P 22 - No sound when in piezo mode

[CVS]

My friend has a beautiful P22 . At band practice last night, she had the guitar in "electric" mode and it sounded great for about 9 songs. We than went to practice a song which required her to play with the piezo and absolutely no sound. Please tell me that this is just a battery problem. Unfortunately last night, none of us had any spare 9V batteries with us, so we were not able to determine if in fact the problem is related to a dead battery. We checked all obvious things like the amp, cables, PA etc.

Any thoughts as to the cause of the problem? Hope fully just needs a battery change???

 

[drdoom8793]

My friend has a beautiful P22 . At band practice last night, she had the guitar in "electric" mode and it sounded great for about 9 songs. We than went to practice a song which required her to play with the piezo and absolutely no sound. Please tell me that this is just a battery problem. Unfortunately last night, none of us had any spare 9V batteries with us, so we were not able to determine if in fact the problem is related to a dead battery. We checked all obvious things like the amp, cables, PA etc.

Any thoughts as to the cause of the problem? Hope fully just needs a battery change???

Yeah, my first guess would be the battery. If she hasn't been poking around in the wiring cavity, it's not likely for something to just get messed up, but I suppose it's possible.

 

[beas]

Which output jack(s) was she using? Was she running dual cables--mags to an amp and piezo to a PA, for instance?

 

[Dusty Chalk]

Yeah, other than battery, my first thought would be she switched her setup and maybe used the wrong cable or something.

 

[ViperDoc]

Battery first.

If using separate cables for electric and piezo outs, check the piezo amp signal path.

If neither works, you have a signal path disconnect, most likely a disconnected wire or bad switch somewhere.

 

[aristotle]

Ah... The notorious P22 battery drain problem. It isn't a problem at all so long as you unplug the cable from the guitar jack. Leave the cable in the guitar and it'll be dead by the next morning. Doesn't matter which jack you're plugged in to if memory serves. I've done this a dozen time at least.

Odds are overwhelming that it's just a matter of a dead battery.

 

[rugerpc]

Ah... The notorious P22 battery drain problem. It isn't a problem at all so long as you unplug the cable from the guitar jack. Leave the cable in the guitar and it'll be dead by the next morning. Doesn't matter which jack you're plugged in to if memory serves. I've done this a dozen time at least.

Odds are overwhelming that it's just a matter of a dead battery.

this

 

[tiboy]

This for me too.

 

[shinksma]

Battery. Gotta leave the guitar unplugged when not in use. Happens to every battery-boosted piezo pickup.

And even then, swap every year or two. Or more often, if you play a lot.

 

[andross182]

Wait, you mean even if you're in the shared input but the piezo is switched to off the battery still drains? You'd figure the switch between piezo and electric pickups would also be a power switch...

 

[aristotle]

Wait, you mean even if you're in the shared input but the piezo is switched to off the battery still drains? You'd figure the switch between piezo and electric pickups would also be a power switch...

I'm pretty sure that the answer to this is "yes". The only thing that the switch on the guitar does is to switch on the blend when you are plugged into the mag jack

 

[Dusty Chalk]

Wait, you mean even if you're in the shared input but the piezo is switched to off the battery still drains? You'd figure the switch between piezo and electric pickups would also be a power switch...

I'm pretty sure this is true of EVERY PIEZO EVER.

 

[ViperDoc]

Excellent point on the inserted cable. Inserted cable drains battery constantly until gone.

 

[andross182]

I'm pretty sure this is true of EVERY PIEZO EVER.

That the piezo switches off....or that the battery drains?

 

[Dusty Chalk]

That the piezo switches off....or that the battery drains?

That the battery drains. It's a common problem with Parker Fly Deluxes, too. Besides, you're less likely to damage the jack if you leave it unplugged.

 

[Fidel Jimenez]

That the battery drains. It's a common problem with Parker Fly Deluxes, too. Besides, you're less likely to damage the jack if you leave it unplugged.

I always unplug my P245 for both of those reasons. So far I've had this set of batteries in for almost a year without any issues.

 

[CVS]

Ah... The notorious P22 battery drain problem. It isn't a problem at all so long as you unplug the cable from the guitar jack. Leave the cable in the guitar and it'll be dead by the next morning. Doesn't matter which jack you're plugged in to if memory serves. I've done this a dozen time at least.

Odds are overwhelming that it's just a matter of a dead battery.

Now that you mention it, I think she leaves her cable connected to the guitar and amp at all times..........................I am bringing a battery with me tonight. Hopefully this will solve the problem

 

[shinksma]

I play with a wireless (belt clip on module), so every time I swap guitars or put the guitar down it gets unplugged.

I admit that for years I always left my guitar plugged in because I typically only played one for long stretches. Now I swap constantly - either due to gigging (acoustic - electric with piezo - electric baritone - mandolin) or just messing around with different tones.

But yeah, unplugging after playing is probably a good habit regardless of whether you have a piezo-equipped guitar.

 

[Goldfixer]

I just did a Graphtech Ghost install on a Custom Shop Strat, and used their passive install. This doesn't require a battery, but because you aren't using the onboard preamp you need to run the signal through an external preamp. I am using a Line 6 L2t monitor and it works great. The battery in piezo systems is solely to power a preamp I believe, the piezo saddles are passive.

 

[aristotle]

I'm pretty sure this is true of EVERY PIEZO EVER.

Actually, it depends on the guitar. The designer can choose to have the selector switch also disconnect the battery connection, or to provide a separate battery on/off switch. I have a Parker P39 that disconnects the battery depending on switch selector settings. There is a certain logic to having the jack connection make or break the power connection though. If the guitar is plugged in, the piezo is powered and available whenever you select it. If the guitar isn't plugged in, then the battery is off. It's funny, you get a $15 toaster and you get an owners manual, but with guitars, you get nadda. Seems like a P22 might benefit from at least a little leaflet describing the operation of the guitar. This post got me curious, so I checked the schematic listed on the PRS site. The schematic was more of a cartoon representation, and didn't really show the connection from the quarter inch jack.