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Joined:
August 2003
Posts: 888
Location: Louisville, OH 44641 | Anyone know how to test the Piezo pickup located under the Saddle?
I have 1598 ME 12 string that I love but it no longer plays through an amp. I've checked the battery and replaced the jack (where you plug in the cable). I've also tested the cable that goes from the battery to the Preamp and know that 9 volts is getting to the input of the preamp.
These guitars use a very thin piezo device under the saddle. Anyone know if these are prone to going bad? I have a nice multi-meter but don't know how to test the piezo device itself.
Thanks.
Jim |
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Joined:
December 2004
Posts: 566
Location: Denmark | I have not tried much this myself, but this is what I would do. Theoretically the transducer itself is not conductive. Also is is difficult to measure output from directly as it is high impedance capacitve transducer. You need a charge amplifier http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charge_amplifier to get a signal you can measure directly with your multimeter. Knowing this You could use your multimeter on the ohm setting to see if you get a very high reading or maybe infinity. Apart from that you could try to take the pickup out and visualy check that none of the wires going to the pre-amp are broken. The preamp itself (depending on model) should show some sign of life when you plug in the 1/4 inch jac like a flash from one or more LEDs. Between the preamp and the output jack there is also a connector which should be working in both ends. Some models also have the XLR socket and a secondary circuit board. If all this looks well try to check the signal path for bad connections by e.g. fumbling the signal wire going the preamp input with everything turned on to see if yo get any output doing this - or maybe cracking noises. Eventually carefully touch the wire itself from the piezo to the preamp. These tests should be done at LOW volume. What kind of preamp is it?
Finally if you are the original owner of this You could consider using warranty which for the US Ovation customers is unfairly attractive. If not the original owner they may still offer you some support if you write to their customer service http://www.ovationguitars.com/support/customer_service I do believe that they generally treat requests about US made guitars kind of serious.
Edited by tpa 2013-04-16 4:05 PM
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Joined:
December 2004
Posts: 1673
Location: SoCal | I leave everything in place and pass a jumper cable from the pickup's lead, out to an input on any other functioning preamp that's handy. I repurposed a headphone extension cord that has 1/8" jacks on each end. |
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Testing a Piezo Pickup
