single coil p'ups--volume is not even

[threshhold2]

on an american strat the high E string is much quieter on my amp then the low E ....in terms of volume.
is this normal?....i dont have this problem with my other guitar with humbuckers

 

[TheRockDoc]

on an american strat the high E string is much quieter on my amp then the low E ....in terms of volume.
is this normal?....i dont have this problem with my other guitar with humbuckers

Check the balance of the magnets by adjusting the screws next to the pickups. You may find the intonation may sound off, but you can play with it till its balanced.

 

[mandocaster]

I raised the E string side of my pickups to get a better balance.

 

[Anfontan]

Get you a cassette recorder, or just a mixer board with a signal meter, digital or analog meter, then use that to try to get a similar meter reading by adjusting the pickups adjustment screws. A meter like that will give a reading according to the output of the pickup and will be truer that a persons ear might be.

 

[Sirnothingness]

On Strats, the pickup should be a bit higher on the high E string end. At least that's been my experience.

 

[Dani Pace]

A pickup adjustment should fix this easily. On most guitars the pickup dosen't sit exactly level, the high E side is usualy a little clocer to the strings than the low E side. Depending on the rest of your set up, the difference may be very slight or it can be very pronounced. Single coil pickups often require more of a difference than humbuckers. Very light guage strings will contribute to a loss of volume on the high strings too. The smaller the string, the less of a vibration field for the pickup to detect. You will most likely be better off to lower the low E side rather than raise the high E side.

 

[IronFlippy]

Bill Lawrence has a little trick that works for me. Place a nickel on the bridge pickup right below the high e string. Adjust the height of the pickup until the nickel is barely touching the string. Now do the same for the low e string but use two nickels stacked on top of each other. Now play using that pickup and make small adjustments if you think one side is a bit louder than the other. Then adjust the neck and middle pickups to the same volume.

You might also want to lower the actual string a bit, or if it's already really close to the pickup, then back it off a little bit. Pickups create a magnetic field in which the string vibrates. If the string is near the edge of that field, then it won't sound as loud. Check out Bill Lawrence's website for more info.

www.billlawrence.com

 

[TheRockDoc]

Check out Bill Lawrence's website for more info.www.billlawrence.com

and please make sure I spit Bill and Becky's faces

...but I will say he certainly makes a great pickup and use the little trick shown on the previous post... it will help