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Posts: 777
Location: East Wenatchee, WA | What at first I thought was a random weirdness has now duplicated itself, so I want to throw the issue out to the experts.
A couple of weeks ago, I plugged in the 2080 at church, tuned up, did a sound check then set it down to go meet and greet. When I came back to start playing, I had no sound. Checked everything, and finally figured I would try the cord. When I unplugged the cord, the VIP lighted up briefly (as it does when you first plug it in) so I replugged and viola, sound. It hasn't done it again (and it was a new battery and a fairly new cord).
Last week, it did this again in my rec room studio. Different cord. Just shut down.
Last night again, as soon as I plugged in to do some pedal programming...nothing. I unplug and replug and boom, the VIP is powered.
For some reason, it is as if there is a circuit that senses the power up when you plug in and it either intermittently fails or something requiring a reset. This has happened with three different cords, and the fix is the same. Unplug and replug the guitar.
Any thoughts????? Is this sending the whole guitar back, or just the module? |
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Posts: 11840
Location: closely held secret | Cool. No timer on the tuner, but a timer on the entire preamp.
Contact Rick! |
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Location: NJ | Contact Budny. |
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Location: closely held secret | ...or Budny. |
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Posts: 430
Location: Lebanon, TN | LOL...Once again this is not a problem or bug it is a "feature" of the Fishman Aura electronics. As proved before the electronics on the VIP originate from Fishman. See below for the entry in the Aura manual that comes with Martins equiped with this pre-amp.
Sleep Mode
When the Onboard Aura is plugged in and you don’t play for 30 seconds, the electronics will go into “sleep” mode to conserve the battery. As soon as you start to play again, the unit will wake up and return to its normal operating mode. Note that when the Onboard Aura is sleeping, it still consumes some power, so we advise you to unplug the system when you take an extended break.
I had the same problem Jeffrey had and called Martin Factory who pointed me to Fishman. They told me that "Yeah it does that because the 'Sleep' mode wasn't enough to save the battery life as it kept waking up. We thought people would complain about the batteries being chewed up too fast, so we tuned it to turn off if it 'sleeps' too long"
So feature not bug ;-) |
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Location: closely held secret | And how much of a lag time is there between 'sleep' and 'wake up'?
Bad design. They should either find a way to consume less power or a way to provide more. Does it do this trick when running on phantom as well? |
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Posts: 430
Location: Lebanon, TN | Can't test the lag time to wake on the Martin OMC-Aura anymore as I reluctantly had to sell with many of my other items about a month ago. Also it did not have XLR so there was no phantom power. Just Duracell batteries....lots and lots of Duracell batteries :D |
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Posts: 777
Location: East Wenatchee, WA | Sorry...it sleeps and DOESN'T wake up. I fiddled with playing it for 5 minutes trying to figure out what in the world was going on. Even tried pushing the tuner button.
Further, this last time it shut off from within seconds of being plugged in. |
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Location: Capital District, NY, USA Minor Outlying Islands | Dying battery? |
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Posts: 777
Location: East Wenatchee, WA | I just fired John an email. Hated to bother him if it was just a "feature" but seems like a potentially catastrophic feature having to pop the plug out to reset the electronics in the middle of a song.
Maybe in the ensuing recall, they will fix the tuning issue and the dummy plug will become an OFC collectors item. (JUST KIDDING) |
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Location: East Wenatchee, WA | New battery. Checked it the old fashion way and it about melted a couple fillings. |
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Posts: 580
Location: NW NJ | Old fashioned ways are most often the best way for a quick accurate answer ... and it keeps your dentist busy and able to send his/her kids to Harvard without taking out any loans ;) |
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Location: NJ | You guys're rookies.
Rub a little of the "juice" from a can of tuna on the contacts, and let the cat "test" it. |
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Location: New Orleans | omg??? [snatches her kitties and runs] |
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Location: NJ | It's not so bad . . .
"Twitch" is actually starting t'get "used" to it . . . (sorta). |
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Location: Boise, Idaho | Thanks, Cliff. Our cat has really been annoying me lately. |
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Location: NJ | Once the fur starts growing back, they become quite docile . . . |
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Location: East Wenatchee, WA | We used to have a big dog. I mean really big dog. No you aren't getting it.... Like this dog in a fight with a full size male german shepherd, grabbed him by the nap of the neck and lifted him off of the ground...kind of big dog.
Anyway, said big dog for some odd reason took unusual pleasure in licking or nuzzling the strings on my Fender Bass when I was playing outside on the lawn. For some odd reason it shocked the heck out of you if you didn't sit on something insulated or have your tennies on.
Whatever the case, the dog would come over, electrocute himself, stand back and bark then do it again. Almost as weird as the owner, who to this day rather enjoys licking 9v batteries. Something in the water. |
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Location: NJ | Lemme guess . . . you also throw away the gum & chew the foil . . . |
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Location: Central Massachusetts | Originally posted by JeffreyD:
Something in the water. Oh, I don't know, like maybe Tritium ? :rolleyes: |
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September 2004
Posts: 777
Location: East Wenatchee, WA | An update about the "turn-off" issue. Been emailing with John at the factory. He said the electronics guys are stumped on that one as they are not aware of an "auto-off" function, but they are still researching. There has been one other 2080 owner who reports this problem too.
Will keep you advised, we may try swapping out the "package" to see if it is just a faulty unit. |
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Posts: 331
Location: San Angelo, Texas | if they were going to make an auto off, the least they could do would be to make it useful...like it would sense that I have not played a note in 5 minutes and go into stand-by...or if it sense that I've not played in 10 minutes, it shuts off...or if I've not played in an hour, it shuts off, goes and gets the case, wipes the guitar down, cleans the strings and fret board, puts it in the case and takes the case to the car. Driving itself home might be too much to ask...
Or...if it could make me sound like Chet Atkins when I try to finger pick... |
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September 2004
Posts: 777
Location: East Wenatchee, WA | Received the replacement VIP module yesterday and popped it into the 2080. Yikes....problems is way worse with it cutting in and out several times. Finally pressed down on it a bit and it came to life and stayed there, so it seems to me that it is not making connection well where the module goes into the contacts in the guitar itself.
I need to experiment some more, because this doesn't explain why unplugging and replugging makes it work, but I now don't believe it is a "timer" issue, but something in the connections.
Looks like I may have to send the 2080 back to the mother ship and rely on my old war horse 1537 for who knows how long.
Kind of wish I would have just kept the W597. Great player, no problems, a lot cheaper...and now with both guitars "broke", seems I may have made a bad decision. |
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Location: south east Michigan | You will be surprised how fast the factory will turn it around. |
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Posts: 55
Location: Pennsylvania | This happened to my 2006-FKOA a couple times when i changed the image selector switch, and i had to reset the jack to get it working again. I have not tryed pushing down on the pre-amp, but i will if it happens again. It also happened once while just sitting in the stnd not being played. When i picked it up to play it was dead. |
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Location: East Wenatchee, WA | bobc,
Sounds like exactly the symptoms I am dealing with. After church today, I will mess with it a little more to see if there is maybe just contacts needing cleaning or something, but I suspect the irregular shape probably lends itself to occassional fitment issues. But, it does seem like there would be solid engagement of the contacts sufficient to allow for a bit of "tweak" in the plastic housings.
Jeff |
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March 2005
Posts: 1421
Location: Orange County, California | Guys,
Before you freak out to much, try something simple. Loosen the screws that clamp the pre-amp housing into the body a little. If they are over tightened, the housing can "deform". I think this *could* cause a contact problem.
Let us know if it makes any difference. |
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September 2004
Posts: 777
Location: East Wenatchee, WA | I actually was thinking about pulling the housing out and checking all the connections for security. I was a bit nervous it might void my warranty or something. Oh wait....second owner, I don't have a warranty do I. Oh well, I guess I will give it a shot. |
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Posts: 777
Location: East Wenatchee, WA | Latest update. After checking the housing (it was actually quite loose) I pulled the access panel on the back and when the problem occured, reached inside and started probing connections and cables.
I got a series of snap, crackle and pops when I lightly touched the ribbon cable where it connects to the circuit board at the jacks. I couldn't figure out if they are locked connectors as pulling on it, did not get it to come loose, and I didn't want to tug too hard, but after pushing it back down firmly, it quit messing up for the time being. Not sure if there is a bad solder, or cable. I have relayed all this to John at the MotherShip...he has been fantastic.
So, those of you who have played inside your Ovations/Adamas, do the ribbon cables just pull loose, or is there a trick to it. I don't want to break anything when taking it apart to clean up the contacts. |
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Posts: 1225
Location: Lake Hiawatha, New Jersey | Originally posted by JeffreyD:
What at first I thought was a random weirdness has now duplicated itself, so I want to throw the issue out to the experts.
A couple of weeks ago, I plugged in the 2080 at church, tuned up, did a sound check then set it down to go meet and greet. When I came back to start playing, I had no sound. Checked everything, and finally figured I would try the cord. When I unplugged the cord, the VIP lighted up briefly (as it does when you first plug it in) so I replugged and viola, sound. It hasn't done it again (and it was a new battery and a fairly new cord).
Last week, it did this again in my rec room studio. Different cord. Just shut down.
Last night again, as soon as I plugged in to do some pedal programming...nothing. I unplug and replug and boom, the VIP is powered.
For some reason, it is as if there is a circuit that senses the power up when you plug in and it either intermittently fails or something requiring a reset. This has happened with three different cords, and the fix is the same. Unplug and replug the guitar.
Any thoughts????? Is this sending the whole guitar back, or just the module? Jeff:
I just started having the same exact problem with my 2080. Mine has actually cut out twice while I was playing. (once during a gig). I also had to unplug and plug back in. I had a brand new battery in as I always do for gigs. I had a wiring problem with my legend LX that took months of (process of elimination) repairs before it was finally fixed. If you ask me, I think that Ovation is trying to cram too many "bells and whistles" into these pre-amps. I wish they would just use a basic pre-amp that works properly. How have you made out with yours? Anything new?
John |
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September 2004
Posts: 777
Location: East Wenatchee, WA | Sorry for not completing this thread, I think I did somewhere else.
Anyway, John B finally sent me an entirely new electronics package which I swapped in. Took all of about 10 minutes start to finish. When it was done, all has been well since.
It appear to actually have been a problem in the ribbon cable. We swapped in a new module and that didn't cure it, there was no indications of a problem with the plug itself, although that is possible, but when I messed with the ribbon cable sometime it would click on and off.
I sent the entire old unit back to the Mothership, so I hope they are evaluating the failure, but I am also wondering if it is just a "swap it and forget it" scenario.
This has reminded me, however, that I haven't tried my XLR connection since getting the new package. Maybe it will work now without the dummy plug? Hmmmmmmm |
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January 2004
Posts: 1225
Location: Lake Hiawatha, New Jersey | Thanks for the update. I guess I'll look into getting the electronics replaced. I want to get this solved because I love the guitar aside from this problem. |
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September 2004
Posts: 777
Location: East Wenatchee, WA | Opps....what a slip up. When I said John B, I was referring to Budney at Ovation...didn't notice you are a John B also. Sorry.
They were great to work with and very fast. I like you find the 2080 is growing on me after I pulled a couple of shims. Need to remove the Elixir's and go back to 1818's and it will be perfect (again).
Now if only they would develop a fix for the annoying dummy plug. What a pain!!! |
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VIP Glitch (new one)