Activator STR Pickups/Weak Output On One String

[Football]

Hi.  Have three of the strat pickups I just purchased used.  I believe the person hadn't used them in a very long time but tested to make sure they work.

They do work but the high E string (a .009 in my case) is incredibly quiet compared to the other strings.  Has anyone seen this before?

Wondering if part of the magnet could possibly be not making it far enough over to that section. 

B string also seems quiet but not crazy quiet like the E string.

Please let me know if you have any ideas.  Could look into sending them back but am hoping to get them working properly if an easy fix.

Thank you

[mica]

I don't recall anyone ever observing the B string having any weakness of output, but on the high E it's possible. The smaller the string, the weaker to sound for sure, but it's possible the magnet is closer to one side than the other. You might try rotating the pickup 180 degrees and see if that improves things. Depending on the string spacing, it may be too wide for the space available in the shell with a bar magnet and coil. Is it the same with all 3 pickups or more pronounced at the bridge position?

[Football]

Thank you, Mica.  Seems a very large drop in volume with all three pickups on the E string.  Maybe neck and middle positions slightly more than neck alone.

Bought a magnet viewing film that will be here Wednesday.  May show what's going on.  Not sure but thought I'd give it a try.

Can also experiment with flipping the pickups around in the meantime.

Thank you

[lbpesq]

Brian, you might also try adjusting the pickup height so the treble side is closer to the strings.

Bill, tgo

[keith_h]

While it is more common with wound strings maybe it is just a wonky string. Have you tried a different E-string? Or maybe go up one gauge to a slightly heavier string to see if it improves the strength.

[Football]

Will try a different E string.  Pickup height is closer on the treble side.  Will adjust that even more though.  Definitely noticing this most on the bridge pickup, which would make some sense cause of the angle of that pickup. 

Thank you all very much for your suggestions.

[jazzyvee]

Is your drop in volume happening on open strings only or when fretted also. The reason I ask is that I had a similar issue with a used strat that I bought in the mid 90's and the G string and B strings were much lower in volume and had less sparkle in the sound when I played them as open strings. I took it to a local luthier to check out and it turned out to be a badly cut nut. That may not be the same situation for you though.

[Football]

Happening when fretting also.  I do think the angle of the bridge pickup has something (probably a good bit) to do with it, IMO.  Both sets of my Alembic STR pickups exhibit this behavior on two different guitars.  Not the end of the world but wish it weren't exhibiting the quieter E string.

The more overdrive I use the less noticeable, unsurprisingly.  The cleaner the sound, the more it's noticeable.

Thank you for all the tips.