Brand new... just ordered a B3. Looking for some tips, I guess...

dae23 wrote:

Keep in mind the theremin has a hotter (line level) output than a guitar or bass, so a guitar or bass amp is not the ideal amplifier.

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You can easily compensate for that with a variety of passive devices such as the Leem FDR 60 filter direct box.

http://www.leem.co.kr/eng/product_detail.html?MN=FDR-60

I bought one of them several years ago, took it home and liked it so much I went back to the shop the next day and bought their entire stock of half a dozen of the things!

I am currently using one of them with my MIDI Ethervox.

Ha Ha! The funny part is...I checked out that device and thought "Hmmm, that could be handy."

Then I look over at the direct box sitting on my desk and realize it can do the same thing :)
(I bought it for another purpose)

Learn something new every day.

Hi Pundonjunk.

Sorry I'm late seeing this.

I've had a similar incident when trying to get home with my B3 on Dosen't Even Leave The Airport airlines.

The good news is, Burns will send you out a brand new rod. Also, it's easy to replace because unlike the original B3, the Deluxe uses a mounting bracket which is a simple strip of metal with a hole in it, through which the antenna's mounting screw goes.

When you get your replacement rod, you'll need a box-tipped screwdriver (small) to remove the 6 screws from the bottom of the Deluxe.

Then just undo the antenna mount screw, followed by the two bracket screws which hold the bracket to the wood structure.

Remove what's left of the old antenna by withdrawing it toward the now open bottom of the theremin. (the hole is conical, and will only accept the rod from one direction.)

Insert the new rod into the hole from the bottom of the theremin, replace the mounting bracket, and secure the antenna mount screw, followed by the two bracket screws.

No soldering needed, as the antenna lead is soldered to the bracket, and not the antenna.

Give Burns a quick e-mail, and they'll get that new rod out to you.

We'll have thereminizing again in no time.

Sorry to hear of the shipping misshap by the way.

Thanks for the step by step!

He mailed it out right after I sent him a long whine about how ticked I was, and the pics. I know it's not his fault, and he was real nice about it, too. Hopefully coming tomorrow or the next day.

I have an antennae I got from radioshack kind of stuck into the hole, it's not wedged in or damaging it, and he said that should be OK. It's obviously causing a few problems with the way it should be working, but it's fun to play with for the time being while I'm extremely impatient about the correct antennae.

Heh. I'm so excited.

Punkonjunk, It's good to hear you've got a new rod on the way, and at least got the theremin MacGyvered together with a temporary substitute.

Do let us know how your repair works out.

I had a problem with my first B3 and Dan Burns went out of his way to make it right. He treats his customers well.

Here's a tip - the B3 is very sensitive, so keep well away from anything else when playing, especially metal objects. Keep at least 2 feet of space clear around it. And if you don't use a mic stand, don't set it on a metal table!

I use an ART pre-amp, a Behringer ultra fuzz, an analog delay, and a "Space C' chorus with mine.

everything has been up and running smoothly for a while now - his directions plus Thomas' directions were excellent. I accidentally messed up part of the thing that fixed the antennae in, but I re-soldered it and it was good to go with 10 more minutes of work, and a burn or two. I'm so bad with soldering irons.

I'm having a ton of fun. it's slow going, as expected, but soooo much fun. I'm still working on piano, too, both of which are helping each other out a lot.

One thing I didn't expect was for it to be so fun to LEARN. I thought this would be more of an uphill grind versus...
More of an exploration than a sisyphus party time.

It's going great. :)