*Really* low output from Fishman R/E blend magnetic channel

[siwilkins]

Hi all,

I've had a Fishman Rare Earth blend for a few years on my guitar, but until last week I hadn't plugged it in for a long time. I've got it so that the microphone and electromagnetic pickup are wired to separate channels on a stereo jack, but now I've tried it again there seems to be something pretty seriously wrong with the pickup channel. The mic channel has really good output, but the pickup channel needs to be turned up really high to get any audible signal at all (except for the extra hum which you get from the high output.

I've changed the batteries, with no effect; I've obviously tinkered with the blend setting, which hasn't helped at all; I've tried a mono jack lead and am still getting no pickup in the blend. Does anything else spring to mind?

One thing which has crossed my mind which I've not had a chance to test out is the strings. At some point in the last few years I switched to using EXP 80/20's, and I can't remember if this was before or after I last had success with it. Nothing I've read suggests that this should cause a problem, but I did wonder if these could be the issue?