Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility Jump to content

Gretsch Jet Variax


Recommended Posts

Looks like you did a really great job there! Nice idea to put a 300 into a Gretsch!

 

So if you still have the original(?) p/ups and output jack wired, are they usable at the same time as the piezos? If so how is this wired, and how well does it work - ie interference etc? How do you control the magnetics - is that the other knob I see to control vol/tone?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Looks like you did a really great job there! Nice idea to put a 300 into a Gretsch!

 

So if you still have the original(?) p/ups and output jack wired, are they usable at the same time as the piezos? If so how is this wired, and how well does it work - ie interference etc? How do you control the magnetics - is that the other knob I see to control vol/tone?

The Mag pickups are wired separate of the Variax guts with their own output jacks.

I wanted to keep things separate so the Jet's sound stayed the same - it's a really good sounding guitar.

The volume and tone are controlled by the CTS 500K dual stacked pot that is where the Gretsch master volume use to be.

I use the Variax with an HD 500 so the pickups go to the guitar input and the Variax uses it's cat 5 cable.

No noise at all because the Variax guts were kept away from the mag pickup control - it's dead quiet.

In the studio I can use my tube amps or the HD 500 and it's a very versatile guitar.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Mag pickups are wired separate of the Variax guts with their own output jacks.

I wanted to keep things separate so the Jet's sound stayed the same - it's a really good sounding guitar.

The volume and tone are controlled by the CTS 500K dual stacked pot that is where the Gretsch master volume use to be.

I use the Variax with an HD 500 so the pickups go to the guitar input and the Variax uses it's cat 5 cable.

No noise at all because the Variax guts were kept away from the mag pickup control - it's dead quiet.

In the studio I can use my tube amps or the HD 500 and it's a very versatile guitar.

So does that equate to a big route at the rear for the vax guts? I've done a couple of vaxplants, but dispensed with the mag pickups. My next one should be keeping the mags, but I guess I gotta figure how to control vol/tone selection etc without the guitar being one surface covered in pots/switches.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So does that equate to a big route at the rear for the vax guts? I've done a couple of vaxplants, but dispensed with the mag pickups. My next one should be keeping the mags, but I guess I gotta figure how to control vol/tone selection etc without the guitar being one surface covered in pots/switches.

No not at all.

The Variax guts are pretty small and the control area on the Jet was routed a bit to fit everything in place.

My guitar tech did the actual work after I planned out how I wanted the controls arranged.

You can see on the photos how all the Variax stuff is in one place.

The Jet is a chambered guitar which made the routing a bit easier.

After the routing was finished he made up a new control compartment cover.

It took some time to figure it all out but after that it took about a day to do all the work.

 

The biggest hold back was that the main board had a fault with it since the day I bought the guitar.

It came to a head during the transplant and I wound up ordering a replacement board.

The 300 from day one had this problem where I would be playing and the guitar would just stop working.

I would remove the cord and replug it and it would start working again but it always came back on with a different sound.

During the transplant it got even worse so I figured I'd fix the problem - the new board was the answer and now thank God no more problems.

If you look at the photos you will see that I kept the number of controls to a minimum.

For the mag pickups there's a master volume and master tone which is controlled by a CTS 500K dual stacked pot.

The pickup selector switch stayed the same.

The Jet comes with a volume pot for each pickup & a tone control along with a master volume.

I got rid of the individual volume pots, moved the tone pot as stated above and used the holes for the Variax controls.

The only thing left to do was cut the slot for the Strat style 5 way switch which was cut near the other control holes.

My tech's name is Mike Forrester - he does great work.

http://www.forresterkustoms.com/home.html

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No not at all.

The Variax guts are pretty small and the control area on the Jet was routed a bit to fit everything in place.

My guitar tech did the actual work after I planned out how I wanted the controls arranged.

You can see on the photos how all the Variax stuff is in one place.

The Jet is a chambered guitar which made the routing a bit easier.

After the routing was finished he made up a new control compartment cover.

It took some time to figure it all out but after that it took about a day to do all the work.

 

The biggest hold back was that the main board had a fault with it since the day I bought the guitar.

It came to a head during the transplant and I wound up ordering a replacement board.

The 300 from day one had this problem where I would be playing and the guitar would just stop working.

I would remove the cord and replug it and it would start working again but it always came back on with a different sound.

During the transplant it got even worse so I figured I'd fix the problem - the new board was the answer and now thank God no more problems.

If you look at the photos you will see that I kept the number of controls to a minimum.

For the mag pickups there's a master volume and master tone which is controlled by a CTS 500K dual stacked pot.

The pickup selector switch stayed the same.

The Jet comes with a volume pot for each pickup & a tone control along with a master volume.

I got rid of the individual volume pots, moved the tone pot as stated above and used the holes for the Variax controls.

The only thing left to do was cut the slot for the Strat style 5 way switch which was cut near the other control holes.

My tech's name is Mike Forrester - he does great work.

http://www.forresterkustoms.com/home.html

Cheers for all the info - Mike's a wee bit far from home for me (near Sydney Australia), but you've both given me incentive to attack yet another vaxplant in the future!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...