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Dead Spots on Fenders..Huh?
- Thread starter faulknersj
- Start date
I had a deadspot in the 1st string Eb (8th fret). However, the bass lost about half its fingerboard thickness after years of being a fretless, getting replaned and refretted with vintage sized frets. Now the dead spot is pretty much gone. Though I sometimes worry about the insanely thin neck (it's a jbass... thinned out and flattened to 12" radius).
This is certainly false as I have a dead spot on my fretless. Standard location: G string, 7th fret.
Frankly, I'm surprised that you're surprised that he's surprised of this!
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My 2 Carvin's (PB-4 and PB-5) have no dead spots on the G String. Theirs are on the D String, and not that bad.
I've only had a few fretted basses with really annoying dead spots... but i've had more than a few fretless basses with serious dead spots. Happily, I don't think any of my current collection suffers from anything noticeable. It helps that they're all kinda high end (which begs the question - how does a manufacturer avoid/fix this problem??)
No manufacturer can avoid the problem 100%. Some guys will try different things out. Roger Sadowsky adds graphite rods to the necks and has thickened the headstocks of his basses to help minimize the problem. Michael Tobias adds veneers to the headstocks of some of his basses to do the same, but both Rogers and Mike's basses can still have dead spots. Wood is still wood (and graphite is still graphite
).
- Jun 9, 2013
- 173
- 97
- Disclosures
- Bacchus / STR Endorsing Artist and direct Dealer of new and used MIJ Brands.
Depends on your definition of a dead spot I suppose. The Luthiers I work with tend to consider a note that decays within a few seconds as dead, so I have the same perception. However I have never had an instrument that has uniform consistency in sustain length up and down the neck on all strings, because frankly that'd be impossible! I do have instruments that have very satisfactory levels of performance and notes that don't die within a few seconds, that's all. And I think a lot has to do with set-up. Of course there are possibilities of frequencies being absorbed by the neck or body very quickly, but IMO a good builder will calculate how to minimize this occurrence and will build a neck and body that get around that.
No manufacturer can avoid the problem 100%. Some guys will try different things out. Roger Sadowsky adds graphite rods to the necks and has thickened the headstocks of his basses to help minimize the problem. Michael Tobias adds veneers to the headstocks of some of his basses to do the same, but both Rogers and Mike's basses can still have dead spots. Wood is still wood (and graphite is still graphite
Now, see THIS puzzles me. What the heck do Headstocks have to do with me fretting a note and it being dead?
Its a joke, you have high end basses (read expensive) w/o dead spots. So if you have to pay more you won't hear dead spots also; if you have to explain the joke MAYBE it wasn't amusing.
If I understand it correctly, it changes the mass of the neck which changes the resonate frequency, thus moving the dead spot. If you are lucky, it moves off the fret board.
I think that's the idea. It doesn't necessarily work, but it's one of the few things a builder can do to help minimize the chances of there being significant dead spots on a bass. And, again, the price of an instrument is not an accurate indicator of whether or not it will be dead spot free.
Hi guys, can confirm my american standard jazz has that famous 5th fret dead spot on the G string.
Not too bad with newish roundwounds but after a few weeks it looses all sustain and is almost like its muted.
Still a great bass though, playing live no one but me could pick it.
I have a roadworn 60's jazz aswell that has a very very similar neck with no such spot.
Luck of the draw id say!
Not too bad with newish roundwounds but after a few weeks it looses all sustain and is almost like its muted.
Still a great bass though, playing live no one but me could pick it.
I have a roadworn 60's jazz aswell that has a very very similar neck with no such spot.
Luck of the draw id say!
Yeah, dead strings make a dead spot a lot more apparent. My MIA P Bass with flats had the worst dead spot I have ever heard.
Ibanez used to employ an interesting solution, by embedding short metal bars in strategic locations in the neck, under the fingerboard. I remember seeing this in a catalog a bunch of years ago.
Toward the bottom of page 32
http://books.google.com/books?id=-J...age&q=fender snubbed tone "bass book"&f=false
