Roquesalane Posted January 9, 2021 Share Posted January 9, 2021 hello I bought a Variax Shuriken SR250 from Thomann, european supplier. No sound in piezo mode on the E6 string, but only after several minutes of playing. Today non sound from the beginning. My guitar is under warranty and I'm not going to have fun trying to fix it myself. Probably no choice to send it back for repair. Do any of you have experience with this kind of problem ? Maybe it's easier than I imagine ? Solution with reflash ? Thanks for your help. Marc, disapointed and angry, from France Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisinon2 Posted January 9, 2021 Share Posted January 9, 2021 On 1/9/2021 at 3:30 AM, Roquesalane said: Do any of you have experience with this kind of problem ? Maybe it's easier than I imagine ? It's not brain surgery, and you can order a replacement piezo from www.fullcompass.com. It really just depends on how handy you are, and whether or not you're confident enough that you won't destroy something else in the process. The piezo element and the wire that connects it to the board are somewhat delicate. Quote Solution with reflash? Not if the piezo itself is dead, no. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monsternormous Posted April 9, 2021 Share Posted April 9, 2021 I had an issue with the D string sounding normal and all working OK through an amp when the variax brain was off, but no sound when variax brain was powered on. 1 string only. Similar symptoms as explained above. I think the problem ended up being too much string wound around the top winder after throwing on a new set of strings. The irony was that it came with no string wound around the top peg, just used the screw underneath to keep it in place. I was forced to put new strings on after accidentally bumping that screw which is why I wanted to wind more string on. I also toyed with the grub screes to try and lower the action as part of the restring and found when too low it also contributed to the problem. I guess the variax brain relies on more than pickups and these 2 things were what I changed from the default config. It seems to be working OK for now and countn't seem to find any workshop manual explaining best practices for when restringing and adjusting the action specific to the variax. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisinon2 Posted April 10, 2021 Share Posted April 10, 2021 On 4/9/2021 at 3:41 AM, monsternormous said: I had an issue with the D string sounding normal and all working OK through an amp when the variax brain was off, but no sound when variax brain was powered on. 1 string only. Similar symptoms as explained above. I think the problem ended up being too much string wound around the top winder after throwing on a new set of strings. What's going on at the tuning pegs has nothing to do with piezo function. They either work, or they don't. A slightly loose connection from the saddle to the main board will produce that symptom, as will an intermittent ground connection, which is maintained by a solid connection between the height adjustment screws and the bridge plate itself. Any dust or crud under there can interrupt that connection, and cause the output to cut out... it's not a great design but it is what it is. If just putting a new string on solved the issue, it's very likely that in the process of manipulating the saddle was enough to re-establish the ground connection... whichever it was, the number of wraps around the tuning pegs is merely coincidental. On 4/9/2021 at 3:41 AM, monsternormous said: I also toyed with the grub screes to try and lower the action as part of the restring and found when too low it also contributed to the problem. No idea what a "grub scree" is, but this is exactly what I described above. Setting the action too low will also break your ground connection if the height adjustment screws are no longer touching the bridge plate. On 4/9/2021 at 3:41 AM, monsternormous said: It seems to be working OK for now and countn't seem to find any workshop manual explaining best practices for when restringing and adjusting the action specific to the variax. The only "best practice" is a proper setup. It's still a guitar...bridge saddles appropriately adjusted, dust and grime underneath removed so there are no grounding issues, and all the piezo leads tightly seated in the main board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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