Jazz Bass buyer caveat?

I'm thinking of taking a bass course to round out my musical knowledge. A friend who has played bass professionally for years told me to stay away from Fender Jazz basses because their necks tend to bow and develop dead spots on the G string at Bb and C. He recommended the Dean Edge 1 or a Peavey. Anyone have a bad experience with Fender Jazz?

Never heard that before. I wouldn't think the odds were any better or worse on average than with any other bass. Jazz basses are great tone and feel for decent money, lots of history, professionally accepted, blah-blah-blah...

Mike Bruce

That just sounds dumb to me. I doubt there's something actually wrong with the design of jazz basses that would cause that.

A friend who has played bass professionally for years told me to stay away from Fender Jazz basses because their necks tend to bow and develop dead spots on the G string



Huh!?

I've heard about the dead spots on some Jazz basses,usually on the G string between the 7th and 10th fret.It's said Leo was well aware of the problem and on later basses he designed he moved the tuner to the bottom of the headstock to try to fix it.

I've never had a problem myself.

Thanks, everyone. I'm wondering now if my friend had a bad experience with his and assumed they're all like that. I can't imagine a Fender product with a built in defect. Then again, if Microsoft took over the company.....

Basses can have dead spots in various places---I would play and listen.Good strings,a good setup, and slight compression if needed can help.
I like my Jazz.

Here's a thread about it on talkbass

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1154988

Many basses exhibit some unevenness - not just Fender, and not just j-bass designs. I generaly do the chromatic walk from about b-flat on the G to D. There is typically one note in there that won't ring as long as all the others. I've found a few where it was pronounced enough that I considered the bass flawed. In general it isn't a big deal - how many times are you going to grab C# and octave up and just let it ring ?

... or another way of putting it. I have 4 Fender or G&L J's in the house, well one is a PJ but stilll and a Fender P they all work fine - yo' buddy is a kook.

The so-called Fender dead spot can be found on some basses usually between the 5th and 7th fret on the G. Sometimes it's just an area of reduced sustain, occasionally you'll find basses with no sustain at all there.

But no matter what your friend says, it's not limited to the Jazz Bass, or to Fender basses. One of my Gibsons has a pronounced "Fender dead spot" and not too long ago I played an Alembic and a Wal that both had noticeable dropoffs in sustain there.

It's not even limited to basses.Somewhere online there's a scientific study of the same problem with Strats.

Now neck warping is a different problem. No doubt your chances of having it happen are greater with a thinner neck, no matter who makes it. But it's still not common.

after 33 years, my jazz neck is poker straight. actually all three of my jazz's are straight without dead spots, including the fretless.

Here's a thread about it on talkbass

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1154988

That's a good discussion. Here's the reply that stood out for me:

Hi all, I've been asking this question recently too. According to several respected luthiers that I've recently spoken with (including George Furlanetto from F Bass), the dead spot st approximately the C position on the G string is an inherent property of "all" basses. The degree to which it's audible varies from bass to bass and depends on the particular combination of woods and etc, but it's always there. I'm currently trying to find out whether this is a property of the wood itself, or whether it also occurs in the synthetic basses (those with graphite necks or composite bodies). If I listen carefully, I can hear the dead spot in roughly half my basses (including the Fenders).

So I guess I'll just be extra careful in inspecting it before I buy.

I just bought a new lightweight 4X10 cab (Schroeder 410L) and besides being louder and lighter than any of my other cabs, except my 2X10 (by 6 pounds!), it's more revealing of equipment upstream. Not exactly hi-fi, just cleaner and clearer. This cab also lets go of notes right away, allowing the sound to damp more quickly. The dead "C" on my MIM classic '60's Jazz has never been more pronounced. I get around it by adjusting the semi-parametric EQ on my Eden head to give a boost at that frequency. I was pleased to find out that my MM Sterling has no such problem. Whew! I haven't tried my '71 Jazz bass through the new cab yet. Not that I'm afraid to.

"Develop dead spots"? I doubt that. If there are dead spots they are there from the beginning, they don't "develop" over time as far as I can hear. In any event, play the bass first and if it suits, buy it.

Mike Bruce

"Develop dead spots"? I doubt that. If there are dead spots they are there from the beginning, they don't "develop" over time as far as I can hear.


I hear you, and agree to a point. The neck can't really develop a dead spot over time, but a dead spot is really just a small range where the resonant frequency of the neck cancels out some of the harmonics of one or more notes. That resonant frequency can be changed by different string tension, different action height and even by changing the bridge or tuners if there's enough change in the mass. Sometimes a small change in that frequency can make a big difference.

We had a big discussion about this very thing a couple of years back on these pages.
I cant recall ever having an electric Bass, Fender or otherwise with a dead spot so bad that it was audible when the bass was amplified....

I would take my chances with anything over a Dean Edge...Yuk...

check out talkbass and the hundreds of threads on deadspot theories especially relating to fender jazz and p- style basses.

Thanks - lots of great advice! I think I will look for a used Fender Jazz and just be sure to carefully inspect it.

There is something else, though... the Jazz vs. Precision aspect.

The necks are totally different in feel, in the studio the Precision (humbucking all the time) needs less fussing to be quiet, and the Pre doesn't occupy so much midrange on the tape. They're different animals.

Producers in the '60s sometimes called for either based on whether they were making pop (Jazz) or R & B (Precision).

Ive owned 5 J basses...2 of them had the dead spot..just slightly less sustain on one note..I think it was C# Gstring 6th fret...was not horrible when amplified at volume..but I could tell when practicing at lower volumes...to be fair..Ive had an Ibanez bass, and an Epiphone bass that had the same dead spots...My current J-bass..has no noticeable dead spots(06 Hwy1).... Oh yeah..My first bass was an old Hondo that im pretty sure had more dead spots than good spots.

Here's the dead spot study I mentioned in an earlier post: Dead Spots of Electric Guitars and Basses (http://www.acoustics.org/press/137th/fleischer.html).

My first bass was an old Hondo that im pretty sure had more dead spots than good spots.

That was funny! :lol:

Here's the dead spot study I mentioned in an earlier post: Dead Spots of Electric Guitars and Basses (http://www.acoustics.org/press/137th/fleischer.html).

Now that is deep!

I appreciate all the advice. So other than a FJ, what's a good bass with a narrow neck and low action for a pair of old guitar hands that will tire out quickly on fat strings? Is a short scale a good idea? NEPA has talked me out of the Dean Edge already:mrgreen:

My Ernie Ball Music Man 1H 4-string Sterling plays like butter. I use Daddario .045-.105 strings, although I'm thinking of switching to .050-.105 Boomers. It has a 1 and 1/2 inch neck like a jazz, swamp ash body, lighter than any Fender bass I've ever played.

I heard it said that when Leo developed the G & L basses, he increased the scale length to 35" in order to eliminate any dead spots on the neck. But I've never owned a G & L so I can't confirm this.

I heard it said that when Leo developed the G & L basses, he increased the scale length to 35" in order to eliminate any dead spots on the neck. But I've never owned a G & L so I can't confirm this.

Not true. G&Ls were 34" scale length in Leo's day - AFAIK they still are - and a 35" scale will not eliminate dead spots anyway.

A great alternative ?

90's Fender MIM Precision Special - 22 fret J neck -PJ setup $300 or under used. Great basses fdor low dough.

G&L Tribute JB-2 - G&L's take on a J. about $350 used.

eother of those is referrable to a Fender Standard IMO.

I have a Fender Std by the way. Not bad but not quite as good as the other two ...

If you can swing the scratch - a late 80's early 90's MIJ Fender can be great. My #1 J is from then and it plays the socks off most everyting else I've played. That one hang's in nicely with a friend's brace of Sadowsky's - lofty territory for an import...

Thanks again, everybody. Time for some road tests.