Low Output E String

[RossHetherington]

So I bought a new Fender Player P Bass and as the colour I wanted was not in stock I had to order it in. I immediately noticed the E string was a bit hollow and the shop kindly sent me new strings but I already had some La Bella's to go on it.

I put them on, checked the set up and the A, D and G sound like sweet butter but the E still sounds a little dead it's very difficult to explain. I wonder whether the La Bella's need a bit more relief in the neck to give them some more tension I've never really used them before. 

Currently I have the neck straightness set up as Fender suggest 0.3mm at the eighth fret. 

[BreadBin]

That sounds more like a duff pickup.

[kodiakblair]

Had the same bother recently myself.  P-bass + La Bella's, only my issue was the A string.

There was a distinct drop in output compared to others.  Adjusting pickup height went a long way to fixing it.

 

Mine also has a poorly cut nut so once I swap that I expect no further trouble.

[Chienmortbb]

Sounds like pickup height to me too. Adjust for string balance not a fixed distance to the strings, 

[RossHetherington]

11 hours ago, BreadBin said:

That sounds more like a duff pickup.

Yeah I am hoping it isn't. But it's in warranty.

8 hours ago, Chienmortbb said:

Sounds like pickup height to me too. Adjust for string balance not a fixed distance to the strings, 

The one thing I have noticed is the pickup on the bass side is slightly slanted to one side, I presume the sponge underneath is on a bit squiffy might try and sort that out. I brought the pickup height up a bit yesterday and it did help but also made the A string louder.

[RossHetherington]

So I had a go with the bass not plugged in and the E definitely sounds less defined and punchy. But I can't quite understand why. 

[gary mac]

First thing I would check is that the offending string is sitting correctly in the nut slot and on the saddle. Quite often a little filing is required.

[hooky_lowdown]

Try a different set of strings, this will determine if it's the strings, the nut, or the pickup.

I've had brand new sets of strings, flatwounds included where the E string just sounded dead or dull compared to the other strings.

[RossHetherington]

8 hours ago, gary mac said:

First thing I would check is that the offending string is sitting correctly in the nut slot and on the saddle. Quite often a little filing is required.

Thanks, this is one area i've never even contemplated doing is there a spec for how it should be?

[RossHetherington]

So I put on a roundwound E string that I had lying about and it is the same dead sort of sound (difficult to tell when the rest are flats). Sounds like its a trip to the shop.

 

[gary mac]

1 hour ago, RossHetherington said:

Thanks, this is one area i've never even contemplated doing is there a spec for how it should be?

Have a close look at the underside of the string where it sits in the nut, if there is a gap under the string, then it's not sitting correctly and the nut slot would need some filing. 

Inspect the contact point of the string with the saddle and see if the string is sitting correctly. Whenever I put strings on, I always press each string down fairly firmly, immediately in front of the saddle, this ensures a good contact point with the saddle. I do the same at the nut.

[RossHetherington]

On 17/10/2019 at 19:15, gary mac said:

Have a close look at the underside of the string where it sits in the nut, if there is a gap under the string, then it's not sitting correctly and the nut slot would need some filing. 

Inspect the contact point of the string with the saddle and see if the string is sitting correctly. Whenever I put strings on, I always press each string down fairly firmly, immediately in front of the saddle, this ensures a good contact point with the saddle. I do the same at the nut.

Looks all good, I have googled a fair bit and maybe its a side effect of the La Bellas? There are reports of E strings not sounding quite the same but it's quite irritating to my ears.