The "Groove Tube Fat Finger" bass sustain enhancer. Has anyone ever used one?

[ben12390]

(i didnt know where else to post this)

here's the link

http://accessories.musiciansfriend.c...cer?sku=420271

I'm just curious to see if it really makes that much of a difference? how can a weight on the end of the headstock really help the sustain?

[spufman]

Lee Sklar used to use one, I think. If it worked for Lee, it must have some value! Personally, I'd hunt for a neck that didn't have resonance problems needing to be altered by clamp-on weights and the accompanying neck-dive.

[ga_edwards]

I have one, it's influence in subtle to say the least. It's more useful for tuning out dead spots that increasing sustain.

If you have a bass with a particularly small headstock, such as a Yamaha RBX series, it'll be of more noticeable use than a huge Fender style rowing paddle. I can't tell any difference on my Attitude, buy I can on my RBX4/A2.

[ga_edwards]

Originally Posted by spufman

Lee Sklar used to use one, I think. If it worked for Lee, it must have some value! Personally, I'd hunt for a neck that didn't have resonance problems needing to be altered by clamp-on weights and the accompanying neck-dive.

Of course it could be the likes of Sklar, Sheehan and Satriani get paid every time they're seen playing with one attached.

[Jim C]

We would sometimes use a small (like 3" or 4") steel C-clamp on the end of a Fender neck; Helps tame the ghots note (C or C#) and makes the bass sustain FOREVER. I find this to be very close to a Fatfinger; If you try it, make sure the C-clamp won't mar the neck (like when the swivel anvil extends past the jaws and make a perfect round dimple; don't ask me how I know)

You can get another cool affect by gently pressing your peg head into a drywall wall; experiment with where on the wall; when you are between studs the drywall will resonante a bit

[Honk'n_down-low]

A friend loaned me one, he did the C Clamp as well, I tried it, the difference is subtle to my ears and not substantial enough for me to leave it on.

[Datsgor]

never tried a fat finger....although, for some recordings I clamped a Cresent wrench on the end of the headstock and the bass became a sustain monster...no dead spots either. Go figure

[neil macpherson]

I have a 2008 American Std Jazz with a maple fretboard that has the dreaded dead(ish) C, C#. Seems you can't buy a Fatfinger any more, so I tried a capo that I have for my 6 string. I just clamp it where you would put a Fatfinger - Voila! It makes a big difference to the sustain of the G string. (and to all the strings to a lesser degree) It's a fairly big capo and it really vibrates when I'm playing so its definitely absorbing energy. I remember I had a Stingray some years ago (maple fretboard again...) that had the same problem and I sold it. (the whole G string was a bit lacklustre) If I had seen these threads back then and was aware of the problem perhaps I could have done the capo trick on it as well.

So I think there is definitly something in this, and not just 'snake oil'. I remember reading somewhere else about someone noticing how their bass body vibrates a lot more when playing those dud notes. I notice the same thing.

Anyway just thought I'd mention the capo thing becuase they are usually guitar finish friendly and easy to try.

[steve_rolfeca]

Just finished reading an interview with Roger Sadowsky, where he says he moved to thicker headstocks in order to reduce dead spots. Other tricks like using carbon fiber or steel neck reinforcements, threaded inserts at the neck joint, etc., attempt to address the same issues.

In the end, everything resonates, only the frequency changes. The fact that you can feel a capo or a clamp vibrate at certain frequencies, shows that it hasn't prevented the resonance, just moved it to a point in the spectrum where it no longer causes you grief.

What works on one bass, won't necessarily work on another. For instance, putting a Fat Finger on my beatle bass probably wouldn't do a thing, given that the hollow body, the flimsy bridge and the cheap hinged tailpiece are all resonating madly...

But if you can save a treasured instrument that has a problem just by attaching a weight to the headstock, why not?

[Gort]

I used a Fat Finger for a while with minimal results. It may have moved the deadspot but not much.

I found that shortscales have less issues with deadspots and generally sound more even than longsclaes so that's what I mostly play now.

[topcat2069]

I found that it's good for recording a Bass that has dead spots and wolf notes, but it adds too much weight so it wasn't practical (for me ) to leave on when playing live.

[Moe Monsarrat]

You can buy one....I did. I used it on one troublesome bass. It works ok. It won't turn a sow's ear into a silk purse though.

[kringle77]

I have two origional billy sheehan attitude basses and one stambaugh custom version. Pretty mutch identical. The blue one is stock, the red one has a redeemer circuit and light weight hipshot tuners, the stambaugh has the same. I plugged them all in yesterday and noticed a big difference in the tone between the 3. The blue one with origional big heavy tuners sounded the best of the group except for the clearer top end from the buffer circuit. The lows were bigger, the whole tone sounded more focused and when I tapped down the length of a string, there were more harmonics than on the other two basses. So, I put a clamp on the headstock of the stambaugh and just like magic, there was my big tone again. I also got the neck dive back again so, thats the trade off. I ordered a fender fatfinger today.

[mongo2]

I had one....it didn't help much on the instruments I tried it on so I gave it away.

[cassius987]

Originally Posted by steve_rolfeca

In the end, everything resonates, only the frequency changes. The fact that you can feel a capo or a clamp vibrate at certain frequencies, shows that it hasn't prevented the resonance, just moved it to a point in the spectrum where it no longer causes you grief.

Yep... I have gotten good results tuning out dead spots in the past by switching to lightweight tuners.

[stratovani]

More snake oil! It seems the music world, like the wider world out there, is not immune from snake oil!

[Hondo83]

I had one for my MIM jazz bass. It did work...but moved the dead spot down 2 frets on the G from the 7th the 5th. So I just took it off...stuff I was playing didn't require heavy sustain on that fret, anyway!

[cassius987]

Originally Posted by stratovani

More snake oil! It seems the music world, like the wider world out there, is not immune from snake oil!

No, headstock mass has a real effect--it's just not very predictable. Claims that more or less always enhances sustain probably ARE snake oil.

[kringle77]

My basses don't have any dead spots to begin with. There is just a very noticable difference between my basses with the regular, heavy hipshot tuners to the light versions. In this case, the extra mass does have an effect. It's not snake oil in the least. If I was to put one on the bass that already had heavy tuners, there probably would not be a big difference.

[mongo2]

Originally Posted by cassius987

No, headstock mass has a real effect

Steinberger.