E string has less sustain

[molsen]

I have some d'addario chromes .105 gauge on my 4 string kramer bass.

the a, d, and g string ring well and have excellent sustain, but the low e has a much deader "thump" to it. that'd be fine if the other strings did that too, but now i have one string that sounds...eh... out of place with less sustain. it does this whether the bass is plugged in or not, so it's a hardware issue, not electronics.

i've tried raising and lowering the action, and it's not a BASIC setup issue. neck is fine, bridge is fine, action is fine. my only thought is the nut. this bass was bought second hand and it looks like the previous owner had filed out the low e slot to fit a much larger gauge string (possible B-E-A-D tuning?). as a result, the low e string sits to one side of the slot and doesn't make as much contact with the nut as the other strings. is this the culrprit?

it makes sense that less contact with the nut might decrease sustain. any thoughts?

[62bass]

Originally Posted by molsen

I have some d'addario chromes .105 gauge on my 4 string kramer bass.

the a, d, and g string ring well and have excellent sustain, but the low e has a much deader "thump" to it. that'd be fine if the other strings did that too, but now i have one string that sounds...eh... out of place with less sustain. it does this whether the bass is plugged in or not, so it's a hardware issue, not electronics.

i've tried raising and lowering the action, and it's not a BASIC setup issue. neck is fine, bridge is fine, action is fine. my only thought is the nut. this bass was bought second hand and it looks like the previous owner had filed out the low e slot to fit a much larger gauge string (possible B-E-A-D tuning?). as a result, the low e string sits to one side of the slot and doesn't make as much contact with the nut as the other strings. is this the culrprit?

it makes sense that less contact with the nut might decrease sustain. any thoughts?

It might be a problem with the nut slot. It wouldn't hurt to replace it and see what happens. It could also be a bad E string. Are the fretted notes, from F on up okay?

[molsen]

no, all of the notes on the low e string have less sustain, but not as much less as the open e. it almost feels/sounds like something is taking away from the strings energy...... the best way to explain it i can think of is it sounds like i'm playing that string on a big upright bass (forget what they're called)....very thumpy in comparison to the other strings

[Magneto]

There are a few reasons that I can think of -offhand-but the most common is just a dead string. I've had them before, and nothing I did made a bit of difference. Sometimes you go so far as to mess up a perfectly good setup chasing the problem.

But here are a couple more possible causes:
Pickup on that string is too close and it's choking the note's sustain.
String wasn't installed properly. Well, not really "improperly", but it developed some twist to it while it was being wound on the tuner. I've actually had this happen. You cannot see the twist. I used to install a string in the bridge first, then wrap as many wraps manually around the tuner post as I could, mostly to save time and not have to do so much crankin'.
This isn't good practice. Better to let the string wind naturally on the post, letting the ball end find a natural position in the bridge as well..

Just some ideas.. but probably a dead string..

Mag..

[molsen]

interesting. yea, i tried lowering the pickups but to no avail. i've really tried everything i can think of other than replace the nut or replace the string. i guess i'll try taking the string off and re-winding it on.

what causes a dead string? the strings aren't even a month old. i'd really hate to have to dish out another $30 or so for a set of chromes to replace that string....

granted, i doubt anyone other than me notices it, but still.

[molsen]

LOL. i rewound the string and before it was tuned up and tight i noticed it looking kind of wavy. so i pulled on the bottom of the string to allow the ball to come out of the bridge and it twisted around like 5 times! tightened up and tuned and the problem is definitely better! not gone, but i think that was part of the problem.

i guess the only thing left to do is replace the nut (which i kinda wanted to do anyways cuz the current one was installed a little sloppy = some glue can be seen)

thanks for the help! hopefully a new nut will fix this.

[Magneto]

Originally Posted by molsen

interesting. yea, i tried lowering the pickups but to no avail. i've really tried everything i can think of other than replace the nut or replace the string. i guess i'll try taking the string off and re-winding it on.

what causes a dead string? the strings aren't even a month old. i'd really hate to have to dish out another $30 or so for a set of chromes to replace that string....

granted, i doubt anyone other than me notices it, but still.

Well, not all strings age gracefully, and that's especially true for the low E, especially if you're playin' roundwounds and like that sweet sustain and growl.
Heavier strings get dirtier quicker and easier than others, even when you clean them regularly.
I know you're thinking "but why just the E string?".. can't answer that.
Might be something to consider when choosing a new set. Maybe trying another brand?

Something else you might try while you have the string off is to boil it boiling water, or use some denatured alcohol to clean the strings. I've used lacquer thinner, and it's some powerful stuff that will degrease just about anything, but you have to be carefull with the stuff.
Both methods have worked for me when I didn't have the cash for new strings.
p.s. Don't clean the strings with any cleaners while it's on the bass, ok?

Mag..

[molsen]

they're flatwounds and are wiped down after nearly every use. i'd be surprised if the string was dead because of age and use. they're just down getting broken in, IMO< at not even a month old.

but i guess it's worth a try.

-edit- i just did some noodling and, actually, untwisting the string fixed the problem more than i realized at first. i honestly think that was my main problem. i checked the other strings and none of them were twisted because the strings are small enough to spin in the bridge holes, unlike the low e.

[Magneto]

After re-reading your original post, I think it might be a good idea to replace that NUT. That .105 you're using isn't a light string, and it does sound like the nut was filed out for a much heavier string. You don't want that.

I'm glad that restringing the E helped a bit. I guess you now know what I mean about a string getting twisted? Too bad we can't have a ball-bearing on the bridge side, right? haha..

Some people keep strings playin' nice for longer than others. Month old strings in my case are just about needin' changing.

Anyways..

Mag...