The Electra Forums

Good evening.
My Name is Gene and I can be contacted at genevanbeek@gmail.com. My father is 73 and has been playing a 1979 Electra MPC X810 since 1980. When he bought it he purchased three modules with it ... the Phase Shifter, Overdrive and Flanger. The Overdrive and Flanger have since quit working and he is worried that the Phase Shifter module will soon quit as well. He loves this guitar and plays it several hours a week. He plays every Sunday at church and will never buy another unless he is forced to. He would like to find some replacement modules plus a contact that he can go to when he needs parts and support. If he can keep this guitar operational it will be the last guitar he ever buys. I hope someone on this site can help him.
His Name is Ron VanBeek. He has a computer but is not very computer literate. He can send and receive emails but does not have the ability to surf well enough to use a forum site like this. If you have the ability to assist him with anything I ask that you please take the time to contact him. His email address is srv@wescomm.com. Please include me in any correspondence you have with him so I can follow up to make sure he is able to respond properly to your message.

Thanks

Gene VanBeek

Glad to help I have sent him e mail with info and links and would be happy to help in any way I can.

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Always give thanks for everyday, It may be your last so Rock On Semper Fi!!

Thank you very much. I live 1000 miles away so I don't have any way of helping him learn to use his computer. I have encouraged him to take a class and he wants to but he still relies on the telephone and someone on the other line to help him find what he needs. I will let him know that you sent him an email so he looks for it.

A quick set of tips with the modules. You can always copy this into an email and send it to him if you think it will help.

You should first clean the contacts on all of the modules with a soft pencil eraser (being careful not to scratch it if the eraser is worn down). It will make them as shiny and clean as when they were first made.

Also, does the phaser work in both slots in the MPC? Just making sure the problem is with the modules and not one slot in the guitar. If it follows the slot in the guitar, it is the guitar. If it phaser works well in both, well, then it isn't the guitar.

If the overdrive is in the beige plastic box, it can be worked on. They are sometimes difficult to remove from the plastic box, but it is doable. If it is the "solid brick" of epoxy, with the paper labels glued onto it - those usually can't be worked on. The goo on the inside of the plastic box type modules usually melts like wax, so it can be melted. The solid kind seems like a totally different material and I have not tried because they don't have a box to insulate them.

I have had luck on the flanger replacing the teardrop tantalum capacitors (paying attention to the + and - sides of them, and their values - some all color coded and you'd have to look that up). Also some devices may contain small radial electrolytic capacitors as well. Those should be replaced. Those components were designed for 10 years of usage, but we are all pushing our luck getting 40 years out of them. The same thing happened to those fender amps built back then too - just they usually already were replaced years ago. This is something you can tell the guy that you send these too to get repaired. I have repaired a couple myself. They are worth repairing.

Good luck!

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Thorny