Do you do anything related to electronics in your spare time?

In summary, the conversation discusses the possibility of using electrical/electronics engineering skills to create and sell products, specifically in the music industry. The speakers share their experiences with designing and modifying guitar amps as a hobby and the potential for making a second income from it. They also mention the use of variacs and pulling tubes to achieve desired tone in vintage Fender amps. The conversation also touches on the topic of using knowledge in electrical engineering to design new products and the potential for making a good income from it.
  • #1
ahmadicabara
9
0
Hi,
I think that anyone with some programming skills can create apps/games and sell it but what about Electrical/electronics engineers is there anything like this: Projects that one can work on during spare time that do not need sophisticated equipments and that one can sell other than KITS??

Regards,
 
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  • #2
I made a pretty good second income from restoring/repairing tube amplifiers. I often had a Fender torn down in the kitchen table in the evening. My wife was a saint in this regard, and she even got used to having Harley carburetors torn down on the kitchen table. If it was something I liked to do (even if the monetary reward was minimal at times), she'd give me a lot of leeway.
 
  • #3
I design guitar amps as hobby when I was working. I am current still designing electronics for musical instruments. In fact I have been working pretty much full time in pursuing a patent( really cross my finger!:bugeye:) in some guitar electronics.

Don't know about money making, but designing guitar amp was what got me started 30 years ago, so I am going in full circle.
 
  • #4
yungman said:
I design guitar amps as hobby when I was working. I am current still designing electronics for musical instruments. In fact I have been working pretty much full time in pursuing a patent( really cross my finger!:bugeye:) in some guitar electronics.

Don't know about money making, but designing guitar amp was what got me started 30 years ago, so I am going in full circle.
Go,Yung! You might not get rich, but you might make musicians' lives richer.
 
  • #5
turbo said:
I made a pretty good second income from restoring/repairing tube amplifiers. I often had a Fender torn down in the kitchen table in the evening. My wife was a saint in this regard, and she even got used to having Harley carburetors torn down on the kitchen table. If it was something I liked to do (even if the monetary reward was minimal at times), she'd give me a lot of leeway.

Oh yeh, the good old vintage Fender. I used to be able to draw out most of the Fender amp schematics. My wife don't look at it this kindly. She is very neat and can't stand mess.

I actually put a variac on the power stage of a Twin in 1978, before people even start talking any about this. Now they have books about this. I put the variac only on the differential stage and the power tube and make the fix bias proportion to the main voltage. I left the filament and preamp alone with full voltage. At the time, the idea of shutting down a pair of tube is not very public as Mesa just came out around 73. I just pull two of the tube out. It sounded so good even when I cranked it down. During the process of working on the Twin, I got so into electronics that I actually quit music all together and end up having a full career in electronics. Now I am going back in full circle and playing with musical electronics lately.
 
  • #6
Thank you all for the replies :)

Do you know any good stories about people who actually designed new products using their knowledge in EENG? it would be great if these stories are recent enough because I am reading all over the internet that the time of electronics Hobbyists is gone which made me sad since I want to be able to use my knowledge to create new products and be able to sell them for good income as a Hobby.
 
  • #7
yungman said:
Oh yeh, the good old vintage Fender. I used to be able to draw out most of the Fender amp schematics. My wife don't look at it this kindly. She is very neat and can't stand mess.

I actually put a variac on the power stage of a Twin in 1978, before people even start talking any about this. Now they have books about this. I put the variac only on the differential stage and the power tube and make the fix bias proportion to the main voltage. I left the filament and preamp alone with full voltage. At the time, the idea of shutting down a pair of tube is not very public as Mesa just came out around 73. I just pull two of the tube out. It sounded so good even when I cranked it down. During the process of working on the Twin, I got so into electronics that I actually quit music all together and end up having a full career in electronics. Now I am going back in full circle and playing with musical electronics lately.
Pulling tubes and half/powering these old amps could be a great way to get good tone. Twins were a popular target, because they had solid-state power-supply that wouldn't sag like earlier Fenders. I loved the old tweeds because their tube rectifiers would sag like hell when you hit them with a big input signal.
 
  • #8
turbo said:
Pulling tubes and half/powering these old amps could be a great way to get good tone. Twins were a popular target, because they had solid-state power-supply that wouldn't sag like earlier Fenders. I loved the old tweeds because their tube rectifiers would sag like hell when you hit them with a big input signal.

My next one will be cathode bias with resistor. I already have a platform used to be KMC or something with a Celetion Vintage 30 speaker. It kind of like the design of a Musicman amp. But I already ripped everything out and just use the two transformers and the filter caps. I modified a Bassman 100, but it does not give me the sound I want, I think it's because the two transformer is just way too big, you don't get the compression from core saturation. AND it's so heavy. I think I would buy two smaller transformer if I were to use that again.

Problem is those old Fenders are very expensive particularly only use it as a platform. I could have kick myself that I through out a black face Deluxe and a Bassman 100 in 1986...in the garbage! I used to have a Vibrolux when I was in Hong Kong long time ago, I so wish I still has it.
 
  • #9
yungman said:
My next one will be cathode bias with resistor. I already have a platform used to be KMC or something with a Celetion Vintage 30 speaker. It kind of like the design of a Musicman amp. But I already ripped everything out and just use the two transformers and the filter caps. I modified a Bassman 100, but it does not give me the sound I want, I think it's because the two transformer is just way too big, you don't get the compression from core saturation. AND it's so heavy. I think I would buy two smaller transformer if I were to use that again.

Problem is those old Fenders are very expensive particularly only use it as a platform. I could have kick myself that I through out a black face Deluxe and a Bassman 100 in 1986...in the garbage! I used to have a Vibrolux when I was in Hong Kong long time ago, I so wish I still has it.
Ooh! Bad! Nobody ever throw out an old Fender! They are the most repairable/rebuildable amps of all time. I will pay shipping.

I have a few "tube rectifiers" that I made, using a rectifier tube base, wired with diodes so that if a rectifier tube crapped out while I was performing, I could switch that out. I never had to use one. Those old rectifier tubes were bulletproof!
 
  • #10
turbo said:
Ooh! Bad! Nobody ever throw out an old Fender! They are the most repairable/rebuildable amps of all time. I will pay shipping.

I have a few "tube rectifiers" that I made, using a rectifier tube base, wired with diodes so that if a rectifier tube crapped out while I was performing, I could switch that out. I never had to use one. Those old rectifier tubes were bulletproof!

I know, I really kick myself. At the time, my career had nothing to do with music, in fact I never work on music electronics in the 30 years.

You still performing, what kind of music? I quit in 1979, I used to play those classic rock and funk that was very popular in those days. I don't even like playing anymore. Now it's all about electronics, I just use my experience to test and try. One thought is buying a Vibrolux transformer set so I get the floating filament secondary to do the tube rectifier. The old Fenders really have good clean sound.

I am absolutely surprised when I come back to music electronics, that they really have not move very far since the day I left. I think that's because there is no money in the field. Takes a lot of effort to build an amp and you can only sell it for less than $1500...That is if you have a name and you have people even willing to look at it. And that is at the retail end, I doubt you can sell for half to the retailers. At that, you'll be lucky to sell 100 a year. That is slave labor after paying for the parts, labor. The enclosure can be very expensive as so is the speaker. I don't think people are making money unless you are Fender, Marshall etc.
 

1. What sparked your interest in electronics?

I have always been fascinated by how electronic devices work and how they can be used to improve our daily lives. As a child, I loved taking apart old electronics and trying to understand their inner workings.

2. What kinds of projects do you work on in your spare time?

In my spare time, I enjoy working on a variety of electronics projects such as building circuits, programming microcontrollers, and designing PCBs. I also like to experiment with different sensors and components to create unique and useful devices.

3. How do you stay updated on the latest advancements in electronics?

I stay updated on the latest advancements in electronics by reading industry publications, attending conferences and workshops, and staying connected with other professionals in the field. I also enjoy participating in online forums and communities to discuss and share new ideas and techniques.

4. Do you have any tips for someone interested in learning more about electronics?

My advice for someone interested in learning more about electronics is to start with the basics. Familiarize yourself with basic components such as resistors, capacitors, and transistors, and learn how they work together to create circuits. There are also many online resources and tutorials available for beginners to help them get started.

5. How do you incorporate your interest in electronics into your career as a scientist?

As a scientist, I often use my knowledge of electronics in my research and experiments. I also work closely with engineers and technicians to design and build specialized electronic equipment for data collection and analysis. My interest in electronics has also helped me develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills that are valuable in the scientific field.

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