Dead Note on Fender Ultra Jazz Bass

[AK Bass Guy]

I found this vid a while back when dealing with a dead spot. It demonstrates how to fix dead spot with technique.

It works but does take some practice to incorporate into playing.


My usually way to deal with dead spots on a Fender bass neck is to replace it with a Warmoth neck.
Not the cheapest solution but due to the design of the Warmoth necks with the extra rods in the neck the dead spots on the neck are nonexistent or very minimal.
Good luck.

 

[Major Seven]

I've played more than 60 Fenders and ALL of them HAD a dead note.
Custom Shop, Deluxe, Standard, my American Vintage 62, Fenders from 70's... you name it. With new or with old truss rod neck, with or without reinforcements in ther neck.
My G&L L-1000 has a typical Fender dead note on 6th fret of G-string (like my '62 AM Vintage Precision)
My 2011 Rickenbacker has some weaker spots.

It can't be fixed.

It can be moved or decreased by adding weight either to the headstock or to the bridge (Badass) or both.

IF somebody is telling that his Fender doesn't have a dead note he is either lying or he hasn't found it yet. Or is in 1% of lucky Fender owners without dead note.

A dead note on one or two frets of G strings in Fender type bass is not a thing anybody should be bothered by.

I put lighter tuners on and it moved up to Eb

 

[the_Ryan]

All bass guitars will have dead spots regardless of construction or materials. The specific acoustical phenomenon is a wolf tone, and it occurs on any string instrument where the note played matches some resonant frequency in the instrument itself (on guitars the most resonant part is usually the neck). Different methods of constructing a neck (stiffening rods, bolt on vs neck through, etc.) or adding/removing weight to the neck changes that resonant frequency, and will move the dead spot to a different (and ideally a less problematic) pitch, but it is a bit of a crapshoot. Graphite and aluminum necks are also not immune to dead spots and if my memory is correct (which it very well may not be) those dead spots tend to occur on the E or A strings.

 

[Rip Van Dan]

I don't know if these things actually do anything but some say it's an easy way to add mass to a headstock.
I've seen others say that adding a Hipshot drop tuner will add some mass to help with dead spot.
Funny that Fender markets the Fat Finger as something to add sustain when most people buy them to fix dead spots. Guess they don't want to own up to the fact that their bass necks have had a design flaw since they have been making them.
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Yes the Fatfinger works because it changes the resonant frequency of the neck. If you get one you will need to move it around and play until you find the location on your headstock where the dead-spot disappears. Don't use it myself but have some friends who have and they swear by it.

I can also attest from personal experience that not all Fender Jazz Basses have a dead spot. I've only had two of them, but neither one had a dead spot. The first one was a 1965 Jazz that I bought in 1966 and he one I'm using now and have since 1985 is my 1982 Jazz. My '65 had a maple neck with a rosewood fretboard (no skunk stripe on those). My '82 has an All maple neck with a skunk strip.

Never really de-tuned my '65 Jazz which I played from 1966 until 1976 when it was stolen. I toured with that bass in the early 70's and put about 750 performances on it in 3-years. I have down-tuned the E-string on my '82 Jazz down as far as Db but still have never encountered a dead spot on it. So, NO, not all Fender Jazz Basses have a dead spot. But enough do that Fender came out with the FatFinger to alleviate the problem. By the way, that is not a new problem. It's showed up on some Jazz Basses for at least decades.