Loose E string

[scorp77]

Ok, so I just changed my strings and kinda messed up the adjustments on the bridge and nut in the process. As a result, my e string feels loose compared to my other three strings, and I get a really bad clacking sound when I play on frets 3-6 on this string. All of the other strings respond and feel way better. I've tried some adjustments but don't seem to be making anything any better. Any suggestions??

[AllenBass7]

did you mess up the action on the E string? could that be the problem?

I'm assuming that you have it tuned correctly.

[knuckle_head]

Could you have cut the nut slot too deep? Starting point for me is up from the fret board, half the thickness of the string. I generally have to come down a bit more for final tweak but this has never been too shallow.

If you've cut too deep you can use baking soda and cyano to build up some. If you have an additional nut you can sand that and use the dust to build up the slot in a similar manner (better than the soda).

[perucci]

It would also be useful to have a nice little metal ruler, measured in 64ths/inch (unless you've got something better), so you can measure the string-height for each string. I wouldn't think the nut would affect anything other than the open string, but I've been wrong before.

Generally buzz (only at) the low frets means you need more relief (bow) in your neck. Perhaps only the E string is low enough to pick-up this problem. The low strings generally need to be a bit higher off the fretboard.