Dull/quiet string?

Wondering if anyone can suggest what I could do to fix a peculiar issue I have with my bass' E-string. It seems much quieter than the others and on further investigation doesn't appear to be getting picked up properly. The pickups themselves seem fine - it I touch the pole pieces I get a loud clack through to the amplifier from all of them on both pijckups, and similarly if I press the strings down to hit the pole piece I get the same clack noise except for the E string (so there's something odd there). I loosened it off and rewound it, checked it was seated on the bridge OK but no change. I haven't just tested for continuity but tried "shorting" from one string to another to make a connection without luck. Any ideas?

Cheers,
John

Now thats weird...

It could be one of many things.
Have you tried swapping the E string for another one? sometimes you will get a "dead" string.

Another thing to try is to undo the saddle and give it a rub with steel wool, there may be a coating of manufacturing gunk that is acting as a sheild..

Agree with DB. Also check that the string is seated properly in the saddle. It is not unusual to have to use nut files on the saddles when these are not seated properly.

sounds like a fair explanation DB/Gavmiester.
John is this on the JBA4 bass?
If the pups are fine the only other thing to cause a dull string is the nut or bridge saddle or as DB suggested possibly a 'dead' string

If you haven't got a spare E string to try out it might even be worth putting the A string in the E string position and see if that sounds any better, it may rattle around a bit in the nut/bridge saddle but would be a good test

Thanks for your tips guys - and yes it's on my new JBA-4. Acoustically it sounds OK, it's just electronically NQR. I'll check the continuity with my multimeter to make sure it's connecting to the ground wire via the bridge properly. I do have a set of spare (used) strings from my Ibanez I can try. I did give the bridge a quick "scratch" with the string when was rewinding it, but not enough to scratch through any thick coating (not that I can see anything like that - hard to see that 3 of 4 strings would be OK and this one would be insulated at both contact points on the bridge though.

Quote:

---

Quote from quiet1_au on April 30, 2014, 12:41
... and similarly if I press the strings down to hit the pole piece I get the same clack noise except for the E string (so there's something odd there)....

---

John,
While I don't want to disagree with Gav / DB, this has got me intrigued... I'd have thought that if it was just that there was an issue with the nut / saddle, then this test would pick this up. Just wondering if there might be an issue with the string - not being magnetic enough to be picked up by the pup??? Know this is a long string to draw (sorry for that, but had to be used :) ), but the tap test on the pole to me suggests that the pup is working, but if the string pushed against the pole doesn't have the same effect, the key difference to me is the string. If you don't have another E string handy, you could try Wokka's idea - swapping out the A string (tune to an A so you don't break the bass!)... If it's the string, I've got a couple of PBG bass string sets that I could flick your way if that would help.

B.

If none of the above works the following most certainly will......

-make sure the string isn't twisted at all from winding it to pitch
-make sure the strings are not too high above the pickups.
-make sure the string has a good break angle over the bridge saddle. I usually tune up and stretch a new set of strings, and then push down hard on the string right in front of the saddle to get a good solid break angle instead of a gentler curve....

I checked the electrical connectivity today - it all seems fine, but the string-on-pole-piece click test and volume is still low. Double checked with each pickup and the tone controls too but no differences there. I also tried Gavin's break angle tweaking and dropped the string height a little at the saddle but no change. I'll dig out my old Ibanez E string (it should fit) and see if that has any effect - it does seem to be about the only thing it could be as acoustically the strings all sound fine and of similar volume.

Well, that's definitive. I swapped the iffy string with an old one I had and all is working as it should now - high volume output and there's the string on pole-piece "clack" like the other strings do. I tried tapping the dud string on the pole-piece in a few spots along it's length - nothing... Checking it with a magnetic screwdriver (all I could find at a pinch) and this string has very weak magnetic attraction compared to the rest. So Brendan, you were on the money! :-) Perhaps they used the wrong type of wrapping wire? Very strange!

I better go and order some flatwounds now (the JB is even squeakier and chiming than my Ibanez was)

glad this one is solved!

That's good news! Glad it was something relatively simple to fix! That said - a bit befuzzled as to how it can happen...

Yay! Love it when I guess it right :)

Remember, the strings that come with the kit are Chinese...
The Kit Manufactures wont bother checking the strings for electrical conductivity as their idea of quality control is to simply make sure the right sizes and number of parts are included in the kit, the same would apply for the company that makes the strings.... So there will be the occasional one that is a dud.

I am happy to send you out a replacement set if you want :)

glad you got it sorted John, in the future if someone has the same problems at least we can suggest trying another string as a solution !