HMP Picture

[RDV]

Here's one I boxed up last night with no labels or anything.
Playing with it after I got done, I noticed that if you turn the gain all the way down and the master volume all the way up it becomes a powerful clean boost with an active tunable bass EQ, perhaps suitable for acoustic instruments even.


RDV

[MartyMart]

Beautiful build Ricky !  is that another "Hammerite" special ?
How are you thinking of labelling it ?

V- NICE  WORK !
Marty.

[Torchy]

Nice and simple finish ... I like it, very cool  

Some laser decals would do that finish justice, I've used em twice now and refuse to use anything else.

[RDV]

Hammerite it is. It has much more shine to it in person. The camera hates fluorescent  light. I'm not sure on the labeling. Decals don't do so well on the hammer finishes. I've got a paint pen, but I've got a crappy unsteady hand. I guess I'll just take my time and try to do a decent job of it.

RDV

[tazwolf]

RDV: which type of paint pen do you have?

and do you treat the box in any way before applying the hammerlite?

looks really good!

/Taz

[RDV]

RDV: which type of paint pen do you have?
and do you treat the box in any way before applying the hammerlite?

I'm not sure what kind of paint pen it is(I'm at work), but it's got a 'fine tip' & is black. I'm going to buy some different colors and do some experimenting.

I just shake the can & start spraying, and put 3 coats on with about 10 to 15 minutes between coats. I've been really lazy on the finishing end of things. Almost every one of the boxes I've been using live are unfinished.

RDV

[BDuguay]

Be warned, dumb question coming.
What does HMP stand for?
Looks great! I'd stomp on it, if you know what I mean.
B.

[Doug_H]

;lkj

[RDV]

Be warned, dumb question coming.
What does HMP stand for?
Looks great! I'd stomp on it, if you know what I mean.
B.

Not dumb at all. It's supposed to stand for "Heavy Metal Pedal", but I regretted naming it that pretty quick, because it seemed to limit the # of people interested in it, so I started referring to it as the "HMP" instead. You know, sort of like BMP.

What's amazing though is that it may have a use for people wanting a boost with a tunable low end by turn the gain down and master up.

RDV

[petemoore]

You could practice...
 Take a couple strips of masking tape, and run them parallel to each other, spaced as big as the letters you want, then mark evenly where you want the 4 or 5 or [ ] letters spaced...this tells you how much area to use for that letter.
 Practice on a scrap piece...the marked masking tape should help you draw the letters evenly.

[Peter Snowberg]

That looks great Ricky!

I like the hammertone paint too. It does such a good job at hiding my less-than-perfect technique while still producing a real pro looking result.

[RDV]

:wink:

[RDV]

Here's the HMP with Brothers label-maker labeling. It looks a little better than this in person.


RDV

[Paul Marossy]

I've used those label maker labels a few times on some of the stuff that I have built. It works...

[RDV]

I like the way the name looks, but not so much the controls. It does look better than the pic though as that's way blown up.

This one sounds a little better than the prototype, though I don't really know why. The only difference is the protoype was perfed, and this one is on a PCB.

RDV

[Mark Hammer]

I was interested initially, but hadn't really followed the HMP all the way through its refinement to its present stage (largely I suppose because that tone is not really what I obsess about, but chacun à son gout, eh?).

I just wanted to say that the final product (yeah, like there ever really IS one...) is a smart, thoughtful, flexible design that does what I like best about pedals: lets you accomplish a specific task without obstacles, but lets you carve out other unexpected territory as well.  So, good on ya!!  be proud

That hammertone finish (and incidentally, I receive NO royalties from it, and am not heir to some immense "hammertone fortune" :lol: )  looks great, but boy oh boy it restricts legending/labelling choices.

It started me thinking.  I wonder if there is some way in which one could use iron-on technology of some sort, or some other sort of sheet-based technology to produce negatives for spraying on legending; a kind of "micro-stencil".  For instance, could one use PnP, print negative lettering on a painted surface (i.e., it all gets covered with a resist of some kind, EXCEPT for the lettering), and then remove the resist with some sort of chemical agent once the paint was dry?  I know folks who have done decals or silk-screening will tout the virtues of those approaches, but silk-screening for one-offs is unlikely to garner support, and decals are great for ultra smooth surfaces but not for textured surfaces like these.

Any thoughts or relevant experiments?

[Paul Marossy]

This one sounds a little better than the prototype, though I don't really know why. The only difference is the protoype was perfed, and this one is on a PCB.

PCBs are just better?!  :lol:

Seriously though, I wonder if that Hammerite finish would take silkscreen or not.

[RDV]

That's exactly why I regretted naming the thing that. It does do that sort of thing pretty well, but into a dull sounding low-gain SS amp this thing will really shine, giving a nice marshally growl to amps that wouldn't dream of sounding like that before. Into the actual Marshall, well, not as good. I voiced this pedal using a LM386 style amp, probably not the brightest thing I ever did. At rehearsal tonight I'm gonna plug an acoustic electric into it and see if it works as well for that as it has been for electrics as a clean booster with a tunable bass/low-mid control.

RDV

[RDV]

Here we go again with another pic with a solid top decal.


RDV

[GreenEye]

You gotta turn that gain knob up!!  :wink:

For my pedals, I say forget the paint.  I'm going to use sticker paper on bare aluminum for my Tube Reamer.