Hardcore, perhaps, but two facts might help.
1. I am the senior engineer with a large computer peripheral and iPod accessory manufacturer, so I know my way around a circuit board. This also provides me with a LOT of equipment for tinkering.
2. I am the product manager for all our FM transmitters. It isn't like I am unfamiliar with the subject of adding FM transmitters to stuff. ;)
I have made a really excessive mechanical diagram of the blade PCB with pinouts (which I will share soon) and I have started the process of diagnosing the dead segments. As I may have mentioned, ALL of the "dead" LEDs have continuity, and almost all of them will light up if the PCB is flexed slightly. I used my mechanical drawing to plot the dead elements, so the next step is to try to reflow the solder on the LED leads and current-limiting resistor.
BTW, I did just say "current-limiting resistor". This IMPLIES it may be possible to increase the brightness of each LED, but I would point out I SUSPECT it will be too subtle to be worth swapping out *64* surface-mount resistors. I seriously doubt I will try modding this aspect of the blade, but I welcome someone to try it. If you do, PLEASE find a way to quantify light levels using a meter, don't use an auto-exposure digital camera or even worse your subjective opinion. I'd love to know how much of a change actually occured.
Random thought: since the 64 LEDs are controlled in 6 banks, and each bank can be switched independantly, it should be technically possible to make the blade "deploy" from tip-to-hilt or even expand from the center in both directions. Obviously this cannot be done with the stock controller hardware, but it is an intellectual curiosity.
For those who care: the "whoosh" is done using a simple tilt switch. I have been unable to find any information about it online. It seems like it wouldn't be possible for the sounds I have heard to be produced by a simple on-off switch, so maybe it provides some sort of ranged feedback like velocity or percentage of tilt. For those who have ever wondered, this is likely the cause of the rattling sound you hear in the hilt.
So, now that I have exact mechanicals on the blade PCB dimensions, I can custom manufacture my own PCB that will allow me to use tri-color LEDs, and then I will make a new control board that not only allows me to change the blade color to any possible mixture of RGB (can you say "Mace Windu to Count Dooku in one flip"?) but also a random mode that will cycle the entire blade through the RGB colors as well as allowing each individual LED to cycle independantly, so the entire blade just friggin SWIRLS with color! While I am replacing the control board I will go ahead and add surround-sound audio FX ripped from the movie DVDs and transmit it over a 2.4GHz link to a S/PDIF-equipped home theater system (THX preferred, doncha know).
Psych! Just kidding. Even I don't have that much free time. ;)