The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
  1. #1

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    Hello everybody,

    I'm having an issue with a Benedetto floating pickup on my acoustic archtop.
    The problem is, it seems to me that it has a very weak output.
    To get a sufficient volume to practice I have to turn the amp up to a high level. If I plug in other guitars at that level they are much louder - too loud actually. I have to turn a Strat down to 3 or 4 on the volume knob to get the same level as with the Benedetto PU. I just think that can't be right even for a weak pickup.....

    I bought the pickup new and installed everything myself. And soldered repeatedly, even exchanged the jack and the pot. I recently exchanged the pickup with a Pete Biltoft CC floating pickup. That pickup has far more output and works well with the same pots, cables etc.

    Can anyone tell me his experiences with the Benedetto S-6? Is it that weak?

    I have no explanation, it puzzles me for months.... Thanks!

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  3. #2

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    I installed the S-6 on a Washburn j600k while it’s not as hot as most humbuckers it’s not that low output.

  4. #3

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    Looking at the specs, it's hotter than A-6, which in my arsenal is louder than an Ibanez Super 58. Yours may well be faulty.

  5. #4

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    I think that pickup comes with a single coaxial cable, so it's hard to miswire it. But be sure the center conductor, which should be the hot lead, goes to the leg of the volume control, and the shield goes to the back of the pot. If that's already the case, check the coax connection to the pickup, at the pickup, if you can. The center conductor could be loose or only partially connected. It sounds like something is defective with the pickup, but it's impossible to diagnose without actually seeing the pickup.

  6. #5

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    I had a S-6 that came with a guitar. It's output is similar to my Pete Biltoft CC floating pickups.
    Yours sounds like it's abnormally now. It could be a faulty pickup? Hard to say.

    I really didn't like the S-6. It would not balance well with any set of strings... I tried pretty much every type of winding and no luck...and there's no polepieces to adjust to compensate for that either. The high "E" was extremely loud, the "B" was very quiet. It was basically unusable because of that.

  7. #6

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    You didn't mention the pickup's distance from the strings, which is the first thing I'd check. It could simply be too far away.

  8. #7
    Thank you for your replies.
    As I said I replaced all components (jack, cable, pots) and have the Pete Biltoft PU working nicely with the the same wiring.
    String height is as it should be.

    The resistance measured with the Ohmmeter is what it should be....
    Therefore I thought the PU should be functioning?

    Well, it really looks like its a faulty PU. Although I bought it new

  9. #8
    So, my next question would be: if I can measure the correct resistance (in that case 9.5 K Ohms) with my ohmmeter can I assume that the PU is operating well? Or is there a possibility that the resistance value can be measured correctly but the PU is not functioning?

    Thanks in advance!