[BJolley]

Hi all.

I bought a damaged Phred Wolph on deeeeeep discount last year. I like the feel, 24 frets, and headstock design, but the paper-thin veneer top seems cheap, the hardware seems low quality, and the wiring had glitches. I decided to strip the guitar so that I can plane the veneer and install top and bottom of 1/4" wood, install better hardware, and rewire from scratch.

In the interim, I have a Tiger-style guitar that I built a few years ago. It wasn't broken but I decided to "fix" it anyway by adding OBEL and the buffer out of the Phred for full jerrification. I followed Waldo's Tiger wiring diagram to a T (I think), strung it up tonight and plugged in to the output jack (bypassing OBEL). No signal until flipping on OBEL switch -- then got signal from the output jack. But I don't seem to get anything from OBEL jack under either scenario. It dawned on me the defective Phred (from which the buffer but nothing else was taken) suffered the same problem.

What are the chances that the generic Phred buffer is defective and I just need to break down and buy a Waldo buffer?

Or does this problem sound familiar to a skilled electronics guy? Thanks! -Brett

[hippieguy1954]

The buffer is always in the signal. OBEL on or off. So, if you are getting a signal at all, the buffer is working.

Are you sure you have the correct cord plugged into the correct jack on the guitar?

[BJolley]

Am I sure? No. Never. But I did do some trouble shooting and do now have the mono cable going from the output jack to the amp. I don't have my junction box yet so I haven't hooked up the OBEL but I did also try sticking the mono output cable from the amp in that OBEL jack just to see if, as you suggested, I had mounted them in reverse. No sound out of OBEL jack under any circumstances. Only sound out of output jack when OBEL switch is "on." My understanding of the OBEL wiring is that it can be wholly bypassed by simply running mono cable from output jack to pedalboard or amp. Is this wrong? That is, does OBEL need to be hooked up for guitar to output to work correctly? I don't see why that would be the case, but I've been wrong before... Thanks.

[lovetoboogie]

The second Jack, the OBEL one, will only work with a TRS stereo cable. Waldo's wiring diagram for Tiger, Wolf and the TB500 work like a charm. You can test the OBEL Jack with a stereo cable without a network box by simply jumping the exposed ring and tip with an alligator clip. This will continue the circuit back through the OBEL matrix and back to the volume control, then out through the mono cable to the amp...

[chipperj]

Check that that wires coming from the OBEL switch going to the jack are wired correctly. If the ring and tip leads are reversed, no bueno.

(This might have happened to me.....)