Thanks alot sir !! This solved 95% of my problem on my DOVE. Original owner had remove the L R. Braggs pups and put that type of piezzo u dersaddle. The 3rd 4th and 5th strings were very loud but the 6th and 2nd were very low and the 1st was completely off ! Now 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th are perfect loud clear and balanced. I do hear the 1st but its lower compare to the rest. What could be my problem?? The brigde is flat when i do the sharpie test. Anybody has an idea?!!
Cut a small piece off an old acoustic guitar pick or your old credit card and use it as shim underneath the saddle. Just cut it to size of the bridge slot for the hi E string only. If your guitar have been setup with quite low action (saddle ground down too low on the bridge) the string angle at the saddle may be too flat and the pressure on the saddle in that area for hi E string would be too low hence lower volume. This requires filing the bridge slot where the 1st string enters the bridge to make string angle more steep in this case you may need professional help.
Thanks man. Great simple video. Going to tweak mine first before looking for a replacement. My low E had that hot spot on the bridge. Didn't even know before this video. Thanks!
Piezos are painful. Always a problem with cheap imports, and sometimes your methods work, or sometimes not. I just bought a new china Ubass and on the second day I had to remove the strings and adjust the saddle. At least I didn't have to buy a new bridge or saddle that is often required. Nevertheless, the best solution I found to elude piezo issues on acoustics is to buy a good Taylor. Either they don't use piezo or do piezos right. Never a problem.
I just wanted to tell you how much I appreciate you making this video!! I had a bone saddle put into my guitar and it sounded wonderful. I'm a working musician so you can imagine how heart broken I was when a few months later the guitar was suddenly dull sounding. I did some research and found this video. I just sanded my bone saddle and set up my gear and it worked. I can't thank you enough!! Sir you are awesome!!
I've got an acoustic electric that gets higher volume louder on the GBE and the EAD sounds low volume quiet. I do the tapping on the bridge & saddle piece and EAD sounds almost dead in comparison. Tapping with a guitar pick can be done with the guitar stringless to determine where this is one is having it's issue(s). Got it, wasn't the wood swelling too tight, it was the way Piezo pickup was put back together at some time when shims in the saddle slot were completely removed to set the action height. It was an Applause/Ovation. The plastic piece holding the Piezo material had been crimped & damaged. I dismantled & reassembled that and then aligned the steel tray with the fixed plastic Piezo retainer. String output is even across the entire bridge now. Lucky to have been able to repair the original Piezo. The saddle piece was pretty tight though. See how long this holds up. I think one of the six Piezo material chipped, but it seems to hold in place and is still large enough that it doesn't affect the sound or volume. I guess I'll find out whether it lasts soon enough as a function of time.
Hi , im curious cuz i have a 1st that is low compare to all the others. Are you saying there is a plastic under the metal bar in the bridge slut?? My metal bar lays straight on the wood slut... Is this normal or am i missing a piece??
This is good detective work. The piezo quack is a transit spike which hits the amp/pre-amp and overloads it or stresses it temporarily in a split second. It is mainly in the low treble, which is mainly where the top two strings are, which were too loud compared to lower strings in the over tight saddle., A balance of strings has reduced the quack effect but will not beat it altogether. Look for 1.6kHz and 2.8 kHz or around there and try a limiter on peaks.
I have that model Ibanez. My issue is the overall volume is much lower than my other acoustics through an amp. Trying to figure that out. Just bought it off a gal yesterday.
I have a MARTIN DC 16GTE. Very nice guitar, BUT...the overall volume is the trouble. I turn my PA way up with the guitar volume also on max. The volume is not at all enough. I tried my other guitar, same PA and get way better sound with Master Volume on even 3. Would this for sure be a wire in the electronics of the guitar???
Try changing the piezo. I have the same problem on a different guitar but It happened suddenly it... we had it set up the week before with our digital PA so I know nothing changed on that end (the gian on the channel was +8 the week before and had to change it to +52 and had a lot of hiss and distortion) and I got it to work once then it lost volume again so I'm replacing mine.
Actually, sometimes (not rarely) we have to sand the inner side of the slot due to some uneven residue of finish, thus the saddle can't be flush/straight, etc. So it wasn't necessarily bad information
Here's a thought, for cases where the bottom of the bridge isn't perfectly flat. Instead of sanding the bottom of the bridge, put some wood glue on it and sand that with a flat file. This, of course, assumes that the piezo element is flat. If not, then apply wood glue between the piezo element and the bottom of the bridge, but just a bit in order to avoid gluing anything to the sides of the slot where the piezo and bridge fit. That glue should fill in the gaps and dry just as hard as the bridge material. Any contradictions? Also Jim Stefan, and everyone's a critic, put a piece of tape on the towel to help keep the item in the center of the picture. Regardless, thanks for the video.
hi ive a piezo pickup in my guitar and the 3rd string G isnt as loud when i hit on it and the rest are fine is it the pick up at fault jus asknas its annoying playing lead guitar on it
I have a problem with my new electro ukulele where the G string is way louder than the rest. Also just touching the G with my hand picks up noise. The saddle is tight in the slot so I will sand it (on a flat surface) and hope that works because it drives me mad when I play.
Better to sand the saddle thickness than to 'mess' with the slot, and as mentioned below, NEVER sand a slot by hand, but if DETERMINED to do so, at least back up the sandpaper with something stable, such as a machinist's scale, just sayin!
