The Wurlitzer Organ - Sampler Mod

   The dust was the craziest I have ever seen, layers as thick as craft felt came up with the vacuum detailer. The Craigslist pictures were horrible and I am guessing this is why there were no takers. It could also be the fact that these old analog gems weigh several hundred pounds, and are awkward to move at best. I committed and hauled away my new grimy prize, an old Wurlitzer organ with a built-in Orbit II synthesizer as a bonus.
   These home entertainment centers were significant investments when they were new, and I worked on the assumption that it had to be serviceable and the workings completely accessible. Once the back and top of the cabinet had been removed, I found tall hex bolts that release the chassis and each level then pivots up like a car hood.
   Soon I was starring at a beautiful array of electronic glory, I would never be able to decode the tangle of multicolored wire harnesses. There are also massive, exposed capacitors on the amp head that scream, "instant death!" I stayed true to the mission, cleaned up the filth and got out of there ASAP. A couple keys were dead, but I was able to repair the broken actuators with toothpicks and super glue.

  
   Now to the meat of this mod, this particular model 4270 also had a built-in tape recorder. Unfortunately the heads were so fouled that it only made horrendous, scratchy blasts through the speakers. At the very least I needed to disconnect this unit to keep my kids from driving me nuts. As you may know, little boys love this sort of loud nuisance to rankle their parents.
   With all the layers opened up before me, I was further intrigued to see the internal sound ran through RCA inputs on the amplifier. My subconscious went to work and I soon came up with an interesting idea for a swap out. I was able to try several effects pedals patched in line to the amp. There were many options at this point, but I kept coming back to an old Boss SP-202 sampler laying around unused. I also noticed the tape deck had a similar foot print as the sampler, and there was room for a power supply to run off the internal outlet. With minimal work, I got the old Dr. Sample to fit and run cleanly into the amp.
   Now the kids' favorite part is to make loops and other goofy sounds with their Wurly. In a modern twist, the sound signal runs through the sampler, much in the same way as the original tape deck functioned. The exploratory cleaning also revealed a headphone jack on the underside of the keybed. This allows me to run a standard cable to my guitar rig for loads of additional hijinks. As unwieldy as these instruments are, they still deserve our attention and the respect of a proper home.

The Great Subaru Rim Swap

   Normally, I would not have written about this ordeal, but I gained so much misinformation from trusted sources that I needed to clarify for anyone searching for similar answers. The question, can you safely change your factory alloy wheels from one car to another? You may be surprised by what I found.
   I recently upgraded my grocery-getter to a 2016 Subaru Impreza. My wife had already picked up her 2015 Forester before leaving Montana, Yay no sales tax! The newer Impreza was at the limits of our budget and left me with little money for the silver rims I wanted. We scoured eBay and junk car sites trolling for a set of "lightly used" stock rims to replace the set that came with the car. This proved to still be too expensive, not to mention a little sketchy.
   I really like the style of the wheels that came on the Sport edition Impreza, but the graphite color really clashed with the dark gray body color and made me like the car less. After chewing on this for several days with no real monetary answer, it struck me to check the Forester's dimensions, and sure enough all the specs were identical across the board with the exception of color and style.
   Me being as thorough as I am, I wanted an authority to sanction the swapping of rims from the Impreza to the Forester and vice versa. Now the actual tires needed to stay with the vehicles because they are different sizes, and not compatible. This prospect proved to be trickier than I thought.
   My local Subaru dealer barely listened to my question and shot it down because it required more than five seconds of thought. They claimed that the calipers would be in the way, laughable, did I mention the rims are the exact same dimensions? Next, a National parts supplier gave me a pan legal response that it was not a good idea because cars are designed with specific wheel diameters which affect speedometer, and odometer reading as well as vehicle control. Great, but did I mention the OEM tires would stay with the vehicles?
   My local warehouse club also got weak-kneed when their computer said they were not allowed to do the swap. I went deep into forums discussing similar issues and found little expert guidance. I did notice that the same rims on my Impreza were used in the late 1990's on a Legacy Outback and other stock alloy rims had been used interchangeably between models over the years.
   Finally, I stopped at a couple local tire shops looking for someone to just try it. Both shops were willing to at least try and saw the matter clearly. Within a half hour both cars were off the lifts and my expense was the mounting and balancing for eight wheels. So yes, you can move whatever wheels around you want as long as the diameter, width, lug pattern and offset are identical. The other reason for me to be this thorough was that both cars are still under warranty and I did not want to give anybody a reason to pass on any future, covered repairs.

Cleveland's Best Skateparks

   Upon returning to Cleveland,, I began searching for concrete skateparks, but the online skate directories were spotty and dated at best. I now feel comfortable saying that I have experienced the extent of what Northeast Ohio has to offer, and after riding nearly twenty different skate destinations, the report for the Cleveland-Akron area is now complete.
   I will admit that I have been spoiled by Montana's Dreamland and Grindline built parks. In Northeast Ohio there are very few honorable mentions for this caliber of concrete park.

   Here's the nitty-gritty with the prefab alternatives, they have been mostly neglected and I imagine will ultimately be removed once deemed unsafe. As an adult, I see the bigger picture of bureaucracy and the lack of public will to fund the necessary maintenance for these facilities. We are now experiencing the fading boom of prefab skateparks from the early ought's, so any locals reading this, grab your Bondo, cordless drills, and get to work, you have been warned. Okay, enough of the politics behind these public parks, you want to go skate, so check the list of my top favorite local spots.

• Avon - Oldie-but-goodie, Metal prefab on large concrete pad, Tight mini ramp with pyramid.
• Cleveland  - Wish it was not in the Flats, Best 'crete, Too small on a busy day.
• Hudson - Skatelite prefab on concrete, Well maintained, but nothing special.
• Kent - Pretty small, All concrete, premature wear for a young park, Overall fun.
• Wadsworth - All Concrete with weird layout but it resonates, Need to go back.
• Willoughby - Another Oldie-but-goodie, Pretty much just a single, badass, metal mini ramp.

   There was some reluctance on my part to release the fail list, I did not want to be seen as a hater, I love skating and am happy to have some skate-designated concrete nearby. Any park can be fun, especially if it is your local park just down the street. However I purposely excluded the following parks because of deterioration, bad design or both: Akron, Aurora, Avon Lake, Bedford, Brainard, Brecksville, Cuyahoga Falls, Mayfield, North Olmstead, North Royalton, Stow, and Streetsboro.
   Let me be clear, my position all along has been to find a workhorse of a park, one that is well constructed with good flow, while also being a reasonable commute. Cleveland is a blessing and a curse, there are a lot of skating options within driving distance, but it also means a lot of driving just to skate. So save your self some time and start with the six listed above and visit the other thirteen if you are adventurous or like skating precarious spots with downright sketchy equipment.

Rainbow Playset - Replacement Canopy

   We acquired our Rainbow Clubhouse III playset through our most recent real estate transaction. The set is really showing its age, but the upside is these are the best built residential swing sets on the planet and will eventually be passed on to another family after ours.

    I remembered these beefy, redwood clubhouses from when I was a kid and always wanted one. As with all Manic Maker projects, the clubhouse needed some updates and TLC. I assessed what we had, and what we really needed. We had just moved a much smaller A-frame swing set with us across country, so I had extra lumber and parts to make any necessary alterations.
   This set in particular had a lot of extras that increased its footprint, but also added to my weekly yard maintenance. So after some familial negotiations, we nixed the monkey bars-to-nowhere and added a third swing in exchange. The bottom of the clubhouse was also unfinished which led to a rat's nest of weeds and detritus. I built a stage platform over this section and eliminated the need for extra weed trimming.
   The ropes were all rotten from sun exposure and the elements. I opted to add climbing rocks to make up for this loss on the rock wall. We replaced the mildew stained rubber grips with plastic handles and tightened up all the hardware.
   In another stroke of genius, I removed the hazed acrylic lenses from the periscope and binoculars. So now these items no longer collect rainwater and gnats. This left me with the last hideous piece of the puzzle, the signature red, yellow, and blue tarp.
   After a decade in the sun, it was now a rainbow of weak pastels and algae stains. There are many aftermarket canopies available, however most of them are too small. I located a PlayStar tarp, but it was still 6 inches short of the original Rainbow canopy. The best solution was to trim the mast to make up the difference. I used clamps to test fit the replacement, and then with circular saw in hand removed 5 inches from the two tallest posts. There is still adequate room for an adult to stand on the top level without ducking and the new green cover blends in better with the wooded surroundings.
  

Catwoman Has No Tail

   My wife and I, and our entire generation grew up on the classic Fisher Price Little People. Now, I am not talking about the obese version that is currently available. Even though the scale of these figures reflects our enlarged culture, the playsets are dull and lack the dynamic quality of the original 1970's toys. It was only natural that when I became a parent, I would look for a similar toy to enjoy while playing with my toddlers.
   The Duplo of my generation was blunt and simple, I am sure to avoid being a choking hazard. The Duplo line has really stepped up in recent years to fill this void in the world of preschool imaginary play. The new generation of Duplo has scaled up the smaller blocks from the LEGO City series and this greatly improves the construction possibilities. As a parent this buys me time before moving my oldest son into the more advanced tiny bricks, while allowing his younger brother to play with him.

   Now with all the love bestowed upon the Danish company, they really let my little guy down with The Batcave Adventure set 10545. Hell, I was even excited to see this offering and decided to buy it well before Christmas. The set is great except that Catwoman has a molded plastic tail that greatly restricts her using any vehicle. That includes the Batwing that comes with this set. Unfortunately, Catwoman was soon relegated to the tote of bricks and forgotten about.
   Anyone that reads this blog regularly knows that my mind will not let stuff like this go. I mean she is a really cool figure and an integral part of the pretend scenarios of this set. The simple answer was to lop off the tail with a plastic saw, but this is not graceful enough for a Manic Maker hack. I looked through the tote and found "Izzy" from set 10513. She was never really popular at our house and she had the perfect set of pants for Catwoman. I was pretty confident that the little grey pin in her hip held her entire figure together. I tapped it out with a dull nail, the torso disengaged and presto, Catwoman now has matching purple pants.
   Man, my three-year-old thought I was the greatest Dad ever. Catwoman is now in constant play and I really cannot figure out why they designed her with a tail that restricts basic movements. It may have been the collaboration with DC Comics, but LEGO has never dropped the ball in this way before. I still recommend the set, and maybe with this little tip you can be your kid's hero too.