27-06-2019 Johnson Arms Open Mic

First time down and I had been meaning to for a while.

Nice vibe and some great players.

Due to late start I did not get to see many before I left.

Played
Toxic - Britney Spears
All of my Love - Led Zeppelin
I cant Dance - Genesis
Yopu're not the Best - Charlie Robison

I will return.

22-06-2019 - Bingham Rugby Beer & Music Festival

I only went down for a couple of beers and see my friends band, honest.

Ended up working the sound for all three bands that night. Result!

The Office

Vinyl Years

Estelle & The Redfish

 The Pumpers

Bloody Excellent evening.

07-06-2019 Radcliffe open Mic

A busy night Up first as usual. Its a standing joke!!!

Played

The best I can get – Charlie Robinson (First Time)
I Cant Dance – Genesis
Toxic – Britney Spears
All of my Love – Led Zeppelin (First time)
Show me the Way – Peter Frampton

Till next time

16-05-2019 - Hickling Open Mic

Back again for another busy night. Get here early if you wanna play.

Played

I can't Dance - Genesis, with Ian on Cahon
Toxic - Britney Spears
Give a little bit - Supertramp

till next time

03-05-2019 Radcliffe Open mic

Back to this great open mic

Played

Man of a thousand faces - Marillion
I Can't Dance - Genesis
Toxic - Britney Spears (first time)
Baby I love your Way - Peter Frampton (slowly getting better at this one)
The Garden - Rush

18-04-2019 Hickling Open Mic

I like it here!

Played

The Garden – Rush
Baby I love your way – Peter Frampton.
Doctor Doctor – UFO (for Paul Raymond [RIP])

Variax Acoustic Repairs

I love my Variax Acoustic, brought it years ago second hand from a guy in a top cover band here in the UK. He regretted the sale, so he brought another. It is a shame these are no longer available.

Anyhow, over the years it has suffered from several breakdowns, non of which were manufacturing issues. A couple of design faults, but no issues.

Failure 1.

The internal battery failed to work. VDI and external power pack were ok.

Solution 1:

Built 2 external battery packs one large floor mounted and one belt pack. These had pass through to enable it to work just like the mains system.

Solution 2:

The permanent solution was a bodge. There is a small component L? which was blown on the circuit board, this is in-line with the battery terminal. All I did was put a small jumper in place. Fixed!

Failure 2.

This is a design issue. The VDI port has no cover and is too close to the jack socket. This means that it is too easy to ram the jack into the VDI port, this eventually caused the VDI port to be damaged preventing it from working as either a VDI or to the workbench.

Solution1:

I contacted Line6 and their sales agents and the daughter board is no longer available. Thankfully the connector  Neutrik NE8FAV Vertical PCB Mount RJ45 Receptacle is available. It is a relatively simple job to desolder and replace it.
Solution 2:
Insert an old RJ45 connector into it the VDI port to prevent future damage.

Failure 3.

Piezo failure.

Solution1:

A long time ago, 2007 I had an issue with one string not coming through. Line 6 kindly sent me a replacement for free back then. I never used it.
Last night I was planning on using the Variax but the B string continually failed so it was time to effect the repair. After searching for the part I did eventually find it. One small part!

It is/was a simple fix

1. Remove back panel
2. Carefully remove the ribbon cable, this just pulls out!
3. Remove two screws, one has an earth lead
4. remove strings
5. The bridge can now be removed
6. Unsolder the offending piezo and replace with new one
7. Replace bridge and reconnect ribbon cable, earth and screws.
8. Test by tapping piezo’s with Variax connected to an amplifier
9. If ok, restring test and enjoy

Final notes

I need to send it to a luthier and get the frets dressed and set-up so it can have many more useful years.

I am also thinking of making it a hybrid guitar by adding a magnetic pickup. Not sure how I will drive the output jack configuration but it is just a thought!