SE Hollowbody II Piezo white noise / static?

[Rob DeGuzman]

Hi there. I was wondering if anyone could offer any advice or guidance. I recently purchased a used SE HB Piezo off of Reverb. I'm getting some white noise and static from the mix / piezo output. It's a sporadic mix of white noise and static that occurs even when both volume knobs are down to zero. I am getting regular sound out of the magnetic and piezo pickups but the noise is audible and noticeable enough when sustaining a lightly played chord or note.

I've tried different cables, changing the battery, turning off different things like my computer, monitor, etc.. I haven't plugged into an amp yet only my audio interface. I tried 2 different audio interfaces as well.

There is no noise when using the mag output. Only the mix / piezo output regardless of where the volume knobs are set. I also plugged in my Taylor and did not get any noise using the same cables and interface.

Any ideas on what might be causing this? I haven't had this issue with other piezo equipped guitars I've owned so I'm not sure where to start. Thanks so much for your help. I love the guitar and bought it to use for recording so I was pretty bummed that I wasn't getting a clean signal.

 

[Lacire]

The battery would have been my first thought but since you changed it, this is just a guess so it also might not work. The piezo PC board output signal may be set to hot. There is a level adjustment on the PC board. This is located inside the guitar and is accessed by removing the six screws on the end of the guitar that is holding the battery compartment and the two output jacks. The wires are long enough to pull out the PC board and make the adjustment. I would remove it and being careful not to pull very hard on the wires, look for the PZ level marked in white letters. I’d plug the guitar in and play it (make a note or take a picture of where the level adjustment is currently set so you can return it to this setting if this doesn’t work) and while making an adjustment listen to see if the nose goes away. Please let us know if this works or not. Good luck.

 

[Rob DeGuzman]

Thanks for the suggestion. I pulled out the PC board and adjusted the PZ level. It didn't have any effect on the noise. However, I am glad I tried it because I adjusted the volume to closer fit the balance I'm looking for. There seems to be less noise today although it still comes and goes. Thanks again for your help!

 

[Lacire]

Sorry it didn’t work. I’d try calling or emailing PRS support; also I believe that preamp should be made by LR Baggs, they might not help since this is probably proprietary to PRS but you may ask if they have any suggestions, can’t hurt.

https://www.lrbaggs.com/support (805) 929-3545

 

[aphantomvaper]

Could it be the Piezo picking up some EMI? Does the notice change or go away depending on which way you are facing?

Sorry to hear you have this issue. I have that same guitar and no noise as you describe.

 

[Rob DeGuzman]

Sorry it didn’t work. I’d try calling or emailing PRS support; also I believe that preamp should be made by LR Baggs, they might not help since this is probably proprietary to PRS but you may ask if they have any suggestions, can’t hurt.
https://www.lrbaggs.com/support
https://www.lrbaggs.com/support (805) 929-3545

Thanks so much for your time and the advice. The noise seems to be less prominent now. It's still there if I turn the input gain up a bit on my interface but i suppose that may be expected. I'll see how it goes and if the problem persists I may contact L.R. Baggs like you suggested. Thanks again. Btw, just curious but do you own one of these guitars?

 

[Rob DeGuzman]

Could it be the Piezo picking up some EMI? Does the notice change or go away depending on which way you are facing?

Sorry to hear you have this issue. I have that same guitar and no noise as you describe.

It could be picking up some EMI. It didn't change when I faced different directions. I also tried unplugging different things and turning off my computer monitor. There was some thunderstorms in the area during that time so not sure if that has any effect on noise that it could pick up.

Have you tried recording with your guitar? I was just curious if you were to turn the input gain up just a little bit if you hear any noise coming from the guitar even with volume knobs turned down. Here is the noise I was getting when I recorded me playing a few chords with a light touch:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dUkg8a9l5Mgf1yhymqG3ef0Msq1BkEIA/view?usp=sharing

 

[aphantomvaper]

I'm not recording but am playing it at around 95 DB, no detectable noise.

 

[Rob DeGuzman]

I'm not recording but am playing it at around 95 DB, no detectable noise.

Thanks. I took it into my local guitar shop today and the tech did notice the noise I described. He's still looking into it but his first guess was it's probably something with the preamp since the noise still occurs when the volume knobs are down. I'll give an update when I hear back from him.

 

[T_K]

Hi,

I recently purchased SE hollowbody piezo and am having a same issue.
I do not hear it when plugged into Mag only, and don’t think it is EMI as it doesn’t change by changing which way guitar is facing, or changing the volume pod. The weird thing is, sometimes it goes away, and I don’t know where it is coming from…

Actually, I sent it to PRS services, and I think they lowered the piezo pickup output (as Lacire suggested above), but still have an issue thus was wondering what to do.

Anyone else have similar issues?

 

[Rob DeGuzman]

Hi,

I recently purchased SE hollowbody piezo and am having a same issue.
I do not hear it when plugged into Mag only, and don’t think it is EMI as it doesn’t change by changing which way guitar is facing, or changing the volume pod. The weird thing is, sometimes it goes away, and I don’t know where it is coming from…

Actually, I sent it to PRS services, and I think they lowered the piezo pickup output (as Lacire suggested above), but still have an issue thus was wondering what to do.

Anyone else have similar issues?

Sorry to hear you are having the same issues. On my guitar the same thing happens where it goes away sometimes and then comes back but I don't know what the cause is. When you sent it to PRS did they say they heard the same noise you were describing? Did you tell them the issue is still there?

I may have to send mine to PRS for repair also but I already tried lowering the piezo output but it didn't change anything. So I don't want to send it to PRS if that's all they are going to do and then send it back to me.

 

[T_K]

Sorry to hear you are having the same issues. On my guitar the same thing happens where it goes away sometimes and then comes back but I don't know what the cause is. When you sent it to PRS did they say they heard the same noise you were describing? Did you tell them the issue is still there?

I may have to send mine to PRS for repair also but I already tried lowering the piezo output but it didn't change anything. So I don't want to send it to PRS if that's all they are going to do and then send it back to me.

Actually there was lots of things happening to my SE HBii piezo, so I didn’t specifically ask about the noise. FYI, this is what happened.

• I bought the guitar new from Guitar Center (GC) online (FYI, I live in PA, USA)
• PU selector was rattling in mid position, pickup balance was bad (rear was too low even it was almost touching the string), so I contacted GC which they said to bring it into the store (this is 2 days after delivery)
• GC replaced the PU selector, but during the process, they swapped the volume and tone pod. And this is the timing I realized there are some static noise coming in. PU balance wasn’t fixed, but as I wasn’t happy of GC (they tried to charge repair parts even it was defected from when I purchased it), I didn’t bother GC anymore and asked help to PRS services
• They told me to send it to their service center in MD, USA. I told all my issues and they had a look, fixed the swapped pod, setups, etc and sent it back to me free as it was a newly purchased guitar. I am very grateful for all the work they did.

One thing I’m thinking is, this issue started when GC replaced the pickup selector, thus it could be some soldering or grounding issues around the pu selector. I haven’t had chance to open the battery box yet, but am thinking to do it soon.

FYI, PRS service center was great, you may want to contact them to see if they can help, or know of any similar issues.

Good luck!

 

[T_K]

One thing I forgot to write in my previous post.

The static sound remains constant regardless of volume pod level. Even if I turn down the volume to zero, it remains same.
So, it must be coming from somewhere other than PU.

 

[Michele]

Hi Rob, T_K,
I am experiencing exactly the same issue reported by Rob and with same sound as he shared in his recording. In my case however when I play pure clean sounds (no overdrive on amp side) the noise is barely noticeable. As soon as I add some overdrive, sthe static crackling noise appears. This is when I use mix/piezo output (nothing connected to mag only output). Mag only output is good at all times. In case I use two cables (tube + acoustic amp), given now the mix/piezo output goes to the acoustic amp only (no overdrive on acoustic amp side), I can get a decent sound. However in case I use piezo/mag output only, even if piezo volume is zero (or mag volume is zero or both volumes are zero), AND I have some overdrive/gain on my amp, then the static noise appears. I replaced the battery, played with the piezo trim pot to reduce the piezo volume etc but no change.

The reason I am writing is to understand if/how you solved the issue. The guitar is relatively new (SE Hollowbody II, July 2021) and still under warranty, PRS has offered to send it to their closest repair center (I am based in Italy), however given your posts I am worried the issue will persist. SO wanted to check first if you found a solution at all.

Thanks!

 

[T_K]

Hi Joe,

The situation you have seems to be the same as what I have experienced, but as the time passed, I haven’t heard the noise even though I haven’t done anything at all.

FYI, as I didn’t like the noise coming out, also didn’t want to worry about draining the battery as I tend to forget unplugging the cable, I’ve been playing MAG only. Recently I started to plug into MAG/PIEZO again as there was a song I wanted to play, and I do not hear the static noise any more. Did change the strings, otherwise haven’t changed anything, same amp, same cable, same battery. The only differences I can think of is, although I doubt, the battery drained a bit making some differences???

I’d be curious to hear Rob’s and others experiences.
I hope yours will go away too, at the same time, I think it is a good idea for the PRS tech to have a look at it as they do a wonderful job.
Good luck!

 

[Rob DeGuzman]

Hey Michele, T_K,

I haven't been able to solve the issue unfortunately. The original owner who sold it to me on Reverb also stopped responding to me. He was supposed to help me out with getting it fixed by PRS because they don't cover it if you buy it second hand. So my only option would've been to call PRS and send it in and pay for repair.

What I did try to do was take it to my local guitar shop and the tech said it was probably a faulty pre-amp in the piezo pickup. He said it would have to be replaced and he called PRS on my behalf to get them to send over the part. Unfortunately, they refused and said they need to see the guitar first and repair it. They won't send out the pre-amp part to the shop even though that shop was authorized for PRS repair.

So I basically just gave up on it. I did check on it again about 3 weeks ago and the noise is still there. I also tried lowering the volume output screw inside on the pickup board but had no effect. I now just use the other input without the piezo. It's a huge disappointment. I will say that the tone out of the humbuckers only through that guitar is still very satisfying and keeps me playing it. I may choose to see if PRS can repair it but sending it in and paying for repair then waiting for it to come back with no guarantee if they can even fix it is what makes me hesitate.

I wish I had something better to report. I hope you have better luck with your situation. Let us know how it goes!

 

[T_K]

Hi Rob,
I’m sorry to hear about your situation and hassle you needed to go through.
I just plugged my guitar into MIX/Piezo, and I still don’t hear the noise so am not sure what really have happened… At the same time, I agree that these humbuckers are great. I initially though of replacing it, but after digging into it for a while, I found it has good tones am am happy. As a bedroom player, I’m mostly only using the hums now, still a great guitar.

 

[Rob DeGuzman]

Hi Rob,
I’m sorry to hear about your situation and hassle you needed to go through.
I just plugged my guitar into MIX/Piezo, and I still don’t hear the noise so am not sure what really have happened… At the same time, I agree that these humbuckers are great. I initially though of replacing it, but after digging into it for a while, I found it has good tones am am happy. As a bedroom player, I’m mostly only using the hums now, still a great guitar.

Hi T_K,
Yeah it's a bummer and I wish I still didn't have the issue BUT... to be completely honest... I didn't find the piezo sound as useful as I thought I would... I much prefer the pure humbucker tone on this guitar. I'm glad to hear you're not hearing the noise anymore on yours. Maybe I'll check mine again later and hope for some kind of miracle