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Topic: Tonealigner - No Tone-at-all |
Jim Cooley
From:
The 'Ville, Texas, USA
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Posted 2 Apr 2017 2:52 pm |
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I just installed a used Tonealigner I bought off the forum - no sound, nothing, nada. I connected the red wire to the red/hot on my output jack. I wrapped the black and bare wires together and connected them to the jack's black wire. I also tried red-to-red and black-to-black, leaving the bare wire loose ala a Lawrence 705. I tried revesring red and black, but that didn't work either. I get no reading on my Ohm neter. I take that as a bad sign.
I hear dirge music in the background. Any suggestions? |
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Bruce Derr
From:
Lee, New Hampshire, USA
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Posted 2 Apr 2017 4:48 pm
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I bought a used Tonealigner a while back and have not yet installed it, so I took a look. Mine measures about 18.1 kΩ from red to black. Sounds like yours has an open somewhere.
Assuming your pickup is like mine, it's got two side-by-side coils with their connections visible. At each of the four bottom outside corners of the bobbins there are metal studs where the tiny coil wires are soldered. On one end the red and black lead wires are soldered to the two studs. On the other end there is a short black jumper wire between the two studs, connecting the two coils in series.
Check each of those connections carefully with a magnifying glass. Look for breaks in the wiring, especially if any of the studs are loose. You can also use your ohmmeter to measure each coil separately. (They should each be around 9 kΩ.) This may help you narrow down where the open connection is. If the break is on the outside there's a chance it can be repaired. Hopefully it won't be an internal open in a coil winding.
On mine, the studs are all loose in their holes, especially one where a small piece of the bobbin corner has broken off. Fortunately no wires have broken (yet). I'm planning on dabbing a little JB Weld on them before I use the pickup.
The two studs with the red and black wires each have a little dab of black RTV on the top side, but the RTV isn't enough to prevent them from moving when I poke them. (I wouldn't recommend putting more RTV on the pickup unless it's electronics-grade RTV. The regular stuff is acidic and can cause corrosion.)
Good luck! |
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Jim Cooley
From:
The 'Ville, Texas, USA
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Posted 2 Apr 2017 5:36 pm
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| Well Bruce, it looks like you called it. On one end, the red wire jumps between the two studs. One of those studs didn't feel quite right, so I removed the base plate. I found that there is a also tiny single strand wire that runs off of each of those studs, through a small hole, and into the bobbin. Both of those single strand wires are broken. One is broken on the outside, next to the magnet. However, the other one is apparently broken inside the bobbin. I can see copper through the small hole. |
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Darvin Willhoite
From:
Roxton, Tx. USA
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Posted 2 Apr 2017 6:35 pm
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That must be a common problem with these pickups, I had the same problem with one of mine, and I know of another player that also had this problem. I re-soldered mine and it works fine, but I'm thinking the same thing will happen to the other one.
_________________
Darvin Willhoite
MSA Millennium, Legend, and Studio Pro, Reese's restored Universal Direction guitar, a restored MSA Classic SS, several amps, new and old, and a Kemper Powerhead that I am really liking. Also a Zum D10, a Mullen RP, and a restored Rose S10, named the "Blue Bird". Also, I have acquired and restored the plexiglass D10 MSA Classic that was built as a demo in the early '70s. I also have a '74 lacquer P/P, with wood necks, and a showroom condition Sho-Bud Super Pro. |
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Bruce Derr
From:
Lee, New Hampshire, USA
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Posted 2 Apr 2017 6:38 pm
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If you're sure about the break inside the bobbin, that's not good news.
I took my bottom plate off to get a better idea of what you were describing. On my pickup there's a small piece of electrical tape covering each coil wire and (presumably) the hole, but I still see enough to get what you're saying.
I don't know if that's fixable without a rewind. |
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Jim Cooley
From:
The 'Ville, Texas, USA
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Posted 2 Apr 2017 7:32 pm
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I had to remove the base plate, too. I thought I saw a break in the small wire that was soldered to one of the studs. That's when I removed the electrical tape. When I confirmed the break on one side, I checked the other stud and found that wire was also broken. It doesn't look promising.
Last edited by Jim Cooley on 3 Apr 2017 4:57 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Mike Perlowin
From:
Los Angeles CA
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Posted 2 Apr 2017 10:13 pm
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I had a tone aligner that started cutting out. I sent it back to Jim Palenscar, who in turn sent it back to Bob Hoffner.
I don't know what happened to it after that. I
now have an Alumitone on one steel and a Telonics in the other.
_________________
Please visit my web site and Soundcloud page and listen to the music posted there.
http://www.mikeperlowin.com http://soundcloud.com/mike-perlowin |
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