peizo help

[blazemite]

Hey
Ive got a peizo pickup under my tanglewoods bridge, the problem is that it picks up the two middle strings ( D and G) much too loud, and barely picks the others up at all. The guitar itself has a fairly well balanced voice, so how can i fix this ? as far as i can tell the bone nut is contacting the piezo all over and all of the cables are plugged in correctly ......


Also is there any way to buff out small pick scatches ? ive got quite a collection of them all over my guitar?

[Nick]

as far as i can tell the bone nut is contacting the piezo all over and all of the cables are plugged in correctly ......

"As far as I can tell" How did you arrive at this, is this an eyeball check? The best way to check is placing the base of the saddle against a reference surface that you know to be flat (Plate glass, e.t.c), eye balls can be close but their ability to be precise can be a little 'off' for the type of tolerances that are required by the piezo, from what I understand it doesn't take more than a few thou for a UST to give the result it sounds like you are getting. It probably wouldn't hurt just to give it a quick lap with a bit of 320 grit on the glass, you aren't looking to remove a huge amount, just lapping off any high spots. One wipe on the paper would highlight/indicate if you have any high spots.
Also have you checked the saddle slot bottom is flat in the bridge? If the top has moved at all due to anything such as climate or string pull then it may bow the bridge up slightly making the central area of the bottom of the slot higher which would be why your central strings are giving a louder response than the others flanking it. Uneven string response with UST's can almost always be traced back to uneven saddle pressure upon the piezo whether from the saddle or it's slot .

As to your pick scratches, I've found Meguiars products to be good, if they are indeed light then start with #2 (fine cut compound) until the scratches dissappear then a quick polish with #7 (show car glaze) should bring things back to new. If the scratches don't dissappear with the #2 then give #4, which has a heavier cutting action, a go. If you end up going the #4 route then you will still need to use the #2 to get rid of the scratches that the #4 left.

[Taffy Evans]

Bone saddles can sometimes cause this problem due to their inconsistent density. Do what Nick says first, but a plastic, Mycarta type saddle might work better. Also I have a lot of repairs with Tanglewood bridges coming adrift in the shop. If the bridge bows this can also make the saddle slot unleveled.

[DarwinStrings]

You can also have a bit of trouble if the saddle does not fit nicely in the slot, it should be easy to slide in and out but without any slap.

Jim

Someone please turn up the Tele!