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Vintage threads from the first ten years

Cesar Diaz mods?...help...

10/13/2000 3:03 AM
kidblue	Cesar Diaz mods?...help... Can anybody describe what it is exaclty that Cesar does when he modifies fender amps (blackface circuit)? I've tried lowering the cathode caps on the driver and recovery tubes to .47uF and 2.2 or 5uF. I end up getting really shrill sounding breakup, but the low end stays clear like I want it to. I've tried messing with tone stack caps too - I've gone from .022's, .033's and .047's and I either get mud or shrillness. Anybody have any tips for me? Thanks kidblue

10/13/2000 3:03 AM

kidblue

Cesar Diaz mods?...help...

Can anybody describe what it is exaclty that Cesar does when he modifies fender amps (blackface circuit)? I've tried lowering the cathode caps on the driver and recovery tubes to .47uF and 2.2 or 5uF. I end up getting really shrill sounding breakup, but the low end stays clear like I want it to. I've tried messing with tone stack caps too - I've gone from .022's, .033's and .047's and I either get mud or shrillness. Anybody have any tips for me? Thanks

kidblue

10/13/2000 4:00 PM
anonymous	I just got an early copy of the Vintage Guitar December Edition (SRV is on the cover). An article on Cesar offers definative proof of what a stuck-up A-hole this guy is. "nobody has my experience as a player and an amp builder" "Nobody can build an amp like me" and so on. Considering he almost died from his hepatitis, you would think he'd become more humble and less of an arrogant buffoon. Rumour has it that his medication alters his personality. Lets hope he's not really like this article makes him sound. I guess what I'm saying is, don't count on Cesar to tell you what he's doing.

10/13/2000 4:00 PM

anonymous

I just got an early copy of the Vintage Guitar December Edition (SRV is on the cover). An article on Cesar offers definative proof of what a stuck-up A-hole this guy is. "nobody has my experience as a player and an amp builder" "Nobody can build an amp like me" and so on. Considering he almost died from his hepatitis, you would think he'd become more humble and less of an arrogant buffoon. Rumour has it that his medication alters his personality. Lets hope he's not really like this article makes him sound.

I guess what I'm saying is, don't count on Cesar to tell you what he's doing.

10/13/2000 5:12 PM
kidblue	I sent him an email asking him some questions and he wrote back saying the Diaz caps are .022's for amps, .015 for tone pots and 100pf for volume pots. I tried all three or his suggestions and took the last two off...still wondering if I like the two .022's or not...kinda bassy. Anyone else have any tips? Thanks kidblue

10/13/2000 5:15 PM
Rebel420	Cesar Diaz was in Pittsburgh hospital a few years ago for surgery. He met my father and my fathers' best friend at the show, and Alex, my fathers friend, and Cesar became close friends. I have corresponded with him when I was discussing the starting of my own busines. Cesar was VERY encouaging, and gave me some good advice. From my experiences, and from the experiences of those I knwo who have encountered Diaz, I can honestly say, he is anything BUT an asshole. Just remember, Vintage Guitar also praises Dan Torres and Gerald Weber. and From the experiences of those I know who have delt with them, the experiences have varied. just my $0.20 (inflation of my 2cents)

10/13/2000 5:15 PM

Rebel420

Cesar Diaz was in Pittsburgh hospital a few years ago for surgery. He met my father and my fathers' best friend at the show, and Alex, my fathers friend, and Cesar became close friends. I have corresponded with him when I was discussing the starting of my own busines. Cesar was VERY encouaging, and gave me some good advice. From my experiences, and from the experiences of those I knwo who have encountered Diaz, I can honestly say, he is anything BUT an asshole.
Just remember, Vintage Guitar also praises Dan Torres and Gerald Weber. and From the experiences of those I know who have delt with them, the experiences have varied. just my $0.20 (inflation of my 2cents)

10/13/2000 7:31 PM

Trace

quote:
"An article on Cesar offers definative proof of what a stuck-up A-hole this guy is."

In his defense, I've spoken with him and he never acted like this. Reporters/interviewers can often times put their "spin" on things so the truth is usually obtained from the horse's mouth (so to speak--ha, ha)

When people post annonomously it doesn't usually hold too much water around here.

Trace

10/13/2000 8:26 PM
Ray Ivers	Sorry I can't be much help with the Diaz mods, but I just wanted to say that I met Cesar at the New York guitar show earlier this year, and he was extremely courteous and helpful to me. He answered all my questions, suggested a likely fix to a Tremodillo pedal of his I had on the bench at the time (which got the pedal working again right away), and was just generally a pleasure to speak to. Just wanted to throw that in. Ray Ivers

10/13/2000 8:26 PM

Ray Ivers

Sorry I can't be much help with the Diaz mods, but I just wanted to say that I met Cesar at the New York guitar show earlier this year, and he was extremely courteous and helpful to me. He answered all my questions, suggested a likely fix to a Tremodillo pedal of his I had on the bench at the time (which got the pedal working again right away), and was just generally a pleasure to speak to. Just wanted to throw that in.

Ray Ivers

10/18/2000 4:54 PM
Jim S.	Stay away from Cesar Diaz video I don't have anything to say about Cesar personally, since I've never spoken with him, nor have owned or worked on any of his products. I DID buy his guitar/amp tech video some years back and was completely disappointed. It's truly awful. In the video, Cesar somehow comes across as not being very bright and he acts a bit like a "cowboy" in the way he handles vintage gear. There's one scene in the video where he's restringing a guitar by first clipping off the old strings while they're under full tension - PING! PING! PING! PING! PING! PING! This is NOT something I'd do with a guitar I cared about -- I much prefer changing tension on the neck gradually. In another scene, he's at his workbench, working on a blackface Fender amp, looking for a bad filter cap. The chassis is live; it's upside down and the doghouse cover is removed, exposing the caps, which appear to be all original. He's holding a new cap in his hand which has a long wire connected to it and clipped to the chassis. He's touching the positive lead of that cap to each of the amp's filter caps in turn, listening for when the hum will away. Between each test, he discharges the cap that's in his hand by touching its + lead against the chassis. ZAP! SPAKK! ZZAP!! Why doesn't he just replace all of the caps, since they're old anyway? And his approach to troubleshooting seems a bit dangerous to me -- bad enough to discharge a filter cap all at once, even worse while holding onto it. To be fair, I had heard from somebody that Cesar Diaz himself thought the video was badly produced and he was very unhappy with the end result. It's one thing to be good at something, it's a very different thing to project a positive image on a video screen. (This might explain, to some extent, the sorry state of politics.)

10/18/2000 4:54 PM

Jim S.

Stay away from Cesar Diaz video

I don't have anything to say about Cesar personally, since I've never spoken with him, nor have owned or worked on any of his products. I DID buy his guitar/amp tech video some years back and was completely disappointed. It's truly awful. In the video, Cesar somehow comes across as not being very bright and he acts a bit like a "cowboy" in the way he handles vintage gear.

There's one scene in the video where he's restringing a guitar by first clipping off the old strings while they're under full tension - PING! PING! PING! PING! PING! PING! This is NOT something I'd do with a guitar I cared about -- I much prefer changing tension on the neck gradually.

In another scene, he's at his workbench, working on a blackface Fender amp, looking for a bad filter cap. The chassis is live; it's upside down and the doghouse cover is removed, exposing the caps, which appear to be all original. He's holding a new cap in his hand which has a long wire connected to it and clipped to the chassis. He's touching the positive lead of that cap to each of the amp's filter caps in turn, listening for when the hum will away. Between each test, he discharges the cap that's in his hand by touching its + lead against the chassis. ZAP! SPAKK! ZZAP!! Why doesn't he just replace all of the caps, since they're old anyway? And his approach to troubleshooting seems a bit dangerous to me -- bad enough to discharge a filter cap all at once, even worse while holding onto it.

To be fair, I had heard from somebody that Cesar Diaz himself thought the video was badly produced and he was very unhappy with the end result. It's one thing to be good at something, it's a very different thing to project a positive image on a video screen. (This might explain, to some extent, the sorry state of politics.)

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