Chromes - dead/crappy E string?

[Timmah]

I've had a set of D'Addario Chromes (45-100) on my P bass for about 2 months now, and have been noticing lately that the low E string seems to lack volume and attack, especially below the 7th fret. Is this a common problem with Chromes? I had a set years and years ago that I didn't think had the same issue, but it's been probably 10 years since I used them.

 

[Antreoo]

I used different sets of chromes (both 100 and 105 Es) over the years, only once I had a similar problem.
IIRC in that case I had a 45-100 set and was regularly playing in D standard and CGCG, digging and picking kinda hard, so maybe that might have contributed to highlighting the problem.
Switched to 50-105 on that bass and never had the same problem.

Also in my experience I found out that when strung thru body they tend to have less volume while playing unplugged.
Again this might just be my experience tho, or my mind playing tricks on me.

Before changing the strings try adjusting the pickup height and check if you can solve the problem this way. Being a relatively new set it's possible that the E broke in faster than the rest of the strings.