Plenty of people mod basses, but I'm curious as to how many people mod their tools? I'm sure I'm not the only one to take an inexpensive piece of equipment and (hopefully) improve it with a little creative thinking, so let's see some jury-rigged tools.
40 Watt Weller soldering iron station
As well-made as this iron was for the price, I eventually got tired of plugging and unplugging in order to turn the thing on or off. So I bought a stand from RadioShack, drilled a few holes, cut the power chord, soldered the outlet plug to a new two-conductor wire, and wired an on/off switch. The iron works as well as ever, and is much easier to work with on projects that require frequent pauses for component arrangement.
Planet Waves ex-portable headstand
After using it once out of the package, I was regretting this purchase. Although the legs lock into the open position, the light plastic frame just felt flimsy, and any lateral motion against the bass during deployment caused the stand to shift position or even fall over. So I did what any sensible person would do: fill the hollow spaces in the legs with molten solder to add weight.
Unfortunately, the heat from the soldering iron damaged the plastic joint enough so that the third leg wouldn't lock in place. So I turned it into a permanent stand by injecting epoxy into the joint and other moving parts while it was open, and now it's sturdier than ever, if a bit weird looking.
40 Watt Weller soldering iron station
As well-made as this iron was for the price, I eventually got tired of plugging and unplugging in order to turn the thing on or off. So I bought a stand from RadioShack, drilled a few holes, cut the power chord, soldered the outlet plug to a new two-conductor wire, and wired an on/off switch. The iron works as well as ever, and is much easier to work with on projects that require frequent pauses for component arrangement.
Planet Waves ex-portable headstand
After using it once out of the package, I was regretting this purchase. Although the legs lock into the open position, the light plastic frame just felt flimsy, and any lateral motion against the bass during deployment caused the stand to shift position or even fall over. So I did what any sensible person would do: fill the hollow spaces in the legs with molten solder to add weight.
Unfortunately, the heat from the soldering iron damaged the plastic joint enough so that the third leg wouldn't lock in place. So I turned it into a permanent stand by injecting epoxy into the joint and other moving parts while it was open, and now it's sturdier than ever, if a bit weird looking.
