Fender Fatfinger -- my two cents

[sumeursault]

I have an instrument with what upright players call a wolf tone, electric players tend to call a dead spot, that centers on the open A-string. It's basically a secondary vibration that gets activated by that note on that string and causes the instrument to "fight" the vibration of the string. The same thing occurs with the common G-string dead spot at around 5th-7th fret depending on the instrument, but is much more sonically noticeable since the string vibration at that part of the neck has so much less energy than an open string. In my case, it's just as much (if not more) a feel thing as a sound thing.

My understanding is that the headstock can play a big part in the issue, and that depending on the size and shape, it can tend to over-activate and cause this issue. The Fatfinger blurb on the packaging states: "Instantly add more sustain and awe-inspiring tone to your instrument with the Fender Fatfinger. By clamping the Fatfinger on the headstock of your instrument (no tools needed), it will enhance the overall tone and note-to-note response of any electric or acoustic guitar or bass."

Now the first thing I'll say is that I think that statement is BS. The second thing I'll say is that the Fatfinger does actually work, and did fix my issue. However, I don't think it works in the manner advertised. I think counterintuitively it acts as a dampener to the headstock vibration, "stealing" vibration energy from the headstock and kind of taking it out of the equation. I've read something about it adding mass, which I guess is true? Can someone with a physics background weigh in on this? I'd be curious to get some opinions on it. Like I said, it's working for me and I'm satisfied with the result. Just get the sense that it's not really doing exactly what it says it does.

 

[doctone]

After reading your post three times, I cannot see any problem with the ad's text. What do you mean by "taking the headstock's energy out of the equation"? Where would it go? Heat?

 

[sumeursault]

After reading your post three times, I cannot see any problem with the ad's text. What do you mean by "taking the headstock's energy out of the equation"? Where would it go? Heat?

Yeah that's a good point. It does make contact via rubber and soft foam, so I'd imaging that plays a role. Sorry you read the post three times, that probably wasn't a very good use of your time!

 

[Danny C]

I'll hang around with y'all for some insight.

 

[Scarysharkface]

Fatfinger changes the resonant frequency of the neck/instrument, moving the dead spot to somewhere less noticeable. I've used C-clamps of different sizes when recording.

John

 

[birminghambass]

It adds weight, that changes the resonant frequency. You can get similar results with a C clamp. Sometimes lighter or heavier tuners can affect a dead spot too.
Edit: ha, literally the same response and the same time. Great minds.

 

[billiard]

Try having a new nut put on the bass

 

[bassbrad]

Since guitars and basses are generally made of wood each one will have specific resonant characteristics because each piece of wood will vary by grain, cut, age, density and other variables including neck woods, body woods and added hardware ~ some frequencies will sing, bloom, wolf or suck compared to other frequencies. Designers try to balance those characteristics by wood choices, devices like the Fat finger can help to correct or enhance those results.

I spent years working and observing in guitar shops with builders and repair techs that saw many thousands of instruments that were subjects of study and comparison paying particular interest in instruments that fell outside the normal expectations good and bad trying to see what adjustments made a difference and what did not.

 

[sumeursault]

Fatfinger changes the resonant frequency of the neck/instrument, moving the dead spot to somewhere less noticeable. I've used C-clamps of different sizes when recording.

John

So regarding the advertised use/effect, does it actually add sustain?

 

[ardgedee]

Now the first thing I'll say is that I think that statement is BS.

To quote @micguy who's written a few good posts on the topic, "All bass guitar necks have resonances. They all have places where there is reduced sustain."

Adding or removing mass from the headstock changes the resonant frequency of the neck, and that moves the dead spot. That's how the Fatfinger works. You could also use a C clamp, or duct tape some fishing weights, or alternately you could hack away the wooden bulb at the end of the headstock (if you play a Fender) or replace the tuner keys with lighter ones... all these things will move the dead spot.

 

[ardgedee]

So regarding the advertised use/effect, does it actually add sustain?

The neck will still have a dead spot. Ideally the resonant frequency will change to a note you won't use that much (for example, a quarter-step between notes farther up the neck) -- the notes near it will still be dampened but hopefully not as badly as whatever you're currently experiencing.

Read this whole thread for a good discussion about why necks resonate and how dead spots are managed -- the topic starts with stiffening rods but a whole lot of different approaches are discussed. There's also a good post somewhere by luthier Bruce Johnson on how he deals with this in the basses he designs and builds that I'll have to dig up later.

 

[micguy]

The neck will still have a dead spot. Ideally the resonant frequency will change to a note you won't use that much (for example, a quarter-step between notes farther up the neck) -- the notes near it will still be dampened but hopefully not as badly as whatever you're currently experiencing.

It's not quite as simple as retuning. Yes, changing the mass loading on a neck (lighter or heavier tuners) will change the resonant frequencies of a neck. But the place where the antinode happens (the part of the neck that moves most easily at the resonant frequency we're most concerned about) will not move. A genuine dead spot happens when the antinode and the tuning frequency of the note with a fret at that location coincide.

If you "retune" the neck - more or less mass loading, more or less stiffness, then the antinode no longer happens at the same frequency as the note with its fret location there. You haven't just "moved" the dead spot, you have made it less dead.

The necks I use are 5 string Warmoth necks made out of roasted maple. They are stiffer (bigger cross section), lighter (the wood is roasted), they are graphite reinforced (more added stiffness), and I use Hipshot ultralite tuners (which takes mass off the headstock). All of those things raise the resonant frequencies at which the neck resonates. At the location where a Fender would likely have a dead spot, there is still an antinode of a resonance, but the fret where that note is played on the G string is now a couple frets higher than at that spot. We haven't just moved the dead spot, we have made it less of an issue. Hope that makes sense.

One of the things that you can do to manage a dead spot is to tune the bass to different notes. Tune it in D standard, for example. You haven't changed the behavior of the neck one bit, but you have moved the resonant frequency note so it's fret is not on top of the antinode. Conversely, when you buy a bass, the first order of business (while evaluating it to see if you want it) is to tune it - if it's not in tune it could be hiding a dead spot.

 

[ardgedee]

It's not quite as simple as retuning. Yes, changing the mass loading on a neck (lighter or heavier tuners) will change the resonant frequencies of a neck. But the place where the antinode happens (the part of the neck that moves most easily at the resonant frequency we're most concerned about) will not move. A genuine dead spot happens when the antinode and the tuning frequency of the note with a fret at that location coincide.

If you "retune" the neck - more or less mass loading, more or less stiffness, then the antinode no longer happens at the same frequency as the note with its fret location there. You haven't just "moved" the dead spot, you have made it less dead.

The necks I use are 5 string Warmoth necks made out of roasted maple. They are stiffer (bigger cross section), lighter (the wood is roasted), they are graphite reinforced (more added stiffness), and I use Hipshot ultralite tuners (which takes mass off the headstock). All of those things raise the resonant frequencies at which the neck resonates. At the location where a Fender would likely have a dead spot, there is still an antinode of a resonance, but the fret where that note is played on the G string is now a couple frets higher than at that spot. We haven't just moved the dead spot, we have made it less of an issue. Hope that makes sense.

One of the things that you can do to manage a dead spot is to tune the bass to different notes. Tune it in D standard, for example. You haven't' changed the behavior of the neck one bit, but you have moved the resonant frequency note so it's fret is not on top of the antinode. Conversely, when you buy a bass, the first order of business is to tune it - if it' not in tune it could be hiding a dead spot.

Thanks for the correction!

 

[micguy]

Thanks for the correction!

You're welcome!

 

[Lefty Joe]

To quote @micguy who's written a few good posts on the topic, "All bass guitar necks have resonances. They all have places where there is reduced sustain."

Adding or removing mass from the headstock changes the resonant frequency of the neck, and that moves the dead spot. That's how the Fatfinger works. You could also use a C clamp, or duct tape some fishing weights, or alternately you could hack away the wooden bulb at the end of the headstock (if you play a Fender) or replace the tuner keys with lighter ones... all these things will move the dead spot.

exactly. By definition, adding weight to the instrument means "adding mass" -- that's simply saying the same thing in a different word. And since all objects have some frequency response, it necessarily changes resonance. How much it changes, and whether or not the player will really benefit -- well ....

 

[JakobT]

It’s also possible to add mass at the bridge end to change the resonant frequency. It’s not quite as efficient as doing it at the headstock, but it does work. I have successfully moved/mitigated dead spots on two of my basses with high mass bridges.

 

[doctone]

or alternately you could hack away the wooden bulb at the end of the headstock (if you play a Fender)

I do believe people should do this more often.

 

[Lowbrow]

So regarding the advertised use/effect, does it actually add sustain?

If it eliminates a dead spot, then yes, added sustain (as in sustain that was not there previously) is the result.

 

[sumeursault]

I do believe people should do this more often.

Could be cathartic

 

[packhowitzer]

I have a couple of Fat Fingers - one on each of my P-basses. I bought them about 15 years ago, put them on, and have left them on ever since.

I'll now ask a few rhetorical questions and answer them with rhetoric:

1). Do they help? They probably have some positive benefit (at the expense of a heavier headstock - if that sort of thing matters to you)

2). Can you hear a difference? Well I suppose it depends. In laboratory conditions or like a dead quiet studio - possibly. In a live setting with guitars and drums - I highly doubt it (like all the other stuff we obsess over on TB, the minute the cymbals start crashing, the ol' highmass bridge vs bent steel debate kinda loses most of its meaning)

4) So then why did you - packhowitzer - leave these on your basses for 15+ years? Meh, they're shiny chrome and look cool and I don't mind the weight and the insecure gear head in me wants to give myself every edge I can get.

Just my .02. ymmv and all that.