Category: Music

Martin Backpacker Guitar closeup

Re-Topping my Martin Backpacker Guitar

Years ago I bought a Martin Backpacker guitar. To call it a guitar is generous. Like Douglas Adams’ no tea, the Backpacker is something almost, but not quite, entirely unlike a guitar. It sounds like the mutant child of a baritone ukulele and a banjo. Playing it is cramped, with a short scale and a narrow neck. Without a truss rod, only extra light strings should be used on it, and even then the action is high enough drive a Miata beneath them.

Mine came with a rectangular gig bag which provides almost no protection. So of course, somewhere on my travels over the years, the top got smooshed in. I sent it to a luthier friend who did some miracle work to fix it. He pointed out replacing the top would be more expensive than the guitar was worth, so he just straightened it out as much as he could and braced it. It looked better and sounded fine, but still had a bit of a sad, crumpled look to it. And as we all know, when playing guitar, looks matter.

This spring I therefore came to the conclusion that I wanted to do something about it. I found I could get a new solid cedar top from Stew Mac for under thirty bucks, and that seemed reasonable. I also purchased some mandolin kerfing to make the thing a bit more robust. It would hardly do to backpack with it if it couldn’t withstand being strapped to my back. After watching a few online videos, as one does, I decided it was within my skill set. How hard could it be?

Turns out, not exceptionally difficult. That’s not to denigrate the skills of a skilled luthier, but this was a Backpacker I was dealing with, not a pre-war D-28 (although it is a pre-Afghan War specimen). The basic steps were to separate the old top, attach a new top, and finish it. All told, a nice weekend project.

inside view of a disassembled Martin BackpackerBecause there is no edge work on the Backpacker, separating the top is a fairly straight forward process. Some heat, applied with a heat gun, softened the glue. I then worked a palette knife or sharpened scraper between the top and the body to separate the pieces. It helped also that there no support bracing or edge kerfing. I worked small sections, and had the two apart in pretty short order. Then I used the same process allowed me to salvage the bracing and bridge from the old top. I didn’t have to be too careful about the old top, since I wasn’t planning on reusing it.

added kerfing to the Martin BackpackerOnce that step was done, I cleaned up the body and the salvaged pieces, removing any traces of glue or wood from the top that broke off.

Next, I took the opportunity to beef up the body a bit. I put kerfing around the back and top edges of the body, which would provide a more ample and supportive edge to attach the top and back to the sides of the guitar.

lovely book matched cedar grainUpon turning my attention to the top, I had a decision to make. I had purchased a low grade cedar guitar top, which came as a pair of book matched pieces. My plan was to use a single piece, which would have been large enough on its own to top the guitar. When the wood arrived, however, I discovered that it had some significant shading variation, and had I used a single side, I would have ended up with a two-tone guitar. Not really what I wanted. To get a single-tone top with this wood, I’d have to join either the light or dark sides together as if I was making a larger guitar. It was an extra step, but upon examination, I discovered the darker portion had some lovely pronounced grain which, would look rather stunning. In for a penny, in for a pound, as they say. I did a bit of research and came upon a video which described the tent method of joining the pieces of wood. It was simple and required no special jigs, so I thought I’d give it a go.

Turns out it worked very well, and soon had a book matched top for a Backpacker. Fancy!

Clamping the guitarThe next step was joining the new top to the body, which illustrates perfectly one of the real values of professionals: they have the tools to do the job right. In this case, it’s the clamps. I used my assortment of bar and c-clamps to get the job done, but it would have been much easier if I had professional tools at my disposal. In the end, I clamped it well enough, and got the job done. Once the top had set, I routed the rough edges and sanded them flush.

Martin Backpacker GuitarFor finishing I decided to just use a hand rubbed and buffed linseed oil finish. Instrument makers prefer a shellac or varnish which doesn’t absorb into (and thus deaden) the sound of the wood. Let’s be honest here, however; shoeboxes are more resonant than Backpacker guitars. A few coats of oil weren’t going to kill the sound. And the result is beautiful to behold. And after restringing and making some bridge adjustments to compensate for a thicker, straighter top, it sounds as good as I remember it. On top of that, I have a deeper connection to this guitar now, and it’s a unique piece.

Now I just need to make a better case. Perhaps something like this.

 

Apple Music Displays the Wrong Album Art

So my iPhone SE was displaying the wrong album art for a number (though not all) songs. When I checked these albums on iTunes, all the songs had the correct album art. I tried deleting all the songs and then resyncing the playlist, but that didn’t fix the problem. A quick web search turned up the following tip from Reddit.

First delete the playlist, but before starting another sync from the computer, also turn off wi-fi and cellular communications. The easiest way to do this is to place the phone in Airplane mode. Then start the sync, and the correct album art should appear on the iPhone. Apparently this happens when syncing playlists.

What an annoying bug.

Fevermonks Revived

Many, many years ago, I wrote and played a bunch of songs with my friend Tom Rump. We called ourselves the Fevermonks, and we’ve recently been able to reconnect and record those songs through the magic of the Internet. We’ve published the songs on Bandcamp, so now you too can enjoy them in highest of fidelity. Go give the songs a listen and a download if you like. We appreciate the support.

Superblast!

Thoughts about Clipping and Distortion

Working on an overdrive pedal, here’s a few resources about clipping and distortion:

And a more general resource about the TubeScreamer circuit:

And a good compilation of general breadboard techniques:

BYOC Pedal Build

I love BOSS compact pedals. Of all the various guitar effects, they are my favorites. There are detractors to the line, of course, but I think BOSS stompboxes are brilliant.

To start with, they are masterpieces of industrial design, ingeniously solving so many problems that all guitar pedals face. The casings are robust. The large, raised footbed makes them easy to operate without accidentally hitting the control knobs with an errant step. The battery is housed in a separate compartment which is opened via a single thumbscrew. Simple bold colors make the pedals easily identifiable on a darkened stage, and a consistent form factor makes them easily interchangeable.

Say what you will about tone suck, but the electronics inside are also remarkable. While the pedals may not utilize the highest grade of electronic components or deliver sound nuances capable of satisfying every artist, BOSS stompboxes find a balance between affordability and quality output that work for most people, including many professional musicians. And if it’s good enough for the likes of David Gilmour or Eric Clapton, it’s probably good enough for me.

Recently, when I decided I wanted to add another overdrive effect to my pedalboard, I knew that what I wanted was something Tube Screamer flavored. I’m not going to enter into the debate about whether the vintage ones are better or whatever. Most people can’t tell the difference between all the different varieties, and I’ve got better things to do than worry whether an effect gets me the precise tone color I desire. Among those “better” things? Build the effect myself.

The final product
The final product

So I looked at the kits offered by BYOC, and settled on their Classic Overdrive. Rather than put it into a standard case, however, I decided to mod the whole thing slightly to fit it into a BOSS enclosure from a dead pedal that I found on eBay. The biggest problem was getting the footswitch to fit, for which I had to make a modified latch for the battery/switch cover plate. Other components, such as the jacks and the AC adapter were taken from the broken pedal because they fit into the case better. I painted the whole thing, and using bake-on waterslide transfer decals was able to emulate the trademark BOSS font and appearance. After a few coats of polyurethane, the thing is ready to play. The effect works very well, and was easy to assemble thanks to the kit. I think I’m going to be very happy with it as a second OD on my board, and I can foresee experimenting with other pedal builds in the future.

Here’s a soundclip.

Here’s some pictures of the process.

The BOSS pedal disassembled.
The BOSS pedal..
Closeup of the hinge latch mod.
Closeup of the hinge latch mod.
Closeup of the footswitch mod.
Closeup of the footswitch mod.
BYOC kit parts.
BYOC kit parts.
The board.
The board.

Everything fits!
Everything fits!