Graphtech Ghost User manual

Hexpander MIDI Interface
Be the band.
Acousti-Phonic Pre-amp
User Guide

2
Overview Of the GhOst
®
system
.........................................5
Will it work with my guitar?........................................6
Introducing modular components ........................7
Output options...............................................................8
Mono and Stereo Modes .........................................9
QuickSwitch functions ...........................................11
Hexpander only and mag-to-pin-7....................12
Sample Control Layouts ...........................................14
PlanninG yOur GhOst
®
installatiOn
..............................16
Locating Ghost®Components...............................17
Pots and QuickSwitches .........................................17
Extension Harness *optional*..............................18
Hexpander and 13-pin Jack..................................19
Acousti-phonic & 9v battery.................................20
Acoustic volume: convert, stack, or drill?...........21
Convert Mag Tone Pot to Acoustic Volume......21
Replace a Pot with a Stacked Pot........................22
Drill a Hole and Add a Pot.....................................23
Strats and Teles.............................................................24
Les Pauls and Hollow Bodies...................................24
rOutinG, DrillinG, anD nOtchinG
....................................25
Tools required...............................................................26
Optional Tools..............................................................26
Reversible installation...............................................28

3
Saddles
Notching the pick guard or pickup ring ............29
Slotting the base plate *optional*......................30
Drilling between control cavities ........................31
Hexpander
13-pin jack.................................................................32
Enlarging the control cavity..................................39
Curving the Jack Plate............................................39
Acousti-Phonic
Stereo switched Jack (no routing required)......40
9vbattery...................................................................40
Installing Ghost® Modular Components
Saddles............................................................................41
Pickup wires...............................................................41
Color code .................................................................42
Signal/ground color code .....................................43
Summing board ......................................................43
Extension harness *optional*..............................43
Seatingandsetup....................................................44
Hexpander.....................................................................45
13-pin jack.................................................................46
Connecting the 13-pin jack..............................47
Traktion switch.........................................................48
Connecting Pickups to the Hexpander.......49

4
Program Up/Down (orientation) *optional* ...52
QuickSwitch for MIDI/both/guitar *opt.*..........53
MIDIvolume*optional*.........................................54
Mag-to-pin-7 Harness *optional*..........................55
Acousti-Phonic.............................................................56
Acoustic volume and magnetic input................56
Acoustic volume with Mid/Dark switch *opt.*..58
Stereo switched output jack.................................59
QuickSwitch for mag/both/acoustic *opt.*......60
Connecting Pickups to the Acousti-phonic......61
Gain Adjustment......................................................61
Battery Power Connecting the Battery.............62
Piggyback – Hexpander + Acousti-Phonic........66
Other Possible Installations.....................................66
Dual output jacks....................................................66
Tone control on piezo.............................................67
Passive volume kit...................................................68
technical cOnsiDeratiOns
Bridge radius - Do not le saddles! .......................69
Missing Pins (keyed connections)..........................70
String ground to prevent hum...............................71
Ground Loops...............................................................72
Pot & switch mounting hole diameters..............73
Shielded cavity caveat...............................................74

5
Theghost®systemisasetofmodularcomponentsthataddsacoustic
or MIDI capability to your guitar without altering your magnetic
pickuptone.Ghost®pickupsencapsulatedinbridgesaddlesprovide
the input signal for the ghost® system, leaving your magnetic
pickups unchanged. You can add either acoustic or MIDI capability
or both, and choose one, a few, or all of the optional controls.
Overview Of the GhOst
®
system
Quick Switch
both
MIDIpiezo
Program Switch
downup
MIDI Volume
GHOST Saddle
Piezo Pickups
Magnetic Pickups
and Selector Switch
Magnetic
Volume
Magnetic
Tone
Quick Switch
both
magnetic piezo
Piezo
Volume
Hexpander
13-pin Output Jack
Acousti-Phonic
1/4” Stereo Switched
Output Jack

6
The ghost® system is designed to t most
guitars and basses. Installing it requires
replacing the saddles on your bridge with
compatible ghost® pickup saddles. Graph Tech
makes these for Strat and Tele style guitars,
guitars with Tune-O-matic style bridges like
Gibson and Epiphone, Wilkinson, PRS, P-bass,
Jazz bass, and any
bass that can accept
a Hipshot A-style
bridge or ABM
saddles. Floyd Rose
Original and Licensed
bridges can be replaced with our pickup-loaded
ghost® LB63 bridge. Some installations can be
done without altering the instrument at all,
while others will require drilling, notching, or
routing. This depends on the components
you choose, and the design of your
particular instrument.
Will it work with my guitar?

7
Modular means that the ghost® system’s components can be
plugged into each other in dierent combinations to create
dierent systems. Once you’ve selected pickup saddles to t
your guitar, these can be connected to the Acousti-Phonic™
for authentic acoustic sound from your electric guitar,
or to the Hexpander™ to interface with MIDI and virtual
instruments. Or both the Acousti-Phonic and Hexpander can
be “piggybacked” together. You can add as many or as few of
the optional controls as your instrument will accommodate.
Introducing modular components

8
Output options
Replacing the 1/4” output jack with the Stereo Switched Jack
supplied with the Acousti-Phonic permits the output of two
signals, magnetic and acoustic, through one jack. The 13-
pin jack installed with the Hexpander carries the hexaphonic
signals for MIDI conversion, and can also carry the magnetic
and acoustic signals so that a 1/4” patch cord is unnecessary.
13-pin MIDI Cable
- or -
Acoustic Amp
MIDI
MIDI Converter
Electric Guitar Amp
Blended
Mag and Piezo
- or -
Acoustic Amp
Piezo
Stereo Cable
Mono Cable
Electric Guitar Amp
Magnetic

9
Mono and Stereo Modes
The Acousti-Phonic detects whether you’ve inserted a
stereo or mono plug into the 1/4” jack and automatically
switches to Stereo (separate) or Mono (blended) mode.
In Mono mode, the acoustic and magnetic signals are
blended together in the Acousti-Phonic and delivered
together on the Tip contact. You can plug into one guitar
amp and switch between sounds, or enhance your unaltered
magnetic tone by dialing in a little of the acoustic sound.
Electric Guitar Amp
Magnetic + Acoustic
Magnetic
+
Acoustic
Ground
MONO
MODE
Tip

10
Acoustic Amp
Acoustic
Electric Guitar Amp
Magnetic
Acoustic
Magnetic
Ground
STEREO
MODE
Tip
Ring
In Stereo mode, the acoustic signal is on the Ring contact, and the
magnetic signal appears on theTip contact so that you can process
these signals separately using a stereo-to-two-mono Y-cable.
For example, run your magnetic pickups through a crunchy
guitar amp and your acoustic sound through a clean P.A. system.

11
Two three-position switches provide fast, intuitive switching
between all possible sound combinations: any one sound, any
combination of two, or all three at the same time. Without
the switches, you can mute any of the signals by turning
the volume down, but with a QuickSwitch you can instantly
turn a sound o, or on at the volume level you have chosen.
QuickSwitch functions
both
magnetic
acoustic
Acousti-phonic
QuickSwitch
both
MIDI
Hexpander
QuickSwitch
*What’s on the
Acousti-phonic
QuickSwitch
The QuickSwitches are SPDT on-o-on type switches.They
cannot be replaced with on-on-on type switches or Les Paul
pickup selector switches. QuickSwitches are available from
Graph Tech only in silver color. Note that the Hexpander
QuickSwitch does not control the signals on the Stereo Switched
jack, but does control the three signals on the 13-pin jack.

12
This option lets you run your acoustic and/or magnetic
signals down pin number 7 of the 13-pin cable plugged into
the Hexpander, so you don’t need a 1/4” cable attached to
your guitar. Most MIDI converters have two 1/4” outputs
on the back -- one for MIDI and one for this pin-7 signal,
so you can still run your mags to your electric guitar amp.
Hexpander only and mag-to-pin-7
Piezo
Volume
- OR -
13-pin MIDI Cable
Acoustic Amp
MIDI
MIDI Converter
Electric Guitar Amp
Blended Mag and Piezo

13
When the Hexpander is piggybacked on the Acousti-Phonic, the
mag-to-pin-7 harness is not necessary because Acousti-phonic
passes the acoustic and/or magnetic signals to the Hexpander.
But when you install the Hexpander only, adding the mag-to-
pin-7 harness and an acoustic volume control (250K or 500K
audio pot) provides this feature in the absence of the Acousti-
Phonic. Note that the acoustic sound with the mag-to-pin-7
harness is the raw acoustic sound, and not the true acoustic
sound that the Acousti-Phonic creates. If you want pin-7 to
carry just the mag or just the raw piezo signal, you can
leave the unused wires disconnected and coiled up.

14
Here are examples of possible control layouts on Strat-
style and Les Paul-style guitars. The ghost®system is
not just for Strats and Les Pauls, and other layouts are
possible, as are custom controls and output options.
Visit www.graphtech.com for more possibilities.
Sample Control Layout(s)
QUICKSWITCH
VOLUME
MIDI
VOLUME
ACOUSTIC
VOLUME
MAGNETIC
TONE
MAGNETIC
5-WAY
SWITCH
QUICKSWITCH
VOLUME
MIDI
VOLUME
ACOUSTIC
VOLUME
MAGNETIC
5-WAY
SWITCH

15
* requires rewiring 3-way switch for master volume and tone
VOLUME
BRIDGE
TONE
NECK
VOLUME
NECK
QUICKSWITCH
VOLUME
ACOUSTIC
TONE
BRIDGE
VOLUME
MAGNETIC
VOLUME
MIDI
VOLUME
ACOUSTIC
QUICKSWITCH
TONE
MAGNETIC

16
J2
9 VOLT
PlanninG yOur GhOst
®
installatiOn
Adding a ghost® system to your instrument begins with careful
planning. Decide which optional controls suit the music you
make, and choose locations that are convenient
for you. To begin, plug the components into each
other and lay them out on top of the guitar to
decide the location of each component.
Look for space conicts with adjacent
components, especially the parts of the
magnetic pickup system already in your
guitar. Make sure that the harness wires
are long enough to reach the location of
each component. Remember that any of
the optional controls can be added to the
system later if you’ve left space for it,
but drilling a hole in the wrong place
can be hard to hide. Some routing
mayberequiredtotthecomponents
in your particular instrument.

17
The ghost® boards are small -- about the size of a match
box -- so they will t inside the control cavity of most
guitars without any routing. You must decide which
arrangement is best for your particular instrument.
To locate pots and switches, lay out their at washers on
the top of the guitar and arrange them until they look
right, then trace the center of each washer to mark where
to drill the hole. Before you drill, make sure there is room
for the component inside the cavity behind the mark.
Pots and QuickSwitches
Locating Ghost® Components

18
Like an extension cord, it allows you to locate the pickups
further away from the ghost® boards. For some installations
this may be necessary, while for others it may make
the installation neater or more convenient. It can be
used with both the Hexpander and the Acousti-Phonic.
Extension harness *optional*
Extension
Harness
Dual
Connector
Cable
Summing
Board
Hexpander
Acousti-Phonic

19
The 13-pin jack that comes with the Hexpander can be mounted
on the edge, on the front, or on the back of the instrument. Edge-
mounting requires a rectangular hole and the included 13-pin jack
plate, while front and rear mounting can either use the jack plate
or a round hole.The Hexpander board can be located in the control
cavity,butitmustnottouchanyelectricalcomponentsorshielding.
Hexpander and 13-pin Jack
Output Jack Hole Size
7/8”
1/16”
5/8”
Rear Mount
Output Jack Cavity Size
1 1/4”
1”
Edge or Front Mount with jack plate
1-1/8”
1 1/4”

20
The 9v battery that powers the Acousti-Phonic may require
some routing to t it inside your guitar. Consider these possible
locations for the battery: the side wall of the cavity, the back
wall behind the pots, or stuck to the control cavity cover plate.
The Hexpander does not require a 9v battery because it will
get power from the MIDI converter through the 13-pin jack.
Acousti-Phonic & 9v battery
9 VOLT
9 VOLT
Front Wall Side Wall Cover Plate