[quote name='wishface' timestamp='1347529633' post='1801959']
right, i got the strings on yesterday. They are wound correctly and have settled more or less. However the E string is experiencing all the same symptoms it did before. The volume issue is clearly down to the quality of the pickup the quality of which, unsurprisingly, is commensurate with the price of the instrument. Other than being new better strings than were on previously everything is exactly the same. There is fret buzz that only seems to have appeared after I adjusted the truss rod (which isn't easy when the strings are on) on the 1st fret at the E and A strings. This wasn't there before.
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Out of interest is the E string still quiet when you fret the 12[sup]th [/sup]fret? If so your problem may actually lie with EQ.
Also I would suggest having another look at the way your pickup is sat. Is it all the way up or all the way down? Is the pickup level across or higher on the side of the treble strings? If it's higher on the side of the treble strings, lower the pickup on that side only and it should balance the volume.
Like most others here, I doubt that it's really the basses quality in question here.