Guitar combo into a pedal?

Thylacine Dream · #1 11-05-2011, 02:49 PM

I have a Danelectro Dirty Thirty guitar combo whose tone I adored when I still played guitar, until someone faffed up the input, that is. Is there any way I could disconnect the speaker, separate the enclosure from the head part, and somehow turn what's left into a pedal, just to see what happens? If so, does anyone know where I could go near Dallas to get this done, or somewhere to ship it? The controls are just volume, tone, distortion, by the way. Thanks, smart people!

Thylacine Dream · #2 11-05-2011, 02:51 PM

Also, the pedal doesn't have to be convenient in the slightest in terms of size, I'm just curious about this. Mods to make the finish product better for bass would be fantastic, too, if any of this isn't just impossible silliness

RickenBoogie · #3 11-05-2011, 04:53 PM

The thing that confuses me about your idea is: it's an amplifier. What sort of "fx pedal" do you think it could be? Are we talking preamp? Yeah, confused I am.

GrowlerBox · #4 11-05-2011, 04:59 PM

I think if you had the wherewithal to do it yourself -- tear out the preamp components and put 'em in a metal box -- as an experiment, it might be worthwhile. If you were going to spend decent money getting it done, especially if you also want it modified, then you might just as well buy one of the many preamp/distortion/EQ, etc, pedals or rack units already available. Danelectro makes plenty of them, and they're cheap.

Thylacine Dream · #5 11-05-2011, 05:03 PM

Yes we're talking preamp, no I haven't the wherewithal. I was just curious because it's just sitting around and it'd be something unique

GrowlerBox · #6 11-05-2011, 05:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thylacine Dream

Yes we're talking preamp, no I haven't the wherewithal. I was just curious because it's just sitting around and it'd be something unique

Not sure it'd be unique -- sounds like one of their CoolCat pedals (Drive or Transparent Overdrive).

Simon Rose · #7 11-05-2011, 05:32 PM

I am willing to bet it wouldn't be to hard to fix the messed- up input plug with a soldering iron, unless you are dead set on doing the pre-amp/pedal idea. Also i looked at said amplifier and it does have a headphone jack that could be used as a makeshift "line level" output. If none of these options seem like something you want to do would be look at some sort of "speaker level to line level" device to bring the speaker output on the amp to an appropriate level. As far as taking out the pre-amp i have no ideas.

mattbass6945 · #8 11-05-2011, 09:16 PM

i just gotta say, even if it doesn't make sense to me...i love the madness and the logic. or lack there of. awesome.

mjl9787 · #9 11-05-2011, 10:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Simon Rose

I am willing to bet it wouldn't be to hard to fix the messed- up input plug with a soldering iron

Yeah, I'd look into this. then you could just plug your bass in and not worry about pedalifying it.

crazy-dano-amp-in-a-pedal does sound kind of cool though.

newbold · #10 11-05-2011, 10:53 PM

If you're going to pay someone to do this you should get it fixed and have an fx loop put in so you can use it in your chain. Find a used bypass switch and you not only have an 'effect' but you have your amp back and working for (probably) less than what you're asking about.

Thylacine Dream · #11 11-09-2011, 01:07 AM

Thank you for the support/morbid curiosity, mattbass and mjl. Those giving me advice will have to use babytalk, for example, I don't know anything about speaker level and line level.

I really would like to see what might happen here if I transmogrify it into a pedal rather than just throwing an FX loop in the amp (whose speaker I'd rather not blow with a bass, hence the genesis of this idea), also to maintain some measure of portability but mainly I'm just infatuated with the (if you will, I can't think of a better word this early in the morning) ghetto-ness of the whole thing.

I doubt it'll sound exactly like a Cool Cat, Growler, but if it does, at least I tried and learned a thing or two.

So, I disconnect the speaker (done long ago), disconnect the guts (done just now, hope the picture posts right), discover that turning the distortion knob past 3:00 makes the whole thing shift weirdly, get a bit disturbed, now what? Can I power it with the original power setup (120V, I believe) once I disconnect the speaker wires or am I an idiot? Do I just need a stomp switch, FX loop and some sort of additional protection on there and I'm good?

Thylacine Dream · #12 11-09-2011, 01:15 AM

Oh, and where should I go in Dallas to have someone work on this thing?

Stumbo · #13 11-09-2011, 01:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thylacine Dream

Those giving me advice will have to use babytalk, for example, I don't know anything about speaker level and line level.

Since you know enough to get yourself killed or burned a bit, I suggest you stop doing what you're doing.

Find a amp guy in your area and pay to find out if it's possible to do what you want to do or not.

Don't mess around with electricity unless you know what's up. Doing what you're doing is ludicrous. What you don't know can get you dead.

Here's a guy in Dallas that can help you out: http://www.slemmons.com/Contact.html
Got his name from: Good amp techs!

Thylacine Dream · #14 11-09-2011, 01:18 AM

Oh, and where should I go in Dallas to get this thing worked on?

Thylacine Dream · #15 11-09-2011, 03:46 AM

Thanks tons, I'll check him out after I see if my setup guy has any experience with these things. I have yet to and had not planned to mess around with electricity, it wasn't plugged in at any point in my tinkering and hasn't even had a power cord for years. All I did was disconnect the speaker and unscrew some screws, sorry if I implied somewhere that I was going to do any additional work myself but I thought I made it clear that I wasn't in my response to GrowlerBox earlier and elsewhere. There's a difference between ignorant and stupid, I'm maintaining that I'm the former