Conversations at DALLAS

ed packard · Post by **ed packard** » 8 Mar 2005 12:21 pm

Well, The BEAST did DALLAS, along with the Baby BEAST = Son of a BEAST?...= SOB? They were at the SIERRA table in the main hall, right between Joe Wright's table and the Peterson tuners.

SIERRA did not have a banner, and did not have the SIERRA label on the instruments, so only SIERRA lovers knew it was SIERRA...to be fixed for the future.

The BEAST and Baby BEAST were accompanied by a computer screen with the basics of the Finite Element Analysis (FEA) and the Frequency Spectrum Analysis (FSA) that had been applied to the BEAST, and some other instruments. Both static and dynamic info were displayed.

Between the instruments and the instrumentation, I was kept busy re descriptions...caused me a loss of voice by Sunday morning. Thanks to all who stopped by, ..my pleasure.

Here are some of the conversations (partial) that took place:

Man standing a good safe distance from the BEAST and looking sideways at it...as if ready to run...."What the heck is that?" "It just looks dangerous...if it bites you we will have it put to sleep"!

"Why does it have such a long scale (30")?"...Because when you integrate the Changer and Tuner into a single unit, you save a lot of room (length). If you save all that room, you can either shorten the body (save weight), or add frets and have more instrument to play (E9 becomes C9)."

"Why didn't you just shorten it and save the weight?"..."I wanted to see how the new PST hardware would work with the added length, and I wanted to have 10 pedals; hard to get 10 pedals on a short body. If you want to see what it would look like without the added frets (short scale) look at the Baby BEAST over here".

"That don't look like no GITAR to me!"..."None of these PSG's look like a guitar; the only guitar parts/looks left are some string gauges, the end to end taper of the strings, and an E string in the top few. We even did away with the string taper and the E length neck!"

"Why the etched glass neckplate?"..."'Cause I have a friend that does etched glass cofee tables, mirrors, and shower doors. You could use wood, metal, plastic, or ??..dress the Barby doll to suit your taste. For now, i plan to backlight it with LEDs and fiber optics. In the long run it will become something else. (Forum readers see previous posts for a clue)."

"Ed, why don't you get a haircut?"...."If you can find one long enough, I will get it cut!" This is my David Wright imitation, ..I can't do Joe Wright either way!!!

"I have trouble enough with 10 strings...don't need any more."..."That is what Jerry Byrd said about adding pedals etc., ..and for him, he was right".

Me, anticipating the conversation by the look in their eyes; "Before you ask, it is too wide, too long, and built backwards,..aside from that it works quite well!"

Two instrument makers asked to be added to the email list for the SFA/FEA papers. Some others seem to be getting the info via proxys (forwarded to them).

A number of folk were interested in the graphics re the SFA/FEA work, and descriptions thereof. Aircraft, missles, ships, etc. are designed on computer with all the statics and dynamics calculated and refined beforehand, why not something as simple as a PSG?

Ray Minich · Post by **Ray Minich** » 8 Mar 2005 2:50 pm

Ed, did you outfit yer unit with strain gages and calibrate the deflections to confirm the FEA results passed the "sanity" test? MicroMeasurements loves to sell adhesives

Hope you can post a picture from the show.[This message was edited by Ray Minich on 08 March 2005 at 02:51 PM.]

ed packard · Post by **ed packard** » 8 Mar 2005 3:11 pm

Ray;

Is that your correct email address above?

Pictures from the show (just of the Baby BEAST) soon, ..probably via Per Brenner as before.

No strain gauges till the end (maybe). What is happening is the FEA modeling for dynamics (modal vibration frequencies calculated), statics (deflections vs. static load calculated) against pickup output from the vibrating strings...they should correlate, or the model is wrong (refine it). So far things seem to fit. Pitch shift from cabinet/mechanism deformation is included in the study, as is the body resonance vs. tone issue. [This message was edited by ed packard on 08 March 2005 at 04:37 PM.]

Jackie Anderson · Post by **Jackie Anderson** » 9 Mar 2005 7:16 am

Like one of cartoonist Gary Larsson's scientists said to the other, beside a whiteboard full of equations, "Wait a minute -- this is rocket science!"

ed packard · Post by **ed packard** » 9 Mar 2005 8:17 am

Jack; If it does not "sound" right, it might be called RACKET science!!!

Peter · Post by **Peter** » 9 Mar 2005 10:54 am

Look here:

http://www.knetzcomics.com/knetzger/Pedal2005/pedal40.JPG

HowardR · Post by **HowardR** » 9 Mar 2005 11:09 am

Ed, it was my pleasure to meet you at the Dallas show. I enjoyed your explanation of "The Beast" along with all of the variations of the tuning. What a masterpiece. The fretboard itself is like a landing strip, or will be when you finish your plans for it.

I admire a person who does what they sez....and then sez what they does....

ed packard · Post by **ed packard** » 9 Mar 2005 11:13 am

Howard R; The pleasure was mine....us boyz need our toyz. I thought for a long time it was time for something new in the PSG world.

Rick Aiello · Post by **Rick Aiello** » 9 Mar 2005 11:59 am

Man ... if I were to ever "go pedal steel" ... I'd want that one ...

------------------

Aiello's House of Gauss


My wife and I don't think alike. She donates money to the homeless and I donate money to the topless! ... R. Dangerfield