Hi everyone,
I ordered a new Fender Paramount Parlor guitar which came today- unfortunately, when I took it out of its case there was a bit of a rattling noise and I think the Fender®/Fishman® Presys VT Plus soundhole-mounted electronics have become detached in transit (or maybe they were already detached). (I say "I think", because there's a protective clear plastic film over the soundhole which prevents me from investigating too much, as I don't want to remove it if it has to be sent back.)
It's new from a retailer, so I'll contact them to see what they say, but I just thought I'd ask on here in case it's an easy fix- it was a very good Black Friday price that I couldn't pass, and if I'm going to keep it and can fix it easily myself that's probably a better idea than giving it two more courier trips around Christmas time. I think I can see what looks like adhesive on one side of the electronics, and I was sort of naively hoping that it might just be a matter of pushing it back on with the existing adhesive and hoping it holds, but I realise it may be a lot more complicated than that!
There's a funny, overbearing resonance when playing, especially the lower-pitched strings and single notes which I think (hope!) is because the electronics are resting against the back of the guitar- or maybe it's the protective film over the soundhole? I don't think there's anything else wrong with the guitar, though I haven't tried the electronics to see if they're working yet- the controls are inside the guitar, behind the protective film, and the pickup might be broken or the volume might just be turned down! I also was a bit iffy about plugging an instrument cable into the guitar, because on the other acoustics I have, the socket was very stiff and I don't want to plug a cable in and then struggle to remove it if it has to be sent back! I also don't have an acoustic amp at the moment- is it safe to plug an acoustic into a valve electric guitar amp? I assume it is, but I figured it's safer to check first.
Here's a pic where hopefully you can see the problem (I can zoom in a lot on my computer, but I'm not sure you can unfortunately!)- that V-shaped matt black bit on the electronics has what I think is adhesive on it and I'm guessing that's the bit that should be stuck to the underside of the guitar's top.

Thanks very much for all your help,
Dave
Comments
It’s safe to plug into a valve guitar amp. Best to use a clean sound obviously.
I've never seen a new guitar with film over the soundhole before!
(What I really want to say is that they’ve just done the first step of removing the electronics and throwing them as far away as possible for you, but I probably shouldn’t…
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
(a) Excellent, that's brilliant news, thanks! It's at this point that I'll say my usual, "I've led a sheltered life" thing and point out that I've never actually used superglue. Hopefully the existing glue will hold it, if not I'll order some superglue and try that.
(b) Excellent, thanks.
(c) Me neither! It took me a minute or two to figure out what was going on when I first opened the case!
(d) That's what I was thinking... maybe I'd use them if I gigged, and I guess they're handy to have, but I literally never use them. I try them once when I get the guitar just to check they're working. I use the tuner, which is very handy... but of course this guitar doesn't even have a tuner. LOL
@BillDL Thanks!
I'm not sure exactly how it's configured as that darn protective plastic film is stopping me from getting in there to see for sure, but it does have a jack socket at the endpin.
I think mine does have foam still on it, you're quite right, that V-shaped bit you've circled in red is the bit where the adhesive bit is stuck to.
That's an excellent job you did for your friend, I'm totally in awe of people who know how to do stuff like that. I can just about screw in and out screws. And not always even that competently...
Don't worry, I won't peel off the protective film yet- I emailed the shop last night but haven't heard back yet, it did say they were a bit busy at the moment and might take 3-5 working days. When they get back to me I'll mention what has been said in this thread, and if they're ok with it I'll try plugging it in (with a bit of luck the volume won't be at zero on the preamp controls!), and then try removing the plastic protective film, try the controls on the preamp, and then see if I can reattach the preamp. If I can get it to hold, and the resonance goes away when the protective film is removed and the preamp isn't resting on the guitar's back, and if the preamp isn't damaged and there isn't any other damage to the guitar, I'll most likely keep it.
I think I probably could take off the protective film and still be ok- as long as I'm ok with keeping it, even if it turns out to be faulty they would still need to rectify that under warranty. But they could refuse to refund, so I think it's safer not to remove it just yet.
And also assuming the volume isn't set to zero on it- I'm assuming the volume on it can be set to "silent". It also seems to have both an interior mic and a piezo in it, with a blend knob- I could be wrong, but if it were set entirely to one or the other, the other one could be broken and you wouldn't be able to tell that without getting at the controls, either.
Thanks!
(a) Yep, that's what I'd have thought too. I'm guessing any shop which is putting it on the wall would remove the film before putting it out for prospective customers to try? I did try a Paramount years ago in a shop just after they'd been released, and it didn't have the protective film, at least as far as I can remember!
(b) Yep that's what it looks like on mine, too.
I'm cautiously optimistic that the strange resonance/reverberation is being caused by the electronics resting against the back of the guitar- it came to me that if I sort of leaned forward gently and carefully, that might move the electronics off the back of the guitar and have them hanging freely and hopefully not touching anything to reverberate against. I'm not 100% sure, as it's kind of awkward trying to play while leaning forward, but I think the resonance reduced or even went away when I leaned forward while playing it. Fingers crossed, anyway. I didn't get as far as trying it plugged in, and I still haven't heard from the shop so I'll hold off doing anything about the film until I do.
I did try the electrics yesterday- I got tired waiting (still no reply from the shop- I hope I didn't click the wrong option in the contact form that sent it to a much-slower responder, but there was no option for "damaged"!). It seems to be working, as far as I can tell without being able to get at the controls. (And the jack socket was normal tightness, so that was nice too, I had no trouble getting the instrument cable in and out.) So that's nice. As I said, I think it has both a transducer (mic?) and undersaddle (piezo?) pickup with a blend knob, so I'm guessing it's possible that the blend could be set entirely to one or the other, and the one it's not set to might still not be working, but I'm going to tempt fate and say that hopefully that's very unlikely and I'd be very unlucky if that were the case.
(b) That's a brilliant idea if the existing adhesive has lost its stickiness, I can't believe I didn't think of that! Thanks very much as usual @BillDL ;;
Or even if you can't get the exact one, I dare say you could buy generic preamp adhesive foam, and cut it to size.
Still heard nothing from the shop- I think tomorrow is day 5 of the "3-5 working days", so I'll give it until then until I contact them again.
The shop will have to remove it to repair it anyway.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Still heard nothing back, I've contacted them again, if I don't hear anything by tomorrow I'm going to remove the film and see how it goes. It's starting to get a bit silly, I've had it for over a week now, I'll be getting close to the 14-day limit if I'm not careful. I know they said they're busy, but over a week is too long- I'd be shocked if they get back to me before tomorrow, and it's 10 days tomorrow!
The shop got back to me just before Christmas and was great- basically it was up to me regarding repair/replacement/refund or they'd pay for the repairs.
I took the plastic off the guitar and the glue (it is glue, not a self-adhesive pad) is dry, it wouldn't stick back itself under its own steam. I think (famous last words!) I can probably do it myself- I looked up Wikihow (I wish I was joking about that) and supergluing seems to be relatively straightforward. Is there any particular type of superglue I should get? (I had a look and I've heard of, but never used, Loctite, but there's an extra strong version, and a mini version, plus the standard version I think.) Will it stick on top of the old glue ok? Wikihow suggested cleaning the surfaces, but I'm thinking water and electronics and acoustic guitars don't mix! I was hoping a quick dust with a microfibre cloth might be good enough.
After that is it just a matter of squirting some superglue onto the electronics, holding it to the underside of the guitar's top for a couple of minutes, and then it should hopefully hold? I don't have any clamps or anything like that, it didn't look like you needed them though if Wikihow was to be believed.
Thanks again everyone
There seems to be very little stuck on the underside of the soundboard- a little bit of glue residue but that seems to be it (that's all I can see with my folding mirror and also what I can feel running my hand along it). I don't think any wood has come off.
What you're saying there for your ideal way to do it does sound like more than I'd ideally be willing to do- I've never done any of this stuff before and I don't want to mess up and kill the guitar!
Helpfully the battery box/pouch seems to have come off now too.
The battery box is often stuck (badly) to the neck block. One problem is that the velcro can appear stuck very firmly to the wood when you try to pull the battery box off, but over time if the guitar is left upright (eg on a hanger or stand) the glue 'creeps' and the box falls off.
That's how I got my Gibson Dove, and I fixed it by simply removing the rest of the electrics.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
You're right about the neck block- now you mention it I saw some glue residue there too and was sort of wondering why, but was too slow to put 2 and 2 together.
Yep the guitar was upright, I guess that hasn't been helping matters.
At least if I know where it's meant to go that's less of a concern, I was worried I wouldn't be able to figure out where it had fallen off.
I'll think I'll give reattaching the electronics a try before I cut my losses- any thoughts or suggestions about what @BillDL said regarding the type of glue etc.? I think I'm happy to give superglue a try if it'll work ok...
Thanks again (as usual)
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein