dead frets & spector

you might need to adjust the relief on the neck. Check that first.

 

on the headstock of spectors, there is a little cover with the name printed on it. Remove that, and there is a Hex nut in there. It will adjust your trussrod. To see if your neck needs adjustment, hold the bass at eye level, looking from the bridge up the neck. It should have a very small curve in most cases. Nearly flat is desireable. If you notice that it curves back, or up too much, then it needs adjustment. If you tighten the hex nut, it will push the neck back. If you loosen the nut, it will bring the neck forward. You want to keep the strings at tension to adjust it for those strings. If you have questions, just ask.

 

well here you go...what kind of spector is it?
ill trade you mia jazz which has NO deadspots for your badly playing spector....worth a try...man do i miss my spector

steve

 

Just to add one thing to this: DON'T turn the trussrod more than a 1/4 turn in either direction.

You can tell if the neck has too much relief in another way: hold down the E string at the first fret with your fretting hand while holding down the same string with your elbow between the end of the neck and the bridge. You should be able to slide about 2 business cards (depending on preference) between the 12th fret and the E string. If you can slide a lot more, your neck has too much relief, and adjusting your neck will not help your problem. Conversely, if you have difficulty getting 2 business cards between the 12th fret and the E string, you might have too little relief, in which case adjusting the truss rod will likely help your problem quite a bit.

I recommend turning it 1/4 turn, re-tune the bass, and let it sit overnight. If the problem is worse, turn it the other way the next day. If it's better, then you know what you need to do, which might be nothing.

The other possible thing is that the frets may be uneven and may need to be dressed. That's not easy for an amateur, so I'd take it to a reputable repair shop and let them do it for you.

 

Since you have a problem with only one fret, I would suspect that you might have a "loose fret". Since you're having problems when fretting on the 17th fret, it's probably the 18th fret that may have risen a little bit out of the fretboard. Try pushing down on the fret and see if you can see any noticable movement, if you do take it to a tech who can reglue it for you.

 

Hold the end of the headstock against a wall and play the notes that are dead. If the note clears up, you have a classic dead spot(as opposed to a loose fret Etc.).

If the note clears up, you may want to try adding weight to the headstock. Sometimes this will move the deadspot out a problem area.

Pkr2

 

Take it to a professional if you don't fell comfortable messing with an expensive bass. A lot of people could handle something like this I am not one of them, if your like me I would take it somewhere. good luck