Tanglewood B-Band Faulty Piezo Pickup Replacement

[@Rufusthered186]

Hey bloke thanks for the vid. You showed in 7 minutes what others takes a long half hour. And in those 7 minutes you had the Kookabarra chimed in right on que. At least it wasn't those frigging Correllas. You said good bye to the missus? Well at least I hope I was your missus? Sorry otherwise! But it was the last comment about holding your tongue at the right angle. Something my old man used to always say. Thanks! I'd lost that memory up until now. Btw good too hear a bloody aussie! 🇦🇺 Happy traveling mate

[@PetshopPete]

Thanks for reply......I got 2 from China which were very poor ! Decided to replace complete EQ... got a Cherub GT6 3 band eq with builtin Reverb and Chorus....EXCELLENT and great price...

[@BradsGuitarGarage]

Yes, all eBay pickups, B-Band, Fishman and probably others are all fakes. They either turn up partially of completely dead. It's a scam that relies on 'slippage'.

[@Jadar...]

I'm facing same problem ; they sell replacement parts on alI express that come from China...It's not clear if It's actual B Band parts, mere copies or even fake pick-ups...Is that what you got ? The price looks like it'd be worth it but is it ? Thanks

[@laberintos]

I have the same pickup and the same problem with the piezo, is hard to find that piezo replacement. It's only available in Wish but I don't trust that site. B-Band it's supposed to be a good brand. Do you think that this brand have problems with faulty piezos in particular?

[@tokamadera-83]

Hi! I also have troubles with the piezo...Do you know where I can get one that works ok with this A3. 2 model...only the piezo...Thanks!

[@BradsGuitarGarage]

They're long obsolete and B-Band are out of business now for several years. eBay's / Amazon's ones are fake and either sound bad or don't work at all. You're out of luck there, unfortunately.

[@GordWait]

So I've got one from China, it looks like the one in your video. Which way up? The plastic bead up or the flat part up? Hopefully this one from China works since my old one died at the high E string..

[@BradsGuitarGarage]

The bead is supposed to face upward.

[@GordWait]

Excellent, thanks!@@BradsGuitarGarage

[@BradsGuitarGarage]

No worries. Be careful not to bend it too sharply, and make sure the bottom of the saddle is dead-flat.

[@GordWait]

Got it done, works pretty well. Good to know at least one of them from China is good!@@BradsGuitarGarage

[@Robekc]

Hi, would you mind share the link to get this b band piezo? Being trying hard to get a worthy replacement

[@terryhayes3622]

I have a b-band ac1.5t and I can't figure out where the pickup plugs in. There's a tiny rectangular slot but the plug won't go in. Is it supposed to be this hard?

[@nickbenjamin6527]

If my memory serves me right, they're not piezo but a capacitor based film a bit like a condenser mic and they definitely lose output with time so buying old unused ones probably won't solve the problem as they will be degraded too most likely...

[@Jadar...]

They're not supposed to be piezzos (but based on some gaz property which transmits sound very well). I've heard the owner retired without finding anyone to keep his business going (?). Therefore the issues for customers... I did like those UST though. Wish I can get them back (lot of a luthier's work to adapt my guitar side to a new preamp)...B Bands preamps wouldn't work with piezzos (not well at least).

[@singhabhinay3561]

from where to get those pickups.. give us the link plz

[@BradsGuitarGarage]

No longer available, unfortunately.

[@steve1982n]

I have an issue with this preamp mic when i play strumming with my guitart it saturates a lot do you know why and what should i do to fix it ?

[@carmineiuvone]

my B-Band UST does not work on 3 strings out of 6. I am wondering where you have foudn the replacement, since it is not a standard cheap piezo but a electret UST. thanks!

[@BradsGuitarGarage]

I think I bought the last dozen. I haven't seen them available anywhere since. Shipped them from Texas. They were about AU $80 ea. Everything on eBay is fake and turns up either partially or completely dead.

[@Roberto_Narvaez]

@@BradsGuitarGarage Thank you for the video Brad! By the way, I have a set of B-Band A6T preamp plus its 22R and 1470 pickups which I never installed on any guitar. I have them in their original boxes. I bought them in Thomann music (Germany) about five years ago and I also have the invoice. Would you/anyone be interested in this set? I would sell it.

[@ubeimar123]

Good morning, could you please help me with the following question, I have a ltd tl6 guitar with a b-band piezoelectric system, and I have always noticed a dull sound with a white background noise, like shhhhhhh, more accentuated when playing the strings bass, and by increasing the treble; Checking I see that the piezo bar is broken, could this be the cause? thanks!!!

[@VILCAPAMPA]

For sure. That piezo shouldn't be broken. Otherwise the preamp can't capture in apropiated way the signal. Those piezo pick ups are very delicate.

[@WW2Adinfinitum]

Great vid , not impressed with the bband pickups , had the same failure on the same guitar oddly

[@BradsGuitarGarage]

Yes, I dare say there are many guitars out there with the same problem. Unfortunately, the eBay vultures have millions of legit looking replacement pickups which fit, but turn up either completely dead, or sounding it.

[@WW2Adinfinitum]

@@BradsGuitarGarage yeah I got a legit one from a music shop and it went bad after about a year , really odd...

[@mamokosazamtro4418]

hello! i got a3t b band preamp, and the piezo is broken. so is there anyway i could replace the piezo for any other, or only the original ones (which arent availible as u are saying) work well, and then i have to replace the whole preamp? thank you!

[@TariasNiniel]

I have the same problem (its not "Broken" but its veeeeeeeeeeery quiet) as well as the same question :D

[@mamokosazamtro4418]

@@TariasNiniel if it s very quiet it is broken. First thing to check is ur bridge nut. If ur brdge isnt covering the whole surface of the piezo with equal pressure, u ll be having the volume issues. If the bridge wasn't moved and hasnt changed its pressure, then may be some other problem occured. Yes, as i researched, u can hardly find just the piezo for a3t. U can buy the whole system for a3t in chinese online stores and in some stores in america, but i am not sure that there is a strong point to change the whole a3t system for another a3t system, as it is hard to find. What i did eventually, i ordered the whole system (preamp piezzo battery) from another brand, and i ll be just changing the whole system (all the holes needed are done with the same size already) My order didnt arrive yet, but i think it will work that way

[@TariasNiniel]

@@mamokosazamtro4418 yeah allready checked all that bridge stuff ... its all fine, also new battery ... i think its really coz the b-band strip is too old (seems to happen over time with em) ... but they dont get produced anymore ... still doesnt answer the question if you can put basically any piezo onto the preamp (if you solder like the B-Band connector to it). I mean in theory should work... coz all it does creating small amount of inductance which gets amplyfied and EQd by the preamp ... some people say it doesnt work though... maybe they dont say it out of experience but coz in the b-band manuals they say a b-band pickup does not work on a regular preamp coz it will be to quiet... but dunno if that does mean it doesnt work the other way around and they just advice against it in manuals for marketing reasons, just could mean creates a very loud signal, but that you can dial down... Today i saw that Ibanez is actually selling a regular (sadly t-type) piezo but with a adaptor to the b-band connector :/ Thats the question if it would work or not. And yeah saw there are cheap whole systems that would work for a few bucks, but the problem with that is... i dunno if they will fit, its hard to find one in the exact mesurement, and if i can i dont want to drill extra holes in my guitar or something. ... Just could imagine getting a smaller one and making a wooden adaptor frame to fit the original screwholes. But if i can id rather keep my original preamp. ...

[@PetshopPete]

Good vid....B Band ‘special laminated piezo strips’ were crap....they just hated being disturbed......no wonder the company went burst. The cost of a replacement ( if you can get one ) is ridiculously and the Chinese sourced ones were rubbish. Great pity,because when they worked they were good. Thanks again... (by the way if anyone wants a preamp ( less pickup) ....I’ve 4 going very cheep,cheep

[@BradsGuitarGarage]

I got a bunch of genuine ones from Texas for more money than I'd like to admit. I bought a dozen from China and they all either worked badly of were completely dead on arrival.

[@GordWait]

Thanks for the video. I've had a B-Band in my acoustic from 2009, sounded amazing up until this summer, now it's at half volume so I hear noise when I have to crank up the amp gain to hear it. Not entirely sure what happened to it, far as I can tell it failed in service. Had a guitar tech work on the action a year ago, but I thought it was ok after that. I'll probably try to find a new old stock one, there's a few around - I've always had complements on the plugged in sound, no piezo quack. Sounds like reliability did them in.. Wish me luck!