Tweaking a weak E

Could be a defective string. It happens.

 

You could try the old post back in its old position, too... I think I'd give the bass a little time to settle in first, though.

 

It depends bass to bass. my carved bass sounds great with a full set of mediums and sounds very even with a set of weich. My hybrid sounds uneven with a full set of medium spiros but the heavy E evens it out.

 

The fundamental problem, pun intended, is that the corpus of a typical 3/4 bass is too small to pump fundamental of low notes. It’s all a workaround.

 

As the Sheriff first mentioned, you may just have a bad E string. It's much easier to rule that out first before having more changes made to your sound post.

 

The E of the 4/4 Weich set is a bit weak when new. The A sounds better because it has a smaller diameter and is more flexible.
Strings get longer over time and more flexible. Play the E a lot and loud with the bow (as well as the other strings) after a few weeks or months they will get better.

 

Keep in mind that the Player’s Perspective is not always accurate in terms of the sound/tone being projected from the instrument.

I think we’ve all perceived some kind of deficiency on our instruments to have it sound totally fine 10 feet out front.

I’m not saying there isn’t an issue, just that the player doesn’t always get the full picture.

 

I currently have 2 basses that feel better and more even this way. One bass sounds perfectly balanced with a full set of spiro mediums, but the juzek and hybrid both have loose feeling E strings compared to the rest of the set.

 

Before doing anything I would first have someone else play the bass and listen to what it sounds like out in front.

I had the pleasure of playing the LaFaro Prescott which was on loan from ISB to my preferred luthier. I couldn’t believe the bass had such a weak “E” string especially after hearing it on so many records. My luthier proceeded to play it while I stood in front and it was super powerful.

The low notes just present differently to the player on many basses.

 

Most basses that I have played have a slightly weaker E. Maybe that's just the nature of the beast? Maybe you miss the 'tump' because there is no string below?

Possible solution as suggested above is to put a slightly thicker E string on it. It will help a little bit but not totally solve it. Not sure how much they can do with the soundpost if only one string is weak?

 

Play it facing a stone wall up close and see if it still sounds weak.

And as others have pointed out: its a brand new bass, with a newly positioned soundpost, new strings and a newbie player: play it as much as you can for a few weeks or months, let it al settle in and then repeat the facing the wall test.

Unless you’re having a few gigs lined up with that bass I’d first give it some time.

 

A trick that sometimes helps if your strings have a ball end is threading the E backwards through the tailpiece - so the ball is in front. This'll give a sharper angle and a tiny bit more tension to the E and it might speak more forcefully.

 

Tried that trick. Didn’t do much.

The OP would be better off finding a way to reduce the mass of their instrument. Lightweight individual tuning machines, lighter tailpiece if OP plays pizz only, hollow or wooden endpin.

The instrument should be just sturdy enough not to tear itself apart or break easily. More weight means less sound.