Skip navigation
1615 Views 9 Replies Latest reply: Jan 20, 2010 2:54 PM by orangekeeper2 RSS
Qwerty007 Just Startin' 15 posts since
Oct 28, 2009
Currently Being Moderated

Jan 19, 2010 11:47 AM

Smallest space for a transplant

I think I know the asnswer to this question, so it may sound a bit daft asking it, but here goes. Looking at all the bits needed for a transplant in a photo on this forum, I guess you need at a miniumum an electric guitar body. I have just bought a Soloette travel guitar, but the actual body mass is probably one third of a normal electric. Here's hoping someone proves me wrong.

  • amx05462 Power User 3,579 posts since
    Sep 1, 2008
    Currently Being Moderated
    Jan 19, 2010 3:44 PM (in response to Qwerty007)
    Re: Smallest space for a transplant

    no way your gonna get  the variax  electronics  into one of those.   you  need   minimum  a body the  size of an sg  minimum  in my opinion.

  • zetec Just Startin' 6 posts since
    Jan 19, 2010
    Currently Being Moderated
    Jan 19, 2010 3:47 PM (in response to Qwerty007)
    Re: Smallest space for a transplant

    I won't say it's impossible, because I'm making something a bit like this, but it's better to start from scratch than try to modify your SoloEtte.

    You'll either have to add a pod to house the circuit board, or seriously undermine the strength of the neck by putting a big pocket in there.

    Plus the switches/pots will be competing for space with the PCB.

    • amx05462 Power User 3,579 posts since
      Sep 1, 2008
      Currently Being Moderated
      Jan 19, 2010 4:08 PM (in response to zetec)
      Re: Smallest space for a transplant

      theres not just the boards to add   but also the  wiring   and the  output   plugs and there  wiring .   i wouldnt attempt it  on that tiny little  body.   but  who knows .   looks  like  to me  it would be  crowded  like  one of those little  cars   at the  circus  with all those  people  coming  out  of it .  but then again  they do get all those    people  in that little  car..... or do they.

      • amx05462 Power User 3,579 posts since
        Sep 1, 2008
        Currently Being Moderated
        Jan 19, 2010 4:31 PM (in response to Qwerty007)
        Re: Smallest space for a transplant

        just so you can see whats  inside  a variax i attatched  some  photos  for you   the  bridge  has been altered    with graph tech pickups   the board is  original. these dont show  all the  wire connectors  in between all this stuff.  like i said  its  crowded  in there.

        Attachments:
          • zetec Just Startin' 6 posts since
            Jan 19, 2010
            Currently Being Moderated
            Jan 19, 2010 8:36 PM (in response to Qwerty007)
            Re: Smallest space for a transplant

            Not necessarily a truck... but a bit more than a Smart, which is what you've got.

            If you start with 700 electronics instead of 300 (depicted above) the controls are all individual and 2 can fit where your present ones are now.  You also don't need most of the output jack arrangment depicted.

            But by the time you've found space for the model/selector switch and the 5 way switch, there's not much space left for the main PCB.  hence you'd need to thicken your guitar significantly.  A dense arrangement of all the guts of my Variax 700 (except bridge) completely consumes a volume of 150mm x 75mm x 32mm (6" x 3" x 1.3").  Does that fully answer the question?

              • orangekeeper2 Just Startin' 75 posts since
                Feb 27, 2007
                Currently Being Moderated
                Jan 20, 2010 2:54 PM (in response to Qwerty007)
                Re: Smallest space for a transplant

                You could look into fitting the Vax components into a external box that could sit on your belt/guitar strap. I did something similar last year out of curiosity and got a set of 300 components to fit in a small tupperware box, then extended the wiring from the piezo's to suit.

                 

                My idea was to have one external Vax and then extend the piezo wires from the bridge of any guitar to a Neutrik RJ45 jack. Then I could use CAT 5/6 to connect the guitar to the external Vax. I finished the protoyype as a proof of concept but never went further into implementing this as I realised I would never used a large number of guitars unless I shot to rock superstardom (unlikely). I ended just transplanting 2 guitars and I've used them ever since.

                 

                There was talk on my threads around the time about what your would need to do to minimise RF interference etc and ensure that the right signal level from the bridge  reached the motherboard. If I remember rightly an idea discussed would be to change the impedance of the signal from the piezo bridge as it travels the extra distance needed to get to the electronics then to convert it back as it reached the Vax Mobo. This went a bit over my head and I never started working to understand it for the reason above. I tested the idea without any extra electronics to compensate for the extra distance with about 3 or 4 feet of CAT6 cable and short of a little extra background noise, it seemed to work. If you want to Vax enable your guitar at all costs, this might be a way forward for you?

                Attachments:

More Like This

  • Retrieving data ...

Bookmarked By (0)