Piezo Pickup Output Level?

[ihocky2]

I installed a Martin Thinline Gold+ piezo pickup with preamp (made by Fishman) into my acoustic last night. I hooked it up to my amp and at first thought it wasn't working, but I saw the lights on the tuner blinking so I turned up the volume and it actually was working. Normally I leave my volume set at about 2-1/2 for my electric guitars and that is good for bedroom level practice. To get the same volume, I had to turn it up to about 5 with the acoustic. Is this normal, or am I getting weak ouput? All of the strings have about the same volume, so I am getting consistent contact with the piezo strip.

If the ouput is weak, does anyone have any advice on what the problem could be? The battery is new, but it is a cheap battery. I have not tested the voltage of the battery yet.

[Mattia]

Is it undersaddle? If so, are you sure the bottom of the saddle slot is perfectly flat, and that the saddle itself is perfectly perpendicular and applies even pressure along the entire length? Any wiggle room or sloppiness can cause uneven response for undersaddle piezos. As for relative volume I can't comment on your specific pickup setup. On my piezo electric the volume's on par with the EMGs in the same guitar, and my acoustic is plenty loud either direct or (more normally) via the LR Baggs DI box/external preamp.