Strip-eze + plastic inlay = Epic Fail.

Here's a little advice for anyone who has ever thought "I could save so much money by buying a MightyMite neck and refinish it in nitro!" Tape as much you like, but you're gonna melt your side dots. At least that's what they tell me. :-[

The n00bs' Guide to iPod Touch interface on iPod Video

I picked up a cool hack today. I was reading Engadget, one of my favorite tech blogs, and they reported that you can now use an iPod Touch-like interface on your 5G or 5.5G iPod Video. The original forum post seems to beoverloaded, so go here.

The guide is a little lacking for those who aren't familiar with hacking iPods. So here's how I did it.

First, I had to install parallels on my Mac, since the program you need, iPodWizard, is only for windows.

So, after you plug in your iPod (for Parallels users, click yes to the message asking you to connect the iPod to the Windows VM), you should open iPod Wizard, which looks like this:
More than a little daunting. Focus in on the drop-down menu. That's where you need to click:
Select Firmware File. Then click Open Firmware File. Now navigate to where you saved the firmware file, that you might've gotten from here.

Make sure you have the right generation. Here's a hint. If your iPod has a Search feature, you need the 5.5G firmware.

Then click Write to Ipod.

Then follow the steps from driven-design:

• When writing is done, click "Eject", but DO NOT UNPLUG YOUR IPOD.
  NOTE: This is the eject button in iPodWizard, not iTunes
  
• Your iPod will reboot. When it has successfully rebooted, your computer will redetected. Eject it again. Now you may unplug.
  I used the iPodWizard eject button again.

It worked flawlessly. I find it moves a little slower than my 1.2.3 regular firmware, but that's probably the graphics. it's totally worth it, though. :)

Jazzmaster Build

Well my dad's taking up left-handed guitar, and it's giving me the opportunity to build one of my all-time favorite guitars, the Jazzmaster. The parts are all ordered; a template, a neck, two cans of fiesta red, seymour duncan pickups, and all the goodies to make a great (albeit backwards) guitar.

You know, while we're whacking away at slabs of swamp ash, maybe we should make a Jazzmaster I can actually play when we're done?

PS - The Marshall's done -- I just have to post up pics. ;)