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Posted on Mar 21, 2011

I have a sigma acoustc electric guitar and it's not picking up sound when plugged to an amp. What do I do?

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Alex McGaughan

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  • Posted on Mar 21, 2011
Alex McGaughan
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First, make sure the volume is up on both the guitar and the amp. Obvious, i know, but it wouldn't be the first time a guitar's volume was overlooked.
Second, is there a crackle or a pop or anything if you plug the guitar in to a live amp (one that's already on and with some volume)? If not, then it's likely the cord or the amp, not the guitar.
Even if there is a sound when plugging in, try the guitar with a different cable (one you know works) and a different amp, if one's available. If there's still a problem, then it's probably the guitar.
Standard troubleshooting procedure is now officially out of the way.
Okay, so, I'm not terribly familiar with all the sigma models--in fact, I'd imagine it's hard to find someone who is--so I'm probably going to need a little more info.
Firstly, the model would probably help, and might answer the rest of these questions. Since Sigma wasn't always so helpful with serial numbers and such, we probably won't be able to get an exact ID on the guitar, but we might get a ballpark.
Next: Do you know if it's a passive or an active pickup? Is there a little light and/or button somewhere on the electronics that might be a battery indicator? If so, and nothing lights up when you push the button, see if you can change the battery easily. Sometimes it's obvious how to do this, and sometimes it's not. If it's not obvious, see if you can post a pic and we'll work it out.
If the battery is still good, then it's most likely a problem with the wiring connecting your pickup(s) and/or microphone(s) to the guitar's preamp electronics. With acoustic-electric guitars especially, it's hard for the actual pickups or mics to go bad without something happening to break them (like being dropped or whatever), and it's much more common that a wire gets pulled out or disconnected. Still, things do get old, and they do break.
See if you can tell what kind of pickup(s) and/or mic(s) you have in the guitar and take a look for any hanging wires. You may get lucky and just have something to re-attach, or it may be something easy to replace. Or, you may be stuck trying to order replacement parts from Martin.
If none of this finds the issue, and we can't figure it out with pics or model specs, I would recommend taking it in to a local music shop and having them work it out with Martin for you--they won't gouge you on the price, and they may even explain how to do the repair yourself.
Let me know when you have some more details or if this worked for you. Good luck!
(P.S. I completely feel your pain; my Ovation 1985 collector's series was recently without electrics until I tracked down a replacement pickup and rewired it.)

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i dont' see where this model has active pickups (guessing this is what you mean by pre-ampped).
The issue can be in a few places.

1) the strings could be too far from the pickups and the instrument needs to be tuned.
2) the pickups are bad
3) your jack is bad
4) the cable is bad
5) your equilizers are not corrected
6) your volume control is turned down or damaged
7) your amp is damaged

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SUBSTITUTE Change the guitar for a friends to see if the amp is really OK. Try your guitar in a friends amp to see if the guitar is OK If the guitar is at fault its either the battery, the connection cord, the little pre amp in the guitar body (you can't fix that) or you have put nylon strings on the guitar which needs stell strings for the pickup to work. Good luck
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I plugged my guitar into the amp one day only to get no sound from the guitar. The amp is working - I plugged a different guitar in and it worked - but the guitar seems unresponsive.

If the guitar is active and the battery is dead you will not get any sound. If the output jack or some of the controlls have been twisted and may have broken the connections on the inside.
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Buzzing noise when not playing

All amplifiers make a little bit of noise (hiss) but it is normally slight and drowned out by playing. However, assuming that this is not normal system hiss, here are a few simple steps to try and locate the source of the problem by process of elimination.
  1. SAFETY FIRST - a common cause of a humming or buzzing sound can be a lack of earth (grounding) on the mains supply. With a 240volt AC supply this hum will be at 50hz (in the UK) - frequency may vary in other countries but should be similar. Check the earth first because of risk of electric shock. Until you are satisfied that this is not the cause of the problem DO NOT touch any metal parts of the amp. Remove the mains lead and try a different one. Try plugging the amp into a different mains outlet socket (preferably one on a completely different circuit).
  2. Turn off other electrical equipment in the vicinity that may be causing interference. Move the amp a bit, try rotating it by 90 degrees to change relationship to things like mains electric cables in the floor.
  3. If you are using the line-out socket to give a feed to a mixer, slave amp or p.a. system unplug this. Sometimes double earthing (through the mains lead of your amp AND the mains lead of the MIXER / PA) will cause an 'earth loop' due to a different resistance at each end. Putting a DI box with an 'earth lift' in between may eliminate this problem. Alternatively there are little gadgets you can buy to do this (I found one intended for car audio systems on Amazon that works very well)
  4. Unplug any instrument leads - to eliminate possibilities of interference affecting cables, effects pedals or guitar pick-ups. Also unplug the foot-switch.
  5. If that stops it plug a lead in without a guitar on the other end - does the noise return? If yes change the lead. If no plug the guitar in.
  6. Try moving the guitar in relation to the amp (turn it around 90 or 180 degrees) - this will be pick-up to amp power supply interference.
  7. Does the sound get better or worse if you touch metal parts of the guitar with your hand? This may be a screening issue within the lead or the guitar itself.
  8. Try turning all the individual channel tone and gain controls to zero, turn off any effects on the amp panel. If that eliminates it only turn up the controls on channels that you are actually using.
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Unless something has suddenly happened to your guitar (like being dropped) start by eliminating as many external factors as possible.
  1. If you are using an effects pedal plug straight into your amp to see if that cures it.
  2. Turn off any other electrical equipment in the vicinity that could be causing interference.
  3. Try changing your guitar lead - it may be just poor screening or cracked insulation in the cable.
  4. Try switching back and forth between the different pick-ups and also fully rotate all the volume and tone control knobs quickly several times - the contacts may have got dirty over time.
  5. Pull the jack plug in and out several times to make sure it isn't dirty contacts in there too - if it is give it a little squirt of 'switch cleaner' spray - available from most electronics suppliers or online via Amazon E-Bay etc.
  6. Check the screw bezel (threaded ring-nut) that holds the jack socket in the body of the guitar. Sometimes these work loose over time and then the jack plug doesn't quite go in far enough resulting in poor electrical contacts.
  7. If your guitar has active circuitry pick-ups also replace the battery - use high quality batteries (Duracell Ultra or similar) never re-chargeables as they don't hold high enough voltages.
  8. Try a different guitar to see if the problem is in the amp. Stand or sit in a different position, move about, turn round 90 degrees to see if it is just interference between the guitars pick-ups and the power supply in your amp.
  9. If none of the above works then it is likely to be a problem with the guitar's electrics - don't tamper if it is still in warranty. Carefully remove the back plate to see if any wires have come loose - it might be a dry solder joint on the jack socket or one of the control knobs so may not be immediately obvious. If the screen wire (sleeve of the jack plug) has come off it may not stop the guitar working but it may cause the noise problem.
  10. Beyond that I can only suggest taking it to a qualified guitar technician who can fully check the electrics with a test meter.
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