Official Luthiers Forum!

I've been playing my Martin through an amp a lot more lately and have noticed the volume on the d and g string is significantly less than on the other 4 strings. Are there any ideas of what could cause this or what the potential fixes are? FYI it's a Fishman pickup under the saddle.

Thanks!

JohnJohn Elshaw38745.8492592593

Make sure the bottom of the saddle is flat (it rarely is).

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Eschew obfuscation, espouse elucidation.

Yes, like David said this comes from a bad fit between the saddle and the pickup. They can be very finicky, you need to get good pressure all the way across the pickup.
it might be nothing that you would notice when you play the guitar acoustically, but when you use the pickup you can hear a drastic imbalance if it doesn't fit just right. Sometimes with time, the saddle has begun to lean forward a bit. When that happens it can pull off the pickup, so make sure it's snug in the slot and doesn't lean forward either.

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Mark Swanson
Swanson Guitars
http://www.MarkSwansonMusic.com

I just fixed an acoustic electric that did the exact same thing. I had both problems, the bottom of the saddle was uneven and the slot had a very slight low spot in it. I know some folks use a router to fix the slot but for minr imperfections I just cut a popsicle stick to about 3/4 the length of the slot and put a piece of sticky back 600 grit sand paper on it. I mark the slot with a pencil so that I can tell when it's even. Just an idea.