Dead E String on Kala Ubass

[klaatu]

I have noticed that the E string on my Kala Ubass spruce top seems to have a dead E string. I'm not sure if that's the correct description for what I hear. I asked a fellow bass player with a little more experience than I have and asked him what he thought. He described it in a way that made even more sense. He said that the E string does not "resonate" like the others. It's also like there is very little sustain too. Has anyone encountered this with the Kala Ubass and is there a fix? I thought of new strings since I've had this model for a little under a year but it hasn't had much playing time since my go to bass has been my USA made solid body. Thanks for any help.

 

[Rocksolid]

I had this happen to mine. I have the original U bass that has a passive pickup. One of the crystals had died. We ordered a replacement and it was better, but not great. after investigation we drilled an extra hole in the bridge pocket so we could flip the pickup around so the weak crystal was under the G string. Problem solved.

|f you have a later model I think the resonance thru the pickup can be affected by sawdust in the pocket under the Pickup. It is worth disassembling and making sure the pickup is seated properly in the pocket with no debris from manufacture under there.

 

[scourgeofgod]

I had this happen to mine. I have the original U bass that has a passive pickup. One of the crystals had died. We ordered a replacement and it was better, but not great. after investigation we drilled an extra hole in the bridge pocket so we could flip the pickup around so the weak crystal was under the G string. Problem solved.

|f you have a later model I think the resonance thru the pickup can be affected by sawdust in the pocket under the Pickup. It is worth disassembling and making sure the pickup is seated properly in the pocket with no debris from manufacture under there.

What's all this about crystals now?

EDIT: nevermind, never knew this about piezo pickups

 

[klaatu]

Thanks Rocksolid. I have one of the later models. I emailed Kala and they suggested changing the E string and if that didn't work they would see what they could do. Looking like you may have come up with a possible fix. Also, I talked with a guitar tech that's doing a string change on my solid body Kala and when I described what was happening, he said just about what you had said.