guitarist Magazine and Future Music and to venues all over the UK. So, it’s a really awesome promotional tool.

3. What do you look for in new bands and how should they get in touch?

When I go and see a band live, I just want to be entertained. I’m really open-minded about most genres of music. Magazine-wise, I tend to feature bands that are making a name for themselves and actively working hard on the music scene; people who are creating a “buzz”, if you like. Then again, that’s just, like, my opinion, man. I only know what I know. But I go to a lot of gigs and I go to a lot of festivals so I feel like I’ve vaguely got my finger on the pulse, whatever the pulse is.

When looking for bands for Hair of the Dog Sundays, I just look for bands who have a good attitude and play good tunes; simple as that. It’s a completely non-judgmental environment and I want it to be an open stage for people to showcase their music, as well as network with other local musicians. Folk on the music scene need to be pals, otherwise we’re screwed. If anybody wants to get in touch about gigs, just fire me an email.

It’s probably worth noting that I don’t review albums or gigs or anything like that. All I want to do is spread the impartial, musical love… man.

4. Any advice for new bands/artists starting out?

Play as many gigs as humanly possible. Play tunes with as many other musicians as humanly possible. Hair of the Dog Sundays is great for this; as are the sessions/open mics across Edinburgh – The Ale House, Boda, Nobles, Elbow, Captains Bar, The Royal Oak, Brass Monkey… all of these places host sessions and open mics on various nights of the week. Regular events such as Acoustic Edinburgh and Edinburgh Unlimited are also brilliant. All of these places feature top notch musicians and the more, the merrier and the more likely you are to get gigs in the future. Also, stay open-minded, don’t be a dick and work hard. Nobody ever got anywhere without a bit of blood, sweat and tears. Except Paris Hilton.

5. Artists to watch in 2012 and why you think they’ll do well?

I usually hate questions like this but for the sake of answering it, I’d say Stanley Odd is a band to watch and learn from. They engage with their fans really well, their live shows are totally mind-blowing and full of energy, and their music just keeps on getting better and better. They’ve got a brilliant attitude, they’re good at what they do and to top it all off, they’re sound as a pound. They’re mainstream enough that the music industry is giving them credit where credit’s due, but still remain a humble, grounded and hard-working band. Stanley Odd are the perfect “business model” band.

On the other hand, if you’re asking me straight up who my favourite band is, I’d say Super Adventure Club. They’re off the richter.

6. How important do you think it is for a shop like Red Dog Music to be active in the local music community?

It’s really important for a number of reasons. It’s vital that a music shop creates relationships with their local music scene, as that’s who our loyal customers are. Red Dog Music’s tagline is “The Friendly Music Store”. The reason for this is that people’s general experience of music shops is that they’re a little bit terrifying if you’re not a musician, or even a beginner musician.

A lot of people can find music shops a bit judgemental and intimidating if you’re not used to being in one. We try our hardest to make Red Dog Music as accessible as possible and make sure we’re being as friendly, helpful and involved as we can be. We’re nothing without our local music scene, so it’s important that we’re slap bang in the middle of it. The music scene is what makes the shop go round.

You can find digital copies of The Dog here.

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History of the Acoustic Guitar

Posted in Guitars Amps and Effects with tags , , , , on May 8, 2012 by RedDogMusic

Guitars are part of everyday life for a lot of visitors to this website, and rightly so: they rock. We spend a lot of time picking and strumming, but how many of us have looked into where our beloved guitar was born? So we’re going to take you back – waaay back – to the early days of the instrument we all love.

~~~Cue wavy lines~~~

As with most historical subjects, it’s very difficult to get any definite facts – a lot of it is speculation and educated guesswork. However, it seems that basic stringed instruments have been used for several thousand years.

Things first got interesting, though, in the 14th century BC, when the Hittites developed a four-string guitar-style instrument with soft, curved sides, much like the Fender Stratocasters of today (well, not that much like them, but you get the picture…). At around about the same time, the Greeks and Romans developed the Cithara, a similar instrument that ultimately gave its name to the guitar.

Fast forward a couple of thousand years to around 1200 – 1300 AD, and there were two clear types of guitar: the guitarra Latina, featuring a narrow neck and soundhole much like today’s acoustic guitars, and the guitarra Morisca or “Moorish guitar”, with a wide fingerboard, several sound holes and a rounded back.

By the 15th century, these two types had pretty much morphed into one instrument called the vihuela, which featured 8-strings, as well as a neck and frets much like today’s acoustic guitars. This and the lute were all the rage in the Portuguese and Spanish courts of the time. Not quite guitars, and presumably not capable of the scorching electric guitar riffs we would expect nowadays, but not a million miles off.

However, the lute was pretty tricky to tune (especially in the absence of digital guitar tuners) so soon gave way to what were known as five course guitars, featuring nine strings: a single top string and 4 pairs of other strings. This was an extremely playable and versatile instrument, and may have contributed to the guitar as an instrument gaining quickly in popularity.

It wasn’t until the 1800s that acoustic guitars started featuring the 6 strings we’re now used to, and some guitars started featuring ebony or rosewood fingerboards (as they often still do), tuning pegs, and a raised neck. This instrument would have looked and played a lot more like the classical guitars we still play today.

Towards the end of the 19th century, Antonio Torres Jurado, a luthier, Spanish guitarist, and general all-round dude, implemented fanned struts under the soundboard, a wider neck, and a generally larger body. This meant the instrument had far more volume, projection and bass response, meaning it could hold its own with other, previously louder, instruments, and could easily entertain a room full of rowdy drunks (as acoustic guitars still do today).

Since this time, classical guitars have barely changed, with only subtle improvements having been made to the design, and the acoustic guitar is still one of the most popular instruments in the world. It’s when some crazy cat tried to electrify the thing that things took a step forward and the electric guitar was invented, but that’s a whole different story…

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Yamaha launches DXR & DXS Speaker Series

Posted in Keys & Technology with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 8, 2012 by RedDogMusic

Yamaha have launched a brand new range of PA speakers that aim to boldly go where no speaker has gone before. Taking inspiration from their big brother, the DSR Series, Yamaha have managed to combine FACE-MELTING power in a totally compact and easily portable unit. What every musician wants from their speakers is a) to be able to carry them between gigs without breaking body a part and b) to sound as loud, as pure and as awesome as humanly possible.

Never before have you been able to get active loudspeakers that are both portable AND affordable, as well as harbouring the kind of power that the DXR Series boasts. Generally speaking, the smaller and more compact your unit, the lower the audio quality. Team Yamaha, however, have pushed the speedboat out and only gone and combined the two most important features that a musician desires from their speaker system. Let’s take a closer look at this incredible range…

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Yamaha DXR Active Loudspeaker Series

Yamaha DXR8

The most compact of the DXR Series speakers, the DXR8 makes the most of its 1100W of power, delivering extremely high output while maintaining outstanding resolution. Adding a DXS12 subwoofer gives you an ultra-compact high-power SR system.

Yamaha DXR10

Portable, yet capable of producing an astonishing 131 dB SPL, the DXR10’s compact, functional design makes it ideal for a wide range of applications. Whether providing simple vocal/instrument amplification, very powerful floor monitoring or comprising a compact SR system—the DXR10 delivers without compromising sound quality and power.

Yamaha DXR12

The DXR12 is an extremely high-power loudspeaker that is capable of producing a maximum SPL of 132dB with its impressive 1100W of power. It is the perfect solution for live sound applications that demand wide bandwidth and extremely high-resolution sound.

Yamaha DXR15

The DXR15 achieves class-leading SPLs and full bandwidth performance by combining a powerful Class-D amplifier with a high-power woofer and Yamaha’s cutting edge technologies. Throw in some D-CONTOUR and you’ll feel like you’re using a subwoofer.

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Yamaha DXS Subwoofer Series

Yamaha DXS12

The DXS12 is an extremely compact and powerful subwoofer equipped with a high-efficiency 950W Class-D amplifier and a 12” high-output woofer housed in an acoustically optimized band-pass enclosure.Try out our powerful D-XSUB low frequency processing for low-end you would never expect from a compact 12” subwoofer.

Yamaha DXS15

The all-new DXS15 subwoofer delivers powerful yet focused low end reaching as low as 42Hz. The DXS’s fully optimized band-pass design combines with its powerful Class-D amplifier, long-travel 15” woofer, and formidable DSP to deliver a tight, impressive bass with outstanding depth and high power output.

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In short, if it’s a portable, affordable and stupidly powerful speaker system you’re after, the Yamaha DXR & DXS Series is the one for you. Buying any of these speakers is a short-cut route to making you sounding amazing on stage, without breaking the bank. Or your back, for that matter. Team Yamaha, we salute you. High fives all round.

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Top Ten Recording Tips

Posted in General, Keys & Technology with tags , , , , on May 4, 2012 by RedDogMusic

Hello everybody. Meet Guy. Guy is Red Dog Music’s very own Recording Specialist. He knows a thing or two about a thing or two, so he often regales us with his golden nuggets of tech wisdom, which we then include in our weekly e-newsletter. Below are TEN* of Guy’s most educational, highly informative and downright HILARIOUS tech tips…

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1. Way back when, it was quite easy to identify the ‘Makers Mark’ of certain studios or producers in the tracks that they put out. Whether it was a peculiar EQ, a defined reverb sound or a mixing habit (hard panning certain instruments, for example.) This is certainly much harder to do now; the musical world is full of ‘industry standards’, presets, copycats and sound-alikes. The more unique you make your recording style, the more easily identifiable your work will be. I’ll make you famous one day, I will.

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2. It’s inevitable that, at some point, a piece of your equipment will stop working. Such is life, unfortunately – but you can still make the best of a bad situation!

Often you’ll find that recording equipment such as effects units or preamps start making strange glitches, garbles and goobles that make them useless for their intended purpose… but a bit of creative re-purposing will open your ears to new sonic possibilities. Used conservatively, these crazy glitches will add a lo-fi, nasty edge to anything you care to add them to! How long are your nails? Nine inches, perhaps?

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3. A fun mixing method to try is to group channels together according to what they add to the track, not by what kind of instrument they are. Try an “attack” group with stuff that has a fast, hard attack sound like snare drum and acoustic guitar, fill up a “warm” group with big, wide keyboards, electric guitar and vocals, and maybe something like a “boom” group with bass guitar, kick drum and deep synths.

Get the balance of each instrument right in each separate group, then whack a compressor on each of these separate groups to tame them a little. When you start mixing using the groups you’ve set up, you’ll realise you’re mixing “feels” rather than groups of instruments. Cool, eh? I know, you love me. Mutual, my friends. Mutual. If you want some suggestions for group names to get the ball rolling, try these: Mmm, Meh, YES, huge, bouncy, wobble, spiky, shiny, boing, RAWK, the mighty unknown, death from above, shazam, spacey, fun times.

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4. Meet your new best friend: “CTRL-Z”! Never be afraid to make ridiculous mixing or sound processing choices, they can always be undone if you hate them but sometimes you may just STRIKE GOLD! Here’s an example: Ever [TAB] flipped your Reason console around to look at the back of a synth and seen all those crazy patch ins and outs? Start firing them into each other like Red Dogs in heat, some will kill the sound entirely, some might give a crazy squelchy sort of sound, but sometimes – just sometimes – you’ll dial up the BEST SOUND IN THE WORLD. EVER.

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5. Put your phaser pedal away, Uncle Guy’s gonna teach you how to phase it OLD SCHOOL! Lay your guitar cab on the floor, face up. Get two dynamic microphones and dangle them a few inches above the cone of the cab. Set them swaying around with a little flick of the hand (be careful not to bump the mics into each other!) When these two signals are panned centrally you’ll hear a lovely rich, subtle swooshing noise that just can’t be replicated with pedals!

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6. One of my colleagues’ (Andy is his name) favourite phrases is “RTFM”, which I think means “Read The Fabulous Manual”. You can save yourself a LOT of future hassles and embarrassing situations by familiarising yourself with ALL of your gear’s special features before you start using it. I know it’s boring and tedious, but you might discover some secret musical super powers! I’d like to relay some more of Andy’s favourite phrases, but I fear for some of our younger readers.

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7. Master as you go! “Are you crazy, Guy!?” I think we’ve already ascertained that one, dear reader! Put a stereo compressor and limiter (or your favourite mastering plugin) on your master buss and get a rough idea of what your mix is going to sound like as a finished product. When you think you’re at the final stage of mixing, de-activate your master bass plugins, make sure it’s not clipping and export your mix. You’ll now know roughly what this mix will sound like at the final mastering stage so you’ll hopefully reduce any unwanted surprises like overpowering drums or crowded mids!

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8. What happens when melodic inspiration hits, but you’re not ready? Do you fumble around your gear finding a microphone, setting up a stand and rummaging in a box for an XLR lead? You could do that, OR you could jam your headphones into the line in on your desk and whack that gain up! VOILA! INSTANT MUFFLY RECORDING GOODNESS! Your headphones will capture your voice when you sing into them because dynamic microphones and speakers are technically very similar, magnetically speaking. Also, it’s a pretty awesome way of capturing a ‘radio sound / lofi’ sound on vocals! I did it while performing live once. I’m so awesome, it hurts.

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9. Ignore good advice! Are you recording dry signals and adding effects later? BORING! Have some fun and take some risks. Too much reverb? Poor baby. Is that flanger slightly out of sync with your beat? Kiss it, make it better. Some of the best records in history feature engineering ‘errors’ that would make modern producers’ hair stand on end. If it’s good enough for Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry (mad), Joe Meek (madder) & Phil Spector (maddererest), then it’s good enough for you!

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10. This tip is only for the super adventurous!

!ot ti ylppa uoy revetahw ot dnuos yltsohg ,gnipeews looc yllaer a evig dluohs sihT .gniht elohw eht esrever neht dna kcart wen a ot nwod ti ecnuob ,dnuos ruoy ot yaled ro brever gnol a gnidda yrT

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If you’d like these golden nuggets of wisdom sent directly to your inbox, remember to sign up to our mailing list at www.reddogmusic.co.uk

*We had to edit these down from a grand total of around 50. It’s been a long and arduous day.

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Buy a Roland Jupiter-80 synth and get a free iPad 2

Posted in General, Keys & Technology with tags , , , , on May 3, 2012 by RedDogMusic

The Jupiter-80 is the latest synthesizer in Roland’s acclaimed Jupiter dynasty and it more than lives up to the family name. Packing Roland’s acclaimed SuperNATURAL sound modelling technology, the Jupiter-80 delivers expressive realism far beyond anything previously possible. What’s more, it’s made for performers and puts the whole spectrum of advanced synth sounds within your grasp. Better still, if you buy a Jupiter-80 before between 13th April and 31st May, they’ll throw in an iPad 2.

Giving away an iPad 2 is more than token generosity though. As part of the Jupiter-80 Version 2 software update, Roland have also set to launch the JP Synth Editor App, which will enable players to edit Jupiter-80’s SuperNATURAL synth tones on the iPad. Connecting via USB, this will give keyboard players an enormous level of editing control over synth sounds, via the slick touch screen.

To get your hands on a free iPad 2, buy a Jupiter-80 from Red Dog Music, register it online before 31st May and Roland will do the rest.

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About Roland Corporation

Roland Corporation is a leading manufacturer and distributor of electronic musical instruments, including keyboards and synthesizers, guitar products, electronic percussion, digital recording equipment, amplifiers, audio processors, and multimedia products. With nearly 40 years of musical instrument development, Roland sets the standard in music technology for the world to follow. 

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Red Dog Music Presents… Godin Guitars

Posted in Guitars Amps and Effects with tags , , , , , , , , , on May 1, 2012 by RedDogMusic

We’re very proud to announce our new range of Godin guitars. After speaking to a few of the Red Dog Music team, we’ve deduced that musicians love Godin guitars for the following reasons:

1. They’re built in Canada.

2. They’re made with exceptionally good materials.

3. They play beautifully.

4. They’re a slightly more unusual version of a Fender or Gibson.

5. They’re lovely guitars.

The Core Series

Rock machines to the Core – this particular series will no doubt cause a stir amongst guitar rawkers across the (fret)board. Each of these guitars feature chambered mahogany bodies with maple tops, mahogany set necks, 24 ¾” scale, rosewood fingerboards and fully adjustable wraparound Resomax bridges by Graphtech. Core blimey.

The 5th Avenue Series

This range of Godin guitars takes us back to the good old days, when archtop acoustic guitars were the cream of the crop. The 5th Avenue Series takes the soul of a 1950s archtop guitar and combines it with today’s playability to create the perfect vintage style guitar.  With more projection & volume in the low/mids than traditional archtop acoustic guitars, the voluptuous tone makes these gorgeous instruments an absolute dream to play without being a financial nightmare.

The Session Series

If blues, rock and country music rocks your socks off, Godin‘s Session Series guitars will tick all the boxes and then some. Featuring a classic electric guitar style with Godin‘s signature unique twist, in the shape of a very affordable instrument – they’re almost too good to be true. The Session features a rock maple neck with rosewood or maple fingerboard, Canadian Laurentian Basswood body, 2x Godin GS-1 single-coils housed in a vintage white pickguard and a Godin humbucker in the bridge, along with a 5-way switch, 1x volume and 1x push/pull tone knob that splits the humbucker. Tasty guitars indeed.

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Red Dog Music YouTube Competition

Posted in Uncategorized on April 19, 2012 by RedDogMusic

Reblogged from Blog: Musical Instruments and Equipment:

Click to visit the original post

Here’s what you have to do:

Read more… 483 more words

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Will’s Product Pick: Akai EIE USB Audio Interface

Posted in Keys & Technology with tags , , , , , , on April 18, 2012 by RedDogMusic

Creators of modern interfaces have all too often opted for designs which strive to be new and futuristic. Akai have bucked this trend and created a functional unit that gives more than a few nods to recording gear from yesteryear. The EIE is a 4 input USB soundcard with some fairly nifty features.  On the front of the unit are two large VU meters that not only help you get a strong signal, but also look amazing in low light studios! The EIE beats a number of its competitors on functionality at this price point; for example, the EIE has a quota of four combi XLR inputs, four jack outputs, midi I/O and four jack inserts – so it’s perfect for recording a small band.

Akai have added some really handy monitoring options. The VU meters can be switched from showing the level of inputs 1+2, 3+4, or master output L+R, allowing you to see every channel in use. The headphones can also be switched from inputs 1+2, 3+4, or all four inputs at once. Another cool feature of the EIE is the inclusion of a three-way powered USB hub, which can really save on some desk space. Going back to the retro styling, it’s nice to see all ‘digital style’ connections, such as the USB hub, situated on the rear to prevent spoiling the vintage appearance.

All in all – a great unit at a great price; I think I might have to have one myself. I only wish they had called it the EIE I/O. Get a closer look HERE.

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The Strange World of Dr Fretlove: Got a Screw Loose?

Posted in Guitars Amps and Effects with tags , , , , , on April 17, 2012 by RedDogMusic

Coming from an engineering background; I take it for granted that everyone understands the principles on which a screw works, and the significance of different types used.  The truth, however, is that huge swathes of the younger generations, having received Playstations instead of Meccano sets* at Christmas/Birthday time, have not gained a basic grounding in simple mechanics.

The old joke about a psychiatric patient who escapes after having sex with one of the laundry staff – prompting the newspaper headline “Nut Screws Washer and Bolts”- might, these days, be considered politically incorrect but it still serves as a handy means of calling to mind some of the basic types of fixings likely to be found on the common or garden guitar and bass.

The majority of screws encountered will be simple self-tapping wood screws, typically used for scratch-plate and trem, back-plate fixings, as well as pick-up surround mountings. A much larger version can also be found, on guitars with “bolt-on” necks, holding the neck to the body. These are usually of a cross-head Phillips design, the idea being to spread the torsional forces of the screwdriver over four surfaces. The right-hand wall of each cross facet will be taking the load when tightening and the left-hand surfaces when slackening. This lessens the chances of damaging the screw-head. It also makes it harder for the screwdriver to jump out of its location, within the screw-head, whilst being tightened or slackened.

With the advent of locking trem systems; Allen bolts, rather than screws, began to make an appearance. Allen bolts have a hexagonal recess into which a hexagonal key is located. This design allows a greater contact area between tool and work-piece, in order to distribute the torsional forces more evenly.

An Allen key is used as a lever to turn the bolt. It’s an excellent system but needs to be treated with respect as the extra torque available, via the key, is enough to damage the metal the bolt is going into. It’s not uncommon to have to replace an entire locking nut or bridge assembly after an over- enthusiastic hand has been at work.

All the above type of fixings utilize a V shape, cut into the metal, in a downwards, clock-wise spiral which meshes into its mirror image, cut into the receiving material. In the case of scratch-plate screw – it’s the wood of the guitar body, cut by the self-tapping screws. In the case of the Allen bolts – it’s a metal plate or bush. These spirals are known as the threads and the spacing of spiral cut referred to as the pitch of the thread. Generally the smaller the amount of adjustment required, the finer the pitch.

Golden rule – you can’t mix different pitches of thread! If you lose a screw then any replacement has to be correctly matched up to avoid “stripping” the remaining good threads. The classic case of mismatching threads has to be when replacing a lost tremolo arm. The amount of times I’ve had to replace entire trem systems because someone has used the nearest item to hand without checking to see if the threads match. On a work-piece that’s constantly vibrating when in use, it’s easy for any type of fixing to vibrate loose.

The best way of securing a loose part is with a hexagonal nut and washer. Very often the combination of nut, dress washer and friction washer will be used to ensure that the nut stays put. When tightened the serrated surface of the friction washer digs into the surface of the wood on one side and compresses against the dress washer on the other. Nuts are typically used to secure jack sockets, pots and, along with an integrated bush, many designs of machine heads. Whatever the type of fixing – screw or bolt – it’s imperative that the correct tool be used when working on them.

Using a Posidrive (8-point design) on a Phillips (4-point design) cross-head screw will not only burr over the metal on the screw, it will also make a mess of the Posidrive screwdriver, rendering it useless for its proper job of tightening Posidrive screws. Equally, using a metric Allen-key on an imperial Allen-screw will not only round off the key edges but will burr the recess within the bolt-head.

My screwdrivers all have non-slip rubber handles and hardened steel shafts and come in three sizes appropriate to the size of screw. The Allen keys are all kept in their respective Metric and Imperial sized clips. Woe betide anyone who goes off with them. It drives me, well, nuts.

* ask your Dad

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