Takamine pre amp repair .( And a warning to others )

mark123

As title...like a daft tw@t i left the 4xAA batteries in my Jap Takamine en10c pre amp ( it was a upgraded cooltube CTP-1R  ) .
I thought i'd give it a blast tonight( after 6 months untouched lying in the case on top of a wardrobe)

 I got it out of the case and the buttons on the tuner bit were stiff not push push for tuner on/ off and pitch.

I took the pre amp out then the tuner bit and the batteries( Duracell) had all leaked , so binned them and got it all cleaned up , the battery termanel springs and connections were ok  ...with brand new batteries fitted the power light red is now showing on the tuner bit but it won't turn to green to tune and the pich button does not work at all ( i assume because it is not on green) the cooltube pre amp was untouched by the leak so i assume will be working.

so my options are ..

1. Would/ could Takamine u.k repair it ? or someone clever with electronics on here ? i would pay for their time and if it was buggered well so be it ,it was only going to be binned anyhow.

2. if option 1 fails advertise for a s/ h one on here..any Japan one will fit ( apart from cooltube 2) but would prefer in order.

A.   Graph ex pre amp ( original came with this one )

B.   CT4 BII    (Thommann have these in stock for £99)

C.    Cool tube CTP-1R 

3.Rocky horse shit...someone has the tuner bit out of a Takamine pre amp lying in a drawer.

DartmoorHedgehog

Duracell used to have a no-leak guarantee and would pay for stuff that could be shown to have been damaged by their batteries leaking. I remember my grandma successfully claimed for some camera kit but that was probably 30 years ago so I have no idea if they're still that nice.

Kittyfrisk

Sorry to hear about your Takamine.
I don't know how long ago Duracell ditched the no-leak claim, but they definitely leak as frequently as any other alkaline battery.
 To my knowledge, only Energizer still make such claims https://energizer.com/about-batteries/no-leaks-guarantee/
It still might be worthwhile contacting Duracell & explaining the situation.
It worked for at least one individual in this article https://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/corroded-duracell-aa-battery-warranty-replacement.98906/

Smellyfingers

Could it depend on how good it is or how attached you are to the guitar itself?

From your use of terminology,  it sounds  like you have the capability to get it sorted - so the only question is it worth the time hassle or money?

Thanks for heads up btw on the dangers of not taking out batteries of guitars that are  in storage. I had assumed technology had moved on from leaky batteries, but apparently not.

mark123

Kittyfrisk said:

Sorry to hear about your Takamine.
I don't know how long ago Duracell ditched the no-leak claim, but they definitely leak as frequently as any other alkaline battery.
 To my knowledge, only Energizer still make such claims https://energizer.com/about-batteries/no-leaks-guarantee/
It still might be worthwhile contacting Duracell & explaining the situation.
It worked for at least one individual in this article https://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/corroded-duracell-aa-battery-warranty-replacement.98906/

Thanks i will look into that..