Upgrading from Faith Saturn - £800 budget

ICBM

p90fool said:

I've just had a bit of a revelation with my Faith this weekend (that sounds a bit religious!) in that during Saturday's gig it start fluctuating in volume. I changed both leads and the battery in the on board Shadow preamp to no avail. Some of the sliders and switches have been getting noisier for a while, so the preamp was my prime suspect. 

So on Sunday I tore all the guts out of it and wired the undersaddle piezo directly to the jack, then tried it through my Zoom AC-3. 

At last night's gig it's the best it's ever sounded, and I no longer have to worry about batteries. Wish I'd done it years ago. 

Onboard electronics are the work of Satan.

I can't understand why having the pickup *only* in the guitar and an external preamp is not the accepted way to do it - it's better in every way.

I was going to say every way except not having the controls at your fingertips, but actually that's an advantage too... nothing is more infuriating for a soundman than having the player adjusting the sound of the guitar mid-song.

drofluf

p90fool said:

I've just had a bit of a revelation with my Faith this weekend (that sounds a bit religious!) in that during Saturday's gig it start fluctuating in volume. I changed both leads and the battery in the on board Shadow preamp to no avail. Some of the sliders and switches have been getting noisier for a while, so the preamp was my prime suspect. 

So on Sunday I tore all the guts out of it and wired the undersaddle piezo directly to the jack, then tried it through my Zoom AC-3. 

At last night's gig it's the best it's ever sounded, and I no longer have to worry about batteries. Wish I'd done it years ago. 

@p90fool  Out of interest did you put the disconnected preamp back or leave yourself a new soundport?

And if the latter do you notice any difference in sound when playing?

p90fool

ICBM said:

p90fool said:

I've just had a bit of a revelation with my Faith this weekend (that sounds a bit religious!) in that during Saturday's gig it start fluctuating in volume. I changed both leads and the battery in the on board Shadow preamp to no avail. Some of the sliders and switches have been getting noisier for a while, so the preamp was my prime suspect. 

So on Sunday I tore all the guts out of it and wired the undersaddle piezo directly to the jack, then tried it through my Zoom AC-3. 

At last night's gig it's the best it's ever sounded, and I no longer have to worry about batteries. Wish I'd done it years ago. 

Onboard electronics are the work of Satan.

I can't understand why having the pickup *only* in the guitar and an external preamp is not the accepted way to do it - it's better in every way.

I was going to say every way except not having the controls at your fingertips, but actually that's an advantage too... nothing is more infuriating for a soundman than having the player adjusting the sound of the guitar mid-song.

Having half a dozen fiddly, crackly, over-sensitive sliders at my fingers was no use to me anyway, I couldn't read the damn things without my glasses! Also, I tend to derive pleasure from the simple things in life, like not having to unplug my guitar when I put it down in case it kills the battery for the second set. 

@drofluf I left the preamp out as it happens to have a separate surround which acts as a hole tidy. 

The hole does definitely act as a sound port, though obviously that's totally inaudible on stage. 

drofluf

Thanks!

lincolnblue

drofluf said:

I seem to remember reading that Faith do a set up before they send them out to retailers. Mine certainly came perfectly set up.

I think they do but mine has a very high action - think a good set up will make a big difference.