Dip stick moment

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  • english_bobenglish_bob Frets: 5151
    There was the time I finished restringing one of my guitars, got the clippers out to take off the excess strings and absentmindedly cut through one of the strings in just put on. 

    I've lost count of the number of times I've gone in to full-on troubleshooting mode only to find that I haven't plugged something in or turned it on. I've tried to make a habit of doing "numpty checks" for power off, things not plugged in, volumes turned down etc. first when something isn't working.

    Don't talk politics and don't throw stones. Your royal highnesses.

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  • guitars4youguitars4you Frets: 14273
    tFB Trader
    axisus said:
    I wired up a sustainiac that didn't work, spent an age checking and double checking, pouring through the (ridiculous) amount of paperwork from the company. Scratched my head for several days then ....... checked the battery. It wuz flat!
    I recall a young lad working for me at a previous shop - He had to change the 9V battery on an active bass for the customer - He took the old one out, but by error put the old one back in again and went to plug it in to check it - Yes you've guessed - But he hadn't - Took him a 10 min check process on leads, another amp etc to suss it out - You often learn quicker by such embarrassing moments 
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 72390
    There was the time I finished restringing one of my guitars, got the clippers out to take off the excess strings and absentmindedly cut through one of the strings in just put on.
    That's not that bad. I once watched a shop owner carefully restring a guitar, then before I could stop him, cut all the strings as if he was starting the job again...

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein

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  • This cracks me up. Listen to the guitarist trying to get his guitar plugged in...

    https://youtu.be/l5ya6KuGyPI
    Trading feedback info here

    My band, Red For Dissent
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  • 57Deluxe57Deluxe Frets: 7339
    /\ in fairness, I have a jack that doesn't insert into all my or others' guitars!
    <Vintage BOSS Upgrades>
    __________________________________
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  • DB1DB1 Frets: 5025
    edited April 2019
    Imagine Frank Spencer and Mr Bean mating, if you will - I would have been their bastard lovechild. I am utterly, and completely.... useless. 

    Around 1985, when I played bass, I bought a brand new Peavey 400w bass head from Musical Exchanges (or The Bass Place, can't remember) in Birmingham. In those days, you didn't always get the luxury of a plug, so I took it to a gig at a Working Men's Club in Stoke that night. Yes, I think it was the glamour that attracted me to the guitar in the first place.

    Anyway, changed plug, etc - refused help from the singer, the practical one in the band. Turned everything on. Main fuse tripped. Reset fuse. Turned on again, Main fuse tripped. Repeat and rinse. Our singer had a vague idea as to what the problem might be, so opened up the plug that I'd just 'worked' on. Yep, I'd wired it up wrong.

    On the plus side, I never do any DIY and I'm never asked to. 
    Call me Dave.
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  • vasselmeyervasselmeyer Frets: 3672
    Anyone else completely EQ'd their rig during a soundcheck? Pedals, amp etc and then realised that the wah was on? I've done that at least twice.
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  • using an unfamiliar configuration on a multi-effect unit, instead of pressing tubescreamer/boost, i pressed de-tune set at 1 fret lower, nice guitar solo but played half a tone out....nice.
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  • GrumpyrockerGrumpyrocker Frets: 4136
    Back in my uni days I used to play a bit at Christian Union (yeah yeah I know, but anyway) events. Plenty of acoustic strummers among them but no electric players. So I'd get asked to play at various events and usually that meant spunking my terrible sub-Van Halen nonsense over the middle of lots of their "nice" songs. 

    But one event was a bit more complicated. They wanted me to play guitar in some songs, bass in others. I didn't have much in the way of complex gear. Back then just a Marlin 50C guitar amp and a Korg G3 for effects. It wasn't a big event though so there was no danger in playing a borrowed bass guitar through my amp. 

    Which of course led to the inevitable Spinal Tap moment where I spent almost a full song fiddling with the bass gear wondering why it wasn't working while the band played on. A friend in the front told me he'd seen the problem but couldn't catch my eye. I spent minutes fiddling with the guitar, with the Korg G3, with various cables. But to no avail.

    Finally as the song came to a close I'd finally realised I'd unplugged the guitar but not actually plugged the bass in afterwards and so fixing the issue let out a triumphal "braaaannnnnggg" on the bass as the song finished in a similar way to Derek Smalls leaping back to the pod and getting his arm caught in it. 

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  • octatonicoctatonic Frets: 33799
    I still have my first guitar, where I epoxied the volume and tone knobs onto the opts because they kept slipping off.
    It is wonderfully entertaining when the pot fails.
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 72390
    octatonic said:
    I still have my first guitar, where I epoxied the volume and tone knobs onto the opts because they kept slipping off.
    It is wonderfully entertaining when the pot fails.
    You’re not alone - I fairly regularly come across that doing repair work. The trick is to realise it’s been done before you break the knob trying to get it off... especially with vintage guitars where replacing the knob would be a major value issue.

    If it’s going to help when you have to do it - carefully destroy the pot from the inside so you can get the shaft out along with the knob. Then heat the shaft with a soldering iron until the glue softens and you can pull it out with pliers.

    Sorry to bring a moment of dullness into the thread :).

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein

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  • droflufdrofluf Frets: 3693
    If only you put something about the first time you did it you tried removing the hot shaft with your fingers it would have been OK  =). But a useful tip!
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  • pintspillerpintspiller Frets: 994
    I remember one night we forgot to plug in our left-side PA
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  • guitars4youguitars4you Frets: 14273
    tFB Trader
    I remember one night we forgot to plug in our left-side PA
    I had a member of staff from a  few years ago who set up all the gear - lights, PA, backing track etc - solo artist - Came to get ready for 8pm - 1st slot - realised he had left his guitar at home
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  • paulnb57paulnb57 Frets: 3054
    Had a moment yesterday, unplugged an amp and plugged in another, plugged in the guitar, nothing......background hum on the amp......checked everthing including the right power lead in the right amp, unplugged and checked every pedal connection, when I was setting up, the dog (Bastard) was fussing around and stepped over the pedal board, the twat had caught the volume pot on the drive pedal = silence, my how I laughed...
    Stranger from another planet welcome to our hole - Just strap on your guitar and we'll play some rock 'n' roll

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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 72390
    paulnb57 said:
    Had a moment yesterday, unplugged an amp and plugged in another, plugged in the guitar, nothing......background hum on the amp......checked everthing including the right power lead in the right amp, unplugged and checked every pedal connection, when I was setting up, the dog (Bastard) was fussing around and stepped over the pedal board, the twat had caught the volume pot on the drive pedal = silence, my how I laughed...
    I had one at a gig a bit like that... everything fine at the soundcheck, came on stage for the show, flipped my amp from standby to on, rolled up the guitar volume - silence. Frantically checked the guitar cables, pedals, cable into amp, amp volume up, all good. Leaned over the back of the amp to see if the valves were lit up - they were, and in fact randomly strumming made them flash blue... then almost by accident looked down and somehow spotted that the speaker plug was halfway out of the jack - it was an old Marshall 4x12" with the socket at the bottom, and on a tight stage setup the drummer had caught the cable on his way behind the kit and plugged the plug out slightly! Luckily he could reach it so I got him to push it back in.

    But bear in mind that at this point I was leaning over the back of my amp with a Telecaster on the bridge pickup and with the volume up, pressed against the top two speakers of a 4x12" and a 50W Bassman head turned up to about 5...

    :)

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein

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  • skullfunkerryskullfunkerry Frets: 4176
    edited April 2019
    Played a gig with a few other bands, we were about third on the bill I think. Soundchecked, no problem, broke our gear down for the next band to soundcheck, waited until we were due to go on. Set my gear back up, switched the amp on from standby, nothing. Frantically checked my pedalboard, all good. Battery check on the wireless: all good. Send and return cables plugged in properly? All good. Oh shit oh shit oh shit, we're supposed to be playing in a minute... realised that I'd completely forgotten to run a cable from my wah to the front of my amp D
    Too much gain... is just about enough \m/

    I'm probably the only member of this forum mentioned by name in Whiskey in the Jar ;)

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  • ESBlondeESBlonde Frets: 3590
    Anyone else completely EQ'd their rig during a soundcheck? Pedals, amp etc and then realised that the wah was on? I've done that at least twice.
    I've played one and a half songs in the begining of the second set wondering why it sounded so shrill, but as i was singing I had my head eleswhere. Turns out some twunt had stepped on the wah in the interval and I had no LED indicator. I kept looking at the aural exciter and turning it off/on/off to be sure, but it wasn't that.
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  • droflufdrofluf Frets: 3693
    paulnb57 said:
    Had a moment yesterday, unplugged an amp and plugged in another, plugged in the guitar, nothing......background hum on the amp......checked everthing including the right power lead in the right amp, unplugged and checked every pedal connection, when I was setting up, the dog (Bastard) was fussing around and stepped over the pedal board, the twat had caught the volume pot on the drive pedal = silence, my how I laughed...
    My dog is very good at communicating what she wants as well  =)
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