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Post by genmce on Jan 27, 2013 7:56:53 GMT -5
Hey all - Please move to correct section, if I have posted in the wrong place. I just picked up a used Ibanez AW10, for kicking around. It is in pretty good shape and plays nice, however, when I plug in it to the amp (it has a prener-lc preamp and piezo) I get intermitant sound from the high e string. Sometimes it is there sometimes it is not. All other strings are picked up and working normally. The saddle does not look like the correct saddle (it is not wide enough), the previous owner put some paper in to shim the lateral space. (See image below in front of the saddle) I tried to see if the piezo had slid toward low e string but it has not. Battery is good. Tuner appears to pickup hi e string for tuning. Suggestions appreciated.
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Post by JohnH on Jan 27, 2013 15:47:11 GMT -5
Strange that one string is singled out for such a problem. Can you determine if it has more than one piezo?
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Post by genmce on Jan 28, 2013 8:36:08 GMT -5
Thanks for reply and moving thread.
It appears to have 1 piezo, as it is a long strip (apparently covered by shrink tube or something), however, when I opened it back up yesterday, it seems like there are six separate small rectangles under corresponding positions of the strings. I taped on each rectangle and could hear the sound, including the hi e spot. I can tell that the bridge slot has been dug out some... It got me thinking. 1. Maybe the saddle is not flat on the bottom (nope that looked fine) I had already ordered another saddle so no worries there. 2. Maybe the slot (bridge) for the saddle to sit in is not flat ... that is difficult to determine. Maybe the slot does not push up the pickup enough to make nice physical contact with the saddle. I tried a some slices of index card under the saddle to test the theory. On my first tests I was going into an amp (spider jam), now I decided to go thru a computer interface and monitor on headphones. When monitoring on headphones after small shim, I can hear the high e string now. However, it is not up to the same volume as the b string just next to it.
thoughts?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 9, 2013 12:53:00 GMT -5
genmce, terribly sorry that i read this so delayed. I have a yamaha acoustic brand new, and when i tried to remove all shims and lower the action as low as possible, i had that same problem. My advice go and find a good bridge nut part. But beware Ibanez is notorious for terribly slow delivery. Order some lost part for my arz800 and will get it in september.
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Post by 4real on Mar 10, 2013 18:20:48 GMT -5
It might be related to the pressure of the high E string over the nut, the 'break angle' may be shallow if the bridge has been lowered or low.
The things you've tried are necessary and correct, especially since the bridge is not original...you need a good firm contact with the piezio top and bottom, but alos enough pressure on the bridge with all strings.
One 'fix' to increase break angle, is to carefully file a groove for the Hig E just ahead of it's bridge pin so the string is held in deeper and so creates more of an angle and so pressure over the bridge.
Stringing an acoustic with fairly light strings too will often have this problem and so, this is one partial solution. Generally people consider a .12 to be 'light' or standard for a high E acoustic...though I've tended towards 10's or 11's and so have experienced some of these problems from time to time.
As piezos are pressure sensitive, and I'm exploring more dropped tunings...I'm looking towards heavier gaugers to increase pressure for the pickup system, and indeed, to activate the top acoustically...
something more you can try perhaps...hope that helps...
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rockledge
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Post by rockledge on Apr 2, 2013 20:18:33 GMT -5
One way to fix this problem is to put a small amount of super glue on the bottom of the saddle , right beneath the string in question, and dip that part of the saddle straight down onto some baking soda. Do this a few times to build up an even amount on the bottom of the saddle then file the bottom of it flat again, leaving just enough of the baking soda on to build up under the string slightly. Also file the excess that protrudes from the sides. I normally do this by putting a line of baking soda on the table, and using a razor blade or other straight edge to make a pile as wide as the saddle. When I file the bottom, I normally use a flat bastard file that is flat on the table top, and move the saddle across the top of it, rather than holding the file.
It doesn't take much for a saddle to not make good enough contact with the piezo. Sometimes just building it up very slightly, almost imperceptibly, is enough.
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Post by genmce on Sept 8, 2013 5:06:15 GMT -5
Thank you for the info - I like the super glue solution.
Thanks 4real as well - I did not try filing the the saddle on the top side to change the angle - but I like that solution as well.
I can see that the person who cut the whole for the wire for the piezo pickup did not do a very clean job and it has a dip right next to where the wire comes thru - thus dropping the pickup (slightly) under the e - string.
Since I was here last I did some digging on the net. Found info on using marblex self hardening clay under the piezo works. I tried this - because I did not know there was a reply here for some reason... So make a small snake of the clay put it in the saddle slot - press it down in with a flat surface it will mold to the contour of what was cut from the wood and will be flat on top, ready for pickup to lay on top. Now this made me have to sand my saddle down more - so I think I like super glue solution better - since it means less work to the same goal. But if I could fix by filing the top of that saddle - that is even better....
Alas - I had already done the clay solution - which took several attempts.
I found the clay on amazon - it was $9 or $10 - I think.
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