Quick question on testing guitar output with headphones...

[Mystery123]

Can I just plug in 1/4" headphones directly to test if the output is working or not?
It's for acoustic electric that has battery.
thanks

[Dru Edwards]

Do you mean into the amp's speaker out? I don't know if headphones are the same as speaker wires. I bet Bob W knows.

[Tahitijack]

I think he means using headphones plugged into the guitar to see if it works. My guess is no because the are mini amps on the market for that purpose.

[Fran Guidry]

Originally Posted by Mystery123

Can I just plug in 1/4" headphones directly to test if the output is working or not?
thanks

Your guitar pickup output will not drive headphones.

Fran

[Rodger Knox]

If it's a hot pickup with the volume maxed, you may have enough output from the pickup to tell it's working, but maybe not. There certainly would not be any quality to the sound.

Fran is right, a pickup isn't designed to drive headphones.

[fazool]

no. There isn't enough electrical power to make the headphones work and if they did , they would BARELY work and they would sound awful.

You need something to ampliify the signal: a pre-amplifier, a headphone amp, a traditional amp etc.

[Mystery123]

Sorry, I should have mentioned, it's to check acoustic electric guitar that has battery on the pickup.

If you are checking out an acoustic electric guitar and want to confirm if the output works, can the headphone help?

Will there be any volume at all from the battery in the acoustic electric?
I just want to check it works as I'm checking it where there is no power to hook up an amp.

[fazool]

If you have a battery then you have a powered preamp - it wont be a strong signal but it should give a little sound to a headphone.

[Jeff Scott]

Originally Posted by Mystery123

Sorry, I should have mentioned, it's to check acoustic electric guitar that has battery on the pickup.

If you are checking out an acoustic electric guitar and want to confirm if the output works, can the headphone help?

Will there be any volume at all from the battery in the acoustic electric?
I just want to check it works as I'm checking it where there is no power to hook up an amp.

No. Partly because there still wouldn't be enough output to drive the headphones. And more importantly, the preamp will not work anyways, as the TRS plug on the headphones will prevent the battery from being connected to the guitar's internal preamp. The ring would have to be tied to ground to allow power to be applied to the preamp.

[Mystery123]

Originally Posted by Jeff Scott

No. Partly because there still wouldn't be enough output to drive the headphones. And more importantly, the preamp will not work anyways, as the TRS plug on the headphones will prevent the battery from being connected to the guitar's internal preamp. The ring would have to be tied to ground to allow power to be applied to the preamp.

I see.
Hmm... maybe I can take my multimeter and a guitar cable to check voltage.

[Mystery123]

Just realized I have an Alesis mixer that I can connect and then use my headphone on its output.
It's small enough to be powered via car's 12v outlet.
That should be fine I think.

[LSemmens]

That mixer will be perfect for the job. An active pickup will not have the power in itself to drive headphones, the output (plug) on the guitar is at a level very similar to a microphone that is not plugged into a desk or amp. i.e. a very small signal that needs to be boosted.

[clintj]

Originally Posted by Mystery123

I see.
Hmm... maybe I can take my multimeter and a guitar cable to check voltage.

That should work. You'd see in the tens to hundreds of millivolts AC. The mixer idea a couple of posts later would let you hear the signal, though.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

[Dru Edwards]

Originally Posted by Tahitijack

I think he means using headphones plugged into the guitar to see if it works. My guess is no because the are mini amps on the market for that purpose.

You're right, thanks for the clarification.

Mystery123, sounds like you have a solution. Let us know how it works out.

[Mystery123]

The mixer works great.

I'll test a headphone just to see how that works since I have the guitar.
thanks