The Guitar Gallery Forums - The Guitar Legacy of Matsumoku

Just wanted to say I love the sight and thanks for all the info. I bought a Skylark 2588 (serial # 106159) back in the early 80's from the J.C. Penney catalog. I still have the guitar and it plays just as well now as it did then. I've looked for info on the net in the past but could never find anything. I just happened to stumble across this sight looking for info on Arias. Thanks! Keep up the good work.

P.S. If there is any info I can get you on this guitar please let me know. I bought the case with the guitar as well. I have the owners manual and the electronics have never been messed with.

Here is my web site. I put a couple of pictures of the electronics on there. I don't have a digital camera but I'm working on borrowing one. These were taken with a scanner so the quality is not that great.
http://www.geocities.com/rich_daddy_65/

Boy am I toopid! I just now noticed you had those pics up! I snagged 'em and hopefully I can re-connect everything back to stock now. I'll let you know!

Thanks!

The switch that wires the preamp to the output is covered in both pics. It was a valiant noble gesture nonetheless! I really wish at this point that Frankenstein had not gotten ahold of the guitar before I did!

The one mini by itself is the one that routes the signal to the jack or to the preamp. The other 3 are coil cut x2 and phase.

Thanks a million for the effort!

I added another pic to my web site... http://www.geocities.com/rich_daddy_65
This is a rough sketch of the power amp switch. I hope this is helpful.

That helped considerably. I have the wrappings off the preamp and it is actually etched with "in" and "out" and it confirms what I had thought. What I have not been able to determine is exactly what part does the transformer play. I have not tested the etchings to see if it is actually part of the preamp, or used to change ipedence in the tone circuit or not. I still have some homework to do.

Wutz just picked up an Aria Pro II with what appears to be the same active circuit less the varitone. He may be able to shed some light on the purpose of the transformer. His also has the two blue leads coming from the bundle on the preamp.

Thanks for all your help! I am much closer now that before!

Just to let you know. I cut open the tape on the mystery bundle (preamp) . I don't remember much from my electronics courses I took about 12yrs ago. But I have drawn a small diagram of where the six(6) wires go on the board of the preamp. I hope to scan it in sometime this weekend. I'm hoping you still have these wires in your guitar. I'll post another reply once I get the scan done.

Rich

Well I got the scan in. You may need to download the file and view it thru something other than Internet Explorer. I hope it's legible enough to help. If you need anymore help let me know. Again the web site is www.geocites.com/rich_daddy_65 . The last file link on the page is the sketch. Good Luck!

Rich

It looks like that was enough to get the job done! Thanks for all your help! Take a look at these, in particular the first (stock) wiring diagram and tell me if you think it looks about right.

http://www.therathole.org/guitars/model ... iring.html

I guess I was expecting too much for only a single transistor op amp. Seems at even midrange levels it tends to add that "fuzz box" growl, although it does tend to add a bit of a Black Sabbath/Dust tone to my high gain pedal settings. Bit noisy though.

None the less, it's nice to have it back stock again!

Thanks again!

Glad I could help! It's great to here you've got it working. As you said, it does add some fuzz to the sound. Your schematic looks 100x better than mine. If you need any more info (ie. the rest of the wiring diagram) just let me know. I'm hoping to take lessons someday so that I can really tap into the full potential of this guitar. I bought it in high school because it was cheap and I figured I could teach myself.... well, about 20 years later I'm still trying to teach myself. But the guitar has held up well. Thanks again for the web site. I used to be a little embarassed to tell people I owned a "JC Penny Guitar." But now that I know more about the guitar I'm glad I did buy it. When I bought it, I thought it did resemble the Aria's, and now I know why.
Thanks!