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Posts: 10777
Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | I finally cracked-down and bought a VXT.
Why is always a Taylor box?
But they are so much better with an Ovation in them.
It is used so you can see the pick-tracks and crud. Mostly crud.
I had to wash it down with dishwater to get the caked sweat of off it (after this photo was taken).
When I change the strings I will really clean-it-up and maybe try to buff-out the pick-tracks.
I did take it out on the street today and it played nicely.
It will take me a while to get my favorite settings worked-out.
And look how low the pickups are just to get under the strings...
Are they like that on anyone's VXT?
Are these knobs supposed to be this high, or are these after-market?
And the Real knob question is...
My tone knob doesn't seem to change the (electric) tone very much. Is that normal.
Also...
On this circuit-board there are 5 pin-holes that say "image" on near them...
Also there is a USB plug... Is there a way to change the Acoustic sound?
Meanwhile... This is my Christmas Present to Myself and I am Pleased.
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Posts: 6994
Location: Jet City | it looks correct to me.
dunno about changing the images, but I doubt it.
that's a much better present that anything I got this year |
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Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | The VXT is hard to put down in any sense of that phrase. |
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Location: Upper Left USA | Congrats art! Your reward for staying on the "nice" list.
In a conversation with John B some time back I asked about the mini USB and he said it was a Fishman Factory thing to test the circuit board and they (Mother) didn't do any loading or unloading.
If you learned conversational Electrical Engineer you could possibly call the makers of the circuit board. I bet there's a lot of ways to hook up and screw up the programming. Since they are not making updated VXT boards the questions are moot. With a little redesign I bet it could have an awesome line up of iPod Apps to run with.
Not on Fender's watch...
Yes, the pups that I've had are set up a little higher than most. It leaves you more room to adjust as the Neck/Body settles.
If I may be so bold to say so the VXT is actually a Hamer or at least it hit the same work processes and stations at Mother's place.
I keep looking for my next VXT as well. Hard to put down. |
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Posts: 13987
Location: Upper Left USA | Here's the CB placed in the HBVXTBW... 
Edited by MWoody 2012-12-22 11:19 AM
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Location: sitting at my computer | Congrats OMA. Sun came up, world didn't end, UPS delivered (even though it was in a Taylor box), ya got another O to play, life is good! hmmm, does that paint job look kinda, sorta, vaguely (inverted-ly) familiar?  |
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Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | And the Real knob question is...
My tone knob doesn't seem to change the (electric) tone very much. Is that normal.
If I run it through the Vox emulator or the JC Clean on my Roland at higher volume I can hear a tiny difference when I change the tone... But on other settings, nada.
Is there something wrong with mine or is the tone knobby that subtle?
Y'see, grown-ups get to play with their Christmas Presents before Christmas morning.
Edited by Old Man Arthur 2012-12-22 2:10 PM
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Location: Utah | Someday I'd love to have a VXT as long as it doesn't try to replace all my O's, A's, and H's. |
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Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | arthurseery - 2012-12-22 11:52 AM
And the Real knob question is...
My tone knob doesn't seem to change the (electric) tone very much. Is that normal.
If I run it through the Vox emulator or the JC Clean on my Roland at higher volume I can hear a tiny difference when I change the tone... But on other settings, nada.
Is there something wrong with mine or is the tone knobby that subtle?
Y'see, grown-ups get to play with their Christmas Presents before Christmas morning.
I never noticed any subtleness of the tone control. Insure you have the switch set properly for stereo/mono and using the right cable as appropriate. Also check the tone control in either full humbucker or full acoustic mode and I'm sure you already checked the batteries?
I'll tale mine out later and double-check, but I use the tone a lot... I think I would have noticed. |
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Posts: 10777
Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | Okay, I tried to upload a video to demonstrate that the Tone didn't work...
But then it started working! Then it stopped.
I don't know but HERE is the YouTube Video
Any advice or observations?
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Location: Utah | I'm going to guess a bad solder joint on the pot as a first thing to check. It would be easy to fix - just touch it with a solder iron until the joint remelts. A burnt out component on the circuit board would not likely be intermittent, though a bad solder joint on the board is possible. A broken wire is also a possibility.
Can you tell if the tone control is the typical electric guitar configuration of a capacitor soldered directly to the pot terminals, or is the pot wired into the circuit board? |
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Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | FlySig - 2012-12-22 7:49 PM
Can you tell if the tone control is the typical electric guitar configuration of a capacitor soldered directly to the pot terminals, or is the pot wired into the circuit board?
I am not positive, but I believe that I saw on a video of them assembling them that all the controls (except for the pickup selector switch) are part of the circuit board.
The volume, tone and blend switch are on the board.
If you look at MWoody's pic of the board you can read those names on the back of the board.
Plus I don't know how to solder. 
I own a soldering-iron... I have just never used it.
(I can solder pipe joints)
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Location: Utah | Well don't be taking a torch to the circuit board!
Those little integrated circuits on the board could be static sensitive. Even static you can't feel is enough to zap and kill the electronics. So you have to be careful poking around. Ideally you would ground yourself to the guitar before touching anything. Holding one finger firmly onto the output jack would work. And don't squirm around on the seat you're sitting on or rub your feet on the carpet.
If there are lugs from the tone pot soldered directly to the board there is a good chance one of the solder joints is cracked. You could use something like a wooden tongue depressor or a non-static producing object (don't use plastic or rubber) to press on and around the where the lug solders to the board to see if it makes a difference.
Touching up a solder joint is pretty easy. Get the iron really hot, touch a very small bit of solder to the tip to coat it very lightly with molten solder, then touch the solder joint for a few seconds. Only until you see it get shiny, which means it melted. Then remove the soldering iron and let the solder solidify. Don't let anything move until the solder is solid for at least a few seconds.
Be sure to use good anti-static procedures when soldering. I will unplug my soldering iron just before touching the circuitry because I don't know how well my iron is grounded, but that may be overkill. Definitely ground yourself to the guitar before touching the tip of the iron to the circuit.
Solder irons like to wiggle around when you put them down, and they like to burn holes in counter tops and carpets. Use some care. |
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Posts: 10777
Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | I don't think that I will be trying any amateur soldering on this one.
The knob works sometimes... I got an EQ on my amp.
I ain't gonna experiment on my VXT.
(I got a 2078T that I experimented-on with Paint...  ) |
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Location: sitting at my computer | probably just a stooopid guess, but with all the crud you mentioned that needed cleaning away, could there be some crud in the switch (pot ? / rheostat ?) causing intermittent contact breaks? Doesn't DeOxIt make a spray cleaner for that?
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Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | OMA... shoot some tuner cleaner in there and work the control a bit. If it's intermittent, based on the rest of the guitar, it's probably just crud. |
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Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | Okay, Miles... When you say "shoot some tuner cleaner in there"...
Do you mean just shoot it under the circuit board?
I cannot get the knobs off. They must be glued on there.
I was planning on removing the tone knob and nut and shooting it in there from the top.
But those knobs are put on there good, and I don't want to break anything.
I could end-up ripping the tuner assembly out of the board... If the solder ain't cracked, it would be.
(I may just have to live with this...)
Oh! By "tuner cleaner" you mean this stuff (or similar)... Right?
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Posts: 4046
Location: Utah | Spray that stuff inside the pot and turn the knob back and forth to clean the innards. I am not sure how safe it is for paint or plastics so use care. |
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Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | arthurseery - 2012-12-23 1:11 PM
I cannot get the knobs off. They must be glued on there.
I was planning on removing the tone knob and nut and shooting it in there from the top.
But those knobs are put on there good, and I don't want to break anything.
I could end-up ripping the tuner assembly out of the board... If the solder ain't cracked, it would be.
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Posts: 5881
Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | Hey OMA, the tone knob does make a difference, so maybe your's isn't working properly. Of course, it only works for the magentic pickups, not the piezo. I've also noticed that while the acoustic tone doesn't initially sound like what you would expect from an acoustic only model, from the perspective of the listeners, it really does work. I wasn't convinced of this until I heard Matt Smith play on the acoustic side. I use the midway indent often, too. |
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Location: Texas | OMA,
Sorry I couldn't chime in earlier, I finally got a chance to pull out my VXT to see if I could offer any advice. The controls on the VXT are somewhat unusual, so here's some considerations:
The tone control does not effect the Fishman pickup at all, it's only for the the humbuckers. If you set the "pickup blend control" (the one closest to the 1/4" jack) on "1", then you are hearing only the Fishman "acoustic" pickup, therefore the tone control will have no effect. Conversely, if you set the blend knob on "10" so you are hearing only the humbuckers, then you should clearly hear the difference in tone when turning the tone knob.
Here's a control summary: The switch is only for selecting the humbuckers (Neck/Both/Bridge.) The volume knob adjusts the overall volume of ALL pickups, (including the Fishman.) The tone knob is ONLY for the humbuckers. The third (blend) knob controls the mix of the humbuckers and the acoustic pup. The lower the # you set the blend knob, the more you hear the acoustic pup versus the humbuckers and therefore, the less you will notice any effect from the tone knob.
If you are adjusting the tone knob with the blend on "10" and still not hearing any difference, then you may have to try some of the other things discussed above.
As for your other questions; your photos of the pickup and knob heights appear to be identical to mine, and I believe they are set-up correctly. As far as I know, there is no internal way to "change the acoustic sound" nor add other acoustic images (although that would be interesting.) I can't easily pull the knobs off of mine either, but if I really needed to, I would protect the finish with a soft cloth and then use a thin tool inserted under the knob, but above the washer, to gently pry them up rather than just yanking on them from above. (Proceed at your own risk.)
I think they are great guitars; versatile, excellent tone, and very comfortable to play. I hope you get yours working properly soon!
Good Luck!
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Posts: 10777
Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | I like it!
I understand that the Tone knob does not affect the Fishman.
(there is no tone control for the Fishman on my Parker neither)
I have discovered that the Tone only seems evident on the Treble strings.
Oh well, I will live with it. I just put the Tone knob on 10 and leave it. |
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December 2008
Posts: 1453
Location: Texas | I would concur that the tone knob does seem to have a somewhat limited range, but on the OTOH, the overall tone of the VXT is pretty darn sweet. |
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Posts: 5881
Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | I never did care for the stock VXT control knobs, nor the white pickup surrounds . I switched both out to chrome which provides, IMHO, a cleaner look.
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Posts: 10777
Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | So... I finally got around to changing the strings on my VXT.
I also polished-up some of the scratches.
And I found other boo-boos.
There is a chip in the paint, and a coupla fingernail dents in the fingerboard and in the first frets.
But I must remind myself that this is a Five year-old guitar, and the previous owner Played It.
So I used some scratch-remover and Planet Waves "Restore" cream stuff.
I does sound better with new strings...
I am Pleased! 
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I got a VXT.... Pictures and Questions.
