This video helped me so much! I was restringing my Ovation Celebrity and removed the Piezo pickup so I could take out one of the shims to lower the action. The parts of the pickup fell out and I replaced them incorrectly. I could not figure out why the pickup wasn't working. Your detailed video helped me put it all back together and now all is working as it should. Gracias Cesar!!!!

First of all you've eliminated my fear of taking my guitar a part. secondly I totally understand the way it works now and most of all I think you have solved my problem. I can't wait to take my guitar apart I'll let you know how it works. great job thank you

Excelent. It not only explains how to do the repair, but does it in a simple and easy to understand and execute the job. Thank you very much. Your Spanish accent is not a problem at all. Congratulations!

I'm looking through the comments , and I don't see anyone giving this guy a hard time over his accent. but I do see lots and lots of gratitude for the awesome video. thanks

Thanks for showing how to fix the problem. It’s exactly what my takemine bass was doing.

Excellent video. The instructions are clear, the pace is perfect and thankfully there is no annoying background music. Many thanks for sharing.

Awesome communication. I would put painters tape on the guitar top if it was an expensive model. You are generous and a teacher at heart.

Hi Cesar. The electrics on my faithful old Np15c just packed up. Years before youtube I would have taken it to someone else to fix . I'm glad to say I have now found the problem myself thanks to your video and now I just have to get the soldering iron out. I'm now going to look at another of my guitars which also has electrical problems. You are a fantastic teacher and a top guy. Thank you so much x

Thanks for this! I had the exact same problem, and now my guitar is working fine again!

Thank you you fixed my problem and please don't worry about what people think about your accent most of them are just jealous and trying to see what you know and to see if you know more than they do and evidently you do that's why they want to make fun of your accent because it's the only thing they can find wrong with your video but I understand you clearly thanks again

This is excellent. I have just bought the Mahogany model but the action was too high so I had a look and found three plastic shims underneath the metal Piezo base. Thought I might have to file down the saddle which is a relief. After refitting it, the D-G-B-E strings were not being picked up clearly so I thought I had done something terrible even though I was extremely careful. Thanks to your video, I now realise the saddle was not fully inserted into the metal base which was causing a poor contact. Many thanks - PS The Spanish accent is just fine :)

Thank you so much! The step by step is so clear and detailed. You really helped me a lot here.

Great video! You definitely gave me the confidence to try fixing my guitar on my own. And yes, your accent is awesome as well! Great job and thank you for posting.

Thanks a lot man .... I cured my pickup issue by watching this video .... Cant express my gratitude in words man .... thanks a lot .....

I love that spanish accent. My grandfather was from Spain. And I love guitars. You are awesome my friend.

Excellent vid ! Thanks to you I managed to repair my piezo.

Well done Cesar, as you know I like to follow you, in particular when you show this nice MacGyver solutions. "You are the best" 👍👍

Wow!!!!! THANK YOU! Although my problem is a bit different, you have given me the idea on how to approach the problem. My issue is that the high E string is not coming through at all. The other 5 are perfect. Now.... let's see if I can fix this.

This should be very helpful for anyone having problems with their piezo pickup. I like your method of troubleshooting the problem and finding the solder joint problem then how to fix it.

My guitar problem was also with the pickups but my pickup is different from yours but it still helped me a lot by understanding how it works. Like tapping to see if there’s any sound, all in all I was able to fix mines using this video even tho my pickups are different.

no problem about your accent....its very,very clearly and easy to follow when you are giving your instruction...your right most of the problem with the acoustic/electric guitar is the pick up assembly ,, poor connection and sometimes we called it factory or human error...thank you very much for this kinds of friendly tutorial...and now ,,, ill never be afraid of taking my guitar incase there is a trouble like this...

Great video very well explained it was nice that you went step by step through showing the problem finding the cause and fixing the issue 👍 subscribed

awesome video, just what I needed, thankyou

Now I finally know how to say it..."peeaaaayzo!" I've been saying it wrong for 30 years. Great video - very enjoyable to watch

Hey thank you I got my guitar Jack adjusted just by watching your video so helpful good trick to hold the Jack from the inside

Very good work Cesar! This will help a lot of people who have problems with their piezo, a good video on how to get it working again. Very good stuff my friend!

I understood everything you said in the video. Thank you very much. Great job.

I loved it! You made it look possible to fix it yourself. I love your accent!

amazing video Cezar! just what I needed the most. same problem that I encounter with my takamine PT106.

My friend, you helped me solve my problem to repair a piezo on my Ovation. I am very grateful that I can play now. Reverb makes me sound better than I am, lol... Ignore the people who would complain about the accent, I doubt they can speak more than one language. I had no difficulty understanding every work you said. I clicked the like and subscribed, very best wishes to you.

This video will help me a lot on my takamine. Thanks man.

Great job Cesar! You have my favorite accent on all of KZfaq! Cheers my friend!

I'm glad it was a simple fix ! * Better to have a small connection problem than to have a major component failure , * especially if that component is sealed . . . or from a proprietary source that is unavailable ! ! ! Well done ;)

Excellent video and very well explained. Thank you. It is good to know how things come apart as lack of such knowledge can often be expensive! By the way, I love your accent. Muy bueno gracias!

The best, most to the point video about the Takamine pick up I have found. The action on my guitar was too high, so I took the bridge out and discovered there were shims that I was able to remove rather than sanding down the bottom of the saddle/bridge. My self created problem was, I did not pay attention exactly where the shims came from under the metal trough holding the bridge, or from under the bridge itself over the pick ups connections inside that metal trough. There were two White nylon/plastic shims and a fiber shim.I didn’t know if that fiber piece came from inside the pick up itself or under the pick up.. Now I know. Thank you very much for this detailed video. By the way, removing those tapered shims from under the pick up/saddle, brought my action down about 1 1/2 mm, exactly where I wanted it.. The action at the 8th fret/string clearance from the top of the eighth right to the bottom of the. low E is now 2.5mm

A fine and dandy job Sherlock, well detected and the best accent on the tube. 🎸 👍

Excelente video amigo. Muy didáctico y preciso. Arreglé la guitarra. Gracias

Excellent! Thanks for the look inside. I am trying to fix a problem where my High E does not play through the pick up. This look inside has given me some idea what may be wrong.

Genius! Thank you for the brilliant video.

Extremely well explained! Thank you

I like when you work on your guitars. Good job!

I could understand every word! "Brilliant"

Thank you!!!! I was changing thr Strings on my guitar and pulled out the saddle to clean the bridge more easily. When I did that, it completely fell apart. I tried putting it back together but the pickup didn't work. No google search could help me. It was until I found your video that I learnt the white thing has to go UNDER the copper thing.

thank you so much for sharing this , this is extractly what I need now, my EQ Met-B12 suddenly got the same issue 2 days ago , Im going to fix it but dont know where to start , now I can check it step by step as u did . Hope that work for me. Thank you very much :)

I love your accent. And I learn something from you. Muchas gracias. From Malaysia 🇲🇾

Great video, I own a takamine, this helped a lot.. thank you.

Very good video , with one of the best instructor

Best instructional video ever seen !

mil gracias por el video; estoy arreglando una guitarra y me ayudó entender como funcionan las electrónicas ❤️

I wish I saw this before I took my saddle apart. It took a while but I found all 6 crystals, one on the floor and one actually inside the guitar. LOL! Great video!

En ingles y español se entiende perfecto! Gracias por la ayuda. Me funcionó

Thank you.... I have a EG523SC and the output was 'crackling', so I followed your lead, and removed everything and a cracked solder joint was my problem at the output. All good now. As for your accent.... "what accent; I don't hear no stinkin' accent".... they're all jealous Cesar.

Your video has been the MOST HELPFUL so far. Question: if I try to "patch" the wire to that "prung" [I don't know the name but where the jack goes in], will it blow it up? Because the are 3 prungs but only 1 still has the wire attached. Does it have to be a "specific" positive or negative prung? It was just SO EXCITING to heaar my guitar with reverb! Thank you.

Fue de mucha utilidad tu video ya que mi guitarra es una Ovation y son del mismo fabricante. Al ajustar la altura del puente y volver a armar, ya no obtuve señal en el amplificador ni en el afinador, por lo que sospecho que algo desprendí. Voy a revisar que todo esté haciendo buen contacto y que no haya yo desoldado algo. El puente tenía dos aumentos de baquelita debajo y se los retiré para bajar la altura delpuente. No tuve problema con tu explicación en inglés, ya que yo lo hablo. Pero ya que eres bilingüe, recomendaría exponer tu video en español y luego poner la traducción con subtítulos en inglés, así aumentarías tu audiencia, visitas y recomendaciones. Saludos desde México.

Tanks..you covered that repair quite well..very helpful..

sir, what is the problem if the led light lit automatically when i put a jack in the output of my takamine, thank you sir

Great job! Even i did the same thing with my ovation guitar peizo well well when i am increasing the volume switch its sounds like distortion why? On my acoustic guitar even and also all the six string weight is equal! Is it my preamp issue? Or what help me out!

What keeps two piezo connections from shorting? Think this is my issue. Thank you!

Great video! Thank you and love the accent!

Good info video by you, actually I'm facing same issue noise humm ground issue so do I need to change saddle pick up or there can be issue in pre- amp also in my case??????? What are factors for hum n noise

your vidéo is very good and your accent is not a problem thank you very much

I've changed the end pin jack on my guitar, but it still suddenly sounds like it had a regular distortion effect, sorry for the expression lol. What has struck me the most is that turning down all the volume on the guitar, it continues to sound, until now what has worked for me is to remove and re-insert the auxiliary input that is connected to the pickup. I don't know if I should change that cable, I mean the one with the auxiliary input and is soldered to the end pin jack. I think my case is rare, but what can you recommend?

you did a fantastic job of explaining your every move and I'll watch once more before I do my own. Pickup doesn't work over G-B-E strings. on used guitar I bought. I tried putting piece of aluminum across piezo but that didn't work.

Muchas gracias por su video Cesar! I have a ground problem with a pre owned Takamine N20, i got since 2 months. Today i found out, it had a huge hum when connected to an amp i bought yesterday. I have tested the amp in the store with my N20; no humming or weird sounds. At home i have all of a sudden this earthing problem?! The piezo works fine. The humming disappears when I touch the jack input. Gonna check it out, the way you did. Maybe a bad connection? Let’s find out!

Where can i find the "main part of the piezo"? I lost it and cannot find where to buy another one

I wish you could guide me A few days ago I started having problems with my guitar, it is the GD51-NAT model. I've been with it for a year and a half, when I plug it in sometimes it rings and sometimes not. And when played back it sounds like it has "cheap pedal distortion", sorry for the expression. When the sound shouldn't be that. What can be the fault? I already changed the end pin connector but it doesn't solve the problem.

This solved my problem. Thank you...

Hola Cesar, gracias por el video, hay una guitarra que me interesa comprar, pero tiene el problema que el volumen en el pre sube de 0 a 10, y solo funciona bajandole a los potenciometros de ecualización que baja un poco el volumen. Es para saber si conviene comprarla o no, y si se puede arreglar (es una Taylor big baby). (Muy buen inglés también).

Great info I'm getting bit of humm in my electric acoustic guitar may it's pre amp when I do raise the sound it makes air kind of sound What is reason behind this??? How will be fixed???? Do help me out

Thanks for this video! My Takamine Jumbo has been having piezo issues, only works sometimes, after I hit the bridge of the guitar. Do you know what would cause only a couple strings to not work right? My other Takamine, the D and G strings (it has a split Piezo) are very quiet compared to the rest of the guitar

Olá Cesar -eu entendi bem teu inglês e teu castelhano. Sou português !! Muito obrigado pelos ensinamentos , parabéns pelo modo de trabalhar simples e eficaz. Entendi agora um problema de minha Takamine e já sei como irei resolvê-lo. Muito Obrigado. Muchas gracias ! Saudações António Almeida -Porto

Hola Cesar! Una consulta, tengo una guitarra Ibanez acoustic electric que me acabo de comprar pero no e podido hacerla sonar por el parlante que tengo. El pre-amp que viene dentro de la guitarra me deja modular el volumen, y oigo como sube y baja el sonido del parlante. No estoy seguro si se puede confirmar el problema sin tener las cuerdas puestas o no. Cualquier ayuda seria apreciada!

Good video. Thanks Cesar.

Great video, just what I was looking for! Very good English, wish I could speak Spanish that good!

Great job, thank you.

Excellent. Thank you very much!

Thanks very informative.

Very informative. Thanks.

I've gone insane the past 3 weeks looking for a video or any info on the buzz/cutting out coming from my 1989 Takamine FP360S's Parametric Equalizer. I was about to take it to a luthier here in Nashville (there are only a million of them) when I decided to reach inside the guitar and check the connections. First cable I touched was connected to the EQ by a Hosa-style mini-male plug and I got all kinds of static from the amplifier when I touched it. On a whim, I loosened the strings, unplugged the cable from the EQ, and shot the female part with electronics cleaner. 3 minutes later, I plugged the mini-male cable back into the pre-amp, plugged the guitar back into the amp, and I'm back in business. I'm guessing dust, gunk, bourbon, smoke, etc. over the last 28 years needed loosening up.

You absolute dude. Just found this to be the issue on a vintage ovation I am about to sell. Just need to peel off a bit more cable to re-solder back on to the outside of the saddle. Certainly hope it will work. Haven't used a solder iron in prob 25yrs though lol

I know this is old now but still timely and just seeing how it comes apart was useful. My Ubass just quit, Passive version no Preamp or EQ. Somehow the 2.5 mm jack unscrewed itself and the tiny center wire unsupported broke. Soldering that tiny wire ( yeah for magnifying glasses ) was a fun job but it all Ohm'd out with no shorts and back in business.

great information!!! thanks!!!

!Excelente Cesar! Tengo casi la misma guitarra,y ahora puedo repararla,gracias a ti. Gracias por compartir a su abilidad con nosotros.

Thanks for your video🥰

Thank you, very interesting.

Muchas gracias por aclarar este problema. Yo tengo una guitarra electroacustica pasiva, bastante sencilla. Tenia el problema de que no sonaba casi nada con el amplificador. acomodé el puente o hueso y se pudo amplificar el 200 % mejor, pero aun encuentro que no es suficiente, ya que mi amplificado es de 80 wats. Mi pregunta es si el puente tiene que ser completamente plano, porque el puente de mi guitarra tiene una pestaña muy delgada donde se apoya en el piezo. No se si es mejor raspar esa pestaña delgada hasta dejarla completamente pareja.

Very informative - thanks. And you have just proven that someone with a foreign accent can speak perfectly good English, in fact, probably better than that of your critics.

What type of fretwires is on your guitar?

Its been 6 years but if you see this comment and have the answer I'd appreciate your comment. I have the same Takamine Kaman DJ2 pickup assembly in my EG 240. My issue is a loose wire on the preamp. How do you get the preamp out???? I can see the 4 machine screws on the inside but how do you reveal the heads on the outside so as to remove the unit??? Thanks....

That is a CP100 piezo, the same one my Ovation Celebrity uses. And I had the exact same problem, to a tee. Same fix. Nice.

hola , me sirvio mucho el video , me llego una con el mismo modelo de preamp, no tenia salida de audio , el problema fue que armaron mal el piezo. gracias

just opened mine and it does not have that "main part piezo" - what to do?

You are good man, Thanks!!

My output is working in the amp but not in the audio interface after tightening the output jack It used to work fine before tightening What can be the problem ?

Welcome Cesar In my guitar with piezo transducer I can only hear the e-1 and e-6 strings through the loudspeaker. Do you know what can be the cause and how to fix it? Thank you very much for your response and best regards

Amigo muchas gracias por tu video, tengo un problema similar con mi guitarra , tiene un pre amp fishman profix blend, de el que puedes elegir entre el pickup o microfono o ambos, curiosamente tiene un ruido de tierra en el pickup, ligero pero lo tiene, y cuando switcheo a microfono desaparece, cheque la entrada del jack y el pre amp, todo me parecio en orden, pero al momento de tocar el pickup el ruido se intensifica, por lo que creo que tengo el mismo problema que tenia tu guitarra, vere si puedo arreglarlo ya que tu video me ayudo mucho, saludos y sigue asi!!!!

Muy buen video! Te consulto, hay alguna mod que se les pueda hacer a estas takamines para que funcionen al estilo de las pastillas pasivas? Me refiero a poder conectarlas directo al amp y que funcionen sin depender de tener siempre una bateria funcional siempre a la mano. Gracias!

Thank you!!! i've been wondering why my takamine's not working when i'm using my amp. :( i was about to get this to a guitar tech. :) will try this one. Thanks a lot!!!!

I'm English and yo hablo un poco Espanol, y my Spanish accent is probably funny sounding! 😁✌ But your video was very helpful and understandable! Y mucho gracias mi guitar amigo!!

Very helful. Thanks Cesar. I am trying to fix my Takamine EF340s preamp and it looks like the pickup is hard glued to the underbridge area. Looks like it wont be as easy as this repair.