HBII Piezo - Battery Leads keep Breaking!

[Gutch]

Just a bit of frustration venting...

First off - I love the HBII Piezo and use it regularly for both the acoustic and electric sides. It's perfect for quick jumping between styles during a gig, the neck fits my hand perfectly and the tone of the pickups is great for my style of play.

The complaint comes from the thin gauge wire used to connect the 9V battery to the preamp board. I've had the guitar for less than 2 years, and I've had to re-solder those connections at least a half-dozen times!!! As much as I enjoy this guitar, the frustration is making me look at alternative instruments.

Design improvement suggestion - utilize a quick disconnect system of some sort for the battery terminal, and install strain relief on the terminal connections themselves. I don't care if it's spade terminals or a multi pin Molex connector. This guitar is designed to be played on stage, so why not make it more road worthy?

 

[alantig]

Maybe some heavier wire?

Seriously, when they put our new oven in a few weeks ago, the installer and I were laughing at the wires they used to install the old one versus what they use today. The new stuff was like 12 gauge - very thin and flexible. The old was like 2 or 4. He had to get bigger wire nuts to splice them together.

 

[Lacire]

I agree with alantig that heaver wire might work (maybe not quite as heavy as pictured) and making the leads longer so you don’t have as much strain on the wire when you pull the battery tray out. The wire they used is pretty thin and i’ve had to re-solder mine too. It’s not the greatest design. The quick disconnects also sound like a good idea to me. When you find a fix please post back and let us know.


https://www.ebay.com/itm/122057050366?_ul=IN

 

[Alnus Rubra]

Maybe some heavier wire?

Seriously, when they put our new oven in a few weeks ago, the installer and I were laughing at the wires they used to install the old one versus what they use today. The new stuff was like 12 gauge - very thin and flexible. The old was like 2 or 4. He had to get bigger wire nuts to splice them together.

Boasting about the size of your nuts?!

 

[KentuckyBoiledChiccan]

If they are breaking on point where the leads touching the PCB board then thicker wire wont help it. The cable should be mechanically secured. Can you take the pictures of how that looks like?