Would you like fries for that shake? How about phantom power for your active pickups or onboard preamp/effects?

We usually think of phantom power as related to condenser mics but I’m not talking about the 48V you get from a mixing desk here, although it is pretty much the same principle: carry your power on the same cable as your signal so you don’t have to lug around a battery. On guitars with active electronics this system is particularly useful since:

• Obviously, there’s no onboard battery: no replacing, no recharging, no making room for an aftermarket installation.
• You’re not restricted to batteries, yet you retain the option of using them: you can just as well power your pickups from any standard 9V adapter. Or go 12V or 18V if that’s your cup of tea.
• One cable fits all: the system is compatible with any guitar that has been set up to use it or any other (mono) guitar for that matter:
  • phantom-powered active guitars: all that needs to be done to the guitar is to use a stereo jack and tie tip to signal, ring to where battery (+) would be and sleeve to ground. Anyone with basic knowledge of electronics should be able to figure this out;
  • “standard” active guitars: (i.e. those with onboard batteries) if for some reason you need to use one, just short the ring to sleeve, before disconnecting power, of course. Otherwise you’d be shorting out your battery or adapter. This is necessary because most manufacturers use (or should use anyway) the “insert jack to connect battery” scheme, i.e. the battery is floating unless you short R and S together, which is what inserting a mono jack plug does. This could be accomplished with a switch.
  • passive guitars: if for some reason the original TRS recommendation is abided (which people rarely do) power would again be shorted to ground, which is hazardous if not fatal to the supply. To be safe, you could simply unplug the battery or barrel plug from the adapter or again use a switch, possibly the same one as before: a single pole on-off-on switch can choose what the ring is connected to—supply (phantom power), nothing or ground.

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For a couple of years now I’ve been searching for the single distortion unit that can embody the spirit of Indefinite Pitch: “over the top”. Today I give you the Demolator, a kind of Distortus Maximus with a dash of Nigel Tufnel. It can go from a light crunch to scare-your-neighbour’s-kids saturation but if anything, this thing is loud! In fact you could plug it straight into a cab, since it’s based on the LM386 Low Voltage Audio Power Amplifier, two of them actually. This also means it will probably start to feed back before the volume pot hits 12:00, but hey—that’s what it’s for. So in a nutshell:

• high-gain distortion (theoretically capable of 72dB)
• Gain and Volume controls
• 9V operation
• virtually guaranteed to destroy your amp

This is an updated version of the restored Procrastinator, my very first guitar. It’s basically a maple Ibanez Destroyer copy shape-wise, which itself is an Explorer rip-off. This version features improved bridge and tuners and a single humbucker with coil tap. I’ve actually made the pickup from two vintage Schaller single-coils. The neck is also fretless after the 9th fret for whenever I feel an atonal solo coming up. Thinking of making it fully fretless, though.

Amber is basically a Little Gem/Ruby without gain control but with switchable “channels”. It came about after I salvaged a nice and nasal speaker and found the time to build it one day. I kind of doubt I’ll ever use it but it’s a cute thing to have around, with its retro look and sound.

Specs:

• LM386 amplifier (about 0.5W)
• clean and overdrive channel
• integrated supply and power cord