Quality control

[Dna]

A little history first.
I built my first guitar when I was 14, learned the hard way how to
adjust a neck and file a nut; I repaired guitars (acoustic and
electric) and other stringed instruments (school orchestra stuff) for
about 18 months as part time job. I installed a lot of pickups,
transducers, and preamps.
I just installed my first N-Tune, in my new 50s Classic Strat....
what follows is my experiance.
I just bought 7 N-Tunes.

I'm not too happy with the wiring to the switch or the diagram
showing how the switch is wired....and the instructions had a
confusing point (to me anyway).
While installing the tuner the wires broke off the switch, I don't
know if it's that Chinese solder (maybe it's brittle and breaks) or
the wire doesn't take much bending, in any event the wires don't stay
on the switch while installing the thing.
I think the circuit board shorted out(?) when fitting the pick guard
assembly back to the guitar; because that's when the wire(s) would
come free. By the the fifth or sixth time I removed the pick guard
from the guitar (because it wasn't working) I got a C/B from another
kit and installed it, now it works. So I think the C/B might be bad.
The diagram on page 10 in the booklet is oriented as though the
switch is going to be laying on a bench in a fixture while (most
likely) the guitar player is installing the pot/switch assembly; well
that ain't reality as they say. I think most people will install the
pot/switch assembly on the pick guard so the thing won't move around
while it's being worked on, so the picture you see in the book isn't
what you see while you solder, you are looking at the switch 180
degrees out from the diagram in the book; in other words somebody has
something upside down! That's confusing; to me anyway.
Dial and Switch Clocking (or orientation) I wanted my Dial spun
around a bit so when in the playing position I could see all the LEDs
half to the right of the pickup height adjusting screw and half to the
left, that way I wouldn't have to look over the Volume knob to see
what was going on while tuning. The terminals on the Switch bind up
against the side of the control cavity and the pick guard wouldn't lay
flat so I have to rotate the Switch and Dial Clockwise to get it to
fit. Maybe I can start clocking with the switch 180 degrees the other
way and get closer to the way I want it. Also the guitar's output is
way low so something else is going on that I will have to check out;
we'll try that when the frustration level goes down.


dna