• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

"Dead Spot" question...

#23
Wow, I thought it was just me. My dead spot is C# on the G string. Its deader than Stephen Hawkings dick. Its in the shop now getting a whole new neck.


My question is : is it a fret issue or a something in the wood? Why is it primarily on the G between 5-7? WHY? WHY? WHY?
 
#28
I kinda feel like everybody is talking around the problem. It's a "resonance problem"? Thats like the mechanic saying that your car doesnt start because it has a locomotion problem. Does that mean its a defect in the wood? Why would it always be in the same place? Sorry if Im being dense, I dont get it.
 
#29
Personally, I believe the problem is more prevalent in Fender style necks and 4-strings more than 5-strings. Something to do with the length, general shape, mass, etc that tends to put potential resonance problems into certain areas.

On my specific bass I kind of blame myself because I specifically demanded deeper and larger real shell block inlays in a heavy birdseye neck, so essentially I'm taking larger chunks of wood out of the fretboard.

Either way, it's not a general playing issue on mine, but more of a 'difference in resonance and sustain' on one note on the neck. You can't notice it playing the bass unplugged, and you don't notice it playing live. You only notice or hear it if trying to use an Octaver or Pitch shifter, and as mentioned above, a Fatfinger gets rid of the problem in my case at least.
 
#32
It's very simple really. The neck is a resonant piece of wood. If a string attached to the wood vibrates at that frequency, the neck will tend to vibrate at that same frequency and thus absorb the string's energy at that frequency. Basically it acts like a frequency-dependent shock absorber.

Laminated necks may work better because the different types of wood glued together may prevent the neck from having a single resonant frequency. Also it stiffens the neck, raising the resonant frequency. If it is raised high enough, it will be higher than the fundamental of any note.
 
#34
#35
....haven't read the whole thread, so I hope I'm not repeating previously said info....

IME, deadspots will not be found on every bass, it's an inherent flaw in wood, all woods. They can't be avoided or detected prior to building a bass either. I've only encountered them on 4 strings. That's because they can be corrected by adding mass to the neck or headstock: 5s and 6s have more mass already. Heavier mass tuners or a Groove Tubes Fatfinger will fix the problem most of the time, but adding more mass will affect the tone of all the notes IMO/IME.
 
#36
I've found dead spots on many different necks made of many different woods, with no real correlation between frequency or intensity and wood type. That being said my "best" neck so far (having virtually no issues) is a very stiff Allparts one-piece maple neck. This is an interesting neck. It started out as a fat and hefty P bass neck with a wide nut that I shaved down to a very slim 1-7/16" nut width, reprofiled by removing a considerable amount of wood and reshaped the headstock to a minimal Telebass style shape while maintaining the extraordinary eveness of it's tone.

However, I've also found that shortscale necks seem to have minimal, if any, issues with dead/hot spots and usually have a more even response than longscale necks.

If it means anything I now play flats and nylon tapewounds exclusively.

JEDI BASS said:
IME, deadspots will not be found on every bass, it's an inherent flaw in wood, all woods. They can't be avoided or detected prior to building a bass either. I've only encountered them on 4 strings. That's because they can be corrected by adding mass to the neck or headstock: 5s and 6s have more mass already. Heavier mass tuners or a Groove Tubes Fatfinger will fix the problem most of the time, but adding more mass will affect the tone of all the notes IMO/IME.
Click to expand...

IME adding mass to the headstock does little to allieviate dead spots nor are 5 strings inherently immune to them.

Oddly enough, I've found that leaning the headstock hard against a sheetrock wall helps.
 
#37
It's a problem alright. I see some patterns developing: on my 34" scale Fender style basses with wood necks, dead or wolf notes are mostly on the G string. On my 35" scale basses with wood necks I find the problem note to be the Bb note on the A string (the 1st note above the open A at the 1st fret). This note oscillates & causes other unmuted strings to ring. I have two 36" scale basses (an Elrick 5 string w/composite fingerboard & a Wishbass 5 string fretless). Neither have dead or wolf notes that I can detect and for me, if I can't hear it, it ain't there. BTW you don't think pressing the headstock against the wall is akin to adding mass? You're suppressing vibration, which is what the Fatfinger does as well. Maybe it's something completely different, but the two things that seem to change things consistantly are composite neck components & extended scale lengths.
 
#38
Moe Monsarrat said:
BTW you don't think pressing the headstock against the wall is akin to adding mass? You're suppressing vibration, which is what the Fatfinger does as well. Maybe it's something completely different, but the two things that seem to change things consistantly are composite neck components & extended scale lengths.
Click to expand...

All I know is adding mass to the headstock via a fatfinger, heavy tuners, or C clamp didn't do anywhere near as much as holding the heastock against the wall in my so-called "music room". Give it a try.

Could be the wall just alters the resonance more than the added mass.

I agree that composites are generally better at it, but I've been acquainted with a couple of graphite necks that had dead spots.
 
#39
SO . . .

I got the call from the shop. They changed out my neck and put on the new neck and lo and behold : no more dead spot. Thats the good news. The bad news is that it is now fretting out in the higher register (tink, tink, tink). The dead spot neck or the fretting out neck??? I think I may go back to the dead spot neck and try one of those fat finger dealios. Dunno yet.
 
#40
Fat fingers work, PERIOD. I'm not saying that they're a 100% cure though. Like a drug, there's side effects ;): IME there will be mild to dramatic tone changes, across the board (pun intended) depending on the instrument. I played around w/ both a guitar (smaller and lighter) and a bass Fat Finger on pretty much all of my 12+ basses, that I had at the time. Played w/ the postioining on the headstock too. The basses that had no deadspots that were extended scale like my Dingwall 5 and 6er (37" to 33.25" C) and Lakland 5ers (35") had negative effects, tonewise: some of the highs and overall clarity suffered... hard to describe really :hmm:. My '06 Rickenbacker 4003 got a ballsier low end but at the cost of some of it's grind.

Long story short: at that time I only had 1 bass that needed a Fat Finger, a 4 string jazz w/ a horrible deadspot at the C (5th fret G string). It was so bad that the note's fundamental didn't even ring out, just some muted-sounding harmonics... really strange and so much worse than the 1 other bass I'd had w/ this problem. The BASS Fat Finger fixed the deadspot, and at my amp, I was able to EQ back in the sound I wanted from the bass.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back