[sdiy] [AH] Custom ARP Avatar

[brianw]

Is there a convenient documentation of the wiring for Avatar pickup?

What sort of connector is on the Avator for connecting the pickup?

A quick search for the AVATAR Owner's Manual suggests that it's a DIN-6 that must use the shield for ground. I didn't see anything that shows which string is on which pin.


The industry seems to have standardized on Roland's 13-pin connector, although you don't have to buy the Roland pickup and mount it yourself. Companies make (or made) guitars with the 13-pin connector built in. Godin Guitars had a line called SynthAccess (that you might find used - a really well-made guitar). The only challenge with the 13-pin is the +/-7V power supply needed. Roland synths like the GR-70 have the power, but do not allow external access to the guitar strings.

You could probably buy a Roland 13-pin cable at Guitar Center, cut off one end, and hand-solder a DIN-6 connector on the other end.

I suppose there could be an issue if the 13-pin electronics boost the signals too hot for the Avatar inputs.

I've designed a few circuit boards to provide the power to the 13-pin guitar and break out the individual strings as separate balanced signals (on DB-25 or a bunch of TRS jacks). Nothing as a finished product, though.

Brian


On Mar 23, 2025, at 3:50 PM, Rob Secret wrote:
> Hi Ben,
> 
> It’s been quite a while, but the last I did research on this subject the Roland pickups can be made to work with the Avatars. Mostly it is just wiring them up—Arp didn’t do anything fancy between the pickup and the Avatar. And from what I remember Roland sells just the pickup as a service part too. It was pretty affordable at the time. Something like $25, but that’s probably changed a bit by now. Sam could probably get you one.
> 
> -Rob-
> 
> On Mar 23, 2025, at 8:49 AM, Ben Stuyts <ben at stuyts.nl> wrote:
>> Hi Rob,
>> 
>> I’d love to try it with the hex pickup, as you say for the hex fuzz. Unfortunately the pickup is missing from my Avatar. It still has the D and E boards inside, but one of them has the power cable disconnected. So there’s probably something broken there. I have a search on ebay and other sites for the pickup, just in case. Does anybody know of any other hex pickups that would work?
>> 
>> Ben
>> 
>> On 23 Mar 2025, at 07:17, Rob Secret wrote:
>>> To me the coolest thing about the Avatar was its Hex Fuzz. Nothing sounds like that, well maybe the Rolands did, but that sound is really cool. You can play more than just 5ths with a very warm tone.