Michael Kelly Hybrid 55 User manual

Strings
The strings are D’Addario EXL110 (.010-.046). To change them, feed the string through the string ferrule on the back
of the instrument, over the saddle, and to the tuner post. Make sure to leave enough slack in the string to get two
or three good wraps around the post. More wraps than this will cause tuning problems later. Tune the string to pitch,
then stretch the string at the 12th fret. Repeat these steps until the wraps are tight and the string stays in tune.
After playing It’s always a good idea to completely wipe down the body, fretboard, strings, and hardware
prior to putting your guitar away. The natural oils from your fingers can, over time, damage the finish and
hardware of your instrument.
Any quality guitar polish/cleaner can be used on your Michael Kelly instrument if it has a gloss finish. We
recommend not using furniture polish because it will leave a filmy residue that will build up over time.
You should only deep clean your fretboard once or twice a year so you don’t disturb the natural moisture
of the wood. Cleaning too much could dry out the fretboard and create cracks in the wood. It’s also
important to oil the board twice a year. We recommend bore or mineral oil for this. Just remove the
strings, apply a small amount of your preferred oil to the fretboard and let it sit for a while to soak in.
After about 30 minutes wipe off any residual oil and restring.
The first step is to
“eyeball” the neck by
turning the guitar on its
side and looking down
the fretboard. You will be
checking to see if the neck
is straight, has a back-bow, or too much relief. Make sure
your guitar is tuned to pitch before checking the neck. Some
players like a perfectly straight neck and some like to keep
a bit of relief in their necks. A perfectly straight neck might
not work if you pick hard and still like very low action. If
that’s the case a small amount of relief will be better for you.
Sight down the neck from the headstock to see how much
of a bow or back-bow the neck has. To do this hold the neck
up to eye level and sight along the edge of the fretboard
on both treble and bass sides. If the neck is bowed, you will
have to tighten the truss rod. If the neck has a back-bow you
will have to loosen the truss rod.
Place the 4 mm allen wrench supplied with your guitar on
the adjustment nut of the truss rod and turn gently in small
increments. Turn the allen wrench towards the treble side to
loosen and towards the bass side to tighten. Keep checking
the neck with each small turn until the neck has the desired
straightness.
Make sure to not tighten the rod too much (when it
becomes hard to turn) because it could result in stripping
the threads or perhaps even breaking the rod itself.
Once you have made your adjustments to the neck you
might have to adjust the action of the strings to prevent fret
buzz.
Fretboard
Maintenance
Cleaning &
Maintenance
Truss Rod
Adjustment
More Relief
(loosen)
Less Relief
(tighten)
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Hybrid 55 Owners Manual
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Back-bow
Up-bow/relief

Each individual string can be adjusted to the proper height by turning the two small allen screws on each saddle.
The 1.5 mm allen wrench supplied with your guitar will be needed to make this adjustment. When making
adjustments make sure the saddle height follows the radius of the fretboard. CAUTION - When changing your
string action be very carefull not to damgage the individual piezo transducer crystals on each saddle.
Magnetic Pickup/Acoustic Piezo Transducer Selection
The 3-way toggle located on the upper bout of the 55 Hybrid is for selecting the magnetic pickup, acoustic
piezo transducers, or blending the two together. When the switch is up the magnetic pickups are engaged.
When the switch is in the middle position both the magnetic and piezo acoustic transducers are engaged.
When the switch is in the down position the acousitic piezo transducers alone are engaged.
Volume, Magnetic Pickup Selection, and Tone Controls
The 3-way blade switch on the chrome control plate is used for selecting which magnetic pickup will be used.
Position one engages the bridge pickup. Position two engages the neck and bridge pickup together. Position
three engages the neck pickup alone. The next control is the volume control for the magnetic pickups. The last
control on the plate is the tone control for the magnetic pickups. The wooden knob on the body of the guitar is
the volume control for the acoustic piezo transducer.
Hybrid 55 Owners Manual
String
Action
Controls
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The Fishman Powerchip can be found by
opening the round control cover on the
lower back of the Hybrid 55. Adjust the
small rotary trim pot on the backside of the
Powerchip to match piezo and magnetic
pickup levels. Move the Phase jumper on
the backside of the Powerchip to eliminate
phase cancellation between the piezo and
magnetic pickups.
The Fishman powerchip requires a 9-volt battery for operation. The battery compartment is the
rectangle door on the back of the 55 Hybrid just below the lower cutaway. For optimum performance
always use a 9-volt alkaline battery. The average life of an alkaline 9-volt in this model is 200 hours.
Hybrid 55 Owners Manual
The output jack is a special 9 pin stereo jack that turns the battery on when plugged in and also acts to split the
electric and acoustic signal to two separate sources when using a stereo Y-cable (not included).
Battery
Door
Powerchip
Cavity Cover
Selector
Switch Cover
Output
Jack
Piezo Trim
and Phase
Battery
Replacement
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Hybrid 55 Owners Manual
Plug a standard mono instrument cable into the output
of the 55 Hybrid and combine the magnetic and piezo
signals into a single buffered composite, suitable for any
available instrument level audio input.
Plug a stereo “Y” cable into the output of the
Hybrid and split the magnetic and piezo pickup
signals to separate destinations. You will need a
stereo “Y” cable that has one stereo male 1/4”
plug to two mono 1/4” plugs. Send the piezo
signal (Ring) to any instrument level audio input,
such as an acoustic instrument amplifier or PA
system. Send the magnetic pickup signal (Tip) to
a traditional electric guitar amplifier.
Mono
Operation
Stereo
Operation
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