Taming P Bass E string

[Crawford13]

Hey folks hoping for a bit of advice. I have a 1979 Fender P Bass with a maple finger board. It's got d'addario chromes on it. The problem I am having is the E string always seems a lot louder, and it make the bass sound very boomy. I usually play the the tone rolled all the way off, I like the dead sound but the E string just doesn't sound right to me. Does anyone have any suggestions? Thanks in advance.

[acidbass]

Is the E string saddle on your bridge significantly lower than the others?

Next thing I'd look at is distance between pickup and strings, string by string.

If all good with the above I would look at EQ.

[Chris2112]

Most likely to be an imbalance in the pickup height, does the pickup slant upward towards the E string?

[hamfist]

Yes, sounds like you simply need to tighten the E string end of the pickup down towards the body a bit so that part of the pickup picks gets a lower signal from the E string and the volume balance is better.

[chris_b]

+1 for levelling the pickup.

I just bought a reasonably expensive Jazz and couldn't work out why the top end was being overpowered by the bass frequencies, until I noticed that the pickups weren't level. The G and D side was lower in the body. I don't know how the previous owner got an even sound out of the instrument. Anyway, I levelled pickups and even that little bit of adjustment made a significant improvement to the overall balance and sound.

While you''re at it, I'd also set up the action and put on a new set of strings.

[Marc S]

Another +1 for lowering the height of the pickup here

on each of my P basses, the pickup under the E string is slightly lower (closer to the body) than it is under the other strings
And yes, new strings and set-up will also help

[Lozz196]

Yep I have my pickups at approx. 3mm under the E, then 5mm under the rest.

[PaulWarning]

EQ, find out which trequency is booming, I have similar trouble with the A string booming around the 7th fret, I cut around 60Hz to tame it

[Lw.]

I'd go pick-up height too.

I'm having a similar issue with the A string on my 57 RI P - has raised A-pole pieces so I have to tilt it the other way to get balance across the strings.

[Crawford13]

Thanks for all the advice guys, I appreciate it!

[acidbass]

I usually balance my pickups using the PFL facility on a good mixer. Plug the bass straight into a mixer, play each string and note the signal strength of each. Then I raise/lower the pickups until all output readings match right across the strings. I do this after a good setup i.e. truss rod adjustment, bridge saddle height and intonation adjustment.

[Crawford13]

After all the great advice, I have decided to get a full set up and then I will run it through an EQ. Thanks again folks

[gillento]

[quote name='acidbass' timestamp='1493231803' post='3286803']
I usually balance my pickups using the PFL facility on a good mixer. Plug the bass straight into a mixer, play each string and note the signal strength of each. Then I raise/lower the pickups until all output readings match right across the strings. .....
[/quote]

I had Max at sfx build me a device similar to this coupled with an AB box.