Dead spots.. Where are they typically, what does it sound like?

[SurferJoe46]

My G&L L2000 has a dead spot on G string as well (5th fret), not a major one, but it's there.
However, since I changed strings (from TI jazz flats to D'Addario Chromes) the said dead spot is much, much less noticeable. I suppose that string tension may also something to do with it.

I dunnow about that - the ROTO77s are reputed to be fairly high tension, whereas the Elixirs and Fender 7250s are not so.

I have three different brands on my three different Fender basses.

 

[maxbass]

I never owned, or even tried, a bass without dead spots.
Including NT basses.

 

[paul_5]

Amazing that so many Fenders have that same dead zone - mine on all of my Fenders or Squiers are on the G string at the C# position - give or take a fret.

My Blade B15 has the same problem on the 7th fret G string (D) so I spoke to a friend who builds guitars for a living. He seems to think that it's the headstock mass/density that is vibrating at the wrong frequency and effectively cancelling out the fundamental pitch of this note (similar to phase inversion on microphones etc...), which is why the harmonics last longer, as they are untouched. Sad but true, EVERY Fender Jazz does this, so to my Blade.

 

[johnk_10]

IMO, dead spots have to do with quite a few varaibles. string length, string diameter, string tension, and resonant frequency, which includes the wood (or composite) and the type of construction (bolt on, set neck or neck thru) all has an effect on it.

 

[ridgeback]

Link Removed
have it on my stingray fretless from (gstring)the B up to the D...
one of tony franklin videos he talks about it being almost inherent with all fretless instruments and you just learn to play around it..

 

[johnk_10]

if you want to experiment, you can try tuning your G string down about a step or two and you'll find that it will move to another location, and on some basses, it will even disappear.

 

[OOZMAN]

Dead spots? What sort of rubbish guitar would have a dead spot? Oh wait.. you said fender.


*Hiding for my life.*

 

[Toasted]

Virtually every bass has one (except the graphite neck models, and supposedly they have them also... just so subtle that you can't hear them).

A dead spot is almost impossible to 'fix', and typically occurs on the G string between the 4th and 7th fret. Laminated necks, long scale, short scale, graphite bars, etc., etc. might help 'on average', but won't eliminate them in every case for each and every instrument. I've heard significant dead spots on virtually every brand and bass design, other than the graphite stuff.

The way to check a neck for a deadspot is to plug in the bass, and then play long, ringing whole notes up the G string. A minor dead spot will result in the fundamental of the note decaying a bit quicker than the other notes, leaving just the high overtones of the note. This is no problem, and is just something bassists have to deal with. A MAJOR dead spot will result in the fundamental of the note not sounding at all, and is just a miserable thing. The note will sound like you are playing a 'harmonic', and will have no attack. This is luckily rare.

Only you can determine how problematic a deadspot is. For me, as long as I have a full, even, strong fundamental attack when plucking the note, I'm fine. If it decays a touch faster than the rest of the strings, that is a minor deal, and you can play around it in the rare case that you need a ringing, long hole not.

This post should be stickied.

 

[pit7]

I have one on the G (third fret E- String / Geddy Lee Sign. Jazz) and i fixed it with a "Fat Finger" by "Groove Tubes" at the very end of the headstock.
Increasing the mass of the headstock this way works with this bass...no big deal.

 

[Snipper!]

All basses have them in some form but some are more noticeable than others, on my Yam's it mostly seems to be D# on the G string, it's only when your strings have played in and rounded out a little that they really show up big, new strings cover it for a while (sounds great in the shop) but as soon as they've bedded in.....then you can spot 'em easy, it's no big deal, unless the dead spot affects a range of 3 to 5 frets....... then that is a problem.

 

[johnny6644]

All of mine have dead spots. Some are worse than others.

My Peavey... D string, ninth fret
My Rockbass... G string seventh fret
My DeArmond... G string, seventh fret

Basses I previously owned with dead spots: Geddy Lee, Warwick Corvette Classic, American Precision.

 

[TRichardsbass]

Even graphite necked basses. My Peavey G Bass has one on the G string around the 8th fret. And thats graphite plus a 35" scale. Not as noticeable as with any of my other wood necked basses.

My experience usually on the D or G string, 5-9th frets. Some more noticeable then others. Less on my short scales. My aluminum necked basses have what I call "weak spots". They don't sound like normal dead spots but don't ring strong, sort of a lack of volume rather then loss of sustain.

If you play at "11" it really don't matter...

 

[SurferJoe46]

So - what's the common denominator here?

It ain't strings (too many varieties cited here)

It ain't the brand name of the bass (again, too many different brands)

It ain't the wood (some are aluminum necks and various bodies)

It isn't the bridge (again - varieties cited)

Could it be that illusive factor - FINGERS or maybe just it's the carrots?

Nobody's spoken up about headless basses yet though. Hint-Hint.

 

[sledhead2112]

yeah dead spots are pretty annoying. on my one bass, it has a dead spot from 7 to 11 on the D string, in addition to the usual spot on the G string. its very annoying haha. the notes fade into the harmonics quickly.

 

[KJung]

So - what's the common denominator here?

It ain't strings (too many varieties cited here)

It ain't the brand name of the bass (again, too many different brands)

It ain't the wood (some are aluminum necks and various bodies)

It isn't the bridge (again - varieties cited)

Could it be that illusive factor - FINGERS or maybe just it's the carrots?

Nobody's spoken up about headless basses yet though. Hint-Hint.

I assume you are just being silly. Wooden neck basses almost all have a deadspot in roughly the same place. If you understand what a deadspot is (it becomes obvious if you play long, ringing notes up and down the G string between the 4th and 8th frets), you can hear the fundamental of the note disappear into the wood (which I guess has to do with the resonant frequency of each piece of wood).

Even graphite necks can have deadspots, but I guess they are very rare, given that the density of that material moves the resonant frequency out of the typical playing zone in most cases.

Changing strings, technique, bridges... nothing will help. In some rare cases, adding some weight to the headstock can move the resonant frequency enough to minimize the impact.

 

[Hoover]

Describe the symptom, a "dead", lack of sustain?.. Like old, dead strings?

I had a Gibson Ripper (L-9S) back in the late 70s, and the difference between the 4th string 3rd fret G and the 4th string 2nd fret F# right next to it was over 12dB-SPL...it sounded like someone had grabbed the volume control and cranked it down 50% every time you hit that F#.

 

[bassbenj]

This makes the argument for woods/necks NOT having any tonal or frequency effect on the sounds I think.

I tried adding a weight to the head with c-clamps and then holding the head against a hollow door and even holding the head against my OWN head and ---> *NADA! * NICHTS! * ZILCH! *

If wood type/wood quality made a difference, then this dead zone would be all over the board - on different days of the week or moon phase or on different strings and different positions with different wood densities, grain, oil/wax percentages and even the color - if wood on an electric bass makes a big difference at all.

'Way too many variables here for the wood to be anywhere in the equation.

It ain't strings either - they are all different brands and designs.

Personally I think it might have something to do with the shape of the Fender necks. When I bought my Fender V I checked it carefully for dead spots and found none. I bought it. After living with it for a while I found that even so there were a couple of places where the character of the tone changed ever so slightly. But it was so minor you'd really have to be picky to even find it.

But now dig. It was winter. My bass had been in the car. It was cold as hell. I bring it in and start to play it and much to my amazement there are SERIOUS dead spots all over the neck! And I mean DEAD like seriously damped strings at certain notes! I was, of course, freaking out at first wondering what happened to my bass! I start to fool around by clamping weights on the headstock and lo the dead spots moved on the neck.

But then as the bass warmed up to room temperature all the dead spots disappeared and it went back to the way it usually is.

So obviously there IS something about the wood and it's characteristics that have something to do with dead spots.

 

[SurferJoe46]

I assume you are just being silly. Wooden neck basses almost all have a deadspot in roughly the same place. If you understand what a deadspot is (it becomes obvious if you play long, ringing notes up and down the G string between the 4th and 8th frets), you can hear the fundamental of the note disappear into the wood (which I guess has to do with the resonant frequency of each piece of wood).

Even graphite necks can have deadspots, but I guess they are very rare, given that the density of that material moves the resonant frequency out of the typical playing zone in most cases.

Changing strings, technique, bridges... nothing will help. In some rare cases, adding some weight to the headstock can move the resonant frequency enough to minimize the impact.

Oh, I know what a dead spot is - I can even see the string moving but the sound just dies like a Hofner.

OK - let's go with the fundamental going to the twilight zone for a moment.

Are you saying something like 'absorption of oscillations' or 'attenuation via commiseration' - 'cause if so, I don't think that's likely.

When I see the string still moving and yet the note fell into a black hole - then something that's not wood is affecting the sound.

The fields are still being cut by the string in motion - I can see it still moving so.

That leaves only one obviated but silly condition: There has to be some sort of interference to the magnetic pulses being sent to the amp.

Yet the magnets have not selectively failed at that particular frequency or moment - right?

Magnets don't hate C#s - do they?

Magnets do NOT care about wood - right? (I cite Plexiglas basses)​

The magnets are not moving in the same frequency as the string - or I'd see the p'ups moving too - right?

So --- mechanical things are in flux - fields are being cut - coils are being excited and signals are being generated and yet the note is dead.

Sorry but I don't see the neck causing dead spots. There was even a post about an aluminum neck with the same dead-zone situation.

The only way I can see a neck creating this problem is if the fretboard at that spot was soft and just absorbed the vibrations like a piece of rubber where you fretted it.

My fretboards are all very firm though - hard, even. My fingers may not be as hard - but then all or any of my notes would suffer this same anomaly, somewhat haphazardly.

The chances of all the basses so bespoken here with this 'situation' are odds on guaranteed to not have the same soft spot on all their necks too - if they indeed had any soft spots in the first place.

That kicks the neck/attenuation/selective-frequency-sucking right out the window.

'Purists' all avow that woods and shapes make big differences in hollow body guitars and necks - and that's believable since the resonating sound is in their box like the hollow of a church bell - but a slab bass is ferrous strings cutting magnetic fields, across pole pieces, and the neck cannot interfere with that process.

Whether or not a hi-mass bridge is diverting lower freqs into the body and doesn't cancel the higher ones isn't a consideration here as stock bridged basses and hi-mass basses have pretty much the same signal loss at the same position prior to and after their installation.

What I have noticed however, is that as my ROTO 77s get older, the G-string at C# gets more and more noticeable even though I can still see it shaking it's booty over the p'ups.

What I need here - and what I want you to provide - is something more than anecdotal evidence that the neck is causing all this.

 

[king_biscuit]

Dead spots? What sort of rubbish guitar would have a dead spot? Oh wait.. you said fender.


*Hiding for my life.*

Hmmm.. take a look at this: [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

 

[wkbryan]

1978 Precision = G string, 7th fret.

My Gibson Grabber didn't have one.