Dead Zone on JBass

Fusion120 · #1 08-05-2007, 02:18 PM

I have a American Jazz that's 2 years old. Since the day I picked it up from the music store it has had a dead area on the G string from about the b fret to the d fret. It's bad enough that I avoid playing in the area. I adjusted the truss rod, pickups and bridge according to the booklet that came with the guitar. Nothing has helped. Am I doing something wrong or do I have a more serious problem? I even tried putting on a set of Rotosound strings. No change!

julo · #2 08-05-2007, 02:30 PM

Same thing here with a MIM except it's just THE D fret on G string.
Apparently there is not much to do.
Do a search (seriously, this is an old problem) and people have come up with tons of ideas to try to reduce it.

good luck, I decided that I did care and if I want to play a sustained note I double it with a low D of go 12th fret D string.

J

tanslacks · #3 08-05-2007, 02:46 PM

Wierd, I had the same problem with my MIM jazz, same string, same fret.

I did discover that this problem was much more pronounced at my friends house on his amp and not even noticable at home on my practice amp. I went back to my friends and we played with his EQ and low and behold the issue went away. I am NO expert in sound eq, but it appears there is an odd harmonic at that fret and string with certain EQ settings. I suppose it could even be the room?

The dip in volume and sustain is never really gone but I must say it is very very hard to notice.

Good luck and I have no idea if this makes sense

Johnny Crab · #4 08-05-2007, 04:25 PM

I call it the "Bolt Neck Blues"
and it's why a certain dislike of bolt neck basses exists here....

EVERY bass I've got that is bolt neck has this affliction sooner or later on the G string in the areas mentioned. Epi-Birds have this issue. It seems the Les Paul basses here with bolt necks have it less than the others FWIW.

There are threads about this everywhere. Some guy solved it by epoxying the neck on.
I've even sold basses if it's bad enough....

Here's a cure now:

http://www.rondomusic.net/z4nat35.html

iplaybassguitar · #5 08-05-2007, 05:15 PM

damn i keep thinking this is a grateful dead thread, its like the third time ive clicked on it.

FcSchondel · #6 08-05-2007, 07:02 PM

had the same problem, just brought it to the shop.
i think they did something withy the frets..

MysticMichael · #7 08-05-2007, 07:37 PM

Unfortunately, this problem of the dead spot on the "G" string - typically between about the fifth & seventh frets - is nothing new. And it's not limited just to bolt-on instruments either - I have a four-string neck-through bass guitar that suffers somewhat from it.

The bottom line is that the problem is structural - so while there are a number of things you might do to compensate for the effect of the dead spot, there's little if anything you can do to alleviate it entirely.

I've used a Groove Tubes Fat Finger with some success on both of my two main bass guitars:

http://www.groovetubes.com/product.cfm?Product_ID=1201

MM

Jamiebass · #8 08-05-2007, 07:55 PM

I have an Alembic set neck that suffers from it as well. Raising the action helps a bit, but like MM pointed out, you can't get rid of it. Maybe it's a maple-neck issue?

The fat finger is supposed to be great in studio. Billy Sheehan uses one. He used to clamp a set of Vise-Grips back in the day...I wouldn't recomend that though...

remo · #9 08-06-2007, 08:31 PM

Dead spots have nothing to do with bolt-on vs. neck-through or maple vs. rosewood.

Dead spots are caused by the instruments mass resonating in sympathy with the fundamental of the plucked note. This sympathetic resonance sucks the sustain and body out of the note, leaving it lifeless and weak. Play your dead spot and concentrate on the neck and body, you will feel it vibrate more when you play the dead spot.

It happens most often with the G string because the G has the least string mass to sustain the vibration. I bet if you listen carefully, the note one octave down from your G string dead spot will also have less sustain and note "fullness".

The reason the note deadness on the A string is less obvious is due to the A's string mass being greater therefore the A will vibrate longer.

Fixes? there ar eno easy answers to this.. You could try and change the weight of the body, add weight, route out the body etc.. all yucky options.

Best course of action is to check out a bass before you buy it and try and find one with no bad dead spots because if it is a true dead spot, there ain't much you can do about it without serious bass modifications...

groove pump · #10 08-07-2007, 07:57 AM

This is bordering on "serious mod" turf, but you could look around for a 2nd hand (or new - what the heck) Warmoth neck to swap on to your bass. As far as I know, they build their necks to avoid creating dead spots and they're liscenced Fender replacements. I've got one (maple/rosewood) that I've found to be pretty much superior to anything current from Fender.

One aspect of their design is using steel reinforcing rods instead of graphite. They're heavy and can be unbalanced on a bass with a light body, but mine is crazy solid and perfoms superbly on my franken-jazz.

ThunderLizard · #11 08-09-2007, 10:49 AM

Fusion-
My Fender P and J both developed a dead-zone within a couple weeks of each other. Same spot.. D note on the G-String. Both were over 8 years old when it happened and had no issues to this point. Tried a number of adjustments, but nothing seemed to completely resolve it. Remo's explanation makes sense. Or could it be a Fender Mutiny? None of my other basses have this issue. Guess there are 'sweet spots' and 'not-so-sweet-spots'.
Good Luck To You!

**Btone** · #12 08-09-2007, 01:12 PM

Quote:

I call it the "Bolt Neck Blues"

As some of you already have mentioned: Neck-thru basses suffers too, mine at least. C on D-string is pretty dead.

Blake Bass · #13 08-09-2007, 01:24 PM

I just got a new Sadowsky NYC and guess what..yep dead spot on d on the g string. I didn't expect that from a $4000 bass. My Metro has no dead spots anywhere. Go figure! I am thinking about sending the NYC back because of this.

KJung · #14 08-09-2007, 01:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blake Bass

I just got a new Sadowsky NYC and guess what..yep dead spot on d on the g string. I didn't expect that from a $4000 bass. My Metro has no dead spots anywhere. Go figure! I am thinking about sending the NYC back because of this.

Virtually ever wooden necked instrument has a dead spot on the g string in that area. Some are subtle enough that it's not that big of a deal. Others will drive you nuts.

To me, as long as I get a good solid fundamental kick at the first attack, it doesn't really bother me if a note or two in that area doesn't sustain quite as much.

Every Sadowsky I've played has had slight to moderate dead spots. Roger says it's a fact of life with 34" scale flat sawn maple necks (just like the Fender J's). Not sure about that. Luckily, the dead spot on my Sadowsky is of the minor sort, so no big deal.

If the dead spot on your NYC bothers now, send it back.. it will bother you more as time goes on IMO and IME.

Phalex · #15 08-09-2007, 01:37 PM

My P bass does the same thing. Oddly enough it seems to get worse after I've played a set or two on it. I don't know if it's temperature related or not, but sometimes it's barely noticeable.

Just a fact of life with a bolt on neck unfortunately. My Rickenbacker doesn't have any dead spots whatsoever.

rusty66 · #16 08-09-2007, 06:41 PM

Both my fender basses have this prob, but my NT warwick is fine & Mt 2 tomkins are fine also (Both bolt ons). Its gotta have to do with the weight of the body & the woods used I think.

Cheers
Rusty

Puru · #17 08-10-2007, 08:29 AM

On my Yamaha bb404 the weak note is the E flat on the G string. It's not as dead as I've seen on some Fenders but a little weaker sustain. But just the other day I tried some DR Low-Riders for the first time and happily the E flat is almost normal now. Aside from getting a great sounding string set, I got my E flat back.

Pilgrim · #18 08-10-2007, 09:46 AM

People have experimented with work-arounds for this, usually involving adding weight to the headstock. One of the simple things you can try is fastening a small C-clamp to the headstock (don't leave marks). You'll be changing the resonance of the neck and probably will mitigate the dead spot or move it to other notes.

One of the approaches to this is a brass plate fastened on the backside of the headstock - machined to match the outline of the headstock. It was called a fathead.

Here's a link to an old thread about the fathead:
Could use a little more sustain in my bass. Anyone heard of

The bottom line with most dead spots - you might succeed in moving them a few frets, but you probably won't eliminate them.

Fusion120 · #19 08-10-2007, 12:28 PM

Thanks for all the great replies, it helps to know this is a common problem and not just an isolated one. I played on a 5 string Jbass at G/C and there was not one dead fret. Perhaps my next guitar will be a 5 strings!

Alan U · #20 08-12-2007, 05:45 PM

Oh dear, I've just posed the very same question on another thread, then spotted this one.

Mine is on a Precision, sixth fret, C sharp.
Changed the strings, every else is perfect, except this one position where the note decays really quickly.
The strings are Rotosound flats 45-105.

I guess from what everyone says, C sharp is something I will not have to dwell on or fret about :-)

Thanks