Practical problem...

Well, here it goes, as stupid as it may sound... I tried to dismantle my Etherwave to take it to a jamming last night, only to find out that it's stuck on the mic stand. Does anyone remember which way (clockwise or counter-cw) should I turn it to unscrew it, as I'm not really sure I'm doing the right thing?

Hi, Marble.

While holding the mic stand, you would turn the etherwave counter-clockwise (left) to loosen it.

Remember: Righty-tighty, Lefty-loosey.

I can be pretty hard to get loose, especially if you have tightened it by turning it the wrong way a few times.

Yes, this is definitely the case... The problem is that there is no way to grasp tightly the stand in a fixed position so that I can rotate the theremin against it. Now I'm trying some anti-rust spray to see if this will help...

You may need to grip the stand with a large pair of pliers -- the problem being that you will likely leave scratch marks on your stand.

You may want to try putting a cloth around your stand and your pliers over the cloth to avoid scratches.

I would be careful about using your Theremin for leverage. You may want to use two pliers -- one for the stand, one for where the Theremin attaches to the stand.

To be on the safe side, probably should remove the antennae if you can.

Hope it works out for you.

If the problem is that you cannot get a grip on the slippery surface of the mike stand you might try painting the surface of the stand with a latex based glue and letting it dry.

That will provide a good grip, and you will be able to remove the glue afterwards by rubbing it off with your fingers.

Gordon

One of those "rubber husband" jar lid remover things might also help. You can unscrew the mic stand mount from underneath the theremin if you want to be sure you won't damage the theremin in the process. They're easy to find replacements for if it ends up getting damaged - and much cheaper than repairing a whole theremin.

My wife has a "rubber husband" but she never used it for opening jars.....

. . . . she lets the real husband open the jars instead.

As I understand it, there's only one way to open a jar. (http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/03/21)