"No dead spots"... WHAT???

[mellowgerman]

The only bass I ever had to unload because of a deadspot was a Mexican Fender FSR Swamp Ash Precision I had for a few months back in 2008. Loved the look, tone, and feel of the bass. At the time though, my friend and I were playing the Grateful Dead tune "Dark Star" a lot as a theme to come back to in our jams... well there's that one sustained D and it was the plunkiest, quickest decaying dead-spot note I've experienced. Granted, at the time I didn't really know about the twisted string factor, which can really emphasize a dead spot. Maybe that was the biggest part of the issue and I could have minimized it... either way, I got rid of that one. Nowadays I mostly play one of my three hollowbody short scales (none of which have particularly noticeable dead spots) so I can't really say I miss any of my past Precision basses, though that was a nice one.

 

[Mike Sorr]

Graphite/carbon fiber and aluminum necks don't have dead spots from what I understand.

Every bass I've played has had at least one dead spot. It'd be really nice honestly to have a neck where you know it'd never get them.

That's what I was always lead to believe.

 

[bikeplate]

a few years ago I got a very expensive Jazz style bass. Dead spot on the D note was so bad I couldnt stand it anymore and sold it. On the other hand, Ive had modestly priced basses with minimal dead notes that rang out great overall. Just got to put them in your hands and try. All that being said, most Fender style basses have one but typically the dead note isnt bad enough to ruin a gig

 

[superheavyfunk]

I didn't even know what a dead spot was until I joined TB. It's one of those things that's really a non-issue, IME.

 

[Weberman]

When I am about to play a dead note on an instrument, I just press my headstock against a wall. Boom - instant mass, and no more deadspot! Sure, my headstock and drywall take a beating, but I sound good.

I have a violin where a "C" played in any position kind of just squealed. The sympathetic vibration of the "A" string (IIRC) behind the bridge just killed the note. Since I'm cheap, I just stuffed a cloth behind the bridge. No more deadspots!

 

[sonic 7]

Im sure all of the basses I’ve played have “dead spots” but fortunately I’ve never noticed them. In Queens we say, If a tree falls in the woods and no one here’s it, did it make a sound?

 

[Nevada Pete]

Hi S.F.Sorrow,

If somebody doesn't hear something, it's not there for them. IMHO, that's what your running into.

Try showing someone the difference between just and equal temperament when tuning a guitar, for example. Tune the instrument so the open A chord is just, and strum the chord some. Then strum an open D chord. Almost everybody with some rudimentary musical training can tell that the D chord sounds out of tune. Go back and play the open A chord some more. Then, tune the guitar E-A-D-G-B-E equal temperament and strum the open A chord again. After recently hearing the open A chord tuned justly, about half of your test subjects will be able to tell that the chord now doesn't sound the same, i.e., that it's not as resonant and satisfying in equal temperament. And yet, half of your test subjects won't hear any difference. The test subjects who don't hear the difference will not agree that there is any difference, often adamantly.

It stands to reason that certain resonances that can occur on a stringed instrument can and will tend to cancel first harmonics, etc., on certain notes. My Fender American Standard five string Precision has a typical Fender dead spot on the G string, 7th fret, and to some extent, half a step either up or down. The rest of the G string rings out with great sustain. On the 6th string, however, when playing a "D" the entire tonality of the note quickly diminishes to the point where that note sounds like it was played purposely staccato. Compared to the rest of the G string, the timber on the 6th, 7th and 8th frets is completely different (it sounds hard by comparison / no first harmonic) and is thoroughly devoid of sustain. Thud. Yes, on eighth notes and quarter notes the deal spot is less noticeable. But it's still there. Half notes? Nope. I'll play a half note on the 12th fret.

Some people say they can't hear the difference? Okay. Fine. I can't argue with that. Some of the more sophisticated digital audio FFT spectrum analyzers (not third octave) will show you the overtone series from a plucked or picked note on a stringed instrument. Or lack of same.

 

[nilorius]

Paranoia.

 

[Sid Fang]

I think that all of the graphite-necked basses I've found dead spots on probably had hollow necks (they certainly had truss rods). It wouldn't surprise me if the solid neck design did eliminate dead spots altogether.

It's not just the use of graphite as a material on the Steinberger, it's also the headless design. I've got a Steinberger and two Status Graphite headless basses (a Stealth and a Streamline), and none of them have dead spots that I could find. That being said, the dead spots on my headed basses have never been a major issue. Room resonances are usually a bigger problem.

 

[Kukulkan61]

I wouldn't know a dead spot if it jumped out and bit me in arss

 

[bass12]

It's not just the use of graphite as a material on the Steinberger, it's also the headless design. I've got a Steinberger and two Status Graphite headless basses (a Stealth and a Streamline), and none of them have dead spots that I could find. That being said, the dead spots on my headed basses have never been a major issue. Room resonances are usually a bigger problem.

That "worst dead spot" that I mentioned was on a headless Status S2 with graphite "shell".

 

[The Nameless]

When I was young, I loved maple fretboards. But each one had an issue. A dead spot at c or d on the G string. I, and my friends, always attributed that to the maple freboard. I started using basses with rosewood boards, issue was far less. For years I never played a maple boarded bass because of it.

Couple years later, Fender started using graphite stiffening bars in their necks. I started reading up on it, and turns out many folk were doing this, including Ken Smith, and I happened to own both an 02 Jazz 5 and a 95 Smith 6 with graphite reinforced necks. These necks had NO deadspots anywhere. I attributed that to the graphite. And have only used graphite reinforced necks since.

In the years since, I acquired for a short time a Unicorn bass; 1990 Warwick Streamer Stage I fretless. No graphite. Ebony board. Dead spot at E on the G string. Drove me nuts, I traded it. I also wanted a Geddy Lee 5 very badly, and when the American Deluxe series appeared, it was my chance. Maple board worried me, but I couldn't resist the look. Not one dead spot. Graphite is the reason. Has to be. Except?

I traded said Warwick for another 5 fretless. A G&L M2500. Maple neck. Ebony board. No graphite. No dead spots. So, I'm left to conclude we just never know. If a bass has one, it drives me nuts. But I own several that have none. I keep those, trade the ones wit dead spots. Guy I traded my Warwick to has no issue with dead spots. Could it be technique? String type? I don't know. For me, it's always just been random. Except Maple boards. I found the one with no dead spots. I'm keeping it. And I won't use another maple board. Ha!

 

[pingvuiini]

Here is an isolated track of the late great James Jamerson with audible dead spots at 0:31, 0:59 and 2:19.


To add to the graphite issue, I've owned a few Status Graphite basses and some have had significant dead spots. So I would say that graphite is by no means a guarantee against dead spots.

 

[JimmyM]

Dead spots schmed spots! I couldn't care less about them. But I do respect people's right to care about any little thing they want. It's your money, not mine.

 

[Mugre]

I bet Eric Johnson was happier before he decided he could hear what brand of battery was in his Tube Screamer.

It wasn't brand, It was type. He insisted on carbon instead of alkalines. Carbons discharge more linearly* than alkalines. EJ swore that his Tube Screamers sound best when the carbons were partially discharged.

*Alkalines hold a "high" voltage for longer but when they fall below a certain point, the voltage falls off a cliff. Carbons lose voltage at about the same rate all the way to dead. So Alkalines laster longer for electronics that need a "supply" voltage above a certain level to work while carbons were okay for flashlights and motors that just dim or run slower as the voltage drops.

 

[Martin Beer]

Both times I've had basses with carbon fibre reinforced wood necks, both still had the archetypal dead spot around the 7th fret D on the G string, so CF inserts don't appear to rule that out. Neither was a strong enough dead spot to be much of a problem, and I had flatwounds on both basses which might make them more apparent.

 

[Mugre]

Dead spots are cousins to wolf tones on archtop string instruments like violins and 'cellos. Plywood 'cellos almost never have significant wolf tones because they're not very resonant. They better the 'cello, the more likely you are to see "wolf" eliminators on the string after lengths.

Why are "pro" PA bass cabinets so damn heavy? You know 260lb heavy? Because if you thump on the side, it goes "thwik" instead of thunk or even "buum". This move the resonant anti-node (a dead spot) up out of the intended frequency range of the cabinet. Following this, yes, a plastic bass or a metal or concrete bass, if they do have dead spots, will have them at a frequency high enough to not really be noticed.

anyway, that's how this left handed drummer understands it.

 

[lowfreqgeek]

Option 2. Physics.

 

[nilorius]

If you mean dead spots as loosy fingerboard lines or frets then i would say that mine don't have one - Ibanez GWB1005.

 

[Chrisenbacker69]

I guess it all depends on how you define dead spot.
My Rickenbacker has an (allegedly common) dead spot at D string 9th fret (aka "B"). It's like just that fret is muted. REALLY muted. The note decays immediately.

OTOH, My Japanese Fender P may have certain spots on the fret board that don't ring like the rest but the difference is so minuscule as to not be noticed/have no impact on the musicality of the instrument. To me, that doesn't really constitute a dead spot.

Bottom line: If it has no impact, it's not a dead spot.