Saw and older post about this with no solution. The other day I was playing my SE Hollowbody Piezo ii and I got a weird staticy noise. Pretty quiet unless I put on any distortion then it was really loud. Sounded like interference almost. I checked my pedalboard, nothing. I unplugged everything from the amp. The amp was silent besides normal amp hum. I plugged just the cable in. Still no sound. Plugged in the guitar, got the static noise again. Today I tried another guitar through the pedal board, no static sound. Tried the other guitar straight into the amp, no static sound. Plugged the hollow body back in, the static cam back. I was using the blended pickup output. I switched to the mag only, no static. I’m was using a 1975 Fender Deluxe Reverb. I went back to the combo pick up, static came back. I tried a spreader amp, VHT Super 6 Ultra. The combo pickup still had a static noise but was more faint. The mag only still had none…any thoughts?
Static sound w/ SE Piezo Hollowbody ii
- Thread starter Rlogue22
- Start date
Birdsofprey
PRS Tesseract
Do those have a 9 volt battery if so my guess would be it’s failing.
It does have a battery and it’s still good. I changed it and will check but in the previous feed, battery changes didn’t fix the problem. Headed out to play later and I’ll see if that worked but the battery I pulled was pretty fresh.
aphantomvaper
Bend it to the Owl!
Sound like contacting the PTC is the way to go. Its a stellar instrument otherwise, right?
Perhaps turning down the piezo gain would help.
Perhaps turning down the piezo gain would help.
It’s a fabulous guitar. Tone is great. Fits my style of play great!
TXBlueslinger
New Member
- Joined
- Aug 20, 2018
- Messages
- 5
I just picked up a mint HBii and having the exact same issue with static. Did anyone have a solid solution or root issue?
I’m thinking about reaching out to LR Baggs regarding the pickup to troubleshoot and get tips for handling this issue.
But wanted to see if anyone had a proven remedy?
Thanks,
Paul
I’m thinking about reaching out to LR Baggs regarding the pickup to troubleshoot and get tips for handling this issue.
But wanted to see if anyone had a proven remedy?
Thanks,
Paul
Huggy Love
Vintage member
- Joined
- Mar 10, 2015
- Messages
- 2,901
Let me get this straight, you guys are using distortion on your Piezo?
Correct me if I'm wrong but I thought it was for faking an acoustic sound on your electric.
So isn't that supposed to be used in a clean channel?
Correct me if I'm wrong but I thought it was for faking an acoustic sound on your electric.
So isn't that supposed to be used in a clean channel?
Took mine into the shop where I bought it. No sound at all…we determined it’s probably picking up some electrical signal in my house. Like single coils, I guess Piezio’s pick up that stuff. I usually play in a room I built in the garage, so I’m sure there’s something in the electrical I’m picking up, fridge, battery chargers, etc. the last couple times I chose different outlets and the noise is either gone or a lot less noticeable.
Ya using gain on this guitar is great. This thing gets all sorts of cool tones on clean or distortion. It’s also not faking and acoustic. The piezo is picking up the acoustic sound of the hollow body. It’s not a simulation. This guitar is one of my favorites. So nice.
TXBlueslinger
New Member
- Joined
- Aug 20, 2018
- Messages
- 5
Thanks for sharing, I’m going to try that. I’m not using distortion in mine. A little gain at times, low gain. And blend the piezo to get the sparkling highs. This guitar is a keeper, and stunner to boot! So I’m willing to try and keep it and figure out a remedy that works. Maybe there’s a better piezo brand, or something similar to swap.
TXBlueslinger
New Member
- Joined
- Aug 20, 2018
- Messages
- 5
Hi, I’m getting the same noise plugging directly into a Fender Acoustic amp. No pedals, or gain. So my guess is it’s not the distortion, being that im getting the same results from a clean channel acoustic amp.
LR Baggs pickups are top notch. So nice. Have them in my acoustics. I actually live in the same little town where everything is made. They are a cool family owned operation.
cableguy083
New Member
- Joined
- Aug 24, 2023
- Messages
- 4
So I just got the 2023 version of this guitar. I had this issue. Their are two causes of which I have verified:
1. Pickup height screw has a spring around it and it is not dampen so you will get a buzzing when you play the D string between 7th and 12th fret.
2. The static noise is actually caused by the piezo pickup wiring slipping out of the clip . Look underneath the saddle where the piezo pickup wire connects and use you pick to apply pressure towards the right (push lightly to the right or if you are holding the guitar push down towards the volume and tone dials).
I am not sure why this happens from a. Guitar that supposedly went through the QA process in the USA but it is what it is. I went to guitar center and reported it the day I got the guitar. I may have them send it back to PRS and have the warranty coverage address the issue.
This sounds like what my HB Piezo is doing. I suspected the Baggs piezo and pulled the bridge up to get a look at the piezo but didn't see any obvious issues. But after stringing it back up I noticed the static/distortion went away. Now it comes and goes randomly... like last night at a gig. Very frustrating. I'll try your fix...sounds like the culprit. Thanks.
So, I just removed the bridge completely this time to get a good look at the pickup connector. Mine was locked into the connector pretty good....didn't see how it could even come loose with the locking clip. I did pull it apart anyway to check the two pins, which were fine. Put her back together and no noise issues so far. Hopefully it will stay that way but I'm not very optimistic.
BTW, mine is the SE Hollowbody Piezo... not SE HB ii, but I belive it's the same, as far as the piezo configuration. Bottom of the bridge is labeled LR Baggs 124A 2019.
BTW, mine is the SE Hollowbody Piezo... not SE HB ii, but I belive it's the same, as far as the piezo configuration. Bottom of the bridge is labeled LR Baggs 124A 2019.
Daryl Jones
non-practicing pacifist
I went through something similar with my HB recently. It was like the pickup would "short" and pop, spark or generally make static like noises. The tech I had look at it thought wiring from the Piezo may have had a poor solder connection in it so he pulled the board and reflowed all the solder joints. No more issues. It had been intermittently doing that since I first got the guitar, but repeated checks at my dealer turned up nothing, although their tech never removed the board and inspect things, it was still under warranty at that time so maybe he wasn't really thorough since it seemed fine. Then I had a setup done at a dealer (same chain of stores) that was closer and the issue returned almost immediately. Hmmmm. Everything else (mags and intonation, action) was just fine but just that damn cut-out thing on the Piezo. When I bought my 24-08 (different dealer entirely) I asked the tech there if he wanted to have a go at it (no warranty left) and he found the bug, been fine ever since. He told me it looked like "somebody" had yanked on that wire harness pretty hard (plus there was a small crack in the plastic around one of the retainer screw holes) and the only one that could have possibly removed the board was the guy that did the setup for me. And there's more to the story with that store. Anyhoo, the guitar is fine now, and I also had him dial back the output on the Piezo just a wee tad. It was a bit too hot for my liking, much sweeter now.
So not sure if that helps but it does sound kind of similar to what I went through.
So not sure if that helps but it does sound kind of similar to what I went through.
tdroid
New Member
- Joined
- Jun 10, 2023
- Messages
- 197
The piezo does sound great, but it's not picking up the acoustic sound of the hollowbody. The piezo would sound the same in any guitar (with the same scale length and position).
Piezo pickups detect the vibration of the string, caused by the pressure of the string on the saddle. They get no sound from the inside of the guitar. To pick up the actual acoustic sound of the hollowbody, you'd need a microphone, which a piezo is not.
