The Electra Forums

Hello, everyone! I recently bought a pretty rough Electra x310. The guitars 5 way tone selector works sometimes and it doesn't. Another thing is, the Overdrive? Module doesn't seem to work. I flip the switch and it just hisses something fierce. No guitar coming out when I hit the switch and the knob that controls the intensity of the effect only acts as a volume control. What could be wrong? I replaced the jack with a correct stereo 1/4" jack, because the guitar made no sound whatsoever due to the original being cracked. Everything appears to have been soldered back correctly... so I haven't the slightest what's wrong with it. The phaser effect works fine. Just not the 5 way tone selector or the overdrive module.

Welcome Skeletor... when should we expect Evil-Lyn or Tri-Klops to make their entrances?

Your MPC Overdrive modules is not a laughing matter. Hopefully the contact points just need a good cleaning and that can be accomplished with a pencil eraser. After that one could hope the connector set into the MPC cavity to receive the module needs cleaning or replacing.

It is also possible, but not hoped for, that the module itself has expired. As these are now approaching the status of antiquated solid state electronic devices that does happen on occasion. Other members might have more ideas on what you can attempt to do to rectify the other bugs you described.

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...throw me a frickin' bone here, people...

Welcome to the wonderful world of 70's circuitry! The 5 way rotary switch is an open design and susceptible to dirt and corrosion, so I would strongly suggest spraying it with Caig DeOxit or another quality component cleaner, flicking the switch back and forth generously afterwords.

Congrats on changing out the stereo output jack, but monitor the battery life now, as often they get wired wrong and the batteries are draining all the time. The MPC and Active guitars behave like stomp boxes, if they are plugged in, the battery is discharging.

If the Phase Shifter works correctly in both MPC slots, that is good news! It means that the wiring harness and edge card connectors are good still. Frankly, it is not that great of a loss if your Power Overdrive module has died... they are notoriously noisy and under 'powered' even when they are operational. You may be able to have Thorny repair and upgrade your Power Overdrive module, some of the epoxy sealed modules can not be opened up. Again, the PO's are arguably the least useful of the 12 modules produced, so you may want to keep your eye open for a Tube Tone or Dynamic Fuzz module, both of which are more powerful (and quieter) than the common Power Overdrive Module.

Welcome aboard, and tell us what works, Mike.

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Electra Guitar Videos ===> http://www.youtube.com/user/mjm33mjm?feature=watch

If you can pop that overdrive board out of the plastic case and get to the back side, resolder all the solder joints. Also look for any cracks or breaks in the traces of the circuit board and bridge them with solder or a jumper. Try it before you put it back together. If that does not work and you already cleaned the traces with an eraser (like stated earlier, you should try that first actually) - then you may have a damaged component (cracked or burnt resistor, leg broken on a capacitor, or bad transistor. Not really that much to the basic overdrive module. If you can't find the exact transistor look up several replacements and buy them (probably from digikey or mouser online). Then try each one of your replacements and keep the one that sounds the best.

If it is the kind that is a solid block and not in the beige plastic box you are just out of luck. Those likely can't be repaired - at least not cleanly - from my experience.

Good luck. I fix overdrives all the time this way.

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Thorny

Well, Iceman, it's Beast Man's fault in the first place! Evil-Lyn and Beast Man are always just rocking out. Maybe forming a rock group will allow us to take Castle Grayskull! Myahaha!

And thanks for the tips, everyone! I will do my best to follow your instructions and advice! Hopefully it's all just a simple fix! I was thinking of selling it, but I'd rather keep it for what I have been offered! Haha.

Update. I tried out the module in both slots and it works perfectly fine. And as does the tone selector for some reason. Perhaps it is just dirty? So, my conclusion is, the other module is dead.