Rayman

Update: I’ve had nightmares with this thing…. it wasn’t right as it was…. So much tinkering later…… I wanted black hardware, just because it looks more metal to me, and I wanted red pickups, like the ESP Frank Bello used to have…. So…. Herrick pickups fitted…. When they arrived one of the pickup wires had come off, so, out came the soldering iron, no big deal….. although I want to say they don’t appear to be amazing quality , they do sound good on first listen. I’m going to live with it for a bit and see if we bond. Still annoyed by the terrible Wilkinson tuners…. they will go when I find decent replacements, but for now I’ve spent WAY too much time and money on this bugger. All my other builds have been pretty straightforward, but this thing has put up a fight throughout.

My first thought was that these were Knock off, they’re that bad….. but the source is a very reputable store, admittedly via eBay, but not from some random shop. That said, and as has been pointed out, maybe I’m being harsh, because they’re just budget parts at the end of the day, I was probably expecting too much.

Oh blimey ok…. Don’t go down that road then! It seems to me that the whole section of wire needs replacing, but it should be possible by a skilled tech/electrician. Trouble is you might need Roland to supply the replacement parts. Did they give you details of any Roland recognised repair folks?

Yes, you’re probably right, I was probably expecting too much. Tbh I’ve never been much of a modded/upgrader…. and this Squier and the Thunderbird were meant to be fun projects. The TB turned out perfect at every stage, totally delighted…. the Squier though has put up a fight…. every part of the build has been a headache. I wanted black tuners, and had heard good things about Wilkinsons as decent parts, but I was disappointed on this occasion.

Sunday I’m with the horse

Fridays I’m with my girlfriend

I hear you…… maybe it’s the same reason I let Mrs Rayman whip me with a horse crop on a Saturday night….. I don’t know

No idea if such a repair would affect the sound quality of the signal afterwards......

It should be possible to cut, tidy up, re-attach and shrink wrap the wires, but it's hard to see the wiring configuration. As you say, taking the phones apart and replacing the whole wire could be complicated. Roland probably don't want to be bothered with it, but I'm sure a decent tech could figure it out.

Seems like hit and miss then? I took delivery of some silicone lube today, gave the tuners a good seeing to.... but they're still horrible to use. My old Sunn Mustangs still have the original open gear tuners, which feel luxurious in comparison. I realize that Wilkinson are budget parts, of course, but as one can see above, a lot of people rate them, and would look to them as decent for upgrading cheap tuners. In my case at least, I disagree, they are cheap, so not worth the effort.

It’s certainly a stretch to the nut, unless you strap it quite low…. I’m usually just below waist height, which brings the neck up a bit….. but there’s always the dive, which I’ve never been able to solve…. Just part of the experience I guess. Tonally, I love the sound so much.

I felt like I was supposed to be upgrading the stock Squier tuners, but I felt the opposite. Even lubed, the Wilks felt cheap and clunky.

Hmmm interesting. It’s frustrating to me because I’m fine with most tech stuff, but electronics are my Achilles heel, and pickups are a mystery to me. The problem was that the covers are really chunky and wouldn’t fit in the routs, so I popped the covers off top put them into the original Fender ones (into which they fit perfectly), but in so doing the jazz pup magnets dislodged. I haven’t a clue how they go back together. For the sake of 25 quid for a new one, I might just do that…. OR, go for something else.

Maybe I was just unlucky. I realise they’re only a couple of steps above budget, but I expect them to feel pretty good, compared to the Squier ones, but maybe just not last that well? I dunno…. personally I’m disappointed with them.

I did lube them yes, and no the ferrules are good. They just feel cheap. But yes you’re right, you get what you pay for

Following on from a thread about knockoff strings…. I now turn my attention to these atrocious “Wilkinson” tuners. Bought as part of my Squier Frank Bello Jazz (which has been a nightmare throughout the work), I thought Wilkinsons would be a good addition….. I was wrong. These tuners are horrendously bad. Clunky, grindy and just plain pants. If these are genuine Wilkinsons, then they’re very poor indeed…. however….. could they be knockoffs? They came from a reputable source on EBay, so I suspect they’re genuine. If so…. they’re the last Wilkinson parts I ever buy. Junk.

Also from those pictures, it looks like the magnets don’t touch in the middle If I can be bothered I’ll get a little compass to work out N & S polarity…. Not sure I care anymore 🤦🏻‍♂️

I don’t have the patience to keep messing around with it. I think I’ll pull it out and replace it with something else.

That’s the irritating part, the magnets are really clean on all sides, hard to tell which way they go back in. Once back together and all hooked up again, the bridge (jazz) pickup is out of phase (sounds very weak). So it needs to come out again

So should they attract each other or repel each other in the middle?

There’s 4 magnets on the bottom of the J pickup as per usual, but should they touch in the middle? Or should there be a gap between them?

Thanks mate…. Yeah I just figured out exactly that. Not much evidence of the glue unfortunately, so there’s guesswork involved 🤔

I bought a used set of the Alan Entwhistle pickups for a project. Unfortunately in the process one of the magnets popped off the bottom of the J pickup. Does it matter which way round it goes back on? Or is it “just a magnet” that you whack back in there and crack on?