Jose EB5AGV

Perhaps someone who doesn't want to put hours and money on it? 😉 Nowadays most people (in general, I am sure people here is the exception) prefer new items and trash things barely used because they have got a newer model or just because some fault which could be fixed for a lots less than the full item cost... if someone was available to do it. My main work is fixing electronics and sometimes I work on items nobody else would do (incidentally that is the reason I have customers from all around Spain and even from other EU countries 😁)

Well, I can't tell you if it is heavy or not, as now is disassembled and can't compare with my other Strat (which, BTW, should be close to it, as is an Squier Affinity) If you mean just the body, well, I would need also some comparison to check that, as it is the very first time I have a barebones Strat body on my hands. It was so dirty than I had not interest to put an strap on it when I got the guitar. And then in short time it was in parts! All in all, as you say, it can be a good learning platform. I have invested so far just 47€ on parts for it (and for sure those parts are better than the original ones, go figure). If they make a playable guitar, I will probably get some better parts in the future. I will use my Affinity as a comparison unit, as they should be close in specs, I guess. All in all, quite an adventure for me!

Thanks a lot @Caevan O’Shite for all the information. I will slowly digest it. On a general note, I can say that I am a beginner guitar player. And I mean beginner, just know some basic chords and my only real play was about 35 years ago and on an Spanish guitar, and only chords. So, well, now that I am 6 years on piano playing, hope this guitar project helps me to finally get into this world. I began my interest on guitar a year ago and got locally three cheap used guitars, a Yamaha C40, an Squier Affinity Stratocaster and an Epiphone Les Paul Special II. My aim was to use them as learning tools, both for playing and maintaining. They were useful for the second part, as they all needed some care and I got into lots of new things to make them look fine and be playable. But other things took all the time and finally I left the learning aside... Now, with this project I am back to be interested on this matter and hope this time will be the definitive one!. I always am more motivated if the thing I want to learn has been more involved, as fixing this guitar is. Hope all of this makes some sense! 😅

Thanks you all for your messages, it is really encouraging. I was afraid you would tell me that this guitar was not worth it and was best to get it into the trash ASAP 😭 So, well, when I published my first message, I had already done some work on it. Here you have some pictures of that. So far, the body and neck, including frets, seem in good shape and have cleaned to a good enough condition. This is how it arrived to my workbench: Internally, it was not better: I stripped it completely: And then polished it by hand to get this: The head was also stripped (I will also get out the remaining metal parts) And this is how it looks, with the pickguard also cleaned: I have ordered a suitable bridge (it is a 52.5mm unit) and locking tuners. I have worked on the electronics by using specific Caig cleaning and lubing products, and the switch is as perfect as possible contact-wise and mechanically smooth. The pots are 500K (log for VOL and lin for TONE) and there is only a capacitor (a 0.0033uF one). I have also cleaned them and seem to be OK Here you have the electronics: And the pickups: I will work on the neck while wait for the new parts to arrive. Keep tuned! 🤩

Hi all. I am usually at the Keyboard Corner as I am a wannabe keyboardist, but I enjoy quite a lot to save instruments from being trashed, usually synths and audio gear but, on this case, is a guitar. So when a friend offered me a free Legend Strat, I just couldn't refuse. It has been abandoned for years, without any cover and close to the beach. The soft guitar case in the picture is mine, I used it to carry the Legend to my home. This is a general view: And these are some detailed pictures: The look is really sad 😔 That poor guitar deserves some love. The bridge is missing parts: The knobs look dirty. And imagine the electronics... Curiously, the neck seems pretty decent: And the head is fine. Of course the tuners are shot: Here you have the serial number. No CH on it but I guess it is also Chinese: So that is what I got! I imagine most of you would have rejected that guitar as, well, it looks terrible and is already a low spec model. But I plan to get it playing again!. Is like finding an stranded puppy and caring it 😅 I have done already some cleaning work and it is now in pieces. I will update this thread as I work on it. Jose

That would be nice!

No, what I said is that the site is legit, not any piracy repository, as it is the Access website. If anyone wants more details, just PM me. There is nothing bad per-se involved on the way to get it. The use you do is another topic. Please, I am not trying to convince anyone on using that emulation. But is really that it has hit me as an awesome feat, technically speaking. It demonstrates how general use computers have quite a lot of computing power on them and can be used to emulate any older digital technology, as they do with game console emulators also.

Well, kind of similar, if not exactly the same. At least the emulating software is free and open source. I have found a way to get the firmware easily, from a legit place. But the use is still not endorsed by Access

Sorry, corrected

I have just found this... It is incredible what they have done emulating a Motorola DSP, available for all platforms: OsTIrus Emulation Now Available And, yes, it works! There are plenty of demos on YT, as these ones:

I you really want/need it, $29 or $49 is not a big deal. I buy all my music software when on sale. Sometimes it is not at the absolute minimum price it has or will reach, but well, my time is also worth some money, so I am not losing too much of it trying to get the absolute minimum on each purchase 😅

Looking at those prices, I guess I will go for the VI version 😅

And exactly announced for my birthday 🎉!

Here you have my humble setup for yesterday's gig. It was my 7th gig, I am still quite a beginner 😅, but enjoying it! And a general view of the band setup (taken from a friend's video, sax player is at the left) And a closer view, with our talented singer Julie while playing Zombie by the Cranberries

I got mine "free" with the huge 25x1 offer on IK Multimedia 25th anniversary sale. I bought an iRig Keys I/O 49 controller so the large amount of software added to the physical thing. It was quite a good opportunity! 😃

ELO has always been my favourite band. Some EKO songs are part of my life soundtrack, as that Midnight Blue I danced with my first girlfriend on that unforgettable Summer. And Richard made that wonderful ELO soundscape possible. A great talent. R.IP. 🙏🏻

Great information. Perhaps some PCB pictures would be the icing on the cake, but I understand you may not want to go to that extent

As a sidenote... Is 500€ a good price for a lightly used, five years old, boxed unit?

Try to modify the velocity offset. It was a revelation for me when I tried that!

Yes, you are right. In no way a Venom is objectively worth the time and expenses I have invested on it. But, as it happened years ago, when I did my first amateur radio equipment repairs, they were not cost effective but were great tools to learn. Then, after some dozen repairs of my own gear (I expressely bought not working units), I began to offer my repair services and, 30+ years later, it is my main work (since 2012 I work at my home lab) In the same fashion, when I began with my first synth, a Yamaha SY77 in February 2018, I bought a faulty unit, needed of lots of care. So that was the beginning of my synth repair adventure. By now, I mostly fix synths and audio gear for myself. But have already done some work for other people. My plan is to keep learning on this kind of gear and, step by step, displace some of my repair work to this area. As I enjoy playing keys, it would be like a golden retirement for me 😅 (I will be 56 in a couple weeks, so it is not that far! 🤣) All in all, I enjoy technical challenges, so this has been a good one 👍🏻

Yes, they are darkened, but electrically sound. Who knows what liquid entered the unit. Judging by the residue I removed, maybe some coffee or soft drink

Well, there has been some more work after that video, as the key which didn't work had some serious problem, because the carbon contact had been damaged by some liquid (which, I suspect, could have something to do also with the main problem) Here you have what I found, after careful cleaning the contact. The missing sections were attached to the rubber contact... For comparison, this is a good one: I used a product called Wire Glue, which is based on carbon and, when it hardens, the adherence to the PCB is very good and the electrical resistance very low. I did my best to duplicate the original shape 😬 After it cured (I left it for about 6 hours), I put back the (also cleaned) rubber contacts. It is useful to use an small screwdriver to put back the rubber assembly support points: After that, the Venom keybed worked flawlessly 🥳 Now, about the sounds, well, it is kind of harsh 😆. I have found some patches online which I would like to check. I have installed the USB driver and the editor software and, even being old, it works on a Windows 10 PC. Next step is to upload some patches to the Venom

Relisted video as I have changed it to my repair channel: I hope to work on this unit soon, but other projects have taken all the time lately...

Sorry, yesterday I published my video on my other YT channel and it was intended to be on this one. I put it again as I will remove it on the first one: