STRAT - Thin Sounding B+E Strings

[wildshoetwt]

I have a MIM Stratocaster, it sounded pretty good to begin with.

But there's this problem that I haven't been able to fix: thin, dull sounding B and E strings with no sustain and no MOJO...

Recently I had the following done to try and help this:
callaham bridge installation
nut replacement
new pickups (GFS JIMI, great btw)
treble bleed
2nd tone wired to bridge
went from 9 gauge to 10
full setup

the guitar sounds absolutely fantastic through my Reinhardt JKC 33, actually for what I paid for all of this, it sounds like an ABSOLUTE DREAM with some good reverb etc

the bottom/mid strings sounds absolutely gorgeous now, creamy, infinite sustain, tons of tone, great vibe from 'em

....but those top 2 strings are still flat and dull and quiet as they were before, they sound a bit thicker, but still quiet and no tone or sustain

i noticed that there was a string-tree holding up the top 2 strings, so i removed it, and noticed a slight increase in sustain

but i'm still stumped, i play mostly on the neck pup if that matters, my pickups all look something like this
_ _ - - _ _ (raised under D and G, lowered under top and bottom)


edit: increasing the prescence on my amp just makes the treble "BRIGHTER", not more toneful, and increasing the treble just makes it a harsher dullness,---- it still lacks the mojo and sustain i am looking for

[BootRoots]

I'm assuming you have already tried to keep the treble side of the pickups higher than the bass side to see if that evens it out.

Are the strings passing over the pole pieces in the middle?

[marscottm]

a string tree changes the string break angle over the nut and actually helped my strat E & B strings with the problem you described. Maybe your tree was too high to get the angle right. An old-school round tele string tree installed closer to the headstock may help your condition.

[hank57]

I was feeling the same thing about my strat today the shoe is describing and I will try the string tree change. My tech put on a graphtec tree that is a bit high and well graphite?

Johna string tree changes the string break angle over the nut and actually helped my strat E & B strings with the problem you described. Maybe your tree was too high to get the angle right. An old-school round tele string tree installed closer to the headstock may help your condition.

[wildshoetwt]

i currently for experiment have my neck pickup nearly level, the problem however persists regardless of however i have the pickup...the strings line up perfectly after the pole pieces, though my low E and high E strings are very very slightly outside of the poles, my low e is my loudest, most resonant string, my high e is my thinnest, least resonant...the low e is too strong, and the high e is too weak, everything inbetween is PERFECT.



everyone i've asked said it must be the type of strings i used, i've tried ~4 different sets now and all have had this problem, i've played the guitar through 5 different amps, ranging in quality from my orange tiny terror to my current reinhardt jkc33

acoustically the top 2 strings sound fine, good sustain in comparison to the rest, good volume, decent tone

but when i plug into amps, i get these sweet ringing lows and mids, but anytime i play my B or E, the mojo just isnt there, i've been considering maybe stringing up some G strings on the B and E strings, i just think those thin strings don't do it for me...regardless of gauge...




are string trees ideally screwed down TIGHTLY? or very loosely, so they just catch the string?

[Robert1950]

Your pickups. Are they flat pole or staggered pole? I replaced by staggered pole pups with flat - that evened out the volume for me. Sustain was better all round.

[Bro Blue]

Your pickups may be too close to the strings.

[John Bell]

Your pickups may be too close to the strings.

This is usually the case.Especially if all three pickups are too close.
Jason Lollar explains this on you tube.
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[wildshoetwt]

This is usually the case.Especially if all three pickups are too close.
Jason Lollar explains this on you tube.
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lowering my pickups overall helped sustain issues, and the treble is now cutting through much clearer, plus i get to crank my amp up more so its sounds even better

but this still hasnt solved the issue that my E through G strings sound absolutely beautiful, all sorts of beautiful overtones or something, whereas my B and E strings just sound BLANDDDDDDDDDDDDD

WHAT TO DO?

[JSP552003]

I had the same issue with the b and e on my MiM strat. I also had my pu's pretty low. I ended raising the pu's on the treble side a couple turns higher than the bass side. Fixed the issue for me. Just play around with your pu heights and it should work out

[GuitarTone]

Your pickups may be too close to the strings.

Or too far away.

[retro]

When I got my JTM-45 I was trying different tubes to see what I liked the most.

One particular set of tubes did exactly what you are describing to my b&e strings with my strats.

If I had received my amp with those tubes. Tubes would not have been first on the list as suspect.

Just a thought, if you exhaust all the other possible sources.