Basic guitar electronics help

[bouche]

I think that I need to either clean or replace the pots that control the volume and tone of my acoustic. It's a passive pickup and it's gotten to a point where it's nearly impossible to predict or control what comes out of the pickup. I'm assuming at this point that it's the 20 year old original pots. The pickup is a pretty decent one that was bought at Lauzon's.

Question 1: Is there an easy way to separate the shaft or should I just go buy the same pots and resolder everything together?

Question 2: Can I just upgrade the entire controller thingy to one that takes a battery? Will that convert this to an active pickup, or would I have to replace both the pickup and controller?

attached are 2 photos. one is the inside of the little box that I removed, and the second one is the still soldered pot and shaft.

[bouche]

I just realized that the red/black wire that you see in the image is attached to the pickup and then to nothing else. I'm guessing that it would be to attach to a power source in a new controller to make it an active pickup. Am I right?

[SaggyBalls]

Save your money and get a fairly nice external preamp. Many of them have DI's built in which makes recording and playing out/on a PA (or good acoustic amp) much easier as you'd be fully prepared.

Also, try to find that feedback killer/compressor I never grabbed back from you. you'll probably be able to clean up a lot of your tone with that, as you'd be able to actually turn your gear up and make it work optimally...(I'm a fan of cranked gear)

[bouche]

The shark hasn't gone anywhere. It's sitting here ready to eventually make it's way back to you. You should just send me a mailing address and I can box it and send it. I never figured that thing out properly. I jammed with Shane Clarke a while ago and he set it up all nice but I forget what he did.

I forgot that I should run through something like that. When I get it back to you, what the hell should I get? I'd like to use something on my electric as well.

[SaggyBalls]

oh yeah...and when you do that, remember that taking tone away with an EQ and turning up the volume sounds better and works gear better than leaving it the same volume and turning up the bass/mids/treble to 'accentuate' something.

crank it then take out what's harsh/muddy/awful.

You'll probably find that your tone 'opens up' a lot more.

Have Fun!

[bouche]

wanna be my guitar tech?

[jonyak]

I would buy a preamp for it as well.

but you could also eliminate the tone control all together and just go straight out to the amp. Mind you some piezo pickups have a high impedance which does not match well with amp inputs.

if that is the case you would need a preamp to get the most out of your pickup.

[bouche]

I will probably drop it off at lauzon's and get a preamp put in then. I suppose that's something where a little body cutting will be needed for the install.

[jonyak]

not at all.. you can get one of those, or an external on that would clip on to your strap..

[SaggyBalls]

+1 to the EXTERNAL preamp. Keep your guitar pickup working and electronics out of your guitar. Less to break, less to have to send it away for.

It's also easier to upgrade your preamp that way and USE IT WITH OTHER INSTRUMENTS...

...the Economics of Versatility, my man.

[SaggyBalls]

Bouche - that shark thing I lent you...

Has a bunch of bases covered aside from EQ and reverb/chorus - It has a compressor, feedback killer, and preamp. It has line or instrument in/out switches, so no need for a DI with this little sucker. The only thing is that it's digital so if you're an analog purist...you'll want to learn how to set it up and save your money while you have some time to figure out what preamp/eq/di unit would be best for you.**

I suggest online gearhead forums for techy research and finding super deals based on practical and experiential advice (and testing) done at OFC and Lauzon (and to a lesser extent Steve's and L&M). FWIW, I thought I'd found a great deal on gear in the USA and after all was said and done (warranty/shipping issues) I'd have been about as far ahead to buy local.

Really though, you might just wind up getting another one of these sharks, an EQ,and a nice acoustic amp.

**I would really just be using the thing for a subsonic filter - my bass has 5 strings, tuned low, but there can be artifacts in the low end (anything under 31hz I'd cut out of my line) that could otherwise help focus my amp or FX chain.

Until I get a pickup for my acoustic, I think you could actually make use of it - especially since I don't have any room on my pedalboard.

[SaggyBalls]

(still though, get your pickup fixed)

[bouche]

thanks YT. I'm going to give it a shot tonight. BTW, I WD-40'd the pots last weekend, and I think that may have temporarily done the trick. I don't believe that there is a problem with the pickup.

[SaggyBalls]

FWIW, you should get yourself some lubricated electronics contact cleaner, as you might have just affected the life of your pot if you ever need to clean it again.

I think the brand I was told to get is called 'NuTrol'

You might have other uses for the stuff, but it reeks, so use sparingly. It worked like a charm on my amp.

[bouche]

so, you just walk into a store and ask the guy if he has any reeky lube?

[SaggyBalls]

don't forget to have a dirty smirk on your face when you say 'nutrol'

I wish I could remember what street the electronics store that sells it is.

The guitar tech at Lauzon (Ian ?) could tell you - he told me.

If it were any other store I'd be impressed by the gear more than the store, but that place is always a pleasure to look around in. It's one of the only places that my questions are ever really discussed and not dismissed.

I wish I had $12K to buy all the stuff I want from there.

[jonyak]

nutrol is a good contact cleaner. you can get it at active electronics on clyde I beleive.

[SaggyBalls]

That's where I got mine.