Question Piezo saddle problem, anybody else?

[Fun111]

Firstly, I've already contacted customer service and that's doing it's thing however I thought I'd see if anybody else had experience of this phenomenon; I have a feeling I know what people are going to say.

My low E piezo saddle on my JPX about a week ago suddenly went all farty and crackly unless I picked particularly hard or took a load of tension off the string. I didn't use it for a while because I was gunna take a look, never got around to it, forgot about it and went to use the piezo and now the saddle appears to work just fine, it's the correct volume and everything however all the high end appears to be trimmed off.

This to me is sounding simply like a loose connection, possibly from myself or the previous owner adjusting or removing the bridge, has anybody else ever experienced this?

I understand everybody's 'take it to a qualified tech' and 'contact customer service' views, however all I'm looking for in this instance is the feedback from anybody who may have experienced this. Did you have to replace the saddle? Did you ever find out what was wrong with that one?

Thanks!

 

[dannymusic]

all my (7) piezo equipped EBMM are flawless.

contact CS

 

[jmmp]

Mine had very similar symptoms. I sent it in to CS and they replaced the saddle (low E) and straightened everything out for me. Can't say enough good things about Music Man Customer Service!!

 

[Mick]

Take good care because piezo element don´t like sweat or to much dirt, keepthem clean.

 

[Fun111]

Thanks jmmp and Mick, both useful answers.

 

[Fun111]

I tested the saddle more rigorously today, as when I switched it on it worked perfectly fine and was absolutely back to normal.

I found the sound ducked out and went crackly when I bent the string. So I pressed down on the saddle with my finger to simulate added tension and it didn't have any effect, so then I moved the saddle slightly and tried again and that caused the sound to crackle and cut-out. My assumption was therefore that it was the string's position on the saddle that determined functionality and so I held half of the piezo saddle down (the side that worked) and bent the string, and it worked. If the string was bent and I let go of the other half of the saddle it went crackly and cut out again.

I'm therefore certain I will need a new saddle which I am trying to get hold of now (just waiting for CS to get back to me on how to get one and what it'll cost ["But what'll it cost man, what'll it cost?!?!"]).

It isn't the most interesting thing in the world, but if anyone comes across a similar issue on their guitar this might give them a rough idea of the whole procedure I took in getting it solved.