Do I need to install batteries in a built-in guitar pick-up before it would work and what type of batts?

Question

mine is the one with a small controll panel fixed on top of the guitar body (accoustic), then there's a removable battery case near the front, and a cable outlet at the rear, of course. I tried it a while ago but doesnt seem to work. i dont have any single idea about pick-ups. Sorry guys.

Answer 1

I would think it's a 9 volt... if it's an accoustic you are going to have to restring it... and pull the battery out.. Keep in mind, that when you have a set up like that, if you keep the cord plugged in to the guitar, your battery will drain. So when not in use, unplug the guitar.

Answer 2

No, not as a general rule. Most all instrument pick-ups are just simple transducers. Another example of some transducers would be audio mics and speakers. There are even transducers for harmonicas. In simple layman's terms, a transducer is a two-way street that can change vibrations into electrical currents that faithfully represent the original vibrations. The other side of the street is when it is used to change an electrical current into the correct vibrations as in sending an audio signal into the air as music via a speaker type transducer. All you need to do is plug the out-put from the pick-up transducer into an audio amp. That will amplify the "vibrations" picked up by the transducer from strumming the strings and send it to another transducer (the speaker) and you hear the music.

However, there are instruments, such as thin so called electric guitars, that use a transducer coupled to an internal pre-amp that do use batteries. Your local music instrument store should be able to help you with battery type and replacement.