Variax 600 - Tone temporary fades and crackle on G-String

[Smashcraaft]

Hi. On my Variax 600 the tone of the G-String temporary fades away to 10% and crackles.

If I hit the bridge with my palm several times and/or let the string slap hard everything can be fixed and the tone reanimates.

 

I know there are problems described with sweat and dirt, polluting the piezo.

Also there are issues with grounding or loose cable-connections.

 

Can somebody please give me a hint or provide some links so I can figure out some solutions?

[Smashcraaft]

Thank you! Is there anywhere some known kind of step-by-step photo instruction on disassembling the saddle?

[Smashcraaft]

Just to be sure... there is no way to loosen or rotate a piezo just by removing the strings?

[Smashcraaft]

yes, if you're lucky .. with the help of gravity, and the guitar turned with the top downwards..

 

in my case to be able to extract the piezo I had to remove the screw for adjusting the string intonation and move the saddle, can not remember now exactly but maybe I also used a thin needle to help in the extraction of the piezo

I will give it a try this weekend. To use a magnet to pull the piezo wouldn´t be a good idea, I guess?  :ph34r:

 

 

 

the length of the cable allows a limited movement ..

Just to be safe; How long would you name the length in cm?

 

 

 

thoroughly clean both the slot into the saddle and the piezo element

Any hints on the cleaning method? Normaly I clean metall-parts like frets using a super-fine grade steel-wool (0000).

After cleaning I plan to use some Kontakt 60 (Contact de-oxidiser) on saddle-top and piezo-bottom.