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UNPLANNED DOWNTIME: 12th Oct 23:45

Tanglewood TW45 Heritage electrics troubleshooting

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jdbwalesjdbwales Frets: 281
in Acoustics
Hi guys, recently got a TW45 Heritage for a ludicrously low price, but part of that low price was that the electrics need looking at. 

 I’m well versed in electric guitar troubleshooting but the world of piezos etc is new to me so I’m looking for some help. The guitar is fitted with a B-Band preamp and a Jack end pin. 

The preamp works with a battery (tuner switches on etc) but doesn’t make anything other than a sort of wash of noise that doesn’t pick up any playing at all through amplification. The tuner as I said switches on but doesn’t work, presumably because it’s also ‘hearing’ the wash of noise. 

I’m assuming it’s either the B Band pickup itself that’s gone wrong or possibly even the jack wiring as the preamp seems operational. 

Does anyone have any ideas? I’ll do some exploratory surgery later...


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Comments

  • ICBMICBM Frets: 69426
    Almost certainly the pickup has failed. They do that.

    It's a shame they're so unreliable, because they sound quite good when they work.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • jdbwalesjdbwales Frets: 281
    https://imgur.com/gallery/Wa8OHga

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  • jdbwalesjdbwales Frets: 281
    @ICBM the pickup connector doesn’t look too clever. 

    Would you reckon it’s worth getting a replacement pickup or just retrofitting a Fishman system?
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 69426
    Personally I would prefer to retro-fit another system, but it's likely to be a lot of work depending on the size of the new preamp unit. The existing preamp isn't compatible with a standard piezo pickup unfortunately, they work in a slightly different way. (It possibly would be if you reverse-engineered it and worked out where the correct insert point would be, but it's not straightforward just by replacing the pickup strip.) It may be easier and cheaper just to replace the existing pickup, but I wouldn't count on it working forever either.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • jdbwalesjdbwales Frets: 281
    Thanks @ICBM - I’m currently mulling over some sort of less intrusive sound hole pickup wired to the existing end pin Jack and leaving the b-band preamp in, just disconnected, or simply getting this:
    https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/313262134021 - would this be the right replacement part? 
     A third option is a UST with an Artec end pin preamp. The only thing putting me off getting the replacement b band pickup is the ‘double’ source nature of the b band stuff, and the low reliability! 
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  • jdbwalesjdbwales Frets: 281
    @ICBM seems like I had the simplest solution of all - whoever had the TW45 last had plugged the B Band UST pickup in upside down into the preamp...plugged it in the right way and we’re in business!!
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