410ce LOW VOLUME ISSUE

[dfaunce]

I have a 410ce (~ 9 years old). I normally play unplugged, but now that I'm playing at my church I finally needed to plug in. The sound tech kept telling me my volume is too low. He was cranking me up on the board and my volume was max on my guitar but the house volume was still relatively low.

I changed out the batteries (takes AA - not 9V) and it didn't solve anything.

They don't have this issue with other acoustic guitarist - so its not the sound guy or the board.
 

I'm scared its a preamp/pickup issue. Any thoughts on what might be the culprit?

[stepchildusmc]

do you have an amp at home try it on?

[jivauk]

Are you using a standard instrument cable, or a balanced cable?

[greg947]

To elaborate on what Jivauk said, if you use a balanced cable like an XLR to TRS or a TRS to TRS you will get the maximum potential from your Taylor.  If you are not using a balanced cable, like a 1/4" phono plug on each end, you can expect to lose one half of your volume. 

Greg

[DennisG]

Whether or not you use a balanced cable, you and the sound tech shouldn't have to max out your volume in order to get sufficient sound.  I regularly play at open mics with unbalanced cables, and never have to turn the pot past the 12-o'clock position.

[Edward]

I have a 410ce (~ 9 years old). I normally play unplugged, but now that I'm playing at my church I finally needed to plug in. The sound tech kept telling me my volume is too low. He was cranking me up on the board and my volume was max on my guitar but the house volume was still relatively low.

I changed out the batteries (takes AA - not 9V) and it didn't solve anything.

They don't have this issue with other acoustic guitarist - so its not the sound guy or the board.
 

I'm scared its a preamp/pickup issue. Any thoughts on what might be the culprit?

Hi there,

First off, welcome to the board ...glad to have you here! 

More than some of the early ES systems (AA-battery versions) had some issues.  FWIW, I had an 04 that developed body-sensor issues that gave me weird, intermittant problems (this was maybe 4 years or so ago).  It's an easy fix for an authorized Taylor tech as it's likely a marginal/failing sensor where they simply replace the harness that plugs into the preamp.  Simply call the factory, give them your zipcode, and they'll give you a few techs who are in your area.  Or ship it to the factory where they can do the deal but you're on the hook for shipping costs.

The good news: if you are the original owner, they'll cover it under warranty, and you'll likely get a 2nd-gen ES (that's the 9v version) retrofitted on their dime.  I you're not the original owner, you're going to be picking up the expense so my personal recommendation is to upgrade to the current ES (3rd-gen now).  Each ES sounded better, more naturallly "acoustic" than its predecessor, so going to the current model is a big and very much worthwhile difference from the AA version, IMHO.  BTW, if you choose to do the latter, you can get in far cheaper than the ship-it-to-the-factory method ...PM me and I'll tell ya how as I've done it on three guitars now

Hope that helps you a bit. 

Edward

[MikeB]

New 2012 310ce owner here  - balanced cables for an acoustic?   Don't remember reading anything about this anywhere?   Would not do much good (I would think) unless the board you are plugging into has a TRS balanced input.  I have plugged my 310ce into a Tascam audio interface with standard TS cable and have found the volume fine.  Plugged into a few PA systems and volume was ok.

[Edward]

Hi Mike,

Yessir, the ES' preamp is designed from the get-go for either TS or TRS cable.  Going balanced offers a much better sig-noise ratio (and a 6db output boost, IIRC), and of course the obvious benefits of a low-impedance line.  Not that any of this translates to improved tone at all, so if going unbalanced already gives you what you want, there really is no need to go balanced.  But you may want to try it out anyway (most consoles I've seen have a TRS input with the XLR) and see what you hear
You are correct that a properly functioning ES will offer plenty of gain running a regular TS cable into most PAs/consoles (so I do think that the OP likely has a genuine malfuntion in his guit).

Edward

[Herb Hunter]

To elaborate on what Jivauk said, if you use a balanced cable like an XLR to TRS or a TRS to TRS you will get the maximum potential from your Taylor.  If you are not using a balanced cable, like a 1/4" phono plug on each end, you can expect to lose one half of your volume. 

Greg

To further elaborate, switching from an unbalanced cable to a balanced on, assuming the input jack is balanced, will result in a 3 dB increase in volume. Note that a 3 dB increase is not perceived as a doubling of volume. It takes a 10 dB increase for the volume to sound twice as loud. It does, however, take a doubling of output power to effect a 3 dB increase in volume.


Therefore, if someone is getting insufficient volume with the guitar’s volume turned all the way up, the problem is not a balanced/unbalanced issue. Something else is the cause of the low volume.

[Herb Hunter]

I have a 410ce (~ 9 years old). I normally play unplugged, but now that I'm playing at my church I finally needed to plug in. The sound tech kept telling me my volume is too low. He was cranking me up on the board and my volume was max on my guitar but the house volume was still relatively low.

I changed out the batteries (takes AA - not 9V) and it didn't solve anything.

They don't have this issue with other acoustic guitarist - so its not the sound guy or the board.
 

I'm scared its a preamp/pickup issue. Any thoughts on what might be the culprit?

Is this the first time you’ve experienced a problem amplifying your guitar or is this the first time you plugged-in?

[Guitarcam]

I have a 410ce (~ 9 years old). I normally play unplugged, but now that I'm playing at my church I finally needed to plug in. The sound tech kept telling me my volume is too low. He was cranking me up on the board and my volume was max on my guitar but the house volume was still relatively low.

I changed out the batteries (takes AA - not 9V) and it didn't solve anything.

They don't have this issue with other acoustic guitarist - so its not the sound guy or the board.
 

I'm scared its a preamp/pickup issue. Any thoughts on what might be the culprit?

Hi there,

First off, welcome to the board ...glad to have you here! 

More than some of the early ES systems (AA-battery versions) had some issues.  FWIW, I had an 04 that developed body-sensor issues that gave me weird, intermittant problems (this was maybe 4 years or so ago).  It's an easy fix for an authorized Taylor tech as it's likely a marginal/failing sensor where they simply replace the harness that plugs into the preamp.  Simply call the factory, give them your zipcode, and they'll give you a few techs who are in your area.  Or ship it to the factory where they can do the deal but you're on the hook for shipping costs.

The good news: if you are the original owner, they'll cover it under warranty, and you'll likely get a 2nd-gen ES (that's the 9v version) retrofitted on their dime.  I you're not the original owner, you're going to be picking up the expense so my personal recommendation is to upgrade to the current ES (3rd-gen now).  Each ES sounded better, more naturallly "acoustic" than its predecessor, so going to the current model is a big and very much worthwhile difference from the AA version, IMHO.  BTW, if you choose to do the latter, you can get in far cheaper than the ship-it-to-the-factory method ...PM me and I'll tell ya how as I've done it on three guitars now

Hope that helps you a bit. 

Edward

When did taylor started with the 3rd gen ES on their guitars??? 

[Edward]

2003: ES launched with AA batteries
2007: ES went to 9v. and revoiced the preamp

2010: the 3rd-generation ES, and current on today's guitars so equipped.  Preamp went to discrete components and was again revoiced (revoiced mids for less "magnet pickup" sounding and much more "acoustic" to my ear), and body-sensor harness went from two down to one sensor.

Edward

[Guitarcam]

Thanks for your reply Edward!

[Edward]

You bet