We had a very spirited debate on the subject last night. I swore that my Mike Lull M4V has no dead spots, and several people disagreed, quoted Roger Sadowsky, and even implied that I didn't know what a dead spot sounded like! LOL
So as fate would have it today, I woke up to see nothing but blue skies in Seattle, plenty of sunshine, and a nice cool breeze, a perfect day for a walk down to Mike Lull's shop. I called it a trek to the top of the mountain, to get the scoop on the subject from as good a bass builder as there is!
Mike was kind enough to sit down and talk to me about the subject, in depth, talk about basses, amps, and music in general. You won't find a nicer guy in the business and his instruments are world class to boot!
His take was that dead spots are somewhat inevitable on basses with a 34" scale, not necessarily bolt-ons. He feels that 35" scale basses eliminate the dead spot problems, but can create other issues, so it's not the perfect answer either. He feels that the main cause of these dead spots is the flex of the headstock, the lack of rigidity in the neck, the neck shape, and the tuning pegs.
He mentioned the fact that the P-Bass tends to have less of a dead spot than the Jazz because of the wider neck. Mike also said that the old 50's P-Basses, with their massive necks were so resonant that were no dead spots, bolt-on necks and all!
He said with a real well built bass, like my M4V, or a NYC Sadowsky, it's possible that the dead spot may be there, but you can hardly notice it, and it may not be noticeable at all, but tecnically if you wanted to hook the thing up to some kind of scope, or computer it would still be there. He also said that he builds his basses with Hipshot Ultra-Lite tuners and graphite reinforced necks, and those are two main factors why I can't notice mine.
So the argument that all bolt-on necks have an inherrant dead spot is not exactly true, but he generally agreed with your guys Sadowsky quote on the fact that dead spots are an issue, and that on a 34" scale bass can never be 100% eliminated but with the right build and the right materials it can be reduced to a non-factor. But if you wanted to build a 35" scale bass, or a 34" bass with a massive neck and the right tuners, it COULD be eliminated, but the trick in building a great bass, is to get that neck shape and feel that we all love, and build it so the dead spot is minimal. I'd say he accomplised that on my bass!
I consider Mike's word to be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth on the subject! He said technically there is a dead spot on my neck, so I will be a man and admit that I was wrong, and you guys were right! But I have a highly developed ear and I still can't hear it!!!! So my end result is, buy a Lull!
So as fate would have it today, I woke up to see nothing but blue skies in Seattle, plenty of sunshine, and a nice cool breeze, a perfect day for a walk down to Mike Lull's shop. I called it a trek to the top of the mountain, to get the scoop on the subject from as good a bass builder as there is!
Mike was kind enough to sit down and talk to me about the subject, in depth, talk about basses, amps, and music in general. You won't find a nicer guy in the business and his instruments are world class to boot!
His take was that dead spots are somewhat inevitable on basses with a 34" scale, not necessarily bolt-ons. He feels that 35" scale basses eliminate the dead spot problems, but can create other issues, so it's not the perfect answer either. He feels that the main cause of these dead spots is the flex of the headstock, the lack of rigidity in the neck, the neck shape, and the tuning pegs.
He mentioned the fact that the P-Bass tends to have less of a dead spot than the Jazz because of the wider neck. Mike also said that the old 50's P-Basses, with their massive necks were so resonant that were no dead spots, bolt-on necks and all!
He said with a real well built bass, like my M4V, or a NYC Sadowsky, it's possible that the dead spot may be there, but you can hardly notice it, and it may not be noticeable at all, but tecnically if you wanted to hook the thing up to some kind of scope, or computer it would still be there. He also said that he builds his basses with Hipshot Ultra-Lite tuners and graphite reinforced necks, and those are two main factors why I can't notice mine.
So the argument that all bolt-on necks have an inherrant dead spot is not exactly true, but he generally agreed with your guys Sadowsky quote on the fact that dead spots are an issue, and that on a 34" scale bass can never be 100% eliminated but with the right build and the right materials it can be reduced to a non-factor. But if you wanted to build a 35" scale bass, or a 34" bass with a massive neck and the right tuners, it COULD be eliminated, but the trick in building a great bass, is to get that neck shape and feel that we all love, and build it so the dead spot is minimal. I'd say he accomplised that on my bass!
I consider Mike's word to be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth on the subject! He said technically there is a dead spot on my neck, so I will be a man and admit that I was wrong, and you guys were right! But I have a highly developed ear and I still can't hear it!!!! So my end result is, buy a Lull!
