300 Transplant With Ghosts Dead Strings Still Intermittent Problem

[eenymason]

Hi all,

 

I have had a problem re-appear after appearing to be "fixed". Appearances CAN be deceiving!!!

 

I bought a 2nd hand 300, with the intention of transplanting the electrics into a strat clone.

 

I had already replaced the jackplate on the 300, cos it appeared the 1/4" out didn't work, and the first two piezos would only give any "audible" signal after having being connected to the Pod HD500 for "X" minutes. I say "audible" as I could tune the guitar straight away using the Pod's tuner, but on engaging a patch, only string 3-6 would be "audible". This glitch would correct itself, sometimes quickly, sometimes after being connected for quite some minutes and the guitar was fully playable across all 6 strings.

 

This in itself tells me, the problem wasn't a piezo problem, Even so I transplanted the 300's guts into a strat clone and in doing so upgraded the piezos to graphtechs. It was always my intention to do this, and I also did it with my 600 which was my "workhorse".

 

After a bit of time and effort, re-doing, and re-checking my soldering, and the ground contacts, the 300 transplant was working fine, across all strings, volumes lowered on all strings to around 70% to match the output of the 600. Beautiful!

 

Recently tho, the two intermittently "dead" strings problem has re-appeared. I can only figure it must be another contact (I think unlikely), or a PCB issue. The two strings come back "to life" at the same time. If it was prior (and still is) a PCB issue, why would it go away, then re-appear.

 

Also I haven't checked it out audibly (ie with my ears), but I always plug the 1/4" out into the guitar input of a "Live 3" vocal effects pedal, and I'm pretty sure the light on the unit doesn't "go on" (showing input signal) when I play the 300 xplant, but it does when I play the 600 xplant. I need to check this too, as it could even be related.

 

Any "idea" input would be appreciated.

[amx05462]

one  of the places  i would  check is  the wiring  harness  going  from  under the bridge to  the  main board.   check where the  wires  go into the plug ends  for anything  loose. also be sure to check the   ends  that plug in for  looseness as well. then i might  check the solder  joints  of the plug in ends  on your boards. one more thing   the strings  go right through the  pcb board  under your  bridge   i dont know how  you have that board secured.   withthe  original bridge  it was held  in place  with a screw.  on the  600 i believe its  double sided  tape  which  insulates  it.     you  want to see if  the board  is being pulled  bu string pressure  and possibly shorting   against the bridge  plate.    i added electrical tape  between that  board and  the bridge  plate  to ensure  no shorts.  also a second  nut  to lock the board  in place. 

[eenymason]

one  of the places  i would  check is  the wiring  harness  going  from  under the bridge to  the  main board.   check where the  wires  go into the plug ends  for anything  loose. also be sure to check the   ends  that plug in for  looseness as well. then i might  check the solder  joints  of the plug in ends  on your boards. one more thing   the strings  go right through the  pcb board  under your  bridge   i dont know how  you have that board secured.   withthe  original bridge  it was held  in place  with a screw.  on the  600 i believe its  double sided  tape  which  insulates  it.     you  want to see if  the board  is being pulled  bu string pressure  and possibly shorting   against the bridge  plate.    i added electrical tape  between that  board and  the bridge  plate  to ensure  no shorts.  also a second  nut  to lock the board  in place. 

Thanks for suggestions - tho I don't believe I have a problem with this. I actually moved the board from under the bridge to inside the body cavity. It's screwed in place with insulating rubber under it.

With the 600 xplant, I bypassed that and plugged the Ghost connectors straight into the main PCB - no soldering necessary!