flat spot on my bass guitar

jwg3426 · #1 03-31-2009, 02:15 PM

Hello. My name is Jerry. I own over 20 basses, and am having troubles with two that I've so far been unsuccessful in resolving. I own a 1991 Jazz Bass, and a 2008 Vibe precision/tele neck. Both basses have a flat spot when I play the g string on the fifth fret. No other spot on the bass has this problem. I've worked the truss rod, intonation, height, etc to no avail. Stew Mac says they need me to ask someone
here on Bass forum, Fender has not responded.
Can you offer any suggestion as to how to get this flat spot out? I'd like to start playing these basses again! Thanks.
Jerry
My email is Jwg3426@clearwire.net

jmjbassplayer · #2 03-31-2009, 05:05 PM

Dude, that sux. I dunno the answer, actually.

What about putting one of those heavy pieces that you clamp onto your headstock? I forget what they're called...supposed to help with dead spots.

Best,
JMJ

thombo · #3 03-31-2009, 06:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jmjbassplayer

Dude, that sux. I dunno the answer, actually.

What about putting one of those heavy pieces that you clamp onto your headstock? I forget what they're called...supposed to help with dead spots.

Best,
JMJ

groove tube's fat finger... don't know it it works.

JimmyM · #4 04-01-2009, 12:35 AM

It works by moving the dead spot to another spot on the neck. The vast majority of Fenders have a dead spot in that vicinity. Usually it's one fret up, though I have seen a few on the 5th fret. I tend to just play right through them and ignore them. I don't see them as any big deal. Plus I tend to play those notes on the D string because they sound fatter. But if a bass has a dead spot, there's not much you can do except move it with a Fat Finger. You might be able to minimize it, but it'll always be there.

Gashaponcito · #5 04-02-2009, 08:10 AM

why do dead spots come up? if I buy a new bass and it doesn't have one is it possible that with the time it gets one?

JimmyM · #6 04-02-2009, 10:54 AM

http://www.acoustics.org/press/137th/fleischer.html

nixdad · #7 04-02-2009, 06:42 PM

If you're looking for a dead spot-free bass, you may want to try to locate an old Steinberger or Status, which are both headless basses (and have graphite necks.) One of the benefits of being headless was that there is no weight past the nut, which was supposively a contributing factor to causing dead spots.

I honestly don't know if this was a 100% proven fact, but I owned both basses back in the 80's and don't recall any dead spots on mine.

Gotta love them Fenders, warts and all...

kyral210 · #8 04-07-2009, 05:15 PM

This might sound a little obvious, but have you tried different string gauges and a proper (guitar tech) setup? You might see a difference? Other than that, play through it. To an extent, a little 'off sound' adds character to a bass, just listen to Kurt Cobain play guitar! He was off allot of the time, but he sounded great because he embraced it. Sounding 100% all the time 'might' sound a little sterile, maybe not, thats just my opinion. Best luck!

JimmyM · #9 04-07-2009, 09:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kyral210

This might sound a little obvious, but have you tried different string gauges and a proper (guitar tech) setup? You might see a difference? Other than that, play through it. To an extent, a little 'off sound' adds character to a bass, just listen to Kurt Cobain play guitar! He was off allot of the time, but he sounded great because he embraced it. Sounding 100% all the time 'might' sound a little sterile, maybe not, thats just my opinion. Best luck!

Ya, that's how I look at it, and I'm relatively sure Justin does, too. But a good setup could make the dead spot less pronounced. Won't get it to go away, but it's possible it wouldn't be as bad. Might not make a difference, either. But it can't hurt.