Some time ago I stumbled across thread on VGuitarForums related to adding a 1/4" input to a GR-55 and at the time my thought was, if I have a GK pickup, why bother adding a 1/4" input to my GR-55? Recently I even purchased a used Bill Moore i8.13, so again, why bother?  

My band plays 90's grunge songs with a few odd tunings in our set list. For the most part I am able to program the detuning into the patches. However when I try to combine significant detuning with effects like chorus (a common combo with 90's grunge), the outcome is not good.

I do have many of my guitars set up with 3d printed quick release mounts for my GK pickup but even with that, I really dont want to be  yanking my relatively fragile GK pickup from one guitar to another on stage.

And then I recalled the idea of plugging any electric guitar into my GR-55. Incidentally, I have also have built some custom one off pedals including a clean boost that I thought might serve as an effective buffer...

So yesterday I spliced a 13 pin connector cable with some resistors and 1/4" plug. Plugged it in and nothing. Turns out I got confused and built a mirror image of the pinout. The connector soldering was too messy to salvage, so today I grabbed an messed up 13 pin cable from my salvage bin cut the good end down and added the resistors and a 1/4" jack This time it worked. 

So now I can plug any guitar I want into the GR-55 and take advantage of the fantastic amp modeling and effects options.

Thanks to Bill Bax for providing such excellent resources.

I am proud to say that when Maryhill Museum opens for the 2020 season my chess set will be on display in the George E. Muehleck, Jr. Gallery of International Chess Sets.  It is a great honor to have my design exhibited among such a fantastic collection of artwork.  For this installation I fabricated my first chess board.  The board and surrounding frame is composed of 3d printed tiles of the same material as the pieces.  The infill pattern of each square and portions of the frame are visible and provide a texture that reflects light with a depth and shimmer unlike a smooth surface.
https://www.maryhillmuseum.org/

Unfortunately, the spring opening of Mayhill Museum of Art has been overshadowed and delayed by Covid 19 so in the mean time you can enjoy a sneak peak at the chess set here. 

​There are a few other things I noticed that deserve comment. The connector on one of the stepper motors was slightly damaged but not beyond use. 

Also, it seems like the wiring is a generally shorter than it probably should be. For example, the X stepper wire seems to be about 2" short and pulls out of the stepper if I raise the X gantry near the top of the range. The wiring generally seems to be on the wimpy side. I would expect the stepper wires to be a somewhat heavier gauge. Then again the steppers themselves are quite a bit smaller than the ones on my Prusa Mk2.

Another thing I noticed even from photos and video, it seems like there is room for improvement in cable management. Not only are some of the cables on the short side but they are more messy that I would like to see. For example I noticed that there is a potential for one of the extruder motor wires to get caught under the X carriage wheels.

I did shoot some video of unboxing and partial assembly. Will post some stills later.

​Here is a time lapse video of some new headphone parts being printed.  The actual print ran for 3 hours.

For years I have been frustrated by the quality and cost of headphones.  Either they are excessively expensive or poorly made, disposable products.  Many times I have attempted to repair a set, only to find they were glued together, made from fragile components or otherwise not serviceable.  At the other end there may not be parts available for some higher quality headphones that might otherwise be serviceable.
I searched some of the downloadable designs available on Thingiverse and found a few options.  I printed one of these options.  But generally each of these designs were lacking in some area.   Ultimately I decided to design a set from scratch.

It has been a few weeks since Arts Walk and I almost forgot that my chess set was included in an article in the Olympian.

A twist on chess

When he received a chessboard with no pieces, Chris Gizzi of Olympia wanted to make his own. But what he envisioned — pieces that incorporated spiraling double and triple helixes — would have been so difficult to fabricate that he set the idea aside. Now, thanks to the increased availability of 3D printing, he’s put his own twist on traditional pieces. See Gizzi’s work — along with paintings by Lonnie L. Spikes Jr. and Steven Suski — at Hot Toddy, 410 Capitol Way S. Hot Toddy also will host music by The Open Letters at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

MIXED MEDIA

I will have two chess sets on display at Hot Toddy for the Fall 2017 ArtsWalk.  In addition to examples of the large and small sets printed in transparent PLA material, the display will also include one very large rook (supporting the smaller set), a black acrylic bishop, a transparent acrylic rook and a stainless steel knight.  Be sure to stop by this Friday evening.

Hot Toddy 410 Capitol Way South, Olympia, WA, 98501, United States 360-753-0868 [email protected]

New prints have arrived in time to be included in the Artswalk display.  All of these prints were printed at standard size and are excellent examples of the material options and level of detail available from Shapeways.com.