The Watering Hole

Hey guys, I have a friend who brought me an acoustc/electric that he accidentally scraped the under bridge pickup element on. There was a red coating that a few sections on the under bridge element came off and revealed a silver metal element underneath. Now when it is plugged in, it sounds real thin and brittle. Anyhoo, my question....

"Does anyone know what this red coating stuff is made of? Also, is there an alternative tape or coating I can apply to fix it, or am I screwed??"

PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!

Thanks in advance fellers.....

cgtrox  8-)

I told ya Gibson sucks!!!!  HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

It was probably some type of wax or wire covering.

I tell ya if it was like the outside of a wire what I would do.  Get you a slightly larger gauge wire.....pull the wire out and you are left with just the cover....slide it over top of your pick up thingy and if it's a bit large take a hair dryer on hi to it and it shlould shrink up a bit to fit.

That's my lesson in afro engineering for today.

Take it to a guitar tech who knows that model is my guess. I have no other advice, because I do not know anything about those pups.

it's all about vibration down there.  If part of the contact pad is missing, then the literally the whole pickups is not "working."  I don't know what that particular substance is (didn't mention what guitar, how old, etc) but they way those are designed and the way piezos work, you need EVEN pressure from top to bottom (string-wise) on the pickup. If parts of the pad are missing, there is no vibration to be sensed in that part of the pickup, thus the tone is messed up.  

Solution...  get more info and we'll see if you can replace the whole "red coating" or, take it to a repairman.  IMO, of course

Sorry guys!! It's a new Laguna acoustic/electric http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product/Laguna-LG-Series-LG6CEOVK-Cutaway-Acoustic-Electric-Guitar?sku=515906 this one. It's a friend of mine who has it. Thanks for the help dudes, I'm gonna try a couple of things.

cgtrox  8-)

p.s. Gibson RULES!!! hehehe

I'm gonna try a couple of things.

uh oh....  this sounds sorta like one of those "hey guys, watch this" ideas.   ;D ;D

Apart from your repairing the scrape (how exactly did you do that anyway?) how do these things sound unplugged?

A good close-up pic would help.

DreamTheaterRules — Aug 12, 2008I'm gonna try a couple of things.

uh oh....  this sounds sorta like one of those "hey guys, watch this" ideas.   ;D ;D


HAHAHA!! Nah Howie, I know what I'm doing.

cgtrox  8-)

doc — Aug 13, 2008Apart from your repairing the scrape (how exactly did you do that anyway?) how do these things sound unplugged?

I think he dragged the bridge across it. There is only about a 1/8" spot and a couple of "dots" that are scraped off. It sounds GREAT unplugged!

cgtrox  8-)

spud — Aug 13, 2008A good close-up pic would help.

Sorry bro, no camera.

cgtrox  8-)

cgtrox — Aug 13, 2008[quote author=DreamTheaterRules link=1218566235/0#5 date=1218578913]I'm gonna try a couple of things.

uh oh....  this sounds sorta like one of those "hey guys, watch this" ideas.   ;D ;D


HAHAHA!! Nah Howie, I know what I'm doing.

cgtrox  8-)

LOL, I know man, I'm just kiddin ya.   Usually the piezo element has a layer between it and the saddles.  If this has tears or spots missing, the vibration won't translate correctly.  You should be able to contact the manufacturer and get a replacement.

Well, last night we A/B'ed it on a Fender (yes FB, I said a Fender) acoustic amp with a Takamine and the difference was unbelievable! There is something wrong. The Laguna sounded muffled where the Tak sounded HUGE thru the same amp! I think I am going to steer him this way http://namm.harmony-central.com/WNAMM08/Content/Fishman/PR/Matrix-Infinity.html I was showing him this one anyway. Waddaya tink?? Anyone heard one of these?

cgtrox  8-)  

Chris,

haven't heard this one, but I'm sure it's pretty good.  Why replace instead of a minor repair?  

He wanted that one anyway, wasn't too happy with the factory one. The guitar sounds great unplugged though.

cgtrox  8-)