Quote:
Originally Posted by BigBud  Took my '77 Fender fretless P to a local Luthier. First time in some 20 plus years I had ANYTHING done to it. Now I find a dead spot approx. 5-7th fret on the G string. Before I take it back to him, could any of you tell me the possible cause? Thanks so much, Bud |
Hi
First you have to ask yourself - what changed? Did you just get a setup? Same gauge and type of strings? Same action? Same bridge, PU height? You get the idea. Even the smallest thing might have caused it. If it's a tilt neck, were there shims in the sides to keep the neck pocket tight? If so and you take them out, that could cause it. If it's not a tilt neck and it was shimmed under the neck and they took it out, or if they shimmed it now when it wasn't before, same thing. I'm surprised the shop didn't notice it after they did the work.
If I remember right a dead spot is caused when the neck and body vibrate at the same frequency and the string vibrations are transferred quickly through the guitar and don't have time to ring out. Please somebody correct me if I'm wrong.
If it's been OK for years, it should still be OK now. I know it's sounds stupid but maybe you just have a bad string. Have you tried another one?
The area you mention is the normal area where you find dead spots on a Fender bass. My experience with dead spots is that usually they are there from day one. They can be very hard to correct and I've bought used basses that had them and ended up selling them due to the fact that they couldn't be easily corrected. I just sold a P bass recently because of the same problem.
One of the reasons Leo Fender moved the G string post to the bottom of the headstock on the MM basses was to prevent dead spots. He was fully aware of the Fender dead spot problem.
In the old days Fender used to swap necks at the factory if they found dead spots during final setup. Swap them enough and you can usually get around them. Doesn't do you much good, but it's all the advice I can give you.
Maybe you should have another shop take a look before you go back to the original shop just to get a second opinion.
Good luck
