A few months ago, my little electric slide guitar ( http://www.rondomusic.com/LG1na.html ) bassically that, although mine is made out of a cheaper looking white plastic.
Im not to experienced with repairing electronics, but it seems like a very simple setup.
At the moment, its plugged into the amp. No noise coming through. if I touch the bridge there is a mild click that comes through the amp.
Any advice as to how to proceed ?
Dont be scared off by the word "Eletronics" becouse its realy just a simple circit, with a few wires...
First off pull the rear access cover off and look around. All wires should be hooked to SOMETHING. Look for a wire just hanging loose. If none seem loose, give them a little wiggle where they are attached to the diferent components.... See if they are coming loose. Also dont forget the simple.... is the guitar cable good? Is it the amp thats bad? Do you have any stomp boxes in the circit that might be hooked up wrong?
Dont be afread to go digging into that guitar...
Paul B
Hey, thanks for replying.
I have already taken off the backplate and yes all of the wires are still in tact, the solder joints look to be alright to my eyes. nothing is loose. Ive taken the pickup out of its casing and the wires seem fine there too.
I have a soldering iron and some old low grade solder. My options at the moment are to take off all of the wires, and resolder them. Or Hopefully someone can see one of the pots is fried from the fact that I get a percussive noise through the amps if I touch the bridge.
Amp is fine. Leads are good. Taken effect chain right out.
I have no fear of breaking this little thing. I Would just love to get it working again.
I am probably the worst guitar tech on the forums, but here are some basics that work for me. Smarter people, feel free to correct any errors....
It's odd for a pickup to just quit working, unless you're using the guitar as a cricket bat between sessions. So we start by looking for the easy, obvious problems, rather than jumping into complete disassembly. No broken wires? That's a great start.
Clean your potentiometers. Get some spray contact cleaner. Mine is De-Ox-It, made by Caig Laboratories, and a 200ml can has lasted me more than a decade. Don't use WD-40, as the lubricant will attract dust over time. Shoot a little cleaner into the openings between the pots' legs and turn the control rapidly up and down ALL THE WAY for a couple of minutes, then check output. (Also odd for a dirty pot to shut a guitar down altogether, but this is good standard maintenance.) Clean the contacts in the jack while you're at it, with some spray & a cotton swab.
No broken wires... if you have a volt-ohm-milliamp meter, check the continuity between all contacts -- pickup to pot, pot to pot, pot to ground, all leads to jack, jack to end of lead. (I think you can still get an analog VOM at Radio Shack for around $20 US. Great investment if you think you'll work on your guitars in the future.) Any discontinuity? Replace that wire & try again. How do you know your leads are good? The VOM will confirm that. Check continuity in the pickup itself by unsoldering the pickup leads & placing probes on both pup wires. And check the ground wire to the bridge.
At this point, if pickup etc. checks out OK & still no output... myself, I would be in over my head. :oops: I strongly recommend you don't take anything apart that you can't put back together properly. It's embarassing to take a guitar to the shop with the parts in a Ziplok bag.
(Is that "old low grade solder" ELECTRONICS solder, or some kind of jewelry/plumbing solder? Has to be made for electronic use. If you're not certain, get some new solder. Mine is Kester 44 resin-core, 60/40 alloy, and my one-pound spool is 10-plus years old & not even half gone.
(And about that solder iron... you can burn out a pot by using too much heat in soldering/unsoldering, esp. when grounding to the back of the pot. Whatever iron you have, practice on some scrap if you're not certain about your soldering technique.)
"You can't write a chord ugly enough to say what you want to say sometimes, so you have to rely on a giraffe filled with whipped cream." - Frank Zappa
Well my next step would be to start taking some readings. I would start at the jack myself. They take the most abuse. The noise with the bridge got me though..... Check for maybe a chaffed wire or two somewhere grounding out on something.
Paul B
