Volume difference between strings

[Aitoh]

I bought a Fender Telecaster MIJ 62' reissued with Texas Specials.
When I tried the tele on a Fender Frontman it sounded really good,
but when I tried it at home on a gnx4 on a PA.
I heard a real noticable volume diffrence between the strings:
E - loud
A - normal
D - soft
G - soft
B - soft/normal
e - normal

I called a local guitar dealer and he told me it was because the
fretboard has a round shape and my pickups are flat.
But when I see videos of people playing the same guitar as me
I don't notice the volume difference.

My question is:
Is it because of the round shape of my fretboard or is
there something else wrong with the guitar, and how do
I fix it?

[Telenator]

It's because the magnets are set at one height and not adjustable on single coil pickups. But that's all going to change real soon. (hint hint)

If you set the pickups lower from the strings, it will even out a little.

If you're playing with a lot of distortion or gain, it won't be nearly as noticable as when you're playing with a very clean sound.

[Aitoh]

It still doens't make sense that other people don't have this problem with the same type guitars.

[LocustPlague]

Do they have the same pickups? Do they have the same amp settings? Are their pickups the same distance from the strings as yours? There are TONS of variables here...

[Roli]

It's indeed not normal, the plain G and B should be the loudest ones. What string gauge do you play? Maybe it's that GNX4. Can you try it through another real guitar amp?
Also, do you have something with a peak meter/indicator? Or any hardware or software will do, tuners or DAWs, etc. where you can see volume. Then pick the strings one by one with equal force and you'll see if any of them are really louder or only you hear it that way.

[ES347]

One thing I'd do is start to mess with the tilt a bit...if you're low E is booming hard, lower the pickup on that side a bit (or raise up the high e). I'm sure there's a scientific way to deal with pickup height, but for me it's pure vodoo. It can make all the difference in the world when you find the sweetspot. You can also mess with string guages a bit see if it helps.

You could also have a bad log...I had a highway one strat body that was a really dense alder. There were absolutely no mids in that guitar at all...freaked me the hell out. Put the pickups into a different axe and everything changed. Turned out it was just a crappy piece of wood. Same setup (neck, bridge, pickups etc.) sound amazing and balanced with a better body.

[L.A.H.]

I also have the same problem with my home-built tele. The neck is from mighty mite and body is alder, plays through a vox valvetronix. First it was the huge difference between neck and bridge pups, the bridge had rails. It sorted out with a little bit of hight adjustment to the rails (i guess theyre more sensitive to hight than regular pups) but now i have the volume difference between strings, at least thats what my friend says. I gave the guitar to him as i cant play these days. The problem is mainly on the G string (maybe even B and D too) only noticeable when playing around 15th fret closer to the end.

went out to try out some american teles the other day to check if some had a similar problem but they were all well balanced. Its nothing you can realise right away but when you play everyday it bugs you. Still couldn't figure out whats wrong...
i suppose my neck pup is causing the problem as its more obvious when playing neck only, maybe the magnet hights in the pup are not properly aligned like a production defect, or it might well be the wood or the pups natural characteristics.

im going to try measuring with the peak meter once i get the guitar back, havent thought about that before ...

[Telenator]

C'mon guys. You're playing through wicked over driven amps with scooped mids. Admit it. C'mon.

[Joe-Bob]

Are the saddles set to the correct height/radius?

Have you changed the strings yet? You should always change the strings when you get a guitar.

[mellecaster]

Originally Posted by Aitoh

I bought a Fender Telecaster MIJ 62' reissued with Texas Specials.
When I tried the tele on a Fender Frontman it sounded really good,

Well that kinda takes the Guitar out of the equation doesn't it ??

[gitlvr]

Get a compressor and learn to use it. It will even out the string volume.

[fernando]

I have a strange similar problem in my Tele.
The G string always sounded too loud. 10-16 radius neck. Flat poles bridge pup. Earvana nut. Glendale brass saddles, but it also was too loud with the Gotoh modern bridge that it had before.
(and the D too soft, wich I think is usual)



Anyhow I think it's important to pay attention to the decay of each string to determine if it's a problem on the bridge saddle or at the nut, not letting the string develop it's sound freely. If the string does not only sound soft but it decays faster than the other maybe it's a problem in the saddle or nut (I'm speculating, but I thing it may be related in some cases)

[mellecaster]

Again I will state....If it sounded Great played thru the Frontman Amp, why do you feel it's a problem with the Guitar ??
Perhaps I'm missing something Obvious ?

[LocustPlague]

Originally Posted by mellecaster

Again I will state....If it sounded Great played thru the Frontman Amp, why do you feel it's a problem with the Guitar ??
Perhaps I'm missing something Obvious ?

I think the obvious thing you're missing is that the OP hasn't posted since well before your first post...

[gitlvr]

Originally Posted by LocustPlague

I think the obvious thing you're missing is that the OP hasn't posted since well before your first post...

True, but Mellecaster has a good point, and if/when the OP checks back in to this thread, he'd be well advised to consider that. I've used amps and processors/modellers like the GNX4 the OP mentions. IME, the processors that are basically just multifx units with no preamps in them can sound great, but the ones with the built-in pres can have problems like he descibes, as well as a host of others. I can almost always get an "acceptable" tone out of them, but nothing close to what I can get plugged straight into a half decent amp with a few pedals for effects as needed, IME. I used a preamp/processor for years with a power amp and thought my tone was good. Then I plugged into an amp and never looked back.

[mellecaster]

Originally Posted by LocustPlague

I think the obvious thing you're missing is that the OP hasn't posted since well before your first post...

I guess I was just trying to save folks a lot of typing and suggestions on a problem with the Guitar...that may not have been a problem at all...I'll just go back to my corner now......

[TeleGS]

I've seen this problem. I spun the tone pots on the amp around and the problem went away (miracle). Someone busted me - I had the gain and volume dimed with the Mid pot at (0) when I had the uneven string volume.

GS