dead spots in all fender jazz basses???

[remo]

you guys ever notice if you press your bass's body to your gut (stomach) area and play the "dead spot" fret and then the "non dead spot" frets you can definitly notice the instrument body vibrates a lot more on the dead spot? Its hard to explain but I can feel the bass vibrate differently when I hit my dead spot.. I can feel the bass suck the sustain out of the string and absorb it into the body.. can someone else please give this a try?

 

[skewh]

My Fender bass doesn't have any dead spots . . .

 

[TheOldFlatwound]

my main jazz basses don't really have dead spots. there are a couple of notes (in the usual dead spot range) that have SLIGHTLY less punch than the rest of the bass, but it's not a problem--barely noticeable at all. My Sadowsky is the same way.
I used to have a 62RI USA Jazz that did have an ugly dead spot at Db on the G string--it was best to stay away from that note on that bass--it essentially wasn't there--otherwise, that bass sounded good too.

 

[JimmyM]

My experience is that lighter weight tuners increase the dead spot problem. Using heavier gears has a similar effect to using a Fatfinger---it increases mass at the headstock.

I wonder if that's why Fender started using graphite reinforcement bars in the neck. Can't be because of stability issues. My Jazz neck changes its relief with weather changes just like any other Fender.

 

[bernieNYC]

I purchased a Fender '75 Jazz reissue (ash with maple fretboard) last year and when playing the chorus to 'I Saw Her Standing There' that last note just didn't sound good. I then noticed the same thing in 'Come Together' and began obsessing about it. I got fender to replace he neck without too much difficulty and it became better, but the note still sounds a bit harsh, much like the description in the last posting. I have picked up almost every Jazz Bass in NYC and almost every Jazz Bass, irregardless of price, has either a harsh or dead sounding c note on the g string. i find it to be less noticeable when using the bridge pickup with the tone backed off all the way, and hitting the string with with an upward motion (when using a pick) also seems to make it sound better. I am not a very accomplished bass player, so i hope that my playing will mature along with the wood...

 

[flipper_gv]

got a light deadspot on the 5th fret of the g string. Lowering the action/raising the pickup helped a lot for an unknown reason.

 

[bass_fish]

never noticed it on my jazz... but then again: nothing is standard on my jazz, only the body and the neck everything else is replaced so....

 

[bernieNYC]

as per Remo's posting, i did try that and i do feel the bass vibrate noticeably when i hit that note. i have found that it sounds better when i hit differently than the other notes: when playing with my finger i pluck it with a slight motion towards the bridge, and when playing with a pick i use more of the side of the pick and plucking the string upwards seems to sound better. On mine the note isn't dead, but it just doesn't have the same tonality and decays into an harmonic with a harsher sound unless you hit it just right.

 

[matt11]

No dead spots on either my MIM jazz or my MIJ precision.

hey, i know this could go in setup but i figured since its about fender jazz basses id put it in basses.

anyways, i have a mim fender (2000) and a mia (1999)(defretted) fender jazz bass and they both have dead spots on the g string at the 6th fret (pluck the string and get a weak tone with very little sustain). the fretless actually has a dead spot from between 5th and 6th to bethween 6th and 7th. so i was wondering have you guys had any similar experiences...

btw, ive changed strings and tried multiple neck tension and string height adjustments and i still get them there.

 

[mccartneyman]

I started playing bass on a '59 P Bass with a dead spot on the 4th & 5th frets on the G strings. It was SO dead that I developed the habit of playing of B and C almost exclusively on the D string, and I still tend to do that today even though I've played plenty of other basses with no dead spots.

The Fender dead spot is legend, so much so that someone makes a clamp-on weight that can be put on the headstock, theoretically to cancel the dead spot. Can't recall what it's called.

 

[jk3]

its not just a fender thing, its the construct of the guitar thing. bolt on necks are more at risk than neck thrus - yet no guitar or bass is safe.

guitars aren't keyboards.

i have a dead spot on my jazz - i was furious when i found it, ready to sell it, so on. but i realized that is just the way these stringed instruments go. thats one of the things that make guitars/basses different from other instruments - they arent perfect - or they arent all perfect - even for the pros.

sounds a bit cliche, but things like dead spots add character.
just my positive spin on my experience.

 

[dave_bass5]

The Fender dead spot is legend, so much so that someone makes a clamp-on weight that can be put on the headstock, theoretically to cancel the dead spot. Can't recall what it's called.

LOL, its talked about quite a bit on page one. Maybe you missed it ;-)

 

[EddieG]

Somebody in another forum told me to take an axe stand with me to shows and when resting the axe, put the strap under the legs of the stand. The thief will not figure it out and will grab the axe and pull the stand with it alerting you if someone tries to snatch it. He said he caught a guy he'd once played in a band with trying to make off with one of his guitars and then began stammering out a bunch of excuses when they caught him redhanded.

I wanted to kill the guy who ripped me off so imagine my glee when I learned he put a pistol in his mouth and blew off the top of his head some months later.

I went to his funeral and asked his widow if she had my axe. She started making a scene. All these tearful histrionics. She was as bad as he was and I know she knew all about his ripping me off.

"That's right, you punk b---h!" I said, "You need to cry!" I told her the universe had merely corrected a mistake it made by hauling this pus-bucket into the world without warning me. Then I gotted throwed out. Maybe his funeral wasn't the right place to do it but he had no respect for me so why should I show him any?

Damned if I'm going to mourn for him. I'm glad he's dead but I want Rick back!!!



Yeah, I even had a guy do a caliper check on the neck and everything and he said it was as perfect as any bass he'd ever tested. "Can't say Fender doesn't know how to make a bass," he said.

If this is true, well done that man! I hope you got your bass back.

 

[Quadzilla]

I recently put together a Franken Bass which has much less of a pronouned dead spot (on the G string) than most others I've owned or played. I'm guessing that the HEAVY woods used (bass weighs 11ish lbs) and the heavy and VERY reasonate 2-Tek bridge contribute to the lack of a dead spot. The dead spot is there, but EXTREMELY faint. You REALLY have to listen hard for it. Here is the formula:

MIA (1993) Fender '62-RI Jazz body (heavy piece of ash)
2-Tek Bridge Installed (which requires very intense and precise routing through the body)
Fender Original (60's) Jazz pickups
Audere JZ3 (3 band) pre-amp
Bacchus Jazz neck with Pearl Inlays and Binding (Bacchus is a Japanese custom shop - hand crafted basses)
Bacchus Tuners (high-quality vintage Fender style)


Link Removed

Link Removed

 

[pilotjones]

Quad

You sure that's an ash body?

 

[Quadzilla]

Quad

You sure that's an ash body?

I thought it was, but maybe it's alder. Either way, it's a heavy body (I'm sure the massive bridge contributes to that). The other plus (other than the lack of dead spots) with it, is that the heavy body and bridge virtually elimate neck dive. Cool!

 

[pilotjones]

Yeah, it looks more like alder to me. That would go properly with the '62 RI thing, too, if I'm not mistaken.

I played a Hamer with a 2tek, don't know the body wood, but it would definitely sink in water. Sucker was heavy!

 

[lokolp]

My new mim doesn't really have one. The seventh fret on the g string rings for 5-6 seconds instead of 7-8 like the other frets around it do. But my p-bass had it really bad, it only rings for about half a second.

 

[droskobass]

In the 70's and 80's there seemed to be a war agains dead spots: EMG pickups, Badass bridges, Moses replacement necks, graphic eq's, compressors, 4x10's with tweeters...

but now we pay top dollar for custom shop relics.... you can bet they have deadspots and you can bet they sound great.

the trouble is that the cure for the deadspots (listed above) usually also radically alter other key elements of tone that actually define the classic fender sound. So you can't have one without the other. (old school tone without a bit of inconsistency)

quick fixes: Pickup height may help. turn up the gain on your amp and play lighter all over the bass. you'll have a more even tone every where, and from bass to bass you'll always sound like "you". and the obvious one: play up on the A and D strings up at the 10th to 12th frett to get those notes when you want the thicker tone...that's waht jaco and John Paul Jones did.

my 2 cents

 

[solitario]

I know this is and old thread but I was thinkin that maybe the old strap button in the back of the headstock that nobody used it in the 60's model may do something similar to the fat finger trick. what do you think? it will look much better than adding a fat finger to the head.