Guest Posted September 20, 2007 Posted September 20, 2007 I have this Alvarez AJ60C acoustic/electric. I noticed that when I was replacing the battery that the negative wire soldered to the 9 volt snap plug came off quite easily. I am just about to make the repair but I am curious to know if this would have caused intermittent/low output from the piezo if it just was a solder joint that came lose or something. I want to say yes, and I will know for sure once I repair it, but I am just getting some opinions really.
Members dhoenisch Posted September 20, 2007 Members Posted September 20, 2007 I would think so. If the solder joint was only holding onto a couple of the wires, it's very possible that this would have caused your issue. Just re-solder it, and you should be fine. I took a couple of electronics classes back in high school, and I remember the teacher always telling us that we needed to have a really good solder joint if we wanted our electronics to function flawlessly. Dan
Guest Posted September 20, 2007 Posted September 20, 2007 Alright, as I figured, re-soldering the joint fixed the intermittent signal problem, however I still don't have even signal output across the saddle. I am thinking the piezon just needs replacing. The 6th, 2nd, and 1st, string have good signal but the 3rd and 4th are rather weak. Any suggestions on a new piezo?
Members happy-man Posted September 20, 2007 Members Posted September 20, 2007 Could it be that the saddle is not making even contact with the piezo, or the piezo is not flat all the way across the bottom of the bridge? I've never messed with a pickup, but I'd check the contact area and make sure there weren't any bits of anything in the slot. If there was a gap in the middle it would make sense to have less signal from the middle strings. Scott O
Members Steverino Posted September 20, 2007 Members Posted September 20, 2007 Every time you unsnap/disconnect a 9v from those crappy connectors you run the risk of breaking a connection. You'd think someone would come up with a something a little sturdier.
Members DeepEnd Posted September 20, 2007 Members Posted September 20, 2007 Could it be that the saddle is not making even contact with the piezo, or the piezo is not flat all the way across the bottom of the bridge? . . . +1 You should also check to make sure the bottom of the saddle is completely flat. If it's not, a few minutes with some sandpaper or a file should cure the problem. Less likely than some of the other possibilities but ya never know.
Members Cripes Posted September 20, 2007 Members Posted September 20, 2007 Could it be that the saddle is not making even contact with the piezo, or the piezo is not flat all the way across the bottom of the bridge? I've never messed with a pickup, but I'd check the contact area and make sure there weren't any bits of anything in the slot. If there was a gap in the middle it would make sense to have less signal from the middle strings.Scott O Yep. Debris in a saddle slot is not uncommon. Nor is uneven routing of the bridge saddle slot. Little Brother had a thread moons ago about balancing the sound from a UST by cleaning out his saddle slot and then applying a thin layer of clay he rolled out and cut into a ribbon the width of his saddle. It filled the slight voids between his UST and saddle slot. Once dried, he removed his saddle and sanded the bottom to remove the added height of the clay. He did before/after clips and the difference was significant enough to make the effort worthwhile.
Members Simon76 Posted September 21, 2007 Members Posted September 21, 2007 I would also use an inspection mirror and a flashlight to take a look inside at the backside of the bridge area. Just to make sure some kind of soundboard transducers haven't come unglued (if you happen to have them). www.dickeyguitars.com/. ../kkinstall.html
Guest Posted September 21, 2007 Posted September 21, 2007 yeah, my guess is that it's not making even contact..last time I changed the strings I took out the saddle and clear a little debris on the bottom, took out the piezon and check that..put everything back on and still the weak signal in the middle.. I will try a bit of sand paper next time and see if that helps.. I am thining about getting a new saddle for it, mayb ethat will help.
Members Terry Allan Hall Posted September 22, 2007 Members Posted September 22, 2007 Alright,as I figured, re-soldering the joint fixed the intermittent signal problem, however I still don't have even signal output across the saddle. I am thinking the piezon just needs replacing. The 6th, 2nd, and 1st, string have good signal but the 3rd and 4th are rather weak. Any suggestions on a new piezo? Try this, 1st: http://littlebrother.nlpd.com/Clay-UST/index.htm Sounds pretty strange, but it really works...I've done this to all of my performance guitars!
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