Peavey Roadmaster - Welp...

So, that possible solution wasn't any sort of solution.

Which leads me to the bit I'd been putting off, getting out the multimeter and painstakingly testing all the resistors.

A long time and a lot of mumbling, headscratching, and messaging Mr. Foxen on Facebook I have identified two resistors that I get no reading from, and one that is about twice the value that shows on the schematic.

This puts the potential cost of fixing the problem into the dizzying heights of about £1.50.

I really hope this is the fix I need, otherwise it's time to get experts involved.

Peavey Roadmaster - Testing

Welp...

That was mostly successful.

The amp works, and sounds come out of it. The clean channel is nice and warm and clear, the reverb works but is a little noisy (not imagining this being an issue with high-gain doom though).

But the lead channel is still fizzy and glitchy and cutty-outy. Which sucks.

Well, from a certain perspective it's quite cool, as it'd be useful for noise stuff, but I imagine it won't do Eric's overall health much good if I keep using it. It's a bit of a mystery as all the relevant valves tested okay and all the big caps are brand new...

I've sent Oli a message to see if he has any ideas.

First Job - Rockwood by Hohner LX90L

And so here it is, the first project I'm doing for somebody else!



Popped round to my friend Joe's earlier for a cuppa and noticed he had a Strat copy sat in the corner, which I promptly offered to fix up for him. The guitar is a Rockwood by Hohner LX90L, which as Strat copies go is, admittedly, pretty low end.


Yes, the body really is made from fibreboard.

From what I can tell it has a reasonable sound (it only had three very old strings on it and it's very noisy) and doesn't play too badly either. As is to be expected on a cheaper guitar those electronics have to go, so I might as well go the whole hog and get CTS pots and a Sprague 'Orange Drop' cap, and once that's done I'll re-assess the pickups. Further reports when there's something to report!

Swift Les Paul Copy - Bits n' Pieces

The new electronics for the Swift LP copy arrived this morning. I probably won't be able to actually install them until next week, but I'll list them here anyway.

I have bought, from Axes R Us, the following:

• 2x CTS 250K linear pots (tone)
• 2x CTS 250K logarithmic pots (volume)
• 1 .47uf Sprague "Orange Drop" capacitor for the bridge tone control
• 1 .33uf Sprague "Orange Drop" capacitor for the neck tone control
• 1 three-way toggle switch
• 1 mono jack socket
• Various bits of wire

Basically the aim here is to replicate the actually not-too-bad sound of the original setup using better quality parts. I've also taken the decision to use a lower value cap for the neck tone control just to reduce the amount of mud a bit.

ETA: I've just taken measurement of the DC resistance of the stock pickups... the neck came in at 9.9Kohm and the bridge at 10.1Kohm. Not as much of a difference as expectations nor conventional wisdom demanded, but no biggie... I mean, twin P90s are often the same value the difference being made in how close they are to the strings.

Swift Les Paul Copy - In Bits

Damn, this is going to be harder than I thought.

The reasonably professionalish exterior hid some very shoddy workmanship (save the soldering which was actually pretty darn good). The screw holes for the neck are all over the place, the truss rod is very off centre and possibly at an angle too, the the top has been shaped over a central block rather than carved and capped meaning there's a lot of air between it and the main body block (I guess I could say it's semi-hollow if I sell it on!).

There's going to be a fair amount of filling and sanding and chiselling and hopefully not having to buy a new neck.

Oh, and it turns out it's loaded with 250k pots and .047uf caps... which might explain the unexpectedly meaty sound. I think I may stick some 300k pots in to bring up the brightness a teeny bit whilst still keeping that awesome bottom end.