Guitar
Updated: go here to check out a review and video/demo of this guitar!
A couple of years ago my brother scored a Kay Effector (Korean bolt-neck Les Paul copy with five built-in effects) off Craigslist for about a hundred bucks. When I first saw it I had to chuckle, but when I actually plugged it in I had to chuckle for a different reason: this thing sounds really cool, particularly when the out-of-phase position is chosen.
For the uninitiated, these Kays were manufactured in Korea and marketed through the Sears-Roebuck catalogues in North America. Corts with identical effects bays were sold through the mid to late eighties.
The guitars shipped with two humbucking pickups that are both always on; the only tonal option is to put them out of phase or use the tone knob. The effects are echo, tremelo, wah, whirlwind and fuzz, and are operated by slider switches mounted on the switch plate and a speed knob for setting the rate of the "modulation" effects. Although the effects in this particular axe aren't working, a little online research suggests that the echo, trem, wah and whirlwind are all slightly modified versions of tremelo.
Whomever had the guitar previous to my brother replaced the pickups with a pair of Washburns: a Shaman '70 neck p/u and a Headhunter '69 bridge p/u. Unfortunately the rewire job was pretty Mickey Mouse, and currently the effects are not working. There are a few loose wires, and I have every reason to believe the Effector components are essentially sound, but it's hard to find a schematic online.
I really want to get this guitar going again; it's groovy looking, sounds really cool (sans effects), plays well, has a nice chunky neck and decent action. Anyone have any ideas? Schematics? A perverse desire to hear what whirlwind and fuzz sound like through out of phase pickups.
In the meantime, for the edification of gear-obsessed netizens, here are some photos of the axe and it's guts.
- Cort Effector Guitar Likely From The 1980s With Onboard Effects
guitarz.blogspot.com: I've never seen the Cort Effector guitar. This Effector looks like a nice Explorer in its own right. Given the look of the electronics I'd assume that this guitar is from circa early 1980s. That would likely mean that it...
- 1967 Vox Grand Prix V286
guitarz.blogspot.com There's been an interesting conversation about vintage Vox guitars in relation to this scary picture in a 2009 post, but itwas before Blogger had all the blog comments wiped off!We've always been ardent admirers...
- Dirty Primitives New Ep
I just received Dirty Primitives' new EP and I'm not disappointed at all - their energy and creativity keep up to the standards they set in their first album (reviewed here), and they even go a step further - their music sounds...
- Electra Zephyr In Nashua Vt W/ Gibson Case For $300
Don't confuse theseZephyr's with a Les Paul - with it's German Carve, contoured body and maple bolt on neck and phase reverse coil split humbucker pickups (with 5 position rotary switch) these are probably closer in spirit and sound...
- More Updates And Ephemera
The echo and trem remain elusive, whirlwind ineffectual, but the fuzz, ooh, the fuzz. Oh dear, my ears are ringing from too much time mixing demos under the headphones. It's really a terrible way to mix, but my boy is asleep in a room...
Guitar
the Kay Effector: onboard effects madness!
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| The case is worth about as much as the guitar! |
A couple of years ago my brother scored a Kay Effector (Korean bolt-neck Les Paul copy with five built-in effects) off Craigslist for about a hundred bucks. When I first saw it I had to chuckle, but when I actually plugged it in I had to chuckle for a different reason: this thing sounds really cool, particularly when the out-of-phase position is chosen.
For the uninitiated, these Kays were manufactured in Korea and marketed through the Sears-Roebuck catalogues in North America. Corts with identical effects bays were sold through the mid to late eighties.
 |
| The control layout. |
The guitars shipped with two humbucking pickups that are both always on; the only tonal option is to put them out of phase or use the tone knob. The effects are echo, tremelo, wah, whirlwind and fuzz, and are operated by slider switches mounted on the switch plate and a speed knob for setting the rate of the "modulation" effects. Although the effects in this particular axe aren't working, a little online research suggests that the echo, trem, wah and whirlwind are all slightly modified versions of tremelo.
Whomever had the guitar previous to my brother replaced the pickups with a pair of Washburns: a Shaman '70 neck p/u and a Headhunter '69 bridge p/u. Unfortunately the rewire job was pretty Mickey Mouse, and currently the effects are not working. There are a few loose wires, and I have every reason to believe the Effector components are essentially sound, but it's hard to find a schematic online.
I really want to get this guitar going again; it's groovy looking, sounds really cool (sans effects), plays well, has a nice chunky neck and decent action. Anyone have any ideas? Schematics? A perverse desire to hear what whirlwind and fuzz sound like through out of phase pickups.
| Please help! I tried to post a schematic that panther sent me, but it keeps disappearing? They're still working out some of the bugs in Blogger... |
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| Backside of the switch plate. Note cardboard and tinfoil shielding scheme! |
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| The hilarious routing job. |
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| The circuit board exposed. |
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| OK! Here's that schematic; hopefully is stays this time... |
- Cort Effector Guitar Likely From The 1980s With Onboard Effects
guitarz.blogspot.com: I've never seen the Cort Effector guitar. This Effector looks like a nice Explorer in its own right. Given the look of the electronics I'd assume that this guitar is from circa early 1980s. That would likely mean that it...
- 1967 Vox Grand Prix V286
guitarz.blogspot.com There's been an interesting conversation about vintage Vox guitars in relation to this scary picture in a 2009 post, but itwas before Blogger had all the blog comments wiped off!We've always been ardent admirers...
- Dirty Primitives New Ep
I just received Dirty Primitives' new EP and I'm not disappointed at all - their energy and creativity keep up to the standards they set in their first album (reviewed here), and they even go a step further - their music sounds...
- Electra Zephyr In Nashua Vt W/ Gibson Case For $300
Don't confuse theseZephyr's with a Les Paul - with it's German Carve, contoured body and maple bolt on neck and phase reverse coil split humbucker pickups (with 5 position rotary switch) these are probably closer in spirit and sound...
- More Updates And Ephemera
The echo and trem remain elusive, whirlwind ineffectual, but the fuzz, ooh, the fuzz. Oh dear, my ears are ringing from too much time mixing demos under the headphones. It's really a terrible way to mix, but my boy is asleep in a room...