Dead sounding E-string

[Schmeer]

Hello everyone, new user here  :hello2:

I have a "problem" that's been bothering me for some time now, so I finally decided to do something about it.

I have a strat that I built a few years back, using a Warmoth neck and body.
The guitar plays great, so no worries there.
The problem is that the high E-string sounds "dead"/"tinny" and lower in volume than the rest of the strings when played acoustically.
This also seems to be the case when plugged in as well, but perhaps to a lesser extent. For example: if I play an E-chord, the high E-string kind of gets "lost" (hope this makes some kind of sense).  :dontknow:

The body is chambered and made of swamp ash, routed H-S-S.
Neck is a Warmoth modern, maple, standard thin profile, 10-16" radius with jumbo stainless steel frets, the nut is corian.
The hardware is Gotoh staggered locking tuners and a Wilkinson VS100 bridge with tremol-no.
Pickups are a set of DiMarzio Injectors with an Area 67 in the middle.

I have the neck set up with just a hint of relief, string height is about 2mm on the low E, and about 1,6mm on the high E (measured at the 12th fret).
There is no fret buzz whatsoever with normal playing.

I really am quite puzzled by the whole thing and could use some advice.
Could it be an issue with the neck? I don't have a spare neck laying around or I would have tried swapping.

Well, I guess that's all for now. Any advice would be appreciated

 

[AirCap]

Start with replacing the string. It's the cheapest thing on the guitar.

 

[Schmeer]

I guess I should have specified that as well  :laughing11:

I have changed the strings, several times in fact.
Have tried various brands and gauges, the results are the same.
At the moment I have a set of EB M-steel 10-46 on there.

I have been playing guitar for close to 30 years and I have assembled probably 10-15 partsocasters over the years.
This is the first time I've encountered a problem like this.

I'm not a seasoned tech by any means, but I do my own setups and I can do my own fretwork if needed (although I prefer to leave that to the professionals).

 

[jdroost]

Have you tried different tunings to see if it goes away?
I would also try swapping a bridge saddle with another string and see of it moves.
Also try to disregard intonation and move the saddle around and test.
Any chance somthing is wonky with the nut or that action at the 1st fret there?

 

[Schmeer]

Have you tried different tunings to see if it goes away?
I would also try swapping a bridge saddle with another string and see of it moves.
Also try to disregard intonation and move the saddle around and test.
Any chance somthing is wonky with the nut or that action at the 1st fret there?

I have tried tuning down a half step, same results.
Perhaps I should try tuning up to see if that changes things..
I'll try out those other things you mentioned as well.

You know, my first thought was that there had to be something wrong with the nut or the action at the first fret, but since there is no buzzing at all, I kind of discarded that thought.
Might have to look into it

 

[Logrinn]

from the Seymour Duncan forum:
"One trick with strats is to tune to pitch and then loosen the neck mounting screws about a quarter turn. You'll hear a creak as the string tension seats the neck. Tighten it back up and retune."

 

[Cagey]

If it's just the open E, it's likely the nut. If it's any note along the neck, it's likely the bridge saddle. Depending on the type of saddles you have, you can either replace the saddle or recut the slot so the string exits the saddle on a nice, square face.

 

[Schmeer]

Seems I learn something new every day  :doh:

I decided to apply some pressure behind the nut, and lo and behold, the problem seemed to disappear.

So, as an easy fix, I’m going to install a string tree for the E and B string. I guess I’ll be changing the nut as well, but for now this will do.

Thanks for all the input guys  :icon_biggrin:

 

[Cagey]

You don't want to install a string tree. The nut needs replacing, so do it. String tree is a cheap fix that'll cause tuning problems.

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

You don't want to install a string tree. The nut needs replacing, so do it. String tree is a cheap fix that'll cause tuning problems.

Agreed, especially if you already have staggered tuners.
That break angle over the nut should already apply enough downward pressure, unless of course, the wrong tuner placement has occurred, or, you have excessive windings on the tuner moving upward in "the wind" reducing the break angle.

 

[jay4321]

As described this is usually the nut slot & hopefully a quick fix with a nut file. You grab some gauges or nutfiles and stack a combo of them so they’re the slightest hair higher than the first fret, assuming frets are level, then move the stack up against the nut. Then you file the nut slot at a slight angle to ensure the bridge side of the nut is the high side where the string leaves the nut. The gauges will keep you from filing the nut too deep (unless it already is, or unless the frets aren’t level)

Sometimes it’s also because the string is too deep in the slot, but a poor angle and too tight or loose slot is usually the biggest problem. I’ve seen strings ring out fine buried halfway into a nut while making them.

I also get better results using good files, the nice Japanese ones are easy to get and look like 70ish a basic set. The slots they cut are relatively smooth and well rounded.

You can be as precise as you want with this process but lately I’ve just held down the 3rd fret and the pressed down the 1st fret to eyeball how much play there is and file down accordingly, but slowly. When I’m all done I remove the top of the nut downto where all of the strings are only maybe half seated into the nut slot and the rest is above. That’s much easier to see on thicker strings. Thinner ones are approximate. That’s enough to hold them in place under tension and bends.

There’s a bit of experience and feel to doing it my way but for rookies some gauges with help as mentioned.

String tension can also be a factor relating to the nut slot and action. You can sometimes take a perfectly nice open E string and tune down a while step and hear it turn to a muted dead sound.

Overly wide nut slots have the strings too loose and can do this, and too tight they can bind. I find files about 1-3 thousands higher than the string gauges being cut for work best for me, higher for larger strings. You can rock the file a bit to go a little wider if needed, but I avoid that since I have the correct sizes needed on my guitars. Overkill but I’m probably in for about 150 bucks which is beans compared to which techs used to charge. One .011 file might be all you need here.

I may be explaining poorly but youtube has people who can demonstrate it, and I’d recommend investing in a few decent nut files for upkeep. Being able to adjust neck relief and adjust or replace a nut are skills that you’ll actually use and won’t cost much

Uo Chickyu files are what I have and at a glance they’re on amazon, eBay etc. you can buy them individually to make a custom set if you wanted.

Or the nut could be shot, but they’re simple to replace and that is also a fairly simple process with files.

 

[exaN]

This happened to my Warmoth Tele last week. Not sure if you tried, but all I did was loosen the string, wiggle it a bit at the nut, pull the string out and blow some compressed air in the slot, and that seemed to fix it. It was probably a combination of the slot being slightly too narrow and nut/string dust messing with the string.