help - low volume from B and E strings

bobblehat · March 2018

Hope someone can help with this.

Just plugged my guitar in for the first time in a while and am getting very little volume from the B and E strings. Its an Ibanez SRLV with an undersaddle transducer ,Which I believe picks up the vibrations from the bridge. Its not got the greatest pickup and preamp installed but its also done a decent job.
I have also recently started to get some fret buzz which has never happened in the last ten years. I have sorted the fret buzz by adjusting the truss rod but has had little effect on the volume. The action still seems quite low on these two strings and I would assume any minor fret buzz would reduce the vibration of the strings and therefore the volume.
Never had any issues with action ,fret buzz etc before.

Recently changed strings so could this be a bad batch of strings or possibly a slight twist/warp in the neck?

Apologies for rambling on but any advice much appreciated.

ICBM · March 2018

Probably dirt in the pickup slot, or a broken pickup. Try taking the bridge saddle out and see if it's clean underneath. Sometimes just taking it out and moving it a bit will cure this fault. Don't take the pickup out of the slot unless you have to, it's fairly easy to break them even if it isn't already. If it is broken, there's no fix other than to replace the pickup.

Funkfingers · March 2018

Could be poor physical contact between the transducer and the underside of the saddle.

bobblehat · March 2018

Thanks I’ll take a look

bobblehat · March 2018

Removed and cleaned pick up slot which has improved things slightly.
Seems to be just a general lack of output.
Could this be overcome with a eq pedal or similar to boost the signal?

Funkfingers · March 2018

bobblehat said:

Just plugged my guitar in for the first time in a while

Check whatever powers the transducer pre-amplifier.

ICBM · March 2018

Worth checking, but if it's that two strings are dead/quiet compared to the others rather than a general loss of volume or treble, it's the pickup or the bridge not the preamp.

bobblehat · March 2018

Thanks all. Maybe time for a new one

Jimbro66 · March 2018

This issue with an under-saddle pickup is reminiscent of a couple of problems I’ve had:

In the first case I took an acoustic guitar to a tech to have the action lowered a little. He did that by shaving the bridge and then removing some material from the base of the bone saddle. It all worked out fine and the guitar played well. However, when I plugged it into an acoustic amp there was very little volume from the high E and B strings. I took it back to him and he did a little more work on the saddle which substantially cured the problem.

The second case was quite different. I took an acoustic guitar to a guitar shop to sell for me on commission. The amplified sound was good and well balanced across the strings. The guitar didn’t sell so I collected it three months later. Then when playing it through the acoustic amp the low E and A strings were much louder than the others. I’ve no idea what happened to it during those three months but something changed the response. I then relieved the base of the bridge saddle slightly below those two strings which improved the amplified string balance.

It all seems to be a matter of saddle pressure on the under-saddle transducer being just right but, as has been said, a break in the transducer can’t be remedied. BTW when new strings were fitted were they the same type and gauge as those removed?

bobblehat · March 2018

Jimbro66 said:

This issue with an under-saddle pickup is reminiscent of a couple of problems I’ve had:

In the first case I took an acoustic guitar to a tech to have the action lowered a little. He did that by shaving the bridge and then removing some material from the base of the bone saddle. It all worked out fine and the guitar played well. However, when I plugged it into an acoustic amp there was very little volume from the high E and B strings. I took it back to him and he did a little more work on the saddle which substantially cured the problem.

The second case was quite different. I took an acoustic guitar to a guitar shop to sell for me on commission. The amplified sound was good and well balanced across the strings. The guitar didn’t sell so I collected it three months later. Then when playing it through the acoustic amp the low E and A strings were much louder than the others. I’ve no idea what happened to it during those three months but something changed the response. I then relieved the base of the bridge saddle slightly below those two strings which improved the amplified string balance.

It all seems to be a matter of saddle pressure on the under-saddle transducer being just right but, as has been said, a break in the transducer can’t be remedied. BTW when new strings were fitted were they the same type and gauge as those removed?

Thanks for the info.
yes the strings were the same make,gauge etc .however I did have some fret buzz after fitting them which I’d not encountered before.Ive had the guitar for about 10 years so it did seem odd.
may be a bad batch of strings.The tension and action seemed lower some how.

ill change them and see if anything changes.

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help - low volume from B and E strings

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