I was given an acoustic electric guitar, but I've never used one before. After changing the battery I tried plugging it into a portable speaker and a consumer stereo/receiver just to see if it gave any output. Nothing — the frequency histogram on the display of the external amplifier doesn't even twitch when playing. I don't have the proper equipment or cables, just what's at hand at home, i.e. consumer electronics and cables.
I've tried all combinations on the dials, and although I don't know what half of them do, I think I can rule them out as the problem at this point. It's by a manufacturer that no longer exists, and I've not found any instruction manuals online.
There's no power switch, so I've worked under the assumption that it conserves power by only being active when there's a plug in the jack. I don't know know whether that's true, but the low battery LED blinks momentarily when plugging it in/out, so I guess that's right.
I've disassembled the preamp (if that's what it's called) and reseated all connectors (7 in total — 3 pin headers and 4 cables) but apparently bad connections weren't the problem either. Visual inspection didn't reveal any defects in the components.
Still, I can't say at this point whether it's working or broken. Did I misunderstand something about this thing?