Weird piezo issue

[InsideInfo]

25 flys deep and I finally have an issue with electronics! A real testament to these guitars! But now I've got a weird problem with the piezo on the B string on this latest one...

When I tap on the string it makes a bit of a distorted buzz sound like tapping on the end of your cable that's plugged into an amp. When I hold onto the metal part of the jack that's plugged into the guitar and then tap on the string the noise goes away. Strum a chord and the string sounds fine compared to the others but in between playing and moving the hands the distortion obviously crops up sporadically in between notes. Doesn't happen on magnetic pickup. Any help much appreciated!

[mmmguitar]

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@InsideInfo, have you changed the strings the guitar arrived with, and did the guitar arrive with this issue presenting itself the first time you plugged it in? My first thought is that the string winding and/or ball-end doesn't have sufficient contact with the saddle element and/or the ball end retainer hole in the bridge to establish the path to ground you're creating when you touch the string and cable plug housing at the same time.

In case that isn't the culprit, this thread seems to describe a related issue afflicting only one string, wherein there was apparently some gremlin or bit of debris preventing the saddle housing from electrically coupling with the bridge (which can, theoretically, produce the same symptom).

Do you have a multimeter you can use to check for electrical continuity?

In a typical electric guitar's magnetic circuit, the symptom of getting ground noise when touching the strings is indicative of the "tip" and "sleeve" signal path terminals at the output jack having their connections either reversed or shorted within the control cavity (the noise heard is normally removed from the cable plug tip signal path by shunting it down the unamplified sleeve signal path). Because the hexaphonic piezo setup of a Fly is summed to mono at the underside of the bridge, this symptom being specific to one string and alleviated by the surface of your skin acting as a conductive path to ground at the jack sleeve would seem to indicate that the issue is limited to electrical continuity between the string's contact point with the saddle, its ball end's contact point within the bridge, the saddle's coupling with the piezo housing, or an issue with the piezo element itself. It also wouldn't hurt to take a peak at the underside of the bridge to rule out anything looking amiss with the connections there:

[InsideInfo]

Thank MM makes total sense what you're describing. To be honest I always change strings when I get a new guitar so I didn't actually plug it in when I first got it. This thing was pretty dirty inside though so it wouldn't surprise me if it's the dust so I'll blow that out well, change strings again and see if that helps. Thanks a lot, will report back.

[mmmguitar]

This thing was pretty dirty inside though so it wouldn't surprise me if it's the dust so I'll blow that out well, change strings again and see if that helps. Thanks a lot, will report back.

Piezo gremlins can be damned frustrating to narrow down. In case cleaning things for the sake of a better grounding connection doesn't solve this, just keep us updated, and everyone here will do what we can to help. In the worst case scenario, I can mail you one of the saddles I took off my '97 Deluxe.

[InsideInfo]

Hey MM. I finally had time enough to get back to this and took an air compressor to the insides and blew everything out. Also did another string change and unfortunately the problem persists Is there anyway I could get you to PM me and I could Paypal you whatever you require for one saddle? I'd be most appreciative! I could also print you off a shipping label as well so all you have to do is drop it off. Let me know my friend, thanks a bundle!!!

[mmmguitar]

PM sent.