Here we are at WarmRoom Records on the evening of December 6, 2025. Showtime is 8:30PM, so everyone is on their toes. Five bands are slated to perform, namely, Seek, Likedodgeball, Fushojiki, Channeling Mahatma, and Ratchet.
In today's exciting episode, the Wilkinson VS50 Vibrato Bridge has been taken apart for evaluation and servicing. At a glance, it's obvious that most of the components are tarnished, while the screws and bolts have begun to rust. Now, while a bit of spit and polish should take care of the tarnish, I'm quite certain those rusty components will need to be replaced.
Individual Saddles Disassembled
Base Plate/Tremolo Block - Top
Base Plate/Tremolo Block - Underside
Tuners and Neck Plate
The Grover locking tuners, featuring the same satin chrome finish as the saddles, are just as tarnished as the latter. Yes, time for a little polish and lots of elbow grease. And, though the bushings themselves are largely in good shape, a number of washers show signs of rust. As for the "Yamaha" neck plate and screws, they'll look much better after some Autosol.
Grover Locking Tuners Disassembled
Neck Plate - Top
Neck Plate - Underside
More About the Neck
Looking at the butt end of the maple neck, it's safe to conclude that the lumber is rift sawn. Equally interesting are the neck heel and neck pocket stamps. We'll start with the neck pocket, then. Here, the "23 NOV 2021" stamp tells us exactly when the body was milled. Meanwhile, the "1412 - 2021" neck heel stamp suggests that the neck was also manufactured in 2021.
Neck Pocket Stamps/Markings
Neck Heel Stamps/Markings
Neck Heel - Right Side
Neck Heel -Left Side
Neck Heel - Butt End
Fretboard and Frets
The rosewood fretboard has definitely seen lots of use with probably zero cleaning and conditioning. Hopefully, we'll be able to remove all the crud and grime with naphtha. Now, the frets. The owner was complaining about fret buzz when he sent his PAC612VIIFMX in, and after closely examining the frets, I can see why. Frets 1 to 16 suffer from a combination of divots and flat spots. No spot leveling here, folks. We'll be going the whole hog and dressing all the frets.
Folks, what we have here is a Stagg S-Style Solidbody in none too good shape. I could start off by addressing the sheer amount of grime and crud encrusting this instrument, but this time around, I've only been asked to diagnose and fix the electronics. No more and no less, as the client is always right. In the video below, I'm checking the electronics to determine what works, and vice versa.
What I've discovered is that all three pickups are in working order, as is the five-way pickup selector switch. The Master Volume control, on the other hand, works intermittently, all the while producing annoying snaps, crackles and pops. Worse still are both tone controls, which do not seem to be doing anything. Last but not least is the loose output jack, which I suspect might be further degrading the signal.
So I've popped the hood, and checked all the ground connections. They're all solid, thank goodness. Now, about that output jack. It's grimy and dusty, no doubt, but the kicker is the frayed wiring and evidence of tampering. To be blunt, someone's been in here, cut the red coaxial cable too short, and "reconnected" the ground by twisting the negative wire around the ground lug. Like, who needs solder anyway, right?
Pickups and Electronics as Received
Gnarly Output Jack Wiring
At the other end of the same red cable is the Master Volume pot. Besides burnt insulation and messy soldering, you can see how the hot and negative wires are twisted around each other. This might cause a short circuit, resulting in intermittent output. Moving on, the five-way switch and tone pots look to be in much better shape than the Master Volume, belying the fact that neither of those pots are functioning.
Pickguard-Mounted Electronics
Master Volume
Tone 1
Tone 2
Five-Way Selector Switch
Right, then. I've begun remedial work by desoldering and servicing the output jack, and rewiring it with a new grey coaxial cable. Tone 2, sadly, remains unusable despite repeated servicing, and has been replaced. Tone 1 and the selector switch, meanwhile, have been serviced and should perform as expected. Which brings us to the Master Volume pot. The original red coaxial cable has been disconnected, and the pot soldered to the grey coaxial cable from the output jack.
Remedial Work in Progress
Rewired Output Jack
Tone 2 Desoldered
New CF 500K Tone 2
Rewired Master Volume
Now, as the proof of the pudding is in the eating, let's watch and listen as I put the rectified electronics of this Stagg S-Style Solidbody through yet another sound check through the same amp (Fender Rumble 15) at similar settings. Thankfully, everything is working as it should. And, to my ears at least, there's a marked improvement in both volume and clarity.
