Majesty 6 output loss on bridge pickup

[cvariable]

Hello, I've already sent a request to EBMM support, but figured I'd do a quick post to see if anybody else has run into this issue.

I have a Majesty 6 BFR and the output on the bridge pickup is dropping in half. This doesn't occur mid-session, sometimes I plug in and the output isn't there. Only thing that seems to fix it is removing and re-inserting a battery. It's not the pots, as the neck pickup is unaffected, or the toggle switch, as I've reversed this to a known working position and it made no difference. I've reflowed the main connections for the pickup on the PCB. Also tested resistance at these points and both poles are active in the pickup, and consistent with what I'd expect.

I'd guess it's something with the active circuity due to the battery replacement solving things for a session. However I can't find a schematic or much description as to what the active electronics actually do in this instrument.

Anybody have any advice or ran into this? I have a couple other Majesty's, all of them have issues with pots developing play and whatnot, but nothing like this. Extremely frustrating as I'm mid-album tracking, and this guitar has been used for all the lead lines up until this point.

 

[DrKev]

First, if the instrument is new, this will be covered under warranty, so contact your dealer right away.

My guess would a loose connecting somewhere and when you reinsert the battery the change in orientation of the guitars moves something. I'm thinking magnetic selector switch or the tone/coil split push-push pot. When it happens again, try actuating the selector switch, then push-push pot, and then just rotating or shaking the guitar.

 

[cvariable]

I think reinserting the battery was a one off. It happened again and this did not fix things. I've tried every combination of switching and pots with no replicable results.

I ended up reflowing the entire board yesterday, other than the surface mount components and it's been good since. Could not find anything poking around with a multi-meter. Honestly every single connection in this thing looked completely dull though, stupid lead free solder.

If MM support provides the schematic I requested I should be able to at least understand which portions could lead to this. The guitar is probably out of warranty at this point, I think I purchased it in 2018, it was one of the Dargie green 3 limited runs.

 

[DrKev]

I ended up reflowing the entire board yesterday, other than the surface mount components and it's been good since. Could not find anything poking around with a multi-meter. Honestly every single connection in this thing looked completely dull though, stupid lead free solder.

[rant on]

re: Lead-free solder, 1) folks, we need to stop visual comparisons of lead-free solder to leaded solder. These are two very different alloys with different wetting and optical properties so visual rules-of-thumb for leaded solder do not apply. A good solder joint with lead-free is dull compared to leaded, and it flows and beads differently too. That's normal, because it's not leaded. 2) Pretty much the entire global electronics industry has been using lead-free solder almost exclusively for nearly 20 years and all available data shows no change in warranty claims or costs, which would be impossible if the solder joints holding everything together were less reliable. 3) Lead-free hand soldering is less forgiving of poor technique, and tip choice and temperature range require a little more care too. Anyone not aware of that gets worse results. End result: 20 years of internet full of people complaining about lead-free. But that's an operator issue, not a solder problem.

Thanks.
[rant off]

 

[cvariable]

[counter-rant]

I'm comparing to my own personal choice of lead free I've used for 20 years. As well as other areas on this board. Pot connections all had significantly more sheen and less grain to the joints than the pickup and toggle pads. I'm aware visual identifiers in this case mean very little. I still have personal bias towards what I want it to look like. This is an intermittent issue where unless stress testing each joint, metering doesn't mean much. In the middle of album tracking, brute force and first impression visual inspection is going to win out.

I build arcade cabs, amps, repair CRT displays, have fixed basically everything under the sun. I do not like working with lead-free, but I still do it and rarely have a bad joint or have issues develop down the road. I never see a bad joint in a 50 year old CRT display, unless on a neck board and it's been dropped.

Warranty statistics are a moot point. People are conditioned to replace rather than repair, electronics are disposable and rarely offered with meaningful warranty anymore. My 20k heat pump has 1 year on internal parts in the fine print. 3/5 of my EBMM guitars have electronics issues and are out of warranty. Mind you they are mostly minor issues with pots, the point stands.

I'm not suggesting MM use anything else. That the solder work was done poorly. Or even that lead-free inherently has issues. I just do not enjoy working with it in comparison to leaded. I'm going to say "stupid-lead free solder", over throwing the EBMM technician under the bus. I still have a JR7 on order that will likely develop issues with the pots in a year. I buy MM for the designs and fretwork.

I'm also not implying I've fixed anything. It's just guesswork at this point. I finished off album tracking successfully, so all is well in the world.