paulm_80526

I talked to Gray @ Graph Tech this morning and sent him the links to pics and their website, and he realized right away that their website pic was indeed bass-awkward. He said he'd contact his web guys and have 'em fix it. I just looked now (link), and they've already fixed it. Pretty fast! He's gonna send me the right... err... correct saddles immediately and send me an RMA for the wrong ones. Good customer service, despite stumbling out of the chute.

That's a great idea! But sadly... just one thread, and on the wrong side. I will suggest that to them (with attribution) when I talk to them tomorrow.

Well, my Graph Tech Ghost saddles were waiting for me in my mailbox when I got home today. Woo hoo! Unfortunately... it looks like that Graph Tech may have the wrong picture on their website for the PN-8002-LO (link). What they shipped me in a hermetically sealed package labeled "PN-8002-LO" has the positioning screw on the other side. Pic here: https://app.box.com/s/xwz6jead34m5e744nz9i Kinda bummed. Will contact them and see what went wrong, and return them tomorrow - hopefully they will cover the shipping.

Indeed - I'm pretty surprised Line6 / LR Baggs would design it that way, especially since the piezo pieces "float" in the saddles, held in place by string down pressure. I think I'll be much happier with a hard-wired ground. I notice that you have a Korean JTV69 with a Strat neck. I recently did the same to mine as I didn't much like the profile of the stock JTV neck. I like it much better with the Strat neck, although I'm down to 21 frets. Currently looking into a Mighty Mite 2902CR or V to get that fret back. Anyway, that probably belongs in another thread :-)

Sorry - wrong tweeze :-) BTW, I had read somewhere that the Ghost piezos were less "quacky" than others, despite the hotter output. But, I will comment with real data once I get them installed. My (biggest) issue wasn't the quack, but the fact that several of my saddles sounded very dead and/or had reduced volume. I had cleaned the pockets out and reseated them, put on new strings, etc, but nothing seemed to help. I had thought about getting the individual replacement saddles, but I think the Graph Tech saddle looks to just be a better design. I don't want to be replacing saddles on a regular basis... Hopefully the Graph Tech Ghosts work well...

Yes, that is the circuit board I was referring to. Pic link: https://app.box.com/s/uwegswh7110bippmzkgf I talked to Gray at Graph Tech and he thought this approach would work well. He noted that the Ghost saddles tend to be a bit hotter than the LR Baggs. So... I went ahead and ordered a set! Will post to this forum when I get them installed and tested. The reason I asked about the grounding scheme is that there isn't an apparent separate ground lead with the existing JTV saddles, although I haven't removed the RTV to look more closely. Out of curiosity - what kind of heated tweezers do you purchase, Iknowathingortwo? Looking at Amazon right now...

Hi, I'm new to the forum and wanted to ask a few questions about this topic. I have a JTV-69 and am getting little or muted signal from a few of my piezos. They sound "banjoish". I thought about replacing them individually (thanks for the link above), but am now leaning towards replacing the entire set with left-offset Graph Tech Ghost saddles (thanks for that link as well!). I am thinking it should be a relatively simple operation, other than the aforementioned teflon stripping. I am planning to solder the new leads directly to the PCB contacts where the existing gray LR Baggs wires are soldered (after peeling off the protective RTV). I'm not sure if the Ghost Tech saddles have a ground as part of the lead or if they ground through the body of the saddle. If they do, there are large pads on the bridge PCB for GND as well. Any thoughts on why my approach is misguided? :) I think I wil invest in some hot-tweezers, as well. Zircon-encrusted?