HGE Contraptions (DIY hobby) -> Pedale Chitara Handmade / Modari Pedale / Wiring si Setup Chitare / Reparatii Ampuri

[Razvan S.]

* Just finished a Mad Prof. Snow White AutoWah clone (for the same person for whom I did 4 other pedals previous to this),and it's absolutely great! Doesn't alter the tone at all, and it's very touch sensitive (I did some mods for that). Cool pedal! Really useful if you don't want a classic wah. This would be my 115th pedal built!

 

[Razvan S.]

* Finished my second JHS Morning Glory clone.

One of my fav pedals, and sounding good as always

 

* Setup on a Jackson JS32 Natural Finish

Sanded some fretwires+ cleaned/polished them + sanded down the trem cover because for some reason it did not originally fit haha, and one of the neck screws did not go all the way in, had to drill a little more into the neck.

On this particular guitar, the neck was a little too deep into the neck pocket IMO, and the angle was a little weird, so I added a shim.

Plays great now, with good action.

[Razvan S.]

* Restrung and solved some stuff on a Fender Jimmy Dale acoustic guitar:

- the input jack fell in the body and there was no way to reinsert it back by hand as the body is very slim and you can't reach the hole; I had to be creative and take it out using a jack and some wire and add light in the guitar body hah! but I solved it;
- the owner wanted to add a locking strap pin, and I did that too, right next to the old one (that is on the input jack);
- restrung the guitar (no setup was needed, as he didn't request it, but the guitar was OK nevertheless as it was previously setup at some point, and I used the same gauge)

 

* Ibanez S420 Setup + Pickups Swapped + Fretboard Cleaned

- I also redid some solder points, and took out some wires that were unnecessary and long

 

* Ibanez RG3XXV (setup+fretboard cleaning)

 

* Ibanez RG350DX (setup+pup swap&rewiring+fretboard clean)
- also had to sand down and refinish a fretwire (last one), because there was a nasty indentation in it that was very noticeable while playing; (it looked like a thin string was pressed against it very hard, making a knife like narrow groove)
- cleaned the pots prior to redoing the wiring

 

 

[Razvan S.]

117th pedal built

Z Vex Box Of Rock clone

 

[Razvan S.]

Vemuram Jan Ray Clone - 118th pedal built

 

 

Setup + fretwire sanding/polish + fretboardclean, on a Cort hollowbody guitar

(the nut did not need any intervention to the slots, which rarely happens )

 

 

Squier Bullet Strat Setup

 

[Razvan S.]

* Had a Godin come in to give the neck a satin finish + setup after.

VERY nice feel, just like my Fender Deluxe US neck

It was pretty worn and dirty before. The customer requested that I remove the previous finish from ALL the portions at the back of the neck, and sides , only the headstock front would be left unchanged.

The stages can be seen below (initial rough sanding, final sanding, and final finish).

I used Tru Oil.

 

 

 

* A pedalboard came in for some diagnostics, but unfortunately, the wireless in the end had issues, I'm thinking the digital part, and I couldn't do anything;

While at it, i noticed that the battery contacts were broken, thinking that was a part of the problem, and it was, but not fully. This system simply cuts out, from time to time, and then works perfectly again.

Oh well , you win some you lose some

 

 

* Had in an Ibanez JS100 that needed a setup. The owner bought an OFR, but the nut had a 15'' radius in the set (R10), which was totally not usable for this guitar's radius. Bought another OFR R2 nut, which fit the bill.

 

 

 

*Had a Yamaha Hundred B212 Combo come in, which needed the speakers swapped (former ones were blown). Luckily the owner managed to find exact replacements on eBay.

Electronically, everything was ok, but I did clean the pots and others.

This is one very cool sounding amp, for a solid state.

 

*A Jackson V RR came in for a setup.

Cleaned the floyd (it had a ''lock'' poorly done on it), I did it floating, cleaned the neck, polished the fretwire a little, etc.

Also had to shim the nut with a Schaller shim.

 

* Changed the faulty switch in a Legend Strat

 

* Rewired a Tenson Bass, and also put some autoadhesive 3M sponges to make the pickups respond better to height adjustments and to not wobble around and be more rigid (it had...a piece of cardboard installed before..LOL )

 

 

[Razvan S.]

*True bypass in a Vox V847A Wah

 

[Razvan S.]

* HGE Contraptions clone of the BOSS CE-2 vintage Japan chorus. I am thrilled that I got the chance to do this. First ever chorus built, and full analog using MN3101 and MN3007 ICs.

119th pedal built!

Posting some youtube samples as well, in comparison with my very own Boss CE-3 1982 Japan version

 

 

* Ibanez Paul Stanley PSM10 Setup (+ nut filing, rehammered some fretwires that were sticking out, and cleaned the fretboard).

Decent guitar for a Chinese model.

v

 

 

 

[Razvan S.]

Setup on a 40th Anniversary US Strat 
(11-52 Curt Mangan strings)

 

[Razvan S.]

Warwick Corvette setup, fretwire + nut polishing, neck and fretboard cleaning

[Razvan S.]

Ibanez JEM Jr. (Indonesia) setup + neck polished/waxed on the back.

The neck previously looked very dry and unfinished, making it hard to play

[Razvan S.]

Fixed another JCM2000 DSL401 + rebiased and cleaned a scratchy pot

 

[Razvan S.]

A Fender Jazzmaster Reissue came in for a setup / nut adjustment / fretboard cleaning / wiring check + pot cleaning

[Razvan S.]

Sterling Musicman JP70 setup /  nut adjusted / electro cleaning / fretwire smoothing / fretboard cleaning / waxed the neck / springs made noiseless.
You can see how unfinished and scratchy the original fretwire was and a comparison with 4 ones that were initially done as an example.

[Razvan S.]

* The same Ibanez S model from 2 years ago, came in for a setup again, but with a different tuning and gauge;

I also adjusted the nut, cleaned the fretwire a bit, cleaned the fretboard, waxed the neck, made the springs noiseless and did rust removal + coating with lacquer on the previously rusted screws for which I had no replacement(the inserts/the neck screws for example). I also added some new screws and a new neck pickup ring. Looks a lot better now

 

[Razvan S.]

* A Hagstrom Super Swede came in for some overall tweaking:

- some nut adjustments

- fretwire polishing

- fretboard cleaning

- rewiring (cleaned the old pots, good quality CTS ones, usually just need a thorough clean!)

- removed some rust and lacquered some original screws black (those for which I did not have replacements)

- installed a set of Lace Dissonant Aggressors (also had to solder some stock wires on them that came loose from their solder points -> no biggie, it happens if the surface on which the solder should adhere to is not correctly sanded)

- usual setup: restring, intonation, neck

- the bridge inserts were completely coming out of the body with almost no resistance, and the ground wire was almost broken in the hole, so I fixed those as well

 

 

* Fixed an Ibanez Mostortion pedal:

- it had some dead caps

- improper soldering on some parts

- the protection diode was fully destroyed

- unfortunately the IC was also destroyed, so I ordered one(this particular pedal has an obsolete/discontinued IC), but for the time being, a 4558 will do

 

[Razvan S.]

* Fixed a cracked neck(did not refinish) and did a setup on an entry level Flame guitar(nut and saddle adjusted).
It really plays decent now

 

* Did some tinkering on a Kramer Baretta , but unfortunately due to some aftermarket modifications to this guitar I could not do the setup correctly, as the jackson floyd on it is different that the stock ofr floyd,and does not give enough saddle travel to intonate the E and B strings finely on the upper register.
This will come back at some point for a total rewiring(has some issues and the solder spots are really cold), and a new trem. Would need the fretwire sides sanded and smoothed out also. The neck pickup ring is also broken and needs replacing, and there are several strange scratched on the fretboard and back of the neck. Cool guitar nonetheless! Also waxed the neck back and made the springs noiseless

And the issues I mentioned which should be fixed in the future (the owner needed the guitar urgently and the next operations will take place in the future to fix them):

And a comparison with the additional saddle travel which would of been needed to properly intonate some strings, if the original tremolo had still been on the guitar (the other trem is an OFR from another guitar):

[Adinel Berehorschi]

Recomand cu caldura! Setup-uri, pedale repatatii si alte cele. 

Best you can get!

[Razvan S.]

On 16/07/2018 at 01:35, Adinel Berehorschi said:

Recomand cu caldura! Setup-uri, pedale repatatii si alte cele. 

Best you can get!

Multumesc Adin!

******************************************************************************************

Updates:

*This Reghin 1976 3/4 violin belonged to my gfnd's late grandfather, and is in need of some general maintenance, which I will do in the future:

- so far, I gave it a thorough cleaning (very hard crusted dust from sitting over the years)

- will need a new bow 

- new nut / new bridge / possibly new tuners 

- some black staining on the fingerboard 

- the case needs some work (derust, latch fixing)

 

 

*Blade California in for some tinkering. Sounds great now!

This guitar came through a courier from a different city.

- redid almost all the wiring; had to clean an older(but good) Alpha pot. Had 250K before, but sounds much better with 500K now. The battery snap was missing, so I added a new one. Bridge pup changed to Duncan Custom Custom, and I needed a lot of autoadhesive foam to get it at normal level haha.

- fretboard cleaning + fretwire mildly cleaned a bit, setup and some nut adjustments. The customer wanted the trem just a little bit above the body, and also to make the saddles parallel (they tend to be hard to stay in place neat, but I got that sorted out). Also made the springs noiseless

 

* Setup on the same US Fender Stratocaster 40th Anniversary that was in last time.

This time, the gauge is much lighter and the trem has much more float in it

 

*PRS Mike Mushok Signature Baritone

Setup + Fretwire polish (had a grindy feel to it before), now it's smooth and nice. Adjusted the nut slightly (the thick strings were snagging, and the thinner ones were too high). I also cleaned the electro parts.

You can go crazy with low action on this, since the gauge is 14-68 (with minimal fret rattle with 1 mm to 1.2 at the last fret!) , but I settled for an almost dead straight neck with 1.25 to 1.5 mm at the last fret. 

The intonation was nowhere near where it should of been before, but now it's good.

 

 

[Razvan S.]

* Repaired a Dunlop Crybaby Wah. Owner wanted everything stock, so just plain maintenance:

- changed the original Carling switch with an identical one (it was very crackly even if I tried to clean it), and I also adjusted the action of the pedal on the switch, so that it is more easily engaged;

- fixed some cracked solder joints;

Works great again.

 

 

* A Fender Precision Bass came in for a setup.

It had a dead straight neck and horrible rattle/buzzing at the first frets.

Now it plays great, and I also cleaned the fretboard + fretwire is cleaned/re-shined.

As you can see, this bass is actually brand new, even having the protective foil on the pickguard and also the tuners haha.

 

 

* Two Boss BE5 Multieffects came in for some general fixing:

- both had the pots cleaned and the jacks as well

- on one I had to redo a pad on the DC in jack, and redo all the solder joints of all the jacks on the pcb (a lot of cracks)

- on the other in addition to redoing all the solder joints on all the jacks, I also had to change all the micro tact switches and also redo the previously lifted or completely destroyed pads, using thin resistor wire; maybe not the most perfect way to redo a pad, but I regularly do it like this with good results, if it is really needed and the pads are totally missing.

They work great now

First one:

Second one:

 

[Razvan S.]

* Some repairs in a Trace Elliot AH250 (had some capacitors way out of spec on the preamp side and I also checked other stuff). Also reapplied thermal paste on the power section. Will see if it comes back at some point or not

 

* A Crown XLS 5000 came in because one channel was not working. At the end it just required some dust removal and contact cleaner. Solid built stuff ( I think it was featured at the NAMM 2008 show)

 

* A Fender M-80 combo came in for a checkup and cleanup. Surprisingly decent distortion on this SS amp.

 

* An Ibanez RG450 came in for some general maintenance (belongs to @apocapsile)

-painted some screws

-rewired with different DiMarzios and a Superswitch

-setup

-removed that fretwire grindy feel + polished them

-refitted the inserts (came out easily) + new studs

-resharpened the trem knives and painted them

 

* Another EP Booster Modded clone (120th pedal built)

This time I used a custom finish on the enclosure(had it for myself but the customer liked it and I used it on his project).

Volume Boost, Tone Cut, 3 way bass switch, 9V->18V internal

 

 

* An Ibanez RG721 came in for some tinkering (belongs to @Crisan Darius_28146)

-made a general rewiring, cleaning all the parts prior to this

-the bridge humbucker had one dead coil unfortunately -> mounted a Seymour Duncan TB-6 Distortion

-setup + fretboard and fretwire cleaning

 

* An Epiphone SG Special came if for some general work:

-swapped the bridge humbucker (which I had to modify with longer wires as they were previously cut short and also custom fabricate some new ears, because the screw holes were stripped)

-also mounted a new input jack because the old one was faulty

-setup with some nut adjustments

-fretwire made shiny and the grindy feeling is now gone

 

 

* A Hughes & Kettner Coreblade head came in for a problem regarding the fact that the filaments weren't lighting up on the tubes. (belongs to @LumpY)

I explored everything and found some cold/cracked solder points.

Works great now

 

 

* A Romanian Madrigal strat came back for a rewiring. (belongs to @bogdan)

I also mounted a split switch for both the DiMarzio DP151 Paf Pro in the bridge and the neck DiMarzio DP217 HS4 (Malmsteen model one).

I actually like the HS4 in the true single coil mode much more.

 

* A Squier Bass came in for a setup + some fretwire cleaning and I also fixed a strap button which was coming out.

This Bass was in my hands before but it only required a very fast intonation, setup was ok. In the meantime the customer installed much thicker strings without a proper setup, and went back to another set, so it had to be redone.

 

 

 

 

 

[Razvan S.]

Se poate face orice proiect atata timp cat e verified, pe https://tagboardeffects.blogspot.com/

Linkuri mai jos

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[Razvan S.]

* A fast repair on a Marshall TSL100 footswitch.
It will come back at some point because it was tampered with anyway and I want to make it all right, in all.
The customer and I compromised because he needed it right away due to a concert, and I did not have a dpdt through hole switch available, just like the original, jus ta 3pdt with holes.
No problem, since the switch is mechanically fixed on the actual enclosure, I just soldered some leads

 

* I replaced the footswitches in an Akai Headrush Delay.
One got destroyed, and I changed both just to be sure in the long run

 

* I finished a Friedman BE-OD Clone for someone, and I modded it to make it a little more versatile and tamed.
A group of four diodes was replaces with two ZTX951 transistors used as diodes, and the internal trimpot was taken out as an external pot.
Very amp like sound, usable now from lower gain settings to more aggressive ones.
Exactly like the owner requested. 121st pedal built

Pics and YouTube sample:

 

 

 

[Razvan S.]

* Did a setup on a Harley Benton 8 string fanned fret and also cleaned the neck/polished the fretwires. Had to work on some and sand them down. I took one out and reinserted it, as it had accumulation of wood beneath it, and it stuck out.

 

The nut also needed some work, it was in a rough shape visually before, and I also made one slot a little higher using a technique that is very good, combining CA glue and dust from a composite nut (something I rarely do, and I usually change the nut and adjust accordingly, but for such a nut and such a small rise in the action, it was a quick fix, no need to change the entire nut, as this mixture is very tough and once polished it's slippery and shiny).
Some before after pics posted below.

Before:

After:

* A Polytune Mini came in for a problematic switch.
I took out the switch, and gave it a very thorough clean. Works great now with no issues.

 

* Ibanez WH10V2 Wah repairs and mods.

An Ibanez WH10V2 came in, and unfortunately it had the specific stereo pot that comes with these pedals, broken. You can see the missing piece of track from the 50K side (it is a 50K +500K pot).
Luckily I found this model in the US, and bought 2 (for the future, just to be safe).
I also did some mods and removed some capacitors, slightly upped some resistors, so that it does not have that much tone suck anymore.It matches the IN and OUTs of the WH10V1 now. Quite a nice decent vocal pedal. The range of the pot however is quite difficult to get right as far as adjustments, but after you achieve that, it sounds perfect for the entire range.

 

*Epiphone LP Custom pickup switch cleaned/resoldered
You can see that before it was soldered badly and the ground was actually not soldered at all.
Fixed.

Before and after:

________________________________________________________________

 

*HGE Contraptions Stutter/Killswitch Pedal
122nd pedal built

 

* General setup and cleaning on an Ibanez Artcore AG75 Hollow Body.
Polished and made the frets smooth, also adjusted the nut height in the slots.
The input jack was very loose and almost fell into the body, so fixed that as well (it was missing the nut also). Electro parts cleaned.
Before and after pics below.

Before:

After:

 

* A Harley Benton L-400 LP (lefty) came in for a setup and some maintenance.
The owner wanted it tuned down low, so for the scale of 24.75" that this particular guitar has, I chose 13-62 for a general C tuning(works dropped to A# also, with a decent light feel to it when dropping the C so low).
Had to adjust the nut slots for the thicker gauge(can be seen as a comparison with the old regulat strings haha).
Also had to sand down some fretwire, also removing the typical grindy feeling to them, and giving them a shine again.
Cleaned the electro parts as well.

Before and after:

________________________________________________________________

 

 

* A Fender Classic Series 72 Telecaster Deluxe came in for a setup and some general maintenance.
Swapped and adjusted the new nut to fit (the old one was too low, and worn out), had to reglue a part of the finish back on the heel as it wanted to peel off a bit, as it cracked. Did a fretwire polish although it is pretty worn, but still good for a few years. Cleaned the electro stuff and adjusted everything.
Unfortunately I could not get a very low action like I usually strive for, but that is the actual condition of the fretwire now, and I worked with that I had: the action is now 1.2 mm at the 12th fret and 2.2mm at the last one on the high E, and 1.5mm at the 12th fret for the low E and also 2.2 mm at the last fret. Some actually do this as a regular setup, but I usually prefer lower.  It should be re-fretted in the future. However the sound has a nice body to it due to the medium/high action.

Some before and after:

____________________________________________________________________________

 

 

 

[Razvan S.]

* A Warmoth lefty strat came in at some point with a lot of wiring issues, and other stuff.

- had to take some of the neck material from under the roller nut because it was slanted upward a lot on the thick strings side and gave a huge action;
- two fretwires were sticking out so I rehammered them, and also removed that grindy feeling on all and polished them;
- had to buy a new left handed trem arm, because the original was missing and the one it had was non original and didn't fit at all(it wobbled greatly);
- one of the saddle adjustment screws was literally replaced with a crap wood screw (pff!), and had to buy that as well (the ones that I had didn't fit the US screw slot in the saddles);
- had to sand down the pickguard a bit on the neck heel side because it couldn't be taken out without either taking off the neck...or the neck pickup ;
- rewired the whole guitar, with new CTS pots and also cleaned the Japanese vintage switch thoroughly (opened it, sanded/polished the copper contacts in it) -> it was a HUGE mess before;

Turned out to be a GREAT guitar once again after all the procedures!

After:

 

Before:

 

* A Chevy Strat came in for a wiring touchup/partial rewire.

Great sounding guitar, someone put Fender Fat 50's in it, but the wiring was not the best, and some solder points were cold also, and I redid them. I also took out the ''treble bleed''.
Surprisingly, this is allegedly a Korean guitar, but it has Japan parts in it, haha.

After:

 

Before:

 

*An Ovation 1655 Custom Balladeer 12 string USA came in with slight issues.
Changed the battery, redid a solder point on the jack Hot lug, and also removed some previous textolite height adjustment things probably put by someone in, but the bridge really did not need it. It is high enough anyway, without those.
Did not do a setup as the owner didn't request it, but I did polish and shine the fretwire,  and it plays beautifully and feels much more alive now due to the removed tarnish from over the years. Also cleaned the fretboard, obviously.
Cool guitar, loved that I could test this out.

 

* Rewired a Fender US Precision Bass

Someone for some reason tinkered with it before...and they literally forgot to tie Lug1 of the Vol pot to ground...and obviously the volume didn't close.
As the wiring looked horrible, I redid everything and also cleaned the back of the pots and the interior and everything (I lik the way you can clean CTS pots down to the very last part).
Put an ERO 0.022uF cap in it.

I redid the intonation only.

After:

 

Before:

 

* An Indonesian G&L Asat Deluxe Tribute Tele  came in for a setup and some fretwire work(some were sticking out/had to be rehammered/sanded down/repolished).

I also repainted the screws. You can see how the frewire had micro scratches and was very tarnished before. Now it shines and feels great

 

Fretwire before:

 

[Razvan S.]

* Repaired a TS9 that came in with some volume loss issues

 

 

 

* A 2018 Fender US Tele came in for a setup
I also polished the fretwire, adjusted the nut slots slightly, and cleaned the electronics

Before and after:

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

[Razvan S.]

* An LTD EC-500 LP came in for some general stuff:
- setup which included nut filing to be ideal(some strings were actually snagging at the nut);
- cleaned the electro parts and also painted the screws, along with some general cleaning,
loose tuners were tightened;
- degrinded and polished the frets;

 

* An Ibanez GRG121DX came in for some work:
- setup which included some nut work;
- cleaned the electro parts and also painted the screws, along with some general cleaning,
loose tuners were tightened also;
- degrinded and polished the frets;

 

 

* A Cort KX5-CQ came in for some work:
- setup which included some nut work;
- cleaned the electro parts and also painted some screws, along with some general cleaning,
loose tuners were tightened also;
- degrinded and polished the frets;

 

[Razvan S.]

Atasez o lista cu ce se poate teoretic clona ca si efecte (sunt hyperlinks in fisier)

Sunt peste 1000 verified, asa ca aveti de unde alege

Contact me first (trebuie sa fie marcate ca verified)

effects.pdf

 

 

 

[Razvan S.]

* A Gibson US Explorer came in for a setup with some nut issues fixed & fretwire polished

Cool guitar!

 

 

*An Ibanez MIJ Prestige RG2560Z Team J. Craft came in for a setup + pickups were swapped + fretwire polished and screws cleaned/repainted

Rad guitar!

 

 

 

[Razvan S.]

* Got a chance to swap some capacitors and the tube, in my old 60's Sencore Tube Tester

Great tool to have around

 

* Another HGE Contraptions JHS Morning Glory clone
(123rd pedal built!)

 

* HGE Contraptions Catalinbread SFT II clone, with the stoner switch. Very cool QOTSA sounds from this mean od/fuzz thing. I used Motorola MPF4393 transistors as per the original.
(124th pedal built)

Vid sample

Important later edit:

In the meantime I discovered a general error that existed for this schematic on the web, and corrected it for the owner. Now the Gate from the Q1 position FET is seeing a stable voltage. This is totally wrong online and I will do my best to alert anyone who does this to correct this. Basically moved one leg of the 470K resistor at the input 2 rows down(at the other side of the 100nF resistor).