Eastman AC722CE pickup weak output (Schertler Lydia EQ)

[njekin]

Just got a mint Eatman AC722CE off reverb.com. Like the guitar. But only find the pickup output very weak. It is significantly lower than my electric guitar single coil. The output also has apparent white noise if I amplify it up. This is my first acoustic-electric. I just want to know whether this is normal?

The guitar has the Schertler Lydia active EQ system, using two CR2450 3 Volt batteries. I have ordered new batteries, on the road now. The question is, if battery is low, will that cause the problem of weak output?

Here is the link for the pickup system: https://secure.schertler.com/en_IT/s...ckups/lydia-eq

Appreciate any input!

[Carbonius]

Acoustic electric guitars are night and day different from electric guitars. Did you plug it into a electric guitar amp? You will certainly get noise from it that way. Even set 100% clean, electric amps do not do acoustic guitars justice. The tone pots are set at the wrong frequencies for acoustics. They just aren't made for it. An acoustic guitar has a much broader frequency range. Many people run an acoustic through a DI then straight to the mixer. You can also run through some sort of acoustic guitar preamp or even an acoustic guitar amplifier. Most of these have DI outs so you can run to the mixer from there.

[njekin]

Thanks for the advice. In fact I tried different ways to hear the sound. I have RME Babyface Pro audio card that can take Hi-Z instrument level signal. When using the hi-z input, it is very obvious a weak input signal. Then I ordered a Behringer acoustic DI pedal, connected into RME babyface's mic preamp. I purposely lowered the output of the DI box, and used 36dB gain on the RME babyface, which has a very clean mic-preamp. Still very obvious noise. I'm very certain it is different from what I have heard online, live, and very different from the relatively cheaper Washburn acoustic-electric I had played for a couple years. I also have Avid Eleven Rack, which is designed to take hi-z instrument level as well, same weak input and noise issue.

I just got the popular JBL EON ONE pa system which was purchased for church uses. I used the DI box and used the mic-preamp to amplify the signal. I was disappointed again that the noise level is simply not acceptable.

Well, maybe I just have to pass over it and get a KK pure mini or something. What a bummer.

Originally Posted by Carbonius

Acoustic electric guitars are night and day
different from electric guitars. Did you plug it into a electric guitar amp? You will certainly get noise from it that way. Even set 100% clean, electric amps do not do acoustic guitars justice. The tone pots are set at the wrong frequencies for acoustics. They just aren't made for it. An acoustic guitar has a much broader frequency range. Many people run an acoustic through a DI then straight to the mixer. You can also run through some sort of acoustic guitar preamp or even an acoustic guitar amplifier. Most of these have DI outs so you can run to the mixer from there.

[Carbonius]

That is weird. It may be overly simple, but did you check those batteries? Other that that you could try contacting Eastman & Schertler bout the problem. They may be of help. I assume you bought it used but you never know, some companies will still help.

[njekin]

Yes, I have changed the batteries but no help. Already contacted Schertler, they want me to make sure the saddle is perpendicular to the UST. I checked before, the fit of the saddle was actually rather snug, but not tight. Wondering whether that may be the reason, but I doubt it. I may get a sand paper to loose it a little bit see if it helps.

Haven't contacted Eastman yet, maybe worth a shot.
Thanks for the help!

Originally Posted by Carbonius

That is weird. It may be overly simple, but did you check those batteries? Other that that you could try contacting Eastman & Schertler bout the problem. They may be of help. I assume you bought it used but you never know, some companies will still help.

[Carbonius]

If you haven't sanded a saddle before, go REAL easy. Just a few extra passes can be too much. Better to sand a little and check it in the slot a lot then to sand away too much. The fit should be snug, but not too snug. If it's too snug then the energy transfer from the saddle to the pickup might not be enough. It is commonly recommended that you place the sandpaper on a flat surface and slide the saddle across it with even pressure. I am not sure on the grit, but I would think no less than 150.

There's some good advice here on saddle making, saddle shaping is also covered. Looks like he starts with 150 and goes up. There's 2 pages, have to click on MORE to get the 2nd page. http://www.frets.com/FretsPages/Musi...wsaddle01.html

I really hope you can make this work. It's quite disheartening to get a new guitar and then have issues.

[Gullplayer]

I have this same pickup in my new Eastman AC420ce I recently purchased. When trying it out in the music store I plugged in to a Vox acoustic amp. The pickup sounded pretty good and natural. After getting the guitar home I plugged into my Ultrasound DS4 acoustic amp and got a loud buzzing sound. I tried various things but nothing got rid of the noise. Thinking there was something wrong with the amp, I plugged into another, older amp that I have, a Behringer. The same thing happened. I ended up taking the guitar and Ultasound amp to the church where I play and everything sounded perfect. No buzzing or noise whatsoever. My music room at home is somewhat small and I think, maybe, that I was getting some sort of feedback due to the tight space and the sensitivity of the pickup. In a large space, like a church, no problems!

[dannyg1]

I think you're probably going to have to do a teardown and identify which element is causing the problem. If you pull each piece, starting with the cable plug and clean the contacts, checked solder joints for bridges, cold solder, too little or too much solder, then clean both ends with contact cleaner and plug it back.

Then, pull the mic, make sure its working (talk into it while plugged) and again, clean the contacts that go into the pre. With those two things done, you'll probably figure out which element of the system is faulty.

I'm pretty sure Schertler will help you get the thing working once you've identified what's broken.

[Woodstock School Of Music]

My Eastman came with this pickup and I started having problems right away. When I contacted Eastman the person said that the Lydia Eq's can be finicky about placement so I asked them to replace it with a Matrix. For the short time the pickup worked it sounded good probably better than the Matrix but I needed something that just works and I don't have to worry about. I also wasn't crazy about the placement of the batteries I kept wondering "how the hell am I going to reach those?"

[Gullplayer]

I've noticed from photos of the Schertler Lydia that they have two of the round batteries mounted on the preamp/circuit board thing. Mine only has one, though. It doesn't look like one is missing because I see nowhere for a second battery to go.