Re: [Harp-L] Honey Tone design flaw, and fix.

"ChipComcast" <jandkday@xxxxxxxxxxx> · Sat, 29 Jan 2005 14:17:46 -0500

G-
 I use a Honeytone to march in The Wild Bohemians Mardi Gras parade.
 It woreks well for the harp. You can  here me above the brass..(at times)
  You also need to modify the 9-volt battery holder.  Take the
negative sheet of contact metal out of it's plastic sleeve
& tuck some cardboard at the bottom.  This
keeps the contact tight when you do the
'Mardi Gras Mambo.'

JD

PS.  For Marchers:  Try a roller blade water belt to hold
shakers & chromes.   Most of the seasonal Mardi Gras tunes are in Bb & Eb &
C & F
so you will not need a slew of harps.

Lazzie le bon temps rolle

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "G" <gigs@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, January 29, 2005 6:46 AM
Subject: [Harp-L] Honey Tone design flaw, and fix.

> Hi there,
>   I love my Honey Tone amp for practicing, and jamming.  Its small light
> and portable, and I take it with me when I go away to use with a mic, or
> plug in my walkman instead of forking out for a boombox.    So I was a bit
> upset when it accidentally fell off my 3' high bedside table onto its
head,
> and simply stopped working.
>
> I bought a second one, and while waiting fixed the broken one.
> Sod's law being what it is, the new one suffered the same fate.  Now
> they're both working and a matching pair.  There's a design flaw that
means
> if you drop it on its head with a guitar lead plugged in, even from a low
> height, it will break, no question.  I thought other HoneyTone owners
would
> be interested in why this happens and how to fix it.
>
> The 1/4" jack has a plastic thread that cannot handle the force of the amp
> falling onto it.   Like all the HoneyTone components, the 1/4" jack is PCB
> mounted.   So are the 3 POT controls O/drive, Tone & Volume.
>   When the 1/4" jack is forced into the amp from being dropped, it takes
> the PCB with it, and theres little in the way to stop this happening.
> However the three POTs are securely fixed to the casing with metal threads
> - so they do not let go of the casing, yet they're soldered into the PCB
> just as solidly, something has to give.  What gives are the Overdrive and
> Tone POTs, they get torn in half, making them for all intents and purposes
> useless.
>
> Two things save the Volume pot from getting torn apart.  First the only
> screw securing the PCB to the casing is underneath the Volume POT, which
is
> where the PCB pivots slightly.   Secondly the volume POT is double ganged
> with an on/off switch, which stops the POT from being snapped in half.
> Although both my amps are slightly noisey when you adjust the volume, so I
> suspect they're cracked.  If they do eventually die,  I'll have to replace
> the POT, and cut the casing to install an on/off switch.
>
> Considering the 1/4" jack has a plastic thread, I'm wondering why there
> isn't a second screw under the 1/4" jack securing the PCB to the case,
> which would stop this from ever happening.  This is the design flaw.
>
> There is a strut from the casing underneath the 1/4" jack, which only has
a
> tiny plastic nipple that slotted into the PCB.  This snapped off easily
> with the force of the fall.  And the strut is too thin to screw anything
> into.  Whatever repair I came up with will have to be able to take the
full
> force of another fall.
>
> I've replaced the broken POTs, I couldn't find a match to what Dan Electro
> use, and didn't particularly want to use the same thing after seeing the
> aftermath.  So I bought 9mm square POTs.  I had to solder on extentions to
> their legs to fit them into the PCB holes.  The good thing about this is
if
> the PCB does get ripped away again, it'll only disconnect the extensions
> from the POTs, and they can be resoldered relatively easily.
>
> However the new POT shanks are different to the HoneyTone's, so the silver
> knobs don't fit.  I bought two sets of black knobs which look distinctive,
> and can be screwed solidly in place, regardless of the shank design.
>
> I couldn't find replacement 1/4" PCB mounted jacks (locally) that would
> fit, let alone one with a metal thread.  A case mounted 1/4" jack won't
fit
> due to the circuit board.  I could recover enough of the jack's thread to
> wind the screw back on to stop the jack wobbling about, but it will not
> take the force of another fall, the thread would be completely removed.
>
> I had to find a way to secure the PCB to the casing underneath the jack.
>
> For the last month I've puzzled over how to install a screw into the PCB
to
> the case that could take the impact of a fall and stop the PCB moving, let
> alone ripping the POTS out of the PCB again.
>
> I spent some time considering the option of taking the circuit and
speaker,
> removing all PCB mounted jacks, pots and LED, and replacing the lot with
> case mounted components, and installing the whole thing into a small home
> made wood cabinet.  It was going to be time consuming, and the resulting
> amp would be bulkier.
>
> Today I found a solution to screwing the PCB to the case under the 1/4"
> jack.   I superglued a block of plastic to case, in such a way the
existing
> strut will take any downward force. Drilled a new hole through the PCB
> where theres no circuit to worry about straight through into the plastic
> block.  Then used a self tapping Hohner diatonic reedplate screw (MS or
> handmade, or Lee Oskar all work).
>
> I've now replaced the POTs and installed the additional screw to both my
> HoneyTone amps.   I'm not game to drop them to see if it holds, but its
> definitely more secure than just relying on the 1/4" jack's plastic thread
> - theres no movement like there was before.
>
> For people who have working HoneyTones, it may be worth your while taking
> it apart, supergluing a block of plastic 19mm high (case to PCB) by 10mm x
> 10mm into the corner of the strut on the left side (with the back off
> looking at the PCB), carefully drilling a hole through the PCB into the
> plastic.  You can use a self tapping screw from an old diatonic harmonica
> (Lee Oskars, and Hohner handmades and MS diatos have self tapping screws)
> to secured the PCB down, and save yourself the trouble of having to buy a
> new one, or replacing the POTs after a minor fall.
>
> A side note, I didn't find any A100k (log) POTs for the overdrive that
> would fit, so I settled for A50k (log) POT. The result is I have a lot
more
> control over the distortion which I'd normally never take more than half
> way, if that - making the overdrive more useful for harp.
>
> The overdrive POT is A100k Log, but can be simply be shorted if you don't
> want/need it.  The tone POT is B100k linear.  The volume pot is A55k Log,
> and double ganged with an on/off switch - I'm ignorant where to find a
> replacement.  But in considering the idea of transplanting the entire
> circuit into a wood cabinet with external jacks, pots and LED, I'd just
use
> an on/off switch in its stead.
>
> Another side note.  I bought my first HoneyTone a few years ago, the
> battery compartment had two pieces of metal which were meant to contact
the
> battery terminals.  These eventually failed in a fustrating kind of way,
so
> in the end I tore them out, and used my rotary tools and files to cut away
> the extra plastic, then wired in a 9volt battery clip.  I'm glad to say my
> new HoneyTone has came with a 9volt battery clip.
>
> Not exactly your custom Meteor amp, but I use my HoneyTone almost every
> day... both of them now, used with stereo output they sound pretty good.
:)
>
> Cheers,
> -- G.
>
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