we got sarah a secondhand crafter electroacoustic guitar of ebay for christmas only
£50!
when it came the neck was bend & the action unplayable but when i put lighter strings on it it straightned the neck out & when i took off the little plastic bridge so the strings rest on this metal bit that holds it it became a nice little guitar!
BUT when we plugged it in a few weeks ago to record with it the electrics dont work!
how do you sort out the electrics on a guitar you cant get inside? you can unscrew the slider controls bit on the top but thats all i cant feel any loose wires do they have a pickup somwhere?
anyone got any ideas?
The preamp for the eletronics usually runs off of 9 volt battery If its dead then…no sound. Check inside the sound hole and see if its mounted in there. On one of mine you push down on thehousing that holds the sliders and that unlatches the battery compartment.
Quote: (duffman @ Mar. 09 2011, 11:11 AM)
The preamp for the eletronics usually runs off of 9 volt battery If its dead then...no sound. Check inside the sound hole and see if its mounted in there. On one of mine you push down on thehousing that holds the sliders and that unlatches the battery compartment.
That would be my best guess too. Battery.
My son has a Crafter electro acoustic. It's a great guitar.
Usually the pickup is a piezo pickup - a thin strip under the bridge saddle. Some guitars have a small mic in them, but I don't think your crafter will have.
Battery is my best guess.
I may be telling you something that you already know, but acoustics plugged in are not the best way to record. Much better to record them with a mic.
Quote: (bright lights tonight @ Mar. 09 2011, 10:55 AM)
when i took off the little plastic bridge so the strings rest on this metal bit that holds it it became a nice little guitar!
This worries me a bit. The piezo pickup is under that plastic bridge bit and is quite delicate. What does the bridge look like. Got a pic?
that’s a shame you got it all strung it’s sometimes easier to do with the strings off, (reach into the body and change the 9v OR put one in if it never had one to begin with)… 
There are a very “few” acoustic pick ups you can record 1/2 decent from…but mark hit’s it on the head the majority better off miking… 
dontcare
well we tried micing it &
we just couldnt get a very good sound
but anyway i unscrewed the slider controls & there wasnt a battery or any place for one which was anoying
the
little pickup square is stuck to the bottom of the guitar
ill try & take a picture tomorrow mark… i was hoping i could take out the plastic bridge & file it down to geta better action but but it was so flimsy it would have fallen apart so i just left it of & it now has a nice low action & it sounds ok
What I usually do Tina is sand the bridge piece bottom down by holding it in a pair of pliers or vise grips on the top and rubbing it evenly on the course sand paper. Works really well to shorten the plastic height and still maintain some even fit across the width of it.
Quote: (Poppa Willis @ Mar. 09 2011, 5:57 PM)
What I usually do Tina is sand the bridge piece bottom down by holding it in a pair of pliers or vise grips on the top and rubbing it evenly on the course sand paper. Works really well to shorten the plastic height and still maintain some even fit across the width of it.
Yes, that's what I do.... and remove the extra shims the manufacturer usually feels necessary to put underneath!
if i could find the bridge i took of id show you it it was so thin & flimsy & the action was so high if id filed it down enuff it would have fallen apart!
I have also used old toothbrush handles to replace ‘em. All kinds of tricks fer fixin’ guitars over the years. It could also simply be a broken solder joint or a passive unit that needs a DI
wow i uploaded a picture!! never could seem to do that before… anyway you can see the metal holder for the old bridge which seems to make an ok bridge on its own.
the plastic bridge is so thin & has these cuts that go almost to the top
where the strings sit & if i filed it down it would fall apart
i was hoping i could make one out of plastic tommy but its a funny shape with those pins on the end & its also a diffrent thickness at the bottom than at the top
sarah seems happy with it!
Ok, well you are right about it being flimsy. Usually there is a bit more meat to the bridge.
See that gold bit in the bridge slot? Well that’s the pickup. The bridge transfers the vibrations in the strings to that pickup. In otherwords something needs to be in contact (unlike an electric guitar pickup). I can’t quite see int he picture but it looks as if the strings are not making contact with the pickup - hence no sound.
If you carefully lift the pickup are there any shims underneath it that could be removed?
Hi bright lights tonight and Gents:
It’s my bet that the connector that’s mounted on the guitar could be why the electrics are not working…
If the battery is working
(Taste the battery with the tip of your tongue…
A working battery with give you a Buzz, on your tongue) the power gets to the preamp by connecting the 1/4" cable to the guitar plug…
BUT it could be that the RTS connector is not connecting the battery to the preamp…
Anyway, that’s a good place to start to see what could be not working on this guitar…
Bill…
Quote: (Mark A @ Mar. 09 2011, 5:53 PM)
See that gold bit in the bridge slot?
Well that's the pickup.
If you carefully lift the pickup are there any shims underneath it that could be removed?
oh realy!!
so whats the white square thing i reckoned was the pick up?
oh dear its a sticky pad to hold the wires to the body!! how embarasing
anyway i better check with sarah before i try pulling the pickup up
but what is a shim & why do i want one?
& thanks for all the ideas evryone
bill there is no battery in the guitar!
AaHh…
Interesting…
That means that an external preamp is necessary to electrify this guitar…
The bridge pickup that sits under the saddle must have just a shielded wire going to the output jack…
Keep-in-mind that that piezo pickup is very vulnerable to stress…
any bending might leave it unable to supply any output…
If you bend it, it could be too late for it…
At that point-in-time …
No Signal…
Bill…
Quote: (bright lights tonight @ Mar. 11 2011, 4:18 AM)
but what is a shim & why do i want one?
& thanks for all the ideas evryone
A shim is a thin "spacer". In the case of a guitar like this it might be a thin sliver of wood or plastic under the bridge that is used to raise the bridge.
On production line guitars manufacturers seem to play safe and go for a higher action. Sometimes all it takes is to remove their additional shims.
Note Bill's advice. The transducer (gold bit) is sensitive but just lift in gently. You should be able to get a thin nail file or something to just lift the edge that doesn't have the wire attached (usually the wire is attached at the high-E end in my experience). There shouldn't be any glue or anything.
As for why it doesn't make sounds - do the guitar have a preamp - ie volume/bass/treble/etc controls?
right i see what your getting at but it wont work cos the silly bridge is 2 thicknesses …thin at bottom wher it fits into the metal bit & fatter at the top where it sits on the metal bit
guitar has 2 sliders for volume & tone
If you can make it over to mine, we’ll go and see my mate, Kev.
http://www.kevinchilcott-luthier.co.uk/
Sound bloke. It’ll be sorted in an hour. Tea and biscuits. If he tries to charge you, I’ll nick his walking stick.
Quote: (TonyR @ Mar. 10 2011, 10:13 PM)
If you can make it over to mine, we'll go and see my mate, Kev.
thats very nice of you tony but as you must live over 200 miles away & its only a
£50 guitar i wont
half the problem is altho sarahs happy with it becos i bought it for her i feel bad about it not being right