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Recently, my under-saddle B-Band pickup has gone silent, but only on the low E.

Acoustically, everything sounds just fine. The saddle hasn't been removed recently and everything appears sound.

Any suggestions on how to diagnose the problem? Could the pickup have gone bad in just the one spot? Is it liable to have moved under the saddle?

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  • You might check to see if the pickup element has slid down towards the high e string. Your under saddle pickup is long enough to catch all 6 strings but the saddle slot may be long enough to allow for some play or movement. You must remove the strings in order to remove the saddle to inspect the pickup element. If you have had any work done on the saddle recently, you might need to be sure that the bottom of the saddle is perfectly straight and evenly contacts the pickup element.
    – Rockin Cowboy
    Apr 27, 2015 at 5:54

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I had the same problem on an electro-acoustic, but that was after I'd taken the saddle off. The solution was to bed it down properly on the bridge, as the pup needs to have very good physical contact with the saddle. Gentle tapping was the order of the day, till I heard that the string was being picked up.

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If the bottom of your saddle is not flat or too tight this will occur. You can true the bottom up with a plate of glass and some sandpaper checking it with a straight edge and good light. You can also adjust the fit with a scraper or the sandpaper and glass. Typically a saddle should be very snug fit into the bridge but with an under the saddle pickup it should not be loose, but it should be a slip fit so that there is sufficient downward pressure on the piezo crystal.

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