Help With Baggs Venue

[journeybear]

The Gig From Hell Monday night came to a sudden end thanks to a downpour. I first secured my mandolin, it having already suffered a meter's fall onto the concrete deck and then attended to my gear. My Baggs Venue pre-amp/DI was sitting in a puddle of rainwater! Even though I got it out of there right quickly, the damage was done. It no longer responds to an input signal, and the power light stays on constantly. I removed the battery to stop that. And I've been leaving it in the sun to dry it out since then, though it's been mostly cloudy. No improvement, but still hoping.

Anyone been down this path before? I'd open it, if I had the tools - kind of unusual fasteners, and my local repairman is on vacation.

[ColdBeerGoCubs]

Toss it in a bag of uncooked rice.

[MontanaMatt]

Do the rice, but you might want to gently heat the rice in an oven on a low temp for a little while to get it extra dry, then put it in a Tupperware with board after it cools. You’ll have too clean pedal of stray rice grains after the drying. Contact cleaner or electronics deoxyidizer might help...
Good luck!

[journeybear]

Well, wonder of wonders! After several hours of sunshine, it has come back to life. I've gone and put it in a potful of rice, where it will sit for a few days for thoroughness' sake. Hopefully it will continue to improve and be ready to go in time for the next Gig From Hell.

Thanks very much. That method had occurred to me, though I wasn't sure if it would work on something this large.

[MontanaMatt]

I’ve had several “gigs from hell” in my career, glad you and your gear survived!
Happy pickin

[Ginzodude]

Just picked up an LR Baggs Venue today....curious how you have it set up (Bass to Treble and Presence). I'm dumb but learning this stiff now that my K&K powered Gibson Gold top has me competing with the Rockers in a 60's Rock band

[journeybear]

Getting notified about a three-year-old thread that I started, always fun.

It so happens, the poor thingy has given up the ghost, more or less. It acts fine at home, but when I plug it into the band's PA, it craps out - not immediately, not always, but often enough that I replaced it with a Fishman. It was a trade-off - lost the tuner but gained a few effects. And reliability. I still schlep it to gigs for the tuner, but don't put it inline any more.

As to your question regarding settings: fiddle with the knobs until you get it the way you like it. Sorry, can't advise you further. There are too many variables: mandolin's unique tonal characteristics, type of pickup, PA's personality, all that and more. Fear not; shouldn't take too long.

PS: My pet peeve about the Venue is I kept losing knobs. Weird.

[Ray(T)]

An old friend of mine used to manage the repair shop of a firm which hired out electronic laboratory equipment - osciloscopes, data recorders etc. - some of which had valves. When something came back off-hire it was inevitably dirty/full of dust etc. What did they do? They washed things (with distilled water) and baked them dry in a low temperature oven for a week. Getting electronics wet is unlikely, in itself, to cause damage.

Remove any batteries and let the Baggs dry thoroughly in a warm place for as long as you can - you may be lucky. My concern would be that damage may have been caused when it got wet and was powered on.

[journeybear]

I surely don't understand the point or use of discussing a problem announced over two years ago. The unit dried out long ago. And I did not power it up back then until it was good and dry. Interesting anecdotes, anyway.

But perhaps someone should address Ginzodude's concerns. They are more current.