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Unequal volume piezo pickup


WhittleZ

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Hello,

 

I love my Steinberger Demon Transcale guitar but it has one technical issue

 

When I use the piezo pick up alone I can hear a substantial difference in volume between the low E, A and D strings and the next string - the G string . It sounds anemic and a little 'quacky' somewhat like an out of phase single coil

 

Of course I realize that the G string is the first unwound string unless I use a set of flat wounds but I have other guitars with piezo pick ups that do not have this problem

 

The higher B and E strings are not as bad as the G but are still too soft

 

From what I read in the manual I can open the back and adjust the overall piezo volume relative to the magnetic pick ups but not individual strings as I can on my other piezo equipped guitars but granted those have individual saddles for each string whereas the Demon Synapse has a one piece saddle (for a # of reasons)

 

One thing I just noticed is that if I put downward pressure on the G string behind the saddle and in front of the bridge, volume seems to improve substantially so I may try to reseat the G string and or somehow try to rig it so that the ball end is pressed farther downwards

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Make sure the saddle is not tilted any and try reseating the string like you mentioned. Very important to have the string contact the saddle properly.

Thank you. I'm fiddling with it

Considering it's a one piece saddle and thumping along its length (these do work that way) yields equal sending volume, in thinking it is some sort of seating issue

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  • 1 month later...

Hello,

I just received a new transcale and out of the box..the piezo worked well for the low 3 strings, but the top 3 produced a faint quack.

The fix involved removing the saddle assembly and the back cover so you can "work" the cable that goes to the piezo element.

The piezo elements are 3 little circles of ceramic sandwiched between heavy copper foil. Make sure the piezo is fully seated in the bridge and the cable going to the electronics is not pushing on it.

Carefully seat the saddle squarely on the piezo element and put it all back together.

You will have to reset the intonation...but a starting point where the saddle is flush with the front of the bridge gave me a near perfect result. (using 10's)

I think it important to fully loosen the strings when you make any adjustments to the bridge.

 

This not only fixed my issue...but it is one of the best sounding piezo setups I every played...and I have been messing with them for decades!

Best...Lee

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