Members badintention Posted October 29, 2014 Members Share Posted October 29, 2014 Good day folks, heres what's happening to me... I have recently notice that when i plug my acoustic guitar in my pa system, the hight E and B string are extremely hard to hear if you compare them to all other string… i have never notice that before. All other string sound just like they should but those 2 almost seem to be missing…? So i have try to plug my guitar in what i had on hand, like in my electric guitar amplifier, with the same result. I also try in a bass amp with same result even though i know its not made for that. Any help would be appreciated. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeepEnd Posted October 29, 2014 Members Share Posted October 29, 2014 If this is a recent problem, I'd make sure the EQ controls haven't been turned down so that the high frequencies aren't being rolled off. You could have bumped them by accident. Next, I'd make sure battery was good. If the amplified sound of your guitar has been like that all along, remove the strings, then carefully remove the saddle and UST (the element under the saddle) and make sure the saddle slot is free of debris and that the slot itself has a flat, level bottom. Put everything back the way it was and plug it in again. As for plugging it into a bass amp, a bass amp actually does a good job with an acoustic guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members badintention Posted October 30, 2014 Author Members Share Posted October 30, 2014 And if everything looks fine, do i have other option? Or do i just go and by a new whatever it take....? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarcapo Posted October 30, 2014 Members Share Posted October 30, 2014 My guess is that the undersaddle piezo element under those strings is broken or blocked. is it a "split saddle" like this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members t_e_l_e Posted October 30, 2014 Members Share Posted October 30, 2014 what kind of guitar is it? which model etc? what kind of pick up system is in use? does it have an onboard preamp with or without eq? if it does, does it have a fresh battery? if it is a undersaddle piezo pickup, a current picture of it might us make able to spot if there is an issue there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members badintention Posted October 30, 2014 Author Members Share Posted October 30, 2014 My guitar is a Martin dcx1E. Stock, no mods. It is not a split saddle. The battery is fresh, and i have try to change it anyway without succes. Im at work right now, but tonight i will try to see if the element under the saddle is ok. To me it looks like a complicated task because of the limited space that i have... I mean i have to remove the string and put my hand trough that hole ( it does feels weird saying that...but) how do i get to actually see underneat that saddle, is there a special way to do this? Thanks for everything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members garthman Posted October 30, 2014 Members Share Posted October 30, 2014 I believe the Martin DCX1E is fitted with the Fishman Presys onboard peamp and tuner. This system uses the Sonicore UST which is a coaxial type piezo transducer. It's rare that these break or malfunction. To check, slacken off all the strings (leave some string in the tuner peg - no need to take them off completely), take out the bridge pins and the end of the string from the hole (I usually fit a capo at around the 12th fret to hold the strings in place). You should now be able to lift out the saddle - they usually come out easily but you might need to lever out with a small screwdriver blade or perhaps use a small pliers - take it slow if you do this. The UST pickup will be lying flat in the slot, gently lever it out - there should be enough slack cable for you to do this. Now connect your guitar to an amp as normal and turn up the preamp volume to about a 1/3rd. Now, with a small screwdriver blade, gently tap the UST at 1/4 inch intervals along it's length - you should hear the tapping sound from the amp each time. If you get a silent patch it means the UST is dead in that area but the UST can be replaced easily enough. If you hear a sound all the way along the length the UST is OK and the problem will be due to poor contact between the base of the saddle and the UST - this is by far the most common reason for sound imbalance. You might need to gently sand the base of the saddle to solve the problem or use something like a self-hardening clay shim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Grant Harding Posted October 31, 2014 Members Share Posted October 31, 2014 I just lowered the action on an acoustic the other day and in doing so the break angle over the low E got pretty flat. When I plugged it in to test it the low E made no sound, but then came in at a low volume. Sigh... So, I whipped the strings off and ramped the slots to reinstate the break angle. Boom - the string is ringing better and the piezo sound is loud and balanced across all the strings. Just gave it back to my brother yesterday and he's really happy. My long-winded moral is that it might be too shallow a break angle on those strings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Idunno Posted November 2, 2014 Members Share Posted November 2, 2014 Can Piezo be fashioned into a saddle? Is it too soft? Maybe it can be laminated between two thin lay-ups of Tusque? Just seems to me that the UST is a dumb placement for a pick-up. There's a frequency attenuator being used as a conveyance for the strings in the form of the saddle itself. If the saddle was the pick-up there'd be no issue with contact. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members garthman Posted November 2, 2014 Members Share Posted November 2, 2014 Can Piezo be fashioned into a saddle? Is it too soft? Maybe it can be laminated between two thin lay-ups of Tusque? Just seems to me that the UST is a dumb placement for a pick-up. There's a frequency attenuator being used as a conveyance for the strings in the form of the saddle itself. If the saddle was the pick-up there'd be no issue with contact. Ovation did a UST that incorporated a slot to hold the saddle. That's the closest I've seen to a single unit. I'm sure it could be done, Joe, but there would have to be a means of adjusting the height of the saddle to allow for setting up. One of those old adjustable type saddles would do - my old Eko Ranger has one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Idunno Posted November 2, 2014 Members Share Posted November 2, 2014 The saddle-pup could be made adjustable at the top of the saddle versus the bottom. Adjusted and intonated to each string at the top of the saddle might be the stuff of a more experienced tech but that's where it should be done, anyway. The reason I say that is because we still need unplugged sound quality. I know adjustable bridges were discontinued due to poor frequency transference as contrasted to the fixed saddle. At least that's the current opinion/wisdom about them. A hybrid approach would be to permanently bond a UST to the bottom of a saddle and then adjust as per above. That might not make sense to those who are constantly removing saddles - like techs do - but it would alleviate weak and/or intermittent signal production encountered with poor workmanship of UST installations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeepEnd Posted November 2, 2014 Members Share Posted November 2, 2014 Can Piezo be fashioned into a saddle? . . . Yes. Takamine was doing that with their "G Series" acoustic/electrics at one time. I don't know if they still are or not. Washburns also used to feature integrated saddles/transducers. As for the saddle being a "frequency attenuator," a properly installed UST doesn't suffer from that. Most UTS's are designed to be retrofitted on existing guitars so the integrated saddle/transducer is less common. Another reason is that, in an integrated unit, you have to take material off the top of the saddle to lower action whereas the normal procedure is to take it off the bottom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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