Pulsating red light with variable vibrato

[Tonewheel]

I am very happy with Retrolinear's variable vibrato.

But that pulsating red light sits all alone back there, and should actually replace the orange light behind the jewel.

Has anybody done that modification? Probably desoldering, then soldering in wiring to bring it into line with the jewel?

Or am I asking for trouble?

[Tim W]

Hello,

Glad to hear you are happy with our Vibrato upgrade!  We also see that you purchased our amp board, which we also appreciate.

If you would like to discuss moving the LED, please contact us directly.  It can be changed to any color you'd like, and we have clear jewels available so that you can replace the orange one in your faceplate if you decide to choose a different LED color.

We do this mod for our clients quite often for in-house work, but don't offer it as a user install since it involves desoldering, soldering, and some metal work.  A resistor may also need to be changed depending on the LED you choose.  We would be happy to modify your unit to utilize a remote LED of your choosing.  We generally don't recommend soldering in the field since many end users do not have the proper soldering equipment to do fine PCB work without possibly causing damage- which would void the warranty on our product.

Best regards,
Tim
retrolinear.com

[Tonewheel]

Yikes. Thanks for the insights.

We are in Alberta, so we won't be sending in the unit. I guess we will leave it alone. Is the idea of the LED just to show the technician that the vibrato is working, without needing audio signal confirmation?

[Tim W]

We would not need the whole piano sent in, just the VariVib board and bracket itself (what you purchased from us.) 
On your end, you would need to remove the old neon lamp and drill open the hole that the lamp was clipped into to accomodate the new LED.

Yes, the LED was put there initially to verify operation and proper vibrato tracking.  It wasn't until we started having jewels made that we started remoting the LED... and not all clients want that feature anyway.

Thanks,
Tim

[Tonewheel]

Nice, Tim.

I'll call you.