Failed Variax Repair

[boloulu]

for 1 year and 26 days my 500 was at an authorized repair center. service guy got a new board from Line6 but it did not work when installed. so I got the guitar back and opened it probed and found the problem. PN# 21-32-0001 REV D. Its the copper strap that goes to the piezos and plugs into the board. the strap was broken right at the connector. Now I need to buy this part from service center if they will sell it to me. the part is also glued to the cavity to minimize movement of this strap and not pull on the piezo. my ax is 11 years old but I want to fix it and use it not quit and rout it out for pickups. all of you players having dead strings no sound or weak sound check this strap before you replace piezos and inform your repair guy  so you don't end up like me. and no he wont fix it and is already out $200 because he tried and failed and the 3 week promised turn around took a year and Line6 is really slow in responding to their service centers.

[Charlie_Watt]

Absolutely no excuse for this!  That would be the first thing I would check if my 500 stopped working.  One possibility is that they damaged that when they tried to replace your board.  What repair center did you use?  They obviously are not capable of doing this kind of work.

[amx05462]

 i agree with charlie  there  is no way this would get damaged  on its  own. 

[amx05462]

 btw  there  are  parts   avalable  here   . http://www.fullcompass.com/product/455687.html

 

 that one is for the jtv

 

http://www.fullcompass.com/product/458195.html this  one  is for the 300

 

 

http://www.fullcompass.com/product/463405.html ah  here ya go  . this ribbon cable  is the same  as the one you need.  it says  for the 700  but the 500 and 700 are  ste  up the  same  for this cable   with the same  board  plugs.

 

 shouldnt take long  to fix  it  now    ;D

[boloulu]

thanks guru for the full compass site. picture is bad since the ribbon doesn't appear to be copper but the part # is right on.

[amx05462]

well the  color  doesnt matter   because   its  just the  plastic  insulation    that they had colored  that way.    glad  i could  help   check out the  other  parts  they have    just incase  something  comes up in the  future.

[Charlie_Watt]

That does not look like the cable for the 500.  I believe that the cable for the 500 goes under the whole bridge assembly and that the piezos solder directly to the flex circuit.  That is the way mine is - and I know because I recently installed Ghost pickups.  I removed the bridge and cable to do that.

[amx05462]

yep  thats  how  it goes.    that wire   should  work just fine.

[Charlie_Watt]

No way that wire would work on my Variax 500.  Mine has a flex circuit that has a flat connection like that one on one end but the other end  has pads to solder the Piezo wires to. 

[amx05462]

http://www.fullcompass.com/product/455687.html

 

 so yours  is  like this  then? in which case   this  is the correct part for that guitar and  i  stand corrected... thanks  charlie  ;)

[boloulu]

So you removed the bridge to do the repair Charlie. What are the two blocks that are by the cavity where the ribbon is attached. They appear glued to the cavity? Did you remove them to attach the ribbon and then re-glue them? The tech at fullcompass said it's the correct ribbon so I am retuning the one for the 700. Couldn't by the PCB do you know where I can find one? The black clip that  that connects the ribbon to the PCB is broke off. Don't know if the part will secure. Ideas?

[Charlie_Watt]

Yes I removed the bridge so that I could install Ghost Piezos.  I don't remember any blocks.  The flex plugged directly into the PC Board and was attached to the bottom of the bridge on the other end.

[boloulu]

when you have the the flex plugged into the PCB you cant see where the flex attaches to the bridge on my 500. The 2 glued blocks are right at the opening that leads to the bridge. Only 2 or 3 inches of the flex is visible.

[boloulu]

so this flex is about 8 inches total length? Why did you install Ghost piezos and not use  LIne6 replacements?

[Charlie_Watt]

The Ghost saddles are far superior to the Line6 ones.  They each carry a ground wire which is a huge improvement.  They don't rely on a contact ground through the  saddle into the bridge.  There are a bunch of threads here about changing to these.

[amx05462]

 charlie  is  absolutely correct  about the  ghost  pickups. i put them in  my  300  and there was a world  of difference  and  any  ground  problems  were    eliminated.