REVIEW JOYO JA-02 II: Rechargeable Guitar Amp Bluetooth Speaker

Those clever designers at Joyo have combined a rechargeable Bluetooth speaker and a guitar amp together in a lightweight plastic amplifier, complete with switchable distortion, external line input, headphone output and USB-C charger hole. But there is one feature that blew my mind and caused me to immediately hit the buy button.

HOW TO RACK MOUNT GEAR: Without a rack

Do you have rack-mounted gear you move in and out of your recording, control room area? I’m constantly working with literally, piles of gear. I have a lot of little wood blocks which I use to provide air space for cooling between stacks of gadgets. I have a lot of equipment racks in a variety of sizes but the problem with racks is all the space they take up. What if there was a way to have many of the benefits of a rack, without the rack?

REVIEW: EMF Meter Model RD630, because health matters!

Are you cooking yourself with radiation?

Well don't buy this one

(but think about EMF)

IMPORTANT UPDATE AT END: My favorite human and I spend A LOT of time in the kitchen. We cook and eat, we do art, we watch birds and surf the internet, all from our kitchen, so it seemed like a place that should be safe. Since our kitchen is one of the nerve centers of our home, testing for radiation seemed like a smart idea. There is a big cell tower about 1/4 mile away behind our house and my partner was wondering if we were being irradiated. 

REVIEW SPACE SAVING RIGHT ANGLE XLR ADAPTOR - Bargain Studio Hack

Sometimes you just need a right angle XLR — maybe due to space limitations like trying to mic a snare drum or setup a weird stereo microphone configuration. It’s tough maintaining a lot of adaptor cables and that is where this handy little adaptor comes in. Do they really work reliably?

REVIEW RADIAL KNURLED KNOB THUMB SCREW REPLACEMENT FOR 500-SERIES 4-40 x 3/8"

If you have ever struggled with mounting 500 Series modules, or had trouble finding the right screws to mount modules, you’ll love these pricey little jewels.

BARGAIN STUDIO HACKS,, BROTHER HOME AND HOBBY LABEL MAKER

CLICK TO ENLARGE

Use an inexpensive label maker to label cables and tags. There are many to choose from but the one series that has delivered the best value for me is the Brother models that use M Tape cartridges.

You can apply these labels to almost any clean surface. I can print neatly by hand but printing with a label maker makes labels that are easier to read and more consistent in appearance. Can you really buy a good label maker for under $25?

BARGAIN STUDIO HACKS, FAST, EASY, FLEXIBLE CABLE LABELS

WHAT'S EASY, CHEAP, FAST, FLEXIBLE, AND TIME SAVING?

Recording studios are notorious places for having A LOT of connecting cables back behind the gear. The patchbay network of wires on my recording console is nuts and difficult to trouble-shoot because there are so many cables coming together in such a compact area. 

Back in my Design and Installation days I used expensive cable labeling machines to print out custom labels for tagging wires at roughly 25-cents per label (material cost, $25/100). Today the last thing I need is another expensive device sitting around and besides, this article is called "Cheap". Don't fret out, the cheap solution is here.

BARGAIN STUDIO HACKS, REUSABLE CABLE AND WIRE TIES, PRECISION FLUSH-CUTTING WIRE CUTTERS

This issue of "BARGAIN STUDIO HACKS" is a two-for, an introduction to wire/cable ties and the cutters you need to make the most of them.

Top = Single-use wire tie, Bottom = Removable wire tie (note the release lever on lower tie)

BARGAIN STUDIO HACKS, IMPROVE YOUR ELECTRICAL CONTACTS

 I have been using Caig Laboratories electronic cleaners since 1985 when one of my repair techs (who also worked at the local NBC Television affiliate) left a can in our repair shop. 

DeoxIT is not like other electronic spray cleaners, it contains magic (my own terminology, not theirs :-).

Seriously, I've had DeoxIT bring brand new cables to life. 

The places where cables are made are typically not what you'd call "Clean Room" environments, they're kind of dirty by nature. There is smoke from soldering and there are lots of "lubricants" in use which keep connectors from sticking together when they're stored in big plastic tubs or job boxes. 

BARGAIN STUDIO HACKS, MIC STAND EXTRA WEIGHT

 OLYMPIC BARBELL (MIC STAND ) WEIGHT

For playing live I like tripod-base mic stands but in a crowded studio situation the three legs often take up too much floor real estate. A round-base mic stand takes up a LOT less physical space but they are often too unstable to support a boom arm and a heavy cluster of microphones.

BAGAIN STUDIO HACKS, TRS-THRU STUDIO HANDY-BOX

THE TRS-THRU HANDY-BOX FOR MUSICIANS AND STUDIOS

by Mark King

WHAT'S WRONG WITH THESE LABELS? LOL

I have a lot of wiring in my studio that uses Tip-Ring-Sleeve TRS connectors. I also have a lot of unbalanced phone plugs on guitar cords. I came up with this handy little problem solver a few months back and just built three more.