mozart999uk

Thanks Silverhead. Yeah a dry recording would be great, I only have access to the V1 sounds (old variax model) so this is really a "is the upgrade to V2 (via a JTV purchase) worth it " Was hoping someone with a JTV and V2 might be able to oblige...

Could anyone record me a snippet of them playing the solo from "get back" with the epiphone casino setting on V2.0 HD sounds? Just want to see if it sounds better than the older V1 version. Thanks :-)

Thanks for your reply. I'll see if I can recreate one of the Rick parts with my 300 to compare. I've attached a clip of me playing (badly) a bit of the getback solo with the "semi - position 4" (DI'd - no amp modelling) , to emulate the casino. Does anyone fancy playing this on an HD model so I can compare? Semi position 4 variax 300.mp3

Has anyone done / got a comparison of electric sounds (DI'd / clean) between the old 300 series and the newer HD? I have a 300 and I'm a bit disappointed with the Rickenbackers (chime) and the Epiphone Casino (semi). I have read that the HD sounds on electric are a bit better but can't find any examples. I've found a few on you tube of the lesters and strat but they're all caked in distortion / FX.. Just curious if anyone has anything or could knock me up something quickly.....

Cbrillow - you're a very helpful fella! :-)

I love deoxit. I use D5 for switches and connections and F5 for pots and faders. My guitar tech used to use servisol in pots and faders.....they went proper scratchy after a while. I found that F5 restored them a little after this. The lube in it I guess.... I do find with pots with nice physical resistance (lots of grease in them??) F5 does make them spin a bit too easily. That might be good for some people I guess but I used it on a few things (mixers, controllers etc) and was a bit disappointed :-( Anywho, got my alcohol, compressed air and D5 ready for the Variax. Let's see what happens.

Why? What happens? Is that the same with alcohol?

Ok thanks :-)

I can't actually see a procedure. Am I missing something? There's your article on how to clean pots but nothing about the piezos. I see your list of the ingredients but I can't see anywhere that tells me how to actually use them on the piezos. Which part of the piezo do I clean with the alcohol? All of it that is visible? And do I generally spray the compressed air all around the bridge getting underneath etc?

Thanks. :-) Where did you post the method. I can't see it.....:-(

Do you have to remove the piezos to clean them? Can you Just clean the visible bit when you take the strings off? Iso alcohol and a cotton bud? Just plugged in my 300 electric and found that the G string was cutting out. Tapped the bridge a few times and it seems to have come back.....

Ah ok. Sorry. I misunderstood

Please do come back here with your results. I'd be very interested. I'll do the same :-)

Thanks so much again! I'll press on and see what happens! :-)

Thanks so much for your encouragement. On the subject of checking the boards, I'm wondering if my mastech multimeter is calibrated properly. I tested the output of the XPS mini and it reads 8.2V. Both my 12AC PSUs for the XPS mini show 10.3-10.5V AC A brand new AA duracell battery shows 1.60V. I've tested it on various ohms settings and it shows zero when I touch the leads together. Any thoughts?

Hi. Not at all. After all, it was your excellent post that started me on this journey! So I guess, using it this way (9V AC to 9V DC) is more or less replicating the XPS mini itself. Any reason that could be better or worse than the way you did it using a step up board?

Thanks for the offer of help. I'll let you know how I get on. I've got my xps mini case so I'll fit the board in that :-) Just out of interest, I have the original 9v AC power supply that came with my XPS mini (and a spare). Would something like this work to convert it to 9V DC? https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/254604767477?hash=item3b47a070f5:g:RrgAAOSwojdbMbjL

Yes I understood your solution :-) I'm deciding whether to place to board in the back of my guitar, or build a replacement xps mini like you have done. I've found that when I power the guitar through the TRS cable (with my xps mini), wiggling the jack in the socket in any way creates noise which is a pain as I'm doing a quite close and quiet recording project. My xps mini is broken though (it "blows" and "pops" occasionally for a minute or two so that might be the cause. Not sure. Have cleaned the sockets both ends with a burnisher and deoxit and tried a different cable and it still does it :-( Thanks for all your help. I've noted the comment about the board I found not having a display and possibly not remembering the correct voltage step up after each power on. I'll check that :-)

Thanks Westryder :-) That's an interesting way of doing it - rather than putting the board in the back of the guitar (think it would be a bit of a squeeze!) :-) Oh - and you use a smarphone charger rather than a battery? Oh that's very cool. Didn't know you could do that! I've found this board one: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/283757806256?_trkparms=ispr%3D1&hash=item42114882b0:g:bhgAAOSwP0ZeLfG4&amdata=enc%3AAQAGAAACkPYe5NmHp%2B2JMhMi7yxGiTJkPrKr5t53CooMSQt2orsSwcmzw5CLtzTE60FqHcnq2H0sUCa%2BU3XFDDRz6tLFvU0tSrPQsARBQu49EU4qJSSRjbwVitrKhL9Z4jzjbzQH547jHL8oq9bUWaddgXq28c2VzDKvUzKmilg2r4MZ6kQDOYmOqfYWVulQwMbTwVxfIQMi4nKyP3rmZBrdASpsItouIhBeTMCm4tNPs15LgmtqXa2EQ%2BA0R%2BGsc5UiL%2FPx88Kxll%2B28uL%2BiXcjLQ2CQqcehWikNY%2BlfKaOBi%2FO%2FVKSq5Amil3dNE93BHZBAe2eLC4Sbi6zwFU7MJsBL3msCfRv6%2F02mvf9ckExnzuEQEqDu74jHSlxYklgGDsN53BEEiW8Hd7z%2BQTVGYit%2BhBPIDFxMkMZpNIecteObThr2WmcgF6HEk2TUJKfXOFSO25m3dsyz5u1rbvHiw1PsWT41e%2FuYyMyXK5Gedx95VtGltZBiHdnA41StgY5cr8MEp%2FRccqnbrXa0P7DzYmWWCBU6lOGJqltw%2FlNl2r3uwa8ETnieaQ1QbB411biH%2BlwbdZ3UT%2B5%2ByNEDUJZvxJ8UUkJfRHoHPk%2BoBMI2ajqukjlE0oAP8L4X07GfNSe78TSLcko2Q%2Bf2ftHbcCCatQfNx9rmkZwM47dXwVLIvC27tefoydHp3aPBSC5OI73vvhKMbIV%2B0AjsU6aSa9Aorv8qjHH%2B7LK5o19YLo8RT%2F1D6bZLBQZdWCdQdrQwKTh%2BaPhV05%2BtDUgLlH1OZPq4ErtSMt8wIZkBt%2BG1eHr1qKwM14cx3Nti36Nqky47r2pPWTproVcuKKKMPqDWEOZpkh8FF1ks4bx7M1osFiTNxDaXe4BS9Du|ampid%3APL_CLK|clp%3A2334524 (sorry for the long link) which looks small enough to fit in the back. Would save me having to source a box :-@)

Thanks yeah I think you made that clear last year :-) Unfortunately my XPS mini can't be repaired in the UK and the battery life with the 6AA's is pretty poor so I'm stuck with finding workarounds :-(

Appreciate this is an old thread.... Trying to build c brillows solution using a 5V powerpack in the UK Can't seem to get his exact model of step up board.....all the ones I've found are too big for the battery compartment. Also, what current powerpack do I need? Will 2.1A be enough? Can anyone post a link to a step up board that will fit (UK based)....the battery compartment is roughly 67mmx48mm

I'd like to replace the jack sockets on my xps mini I'm looking at these https://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/jack-plugs-sockets/1438935 Do they look right? The measurements seem almost there - maybe a mm out here and there

Unfortunately not. :-( I've just ended up using batteries.

Thanks It's fine on batteries so I'll use those for now. Unfortunately those service centres are a long long way away from where I live so I'll have to keep them as a last resort

Thanks. Yeah I've already tried cleaning the contacts. No change.