Simple Guitar Repair 簡單電結他維修

Life was really boring during my course of Shingles recovery and I planned to pickup my aging Line 6 Variax 500 electric guitar to pass time. As the guitar had not been played for nearly two years, two of the tuners could not be tightened and the strings were out of tune shortly after few hours. Close inspection found that the plastic washer of those tuners disappeared.

I decided to change the tuners myself but failed to get the stock tuners from Line 6. I ended up buying a set of Gibson Les Paul compatible type of tuners from online shop Thomann for the repairing work.

休養期間生活有點百無聊賴，找來我的古董 Line 6 Variax 500 電結他消磨時間。 由于這電結他差不多有兩年没有彈過，在調音時發覺其中兩條低音絃線的 tuner 有點鬆，調好音後不到半天便走音，細看原來是 tuners 有破損，其中的膠墊圈已失掉。

一時興起想自行更換，但要找回原廠零件一點都不易，最終我只好到 Thomann 的網店買來整套 Gibson Les Paul compatible tuners 組件。

Slightly different from the stock tuners of the Line 6 Variax 500, each of the Harley Benton tuners required an additional screw to tighten it to the guitar headstock. To maintain the existing look, I just installed the plastic washer of the new tuners onto those damaged tuners instead replacing the entire tuner. The installation was a breeze and completed shortly.

這套 Harley Benton 的 tuners 與 Line 6 Variax 500 原廠的不同，需要另加鏍絲固定。 為避免破壞結他的外觀，我決定只把新 tuners 的膠墊換至原廠 tuners 上，工序不算太多，短短數分鐘便完成。

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Line 6 Variax is a Modelling Guitar that worked on the Piezo Pickup embedded in the guitar bridge. Audio signals generated from these pickups will be used to simulate tones of various signature guitar models. During my testing, I noticed that no sound was generated with the “G” string. It turned out that the pickup signal wire was broken and the generated signal could not be passed to the Digital Signal Processor (DSP) board of the Variax.

Line 6 Variax 是一支 Modelling Guitar，利用 bridge 上的 Piezo 拾音器提供訊號，以模擬不同的結他聲音。 測試時發覺 “G” 絃沒有聲音，詳細檢查後原來是拾音器訊號線斷了，令 pickup 訊號未能輸入 Variax 的 Digital Signal Processor (DSP) board。

Reconnection of the piezo pickup signal wire to the DSP board seemed not a difficult task. Apparently just removed the guitar strings, wiring cover and the DSP board, the piezo pickup connection should appear and ready for re-connection.

心想把拾音器訊號線重新接至 DSP board 的難度應該不高，只要先把絃線拆除，揭開 DSP board 的保護蓋，移除 DSP board，找出拾音器訊號線的接駁位即可。

To my surprise, the piezo pickups were actually linked to the DSP board via a Flexible Flat Cable. How can I re-solder the broken pickup signal wire?

但當翻起 DSP board 時竟發現整組拾音器原來是以一條 Flexible Flat Cable 連至插座，中間沒有甚麽焊位，那麼怎樣焊回斷了的訊號線呢？

After several rounds of searching, I managed to get relevant information on the LR Baggs Piezo Bridge used in the Line 6 Variax 500. Oh My God, that piece of hardware still sold for US 128 today!

But what really amazing was that picture of the piezo bridge wiring was also available. The signal wires of the piezo pickups were directly soldered onto the other end of the Flexible Flat Cable, right under the bridge.

即刻上網問問 Google 大神，一輪搜索後終於找到關於這個 LR Baggs Piezo Bridge 的資料，全新的組件今天仍要買上 128 美元！

不過最令我感到欣慰是網站亦附有組件的線路接駁圖片，原來 piezo 拾音器的訊號線是焊在 bridge 底部 Flexible Flat Cable 的另一端。

By removing the five screws and flipping the piezo pickup bridge, the pickup signal wire could be re-soldered back to the flat cable.

只要拆除 bridge 的五顆鏍絲，再翻起 bridge 便可把斷了的拾音器訊號線重新焊回 flat cable 上。

After putting back all those disassembled components, the Line 6 Variax could be plugged into my Scarlett Solo audio interface for testing.

裝回 piezo bridge，DSP board 及保護蓋後，把 Line 6 Variax 接上我的 Scarlett Solo 電腦錄音介面便可為這個簡單維修作測試。

To be honest, I do have mixed feelings with this song, regarding to the current war between Russia and Ukraine!

眼看今時今日的俄烏之戰， 這首歌更令我有點百般滋味在心頭！