Novel take on "dead spots"

[Snert]

Some people think the earth is flat.

Some people like to take cheap shots. What can you do?

 

[Turnaround]

I was discussing all of this with a luthier friend of mine. He told me: “Sure! You can also simply hollow out a bit of the bass’ body. Pick somewhere that’s hidden by the pickguard. Take out some mass at the center and you’ll give more relative weight to the headstock. That should move your dead spot”

That’s a novel idea... What do you think?

Or, do you have any novel idea about resolving a “dead spot” that’s not been mentioned already?

You already covered this:
"-Most solutions involve “moving the dead spot” around the neck, rather than resolving it."

 

[Raman]

Ok, how about this for a novel way to deal with dead spots:

Add a preamp to the bass, equipped with volume boost and compressor/sustainer circuits. Now, add a pressure trigger under the bridge at the dead spot position, so that the circuits kick in whenever you fret that one note. Adjust the volume boost and sustainer so that the note will be a bit louder and will sustain as long as the others. Voilà!

(And in case you're wondering: Yes, I'm kidding.)

 

[ProdigalBassman]

First couple of decades were on short scale basses. I didn't know what a dead spot was until I got my first 34" scale bass, an Ibanez SR505, which had a dead spot on string #1 whether it was strung B-G or E-C, even after Ibanez put a new neck on it for me under warranty.

I'm now doing a study to quantify the prevalence and characteristics of dead spots on 4 string basses. 83% of 34" basses tested so far have obvious dead spots. Here's a typical example from a Fender Player Plus active jazz. The D (7th fret) dropped 11.8 dB RMS in 0.28 seconds. By comparison the C needed 2.17 seconds to drop 11.4 dB RMS. Both notes had almost identical initial volume RMS.


Short scales don't have this problem anywhere near the same extent but my sample size so far is not sufficient for a conclusion. Once I've tested more short scales I hope to publish the report.

 

[mongo2]

My solution for deadspots was to start using shortscale basses. Of all the shortscales I've played there was a deadpot in exactly one of them. Of all the longscale basses I've playied only one of them didn't have a daedspot.

An added bonus is shortscales are easier for me to play.

 

[Zooberwerx]

This is an interesting read that @Turnaround shared with me a few months back...I attached below.

The TimberTech shaker table was also a neat approach. I'm on the lookout for a used shaker / stress table but no luck. There's supposedly a science or procedure to the application but it's beyond my realm of expertise. I was just gonna clamp the neck in position, hit the switch, and run like hell.

 

[Bill Whitehurst]

My take on dead spots is that pretty much everything on the bass has some effect.
Most parts are so slightly involved that you'd never notice.
Mainly it is the vibrations in the neck and body and there interaction.
Also the string tension and the truss rod tension.
Changing strings (and how they vibrate) effects the interaction.
Neck screw tension effects how vibrations between the neck and body interact.
Changing tuners effects the mass of the headstock.
IMHO short scale and 5 or 6 strings will be stiffer relative to the length and help in that way.
To a much lesser degree something as minor as changing from brass to plastic knobs will change the body mass.
All in all, it is the interaction of every part with each other that makes, moves or stops dead spots.

 

[DaveParker39]

I have a 7th fret G-String dead spot on one of my P-Basses. So I usually fret that note on the D string.
But here's the thing with Basses... as many dead spots as there are, there are also LIVE spots. Spots that sustain forever and sound huge.
So it's a worthwhile trade to find those.

 

[chris_b]

I played the same Fender Precision (with A neck) for 25 years. I assume if there was a dead spot I'd have noticed it, but I didn't.

I haven't noticed a dead spot on any of my 5 string basses. Do they have them or is it just a 4 string issue?

 

[gln1955]

Short scales don't have this problem anywhere near the same extent but my sample size so far is not sufficient for a conclusion. Once I've tested more short scales I hope to publish the report.

My solution for deadspots was to start using shortscale basses. Of all the shortscales I've played there was a deadpot in exactly one of them. Of all the longscale basses I've playied only one of them didn't have a daedspot.

When I got my Maruszczyk short scale Jake, it came with flats and had no perceptible dead spot. After the strings were well broken in, it began to have a dead spot in the typical part of the G-string. I thought it might just be the mystery strings that came with the bass. I switched to GHS Pressurewounds and the dead spot was gone. I've notice lately that the dead spot is again returning as these strings age. It seems like the problem is always there, but as the strings settle in and lose some of their higher harmonics, the dead spot become much more apparent.

On the other hand, my Mustang has been deadspot-free no matter what strings I use or how long they are on it.

 

[2thAche]

I read somewhere that the whole headless concept came from a Fender engineer trying to get rid of the dead-spot issue. At the time he was reducing neck mass.

 

[mongo2]

When I got my Maruszczyk short scale Jake, it came with flats and had no perceptible dead spot. After the strings were well broken in, it began to have a dead spot in the typical part of the G-string. I thought it might just be the mystery strings that came with the bass. I switched to GHS Pressurewounds and the dead spot was gone. I've notice lately that the dead spot is again returning as these strings age. It seems like the problem is always there, but as the strings settle in and lose some of their higher harmonics, the dead spot become much more apparent.

On the other hand, my Mustang has been deadspot-free no matter what strings I use or how long they are on it.

Like your Mustang I've had no issues with deadspots developing as strings age. Some of my strings (flats and nylon tapewounds) are over 10 years old. I prefer older strings so if I get rid of a bass I take the strings off to save them for use on another bass and install rounds on the bass I'm gedtting rid of.

 

[ProdigalBassman]

I played the same Fender Precision (with A neck) for 25 years. I assume if there was a dead spot I'd have noticed it, but I didn't.

I haven't noticed a dead spot on any of my 5 string basses. Do they have them or is it just a 4 string issue?

I didn't know what a dead spot was until I got a 34" 5-string Ibanez SR505. Until then I'd played only short scales. My current study is focused on 4-string but I have tested a few 5-string and found some with dead spots.

To put dead spots in perspective I devised a spring triggered pick mechanism to deliver constant force. Testing 10 times on an open G string of a Fender Player LTD ed P bass the results were analyzed for initial volume RMS which yielded a standard deviation of 0.518 dB i.e. quite constant result. This constant force pick mechanism was then used to strike each note on the G string up to the 12th fret. That revealed how dead the 6th and 7th frets are and the wolf notes above that.

 

[ProdigalBassman]

I read somewhere that the whole headless concept came from a Fender engineer trying to get rid of the dead-spot issue. At the time he was reducing neck mass.

I believe that was Phil Kubicki? It seems to me that if adding mass to the headstock moves dead spots toward the nut, removing mass from the headstock would move them toward the bridge, perhaps out of the way. But that's just a guess. I've never gotten my hands on a headless but they intrigue me!

 

[Yahboy]

I play flatwound . Once they settle in, I found one of the fret from 1st till 5th fret on E string will become shorter sustain than the rest on bass guitar with Fender style headstock.

I figure out this shorty tone fret via distortion effect.

Currently I have shorter tone A fret/E string on Bacchus J and G#/E string on Fender Vintera P.

I use my personal solutions to fix above issue and the results just impressive enough.

 

[Zooberwerx]

I believe that was Phil Kubicki? It seems to me that if adding mass to the headstock moves dead spots toward the nut, removing mass from the headstock would move them toward the bridge, perhaps out of the way. But that's just a guess. I've never gotten my hands on a headless but they intrigue me!

Add a 37 laminate neck for the same reason and it's anybody's guess.

Riis