I’ve seen several different DIY posts for changing the LED color of the Blackberry Pearl trackball. Some informative, some not very much so. After some experimentation on my own, I managed to make a simple modification to my Blackberry Pearl 8130 trackball to change the LED color. I must say it looks rather nice, and adds some flair to an otherwise drab looking smartphone.
My Blackberry Pearl 8130:
Before attempting this mod, I would recommend that you power off your phone! First step is to remove the trackball assembly. Use a pair of tweezers to hook into a small slot in the chrome retainer ring, located directly above the #2 key on the keypad. Gently pry up the ring until the ring pops loose, and remove it, exposing the trackball assembly underneath.
Set aside the chrome ring, in a safe place. It is plastic, so make sure not to bend or break the catches on the underside. Use the tweezers to remove the trackball assembly – it’s self contained, so don’t worry about it falling apart. Set the assembly aside along with the chrome ring. Now you should see this:
Now comes the easy part! The LED that lights up the trackball is on the lower right, indicated in the picture by the bright red circle. Grab yourself a fine tipped permanent marker (I used a Staedtler Lumocolor fine tip in Red) and lightly coat the LED in your chosen color. As a side note, you can apply several coats of the same color to achieve darker shades of the same color to your desire. Just make sure you give a few minutes to dry between each application. I applied four coats to give myself a nice scarlet red color. After your final coat dries, put everything back together! Make sure you settle the trackball assembly in all the way, and align the Chrome ring in the socket the same way it was when you removed it.
That’s it! Turn your phone on, and you should see something like this:
Congrats on your newly modded phone 
I personally really like the dark red color because it gives me that “HAL 9000″ type feeling! Now if you want to change the color, follow the same steps as before, and use a q-tip with a light application of rubbing alcohol to gently remove the marker ink. Let dry, and apply the new color of your choice.
If you try this, be sure to tell us about your experience!
EDIT- Many People have suggested using the “Blingball” or “Color Pearl” apps for the Blackberry Pearl. The model 8130 does not possess the polychromatic LEDs necessary for those apps to function correctly or at all. That’s why I wrote this DIY in the first place. Carry on 
