Help Dead spots on fender jazz neck

[Benji5678]

i have a 06 fender highway one jazz and i absolutly love it. the only issue i have with it is that the 4th 5th and 6th frets on the g-string are dead spots. when you play the note it dies notibly faster than anywhere else on the neck. the notes sort of fade into a harmonic. its not overely noticeable but when playing with a band the notes dont cut through at all. i had the same issue on a MIM fender precision i used to have. Is this a common fender problem and are there any fixes to it.
any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Ben

[mark roberts]

Originally Posted by Benji5678

i have a 06 fender highway one jazz and i absolutly love it. the only issue i have with it is that the 4th 5th and 6th frets on the g-string are dead spots. when you play the note it dies notibly faster than anywhere else on the neck. the notes sort of fade into a harmonic. its not overely noticeable but when playing with a band the notes dont cut through at all. i had the same issue on a MIM fender precision i used to have. Is this a common fender problem and are there any fixes to it.
any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Ben

This has been discussed at length here on TB. I have a Jazz, too. Same problem. People say the "FatFinger" add on is supposed to help. Some folks have had good results, others not. I haven't tried it. However, I noted that when we tuned down a half step from natural E to F#, the problem wasn't quite as bad. Also, started using my compressor and that helped a little, too.

[Jim Carr]

Originally Posted by mark roberts

This has been discussed at length here on TB. I have a Jazz, too. Same problem. People say the "FatFinger" add on is supposed to help. Some folks have had good results, others not. I haven't tried it. However, I noted that when we tuned down a half step from natural E to F#, the problem wasn't quite as bad. Also, started using my compressor and that helped a little, too.

Tuning down 1/2 step would mean your strings would be Eb, Ab, Db, Gb.
This would probably move the "dead spot," which is actually a wolf-tone, a frequency (or band of frequencies) at which the instrument itself resonates in such a way to absorb the fundamental frequencies of note(s) sounded by the stopped string.

Many stringed instruments, especially the violin family, have wolves in the playing range. The fix on the violin family is to add mass to the affected string behind the bridge. This isn't practical on the electric bass, so a mass is often attached to the head stock. BTW, careful mass placement matters. The effect is the same either way, the wolf-resonance frequency is changed, and thus possibly moved out of the playing range--at least that is the theory.

Since the wolf varies on each bass, the usefulness of the Fatfinger varies with each bass. It often helps reduce the wolf, but usually doesn't completely eliminate it. I'm not sure how that squares with the theory.

I agree a little compression may be a good move, and some strings may allow you to dig in more on the affected notes. Careful EQ can boost that range, too. Playing technique is really the best answer, unless you can replace your instrument with one having no dead spots.
Most Fenders have them. It's Ok, IMHO.

[roger winkler]

The fat finger worked for me....it didn't totally eliminate the problem, but it did move it to a place on the neck where I rarely play. And add $2.00 to this and you might get a cup of coffee!!

[MysticMichael]

Yes, this is a very frequent topic of discussion here...

I have three J-style four-string basses, two of which suffer from dead spots in the area of the fingerboard you mentioned (the usual place). I've found the FatFinger to be quite helpful. And as Jim mentioned, no it doesn't eliminate the dead spot entirely. But it does noticeably reduce its effect. For me, that right there makes it more than worth the modest investment.

Jim is also correct regarding placement having a big effect on the effectiveness of the FatFinger. With my bass guitars, I've found it most effective to anchor the FF right at the end of the headstock, which would logically make most sense anyway, since that's the area that's farthest away from the mass of the body. But YMMV...

Good luck,

MM

[sunbeast]

Another +1 for the Fatfinger- I use it on my two main basses, and find it invaluable! Doesn't eliminate dead spots, but makes them much less dramatic for me. I usually put it right past the G string tuner to good effect...

Karl