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Joined:
June 2011
Posts: 7
Location: AZ | Hi all....I'm new here and this is my first post.
Anyways, had my guitar setup 6 months or so ago and haven't played it since (it's a Balladeer that I bought in the late 90s). When I brought it in for the setup, I complained that the cable jack was loose, so the guy tightened it and retouched the solder points since the wiring got twisted and eventually broke due to the loose jack.
I have recently started playing it for church and I only have it plugged in for maybe 1/2 hour once a week. Well the last couple weeks, after playing it on a Sunday morning (for 1/2 hour)....when I take it out to practice 2-3 days later, the battery indicator is glowing indicating it's low.
Anyone here know what could be the problem? Is it a bad jack or could the guy have mis-wired it to drain the battery? When it's plugged in, it sounds fine. If it was wired wrong and grounded improperly, I'd expect something to burn up.
What do you think? Is it in the pickup or the jack?
Thanks for the inputs. |
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Joined:
April 2008
Posts: 2985
Location: Sydney, Australia | Do you have a multimeter? My thought would be poking around with that looking for strange readings. How long has the battery been in there? It's not clear from your post. 6 months would probably come close to draining the battery, even with little use. |
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Joined:
June 2011
Posts: 7
Location: AZ | Batteries are all brand new and drain after 3 days or so...happened 3 weeks in a row!
I did poke around to grab resistance readings but can't figure it out. Probing between the 2 contacts in the battery compartment gives me about 1.8kohms. Also, when I poke between the "+" terminal and a tab inside the output jack, I get the same....shouldn't the battery "+" to the tab inside the jack be a short? I couldn't get a reading from the "-" to the outside of the jack...like it's open. |
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Joined:
June 2011
Posts: 5
Location: Ontario | This might help:
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Joined:
June 2007
Posts: 3084
Location: Brisbane Australia | Sounds to me that the preamp is permanently "on".
The preamp is supposed to switch on when the plug is inserted.
This may seem like a silly question but you are not leaving the cable plugged into the guitar are you?
Welcome BTW
AJ |
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Joined:
June 2011
Posts: 7
Location: AZ | Thanks for the picture...i'll try to check the wiring, but it's hard to since I have to try to fit my arm into the sound hole to try and undo the jack...plus the wires are kinda short to the jack.
Also, the cable is left unplugged....I find that the battery is drained after I play (about 1/2 hour playing while plugged in) when I take my guitar out of my case. |
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Joined:
May 2008
Posts: 1555
Location: Indiana | It's the jack that's responsible for opening and closing the battery circuit. Have the jack replaced. |
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Joined:
June 2011
Posts: 1
Location: USA | Im new in here, Hope to enjoy this forum |
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Joined:
June 2011
Posts: 7
Location: AZ | do you know if the ovation jack is specific for ovations or if they are standard 1/4" jacks?
I called the dude that setup my guitar and re-wired the jack because it was loose and my connections came undone form twisting and he claims that the amp is fried or the jack busted and would need to re-order the jack from Ovation. I just know it worked fine before and i think he just may have re-wired it wrong.
Is the drawing above correct?
How do I tell which is the ring and which is the tip on the jack? i'm assuming the sleeve connection will just be shorted to the barrel of the switch.
I'm assuming the neg terminal of batter goes to the ring. |
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Joined:
June 2011
Posts: 7
Location: AZ | Okay, took the jack off the guitar and the guitar guy did screw up the wiring. I have 3 wires: red, white and black.
* White and black are soldered on the same tab.
* Red is soldered on a different tab.
* The third tab is left floating and when I ohm it out, it is electrically shorted to the threads of the jack (I'm assuming this is the main ground).
When I plug a guitar cable into the jack and I ohm out the opposite end of the cable against all three tabs, I see:
* The red tab is electrically connected to the tip of the guitar cable (this is the hot connection)
* After plugging in the cable, the other 2 tabs become electrically shorted to ground.
Now my question is this...does it matter which line, black or white, goes on the main ground (the one that's connected to the thread of the jack when there is no cable plugged)?
I can probably figure out which is the negative terminal of the battery after I unsolder the 2 wires (black or white) from each other.
I'm assuming my battery draining (with no cable plugged in) is due to the black and white shorting together. If I put these on separate tabs, I should be okay...but I just want confirmation that it doesn't matter which goes where.
If I were to take a guess, I would think that the negative connection from the battery would go on the floating gnd (not main gnd) and the other wire (probably from the pre-amp gnd) would go to the main ground (threads of the jack).
Sound right? |
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Joined:
June 2011
Posts: 7
Location: AZ | Actually, if someone can ohm our their's, I'd greatly appreciate it. If you can quickly check to see if, when it's not plugged in, is the gnd terminal of your battery compartment is shorted to the threads or if it's open? That will prove to me how this is connected.
Thanks! |
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Joined:
May 2008
Posts: 1555
Location: Indiana | That diagram doesn't apply.
The deal is, there is a little feeler on these jacks that connects/disconnects the battery flow when the jack is plugged in or removed. Call the factory for the exact Switchcraft number. Also, two of the lugs are jumpered straight across... maybe someone here can give you an accurate wiring diagram. |
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Joined:
May 2008
Posts: 1555
Location: Indiana | Disregard what I said about the jumper... I was looking at an older pre. I'm going to get a photo uploaded for you shortly. |
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Joined:
May 2008
Posts: 1555
Location: Indiana | Note how the feeler is open with no plug inserted. Sounds to me like yours is remaining closed and killing the battery.
Hope this helps.
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OP-24 Battery Drain
