Explain this: Lower output on high e string compared to other strings.

[Cliff Fiscal]

My high e string is a lot quiter then the rest of my strings?

 

WTF?

 

 

[Puckman]

I've had that problem before on my strat. I don't remember how i fixed it or what the actual root cause was (the strat ended up getting new pickups and a setup, so any of those mgiht have fixed the issue).

 

I'd start by looking at pickup height and polepiece aligning with the strings.

[Cliff Fiscal]

I've had that problem before on my strat. I don't remember how i fixed it or what the actual root cause was (the strat ended up getting new pickups and a setup, so any of those mgiht have fixed the issue). I'd start by looking at pickup height and polepiece aligning with the strings.

Yep, it's a strat and a tele of mine....the strat is WAY worse.

The pickup height is set properly, and the guitar is set up pretty well.

[kenh]

Could be a pickup height problem, or an individual polepiece problem. Are these single coil strat pickups, or hum buckers?

 

If you have exposed polepieces [those little round magnet thingys], take a screwdriver, turn on the bridge pickup with the selector switch, plug in guitar into amp, and tap each polepiece with the metal tip of the screwdriver. You should hear a tapping sound through the amp.

 

Repeat for each polepiece, on each pickup. If they all work, and you hear the tapping sound through the amp, then start looking to be sure the pickup is close enough to the strings.

 

But I suspect dead pickup polepiece.

[metropolis74]

I had this happen to the G string of an SX Jazz Bass. Took the pickup out and noticed that a piece of the ceramic bar magnet under the G string broke off. Taped the magnet back on (it was held together by electrical tape from the factory) and was good to go:)

[zhyx3]

i have the same exact problem on my strat, it's a piece of {censored} squier. the high e is very hard to hear :

[Cliff Fiscal]

, take a screwdriver, turn on the bridge pickup with the selector switch, plug in guitar into amp, and tap each polepiece with the metal tip of the screwdriver. You should hear a tapping sound through the amp. Repeat for each polepiece, on each pickup. If they all work, and you hear the tapping sound through the amp, then start looking to be sure the pickup is close enough to the strings. But I suspect dead pickup polepiece.

Single coil Hwy. 1 Strat pickups.

It seems like the problem is uniform along all three pickups. The high e is there but muffled and distant. the B string is fine.

[Burgess]

When is the last time you changed strings?

[Guitarfetish]

Try a Set of DR Hi Beams- problem solved...

[Cliff Fiscal]

When is the last time you changed strings?

 

 

Recently, it's been consistant through out string changes and set up tweaks.

[Wyatt]

String volume relates to core size. The smaller the core, the lower the volume. This is why Leo staggered the pole-pieces on all of those old single-coils. The smaller the string core, the higher the pole-piece. Flat-poled PU's don't have this.

[Burgess]

Recently, it's been consistant through out string changes and set up tweaks.

I had a guitar like that once, the E string was never quite loud enough for me. On this particular guitar the polepieces were fixed so I could only raise and lower the entire pickup. I was playing 10's and I ended up putting an 11 on that axe in place of the 10. That solved that problem and oddly enough I liked it so much I still substitute an 11 for the 10 to this day though obviously none of my guitars have that same problem. I just like the way that 11 plays.

[Cliff Fiscal]

I had a guitar like that once, the E string was never quite loud enough for me. On this particular guitar the polepieces were fixed so I could only raise and lower the entire pickup. I was playing 10's and I ended up putting an 11 on that axe in place of the 10. That solved that problem and oddly enough I liked it so much I still substitute an 11 for the 10 to this day though obviously none of my guitars have that same problem. I just like the way that 11 plays.

I'll give the string gauge change idea a shot.

That's the problem, if I raise my pickups anymore the G and B string will be overly loud.

[tedmich]

String volume relates to core size. The smaller the core, the lower the volume. This is why Leo staggered the pole-pieces on all of those old single-coils. The smaller the string core, the higher the pole-piece. Flat-poled PU's don't have this.

 

 

Wyatt explained it, others just guessed! String mass needs to be more, run 12s! Ouch. For the same reason the wound strings are usually louder, especially if wound in pure nickel as it has more mag flux that bare steel unwounds. Pickups are designed with one string setup in mind, deviate and its response does too.

 

just adjust gross pickup height until close enough. You could try stacking itty bitty 1018 steel disks (washers?) ontop of pole piece until the vol. evens out, maybe held in place with CA...

 

FYI I believe staggered pole pieces are often actually magnetic, thus the higher ones are bigger magnets and produce more signal.. correct me if I am wrong...

[Ronzo II]

Does this happen when playing on the upper frets? You may have a high fret that is slightly dampening the first string. Check it with a three-fret long straightedge alongside the first string all the way up the fretboard. If the straightedge rocks at any point, the fret in the middle when that happens needs to be lowered.

[adamsnez]

this happens on my charvel as well, but on E and B string, it's like half as loud as the rest... even less.

im changing pickups soon though, see if that changes it.

[Cliff Fiscal]

Does this happen when playing on the upper frets? You may have a high fret that is slightly dampening the first string. Check it with a three-fret long straightedge alongside the first string all the way up the fretboard. If the straightedge rocks at any point, the fret in the middle when that happens needs to be lowered.

 

 

Nope.....fretted or open, doesn't matter. It's an inherent characteristic of this guitar.