About 10 years ago I bought an Ovation Applause AE-36 round back acoustic electric guitar (serial number says it was made in 1990) from a buddy who was moving for $20 (a steal!). I've seen them in online sales for anywhere between $150 - $500 for excellent condition. I've had some fun just playing around with it acoustically but recently bought a small Fender 10G amp to see what it sounds like electrically. I doubt the guy I bought it from ever plugged it in.

No bueno. I get nothing but crackling sounds and hums from the amplifier...no string sound at all. I've tried a couple different cables but no change.

The amp is good. I plugged the cable into my keyboard and it sounded fine.

My best guess from reading some forums says it might be the pickup.

From research, this guitar has a passive Piezo pickup (just treble and gain sliders) that uses crystals and string vibration to generate the electricity needed for the pickup so no batteries needed.

Anything I can do...or should I just take it to a guitar shop to have it looked at? I have new strings for it that I haven't installed...old ones still sound okay, but if I change strings I could probably remove the bridge and take a peek at the pickup...however, I probably don't know what I'm looking at.

Just a loose or disconnected wire somewhere.

I loosened the strings up and removed the bridge and the pick up. I heard mention of shims that should go under the pick up but there were none. Just for chits and giggles I put a toothpick under it, retuned, and still no sound from the amp...although the crackling sound seems to have gone away.

Removed the toothpick and put it back together and still the same but with no crackling.

Gonna have to find a guitar guy to check it out and give it some lovin'.

You'll most likely need to use a preamp as the passive pickups won't have enough power to go straight to the amp. Here are some examples of pedal preamps: http://www.bananasmusic.com/productlist.asp/categoryid_496/searchstring_Preamp-Pedals-for-Guitar

So, you're saying my guitar might be fine...just not enough oomph for the amp so I need a preamp? Makes sense in a way, but on the other hand this is supposed to be a "starter" guitar in their line so you'd think someone like me (a starter) could buy it and just plug it in to an amp. GAH!

Thanks for the insight! Maybe I'll look for a preamp down the road. I've just been playing around tonight and learning Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here" and it sounds great just acoustic.

I know this might sound stupid, but does it require a battery for the pick up to work? My Ibanez electric guitar uses EMG pick-ups that require a 9V thats under one of the cover plates on the back. My Ibanez acoustic/electric needs one too but its easier to find since it have a little pop out cover near the volume controls. Sometimes they hide the batteries in weird places though

A quick bit of googling came up with this which may
be relevant: http://www.harmonycentral.com/forum/forum/guitar/acapella-42/1316108-

No battery anywhere. It's a passive Piezo pickup.

Piezoelectricity... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piezoelectricity



Thanks for the research PV1...good info in that forum.

I found (and bought just now) a Piezo pickup/preamp (battery powered) to swap out the old pickup. If that doesn't do the trick then I'll get a stand alone preamp.

Bought a Piezo pickup/preamp from Amazon and installed it on my guitar. Some assembly required as I had to cut the hole a bit bigger on the side where the old pickup was to install it.

After I removed the old pickup there was in fact a wire that had come loose from the jack, but I'd already managed to damage the pickup while getting it removed.

Installed the new pickup/preamp, inserted a 9v battery, plugged it in and it works as advertised.

Was I right, or was I riiiiiiiight.