Low E sucked out

[marxbear]

I've just put new pickups in my home made bass but for some reason the low E string is much much quieter than all of the other strings...

I have configured it following the Billy Sheehan Attitude approach with two pickups. Doesn't matter which pickup I select or if both are selected I get the same outcome.

Any suggestions or recommendations??

 

[Grissle]

Out of phase pickup wiring maybe? You could try reversing the wires from one of the pickups to find out quickly.

(Edit) missed it that the soloed pickups had the same problem, sorry.

 

[BillyB_from_LZ]

Since the E string's output is diminished with each pickup used solo, I doubt that it's a pickup phasing issue.

Sounds like it could be a bad string or there is some other wiring issue (like if the tone control circuit is mis-wired leaving the capacitor in series with the output).

Photos and add'l info would be appreciated.

The other thing to try would be to move the pickups away from the E string. It's possible that the magnetic pull from one or both is affecting it.

Edit: Please confirm that nothing beyond the bass (cable, amp, speakers being connected out of phase) is causing this problem (try a different bass, etc.).

 

[marxbear]

Hi, thanks for the response.

There is nothing else in the chain causing issues. I don't get the same problem with my other bass...

I'm leaning towards an issue with the capacitor on the tone control so will replace it and try again.

The pickups I have put in are the Dimarzio WiilPower Neck and WillPower Middle.

Hadn't thought about pickup hight. Wouldn't that effect all of the strings though???

 

[BillyB_from_LZ]

Hi, thanks for the response.

There is nothing else in the chain causing issues. I don't get the same problem with my other bass...

I'm leaning towards an issue with the capacitor on the tone control so will replace it and try again.

The pickups I have put in are the Dimarzio WiilPower Neck and WillPower Middle.

Hadn't thought about pickup hight. Wouldn't that effect all of the strings though???

Great choice of pickups! I had both in a Charvel that I modified. I was amazed at how much high end the Neck pickup had, not obscene, but I always thought that pickups in that position would be all about the huge bottom end with no treble whatsoever.

And, the Will Power Middle is my favorite P-Bass pickup off all time!

The E-string moves more since it is tuned to a lower frequency and the fingerboard is arched. That naturally puts the E-string closer to a pickup that isn't set up with some arch to it. You could lower just the E-string side of the Middle pickup and see if that makes a difference.

Do you have photos of the wiring that you can post?

 

[marxbear]

Hi BillyB,


I'm going to swap out the capacitor tomorrow night as I suspect that is contributing to the problem. Failing that, I will drop the pup's on the E side.

Apart from the loss in volume on the E, I can't believe how responsive the pup's are...

I hope the picture comes out. If not I will add some new ones tomorrow.

 

[BillyB_from_LZ]

Cool! P-Bass meets Stingray!

I've had the Will Power Middle in at least four different P-Basses (a neck-through Charvel, a Am Fender Hot Rodded P, a bottom of the line Yamaha Attitude and a MIM P Bass (currently the only one of those I still own) and it sounded great in each one.

I have a spare WP Middle pickup in stock and am planning on installing it in a fretless P-style bass that I have, when I get around to it.

Besides great tone, I like the fact that the pole pieces are covered so I don't get clicking noises when my fingers hit 'em.

 

[marxbear]

Managed to finally get around to re-wiring.
Pickups were all in phase so I replaced the capacitors and now plays like a bought one.

 

[Ric5]

I've just put new pickups in my home made bass but for some reason the low E string is much much quieter than all of the other strings...

I have configured it following the Billy Sheehan Attitude approach with two pickups. Doesn't matter which pickup I select or if both are selected I get the same outcome.

Any suggestions or recommendations??

Perhaps it is the bass body ...

 

[SGD Lutherie]

Try a new E string.

How does the bass sound unplugged?

 

[BillyB_from_LZ]

Try a new E string.

How does the bass sound unplugged?

I took Post No. 8 to indicate that after the capacitor replacement everything is fine now. Perhaps I misread.

 

[SGD Lutherie]

I took Post No. 8 to indicate that after the capacitor replacement everything is fine now. Perhaps I misread.

Hmmmm. The capacitors won't affect the tone unless the tone controls are turned all the way down. Maybe that's what he was doing?

 

[marxbear]

Hi, took a while to get back to checking it all out.... Found that I had two problems, the earth wire had come off one of the output jacks, so that was causing some problem (Dough!!!!!). I also swapped out the capacitors with new ones from Stewmac.com.... Problem gone!!!!
Looks like the capacitor I had there was cutting all the bass frequency.
Action is great, sounds fine un-plugged and now it sounds very close to my original Attitude Ltd II.
Thanks for all the help...

Tunes are now up on basre.net if you want to hear how it ended up.

 

[GlennW]

Search "witness point" in the repair forum.