Great and famous DIY Musicians

[jfricker]

There are so many DIY nerdy musicians, and that Moog guy comes to mind right off the bat!

And check out what WinAmp creator Justin Frankel is up to these days at http://www.jesusonic.com/ and http://www.ninjam.com/.

Who's your favorite?

[Sir H C]

Joseph Byrd of The United States of America, made his own synths and stuff back in the 60s.

Brian May made his own guitar and tweaked the booster for it.

Aphex Twin hacks his synths or at least did.

[jfricker]

Oh yeah speaking of bass players, I think Michael Manring is completely responsible for the incredible Hyperbass.

[stevehollx]

Tom Scholz. Built one of the only good sounding solid state amps ever.

[Sir H C]

Originally posted by stevehollx
Tom Scholz. Built one of the only good sounding solid state amps ever.

And rebuilt his mixing console to get it to be how he wanted it to sound.

[Phil O'Keefe]

Joe Walsh used to love to jump in and mod his amps and so forth. I don't know if he still does or not, but he used to be really into it. :)

[Jazz Ad]

I always loved Bo Diddley and his homemade rectangular guitars with loads of built-in effects.

[arracado]

Bob Heil.

[meep]

Autechre circuit bend / redesign most their stuff.

Which is cool because in most cases circuit benders are losers.

:)

[Phil O'Keefe]

Originally posted by arracado
Bob Heil.


BTW, Bob's on the cover of the latest issue of EQ magazine. :)

[el_duderino676]

Billy Sheehan. His Wife P bass has uber mojo.

[sirhcathome]

Reed Gharza (sp)
Sonic Youth (Thurston and Lee at least)

[Frank Prince]

Wouldn't Les Paul be the grandaddy of all of 'em?

Also, Steve Vai with the routing on his guitar for the lowered Floyd Rose bridge.

A lot of pro builders and modders started out as pro or semi-pro players.
Fred from % by 13, Robert Keeley, and ZVex leap immediately to mind.

[animl]

Originally posted by Sir H C

Brian May made his own guitar and tweaked the booster for it.


I believe John Deacon was the brains behind May's guitar mods

[Sir H C]

Originally posted by animl


I believe John Deacon was the brains behind May's guitar mods

I thought that the original guitar was made from a table by Brian and his father. They used Burns pickups in it or the like. Then all the cool mods. So lets add John Deacon to the list.

And Jeff "Skunk" Baxter. Heck the guy designs missile defense systems now.

[Vince]

John Deacon had nothing to do with Brians guitar - that was built by Brian and his Dad when Brian was 17. He didn't meet John until Brian was at uni and trying to get Queen/Smile on the way.

John DID however, build the little battery powered amp (Deacy) that is emulated by Vox in the VBM-1. Brian used this amp alongside his AC30's when recording. In particular the guitar jazz band on "Good Company".

THe amount of shit I know about Brian May off the top of my head worries me...:D

[phaeton]

Nobody yet mentions Craig Anderton???


He is one of the Founding Fathers of DIY Instrumentation and Effects!!! :mad:

[chunkathalon]

The bass player from the kingsman started building sunn amps in his garage.

[sheepshears]

Originally posted by meep
Autechre circuit bend / redesign most their stuff.

Which is cool because in most cases circuit benders are losers.

:)

i dont know if thats true or not. but if it is, autechre dont get no free pass, they 'lose' just as much as the next bender.

[Steverino]

I read Frank Marino is quite the tinkerer.

[vigor&kandor]

Timmy C of Rage Against the Machine. built his own dirt. i believe he modifies his own amps too.

[dot-dot-dot]

Originally posted by meep
in most cases circuit benders are losers.

How come you never hear of a circuit bender taking a broken DS-1 and making it sound like a Speak N Spell?

[Sir H C]

Originally posted by sheepshears


i dont know if thats true or not. but if it is, autechre dont get no free pass, they 'lose' just as much as the next bender.

What about Richard D. James?

[antiwhammy]

paul reed smith, seymour duncan, eddie van halen