Dead spot on neck

[charlie chitlin]

The bass player in my band said "check this out"
On the g string, 5th fret, the note just goes "bunk".
It doesn't ring.
The neck has relief, and the string isn't hitting the next fret (or any other).
Anybody encountered this?
I figured it had to be the string.

[JC Bass]

Nope...it's a common occurance on a lot of basses. There are things called Fat Fingers that give the headstock more mass and can alleviate some of the dead spot.

[Chris S.]

Originally Posted by charlie frey

The bass player in my band said "check this out" On the g string, 5th fret, the note just goes "bunk". It doesn't ring... Anybody encountered this?

Only those who have ever played electric bass... Hee. ;-)

I figured it had to be the string.

Not hardly (but you could have a string problem, too...) Welcome to the exciting world of electric bass! Glad you're here. ;-)

Here's more than you ever wanted to know about dead spots (but didn't have enough command of technical geekspeak to ask properly...):

http://www.acoustics.org/press/137th/fleischer.html

Seriously, dead spots have been around as long as there have been electric guitars and basses, although they're usually more pronounced on bass. On <u>most</u> 34" scale bass guitars, they occur on the G string, around the 5th to the 7th fret (i.e, precisely where yours is...).

I've heard of some folks attaching a metal clamp to the headstock to increase the mass at that end, which is actually supposed to help quite a bit. And I've also used the EQ on my SWR SM400 head to help compensate – but it doesn't get rid of it entirely.

Interestingly, the dead spot(s) on my G&L basses seem to be somewhat less pronounced, with I would <u>guess</u> has something to do with their "bi-cut" construction – the necks are sawed in half lengthwise and then glued back together, which is supposed to make them stiffer – but that's strictly a guess on my part. (??)

Anyway, try Googling "fender bass" + "dead spot" (or "electric bass" + "dead spot") and you can find it discussed on many, many Web pages. Hope it helps, CS :-)

[Billy Claire]

all basses have dead spots. depends on the size of the headstock where the deadspot will be.... if you cut the entire headstock off (think Steinberger) the deadspot moves up the neck above the 12th fret where it doesn't bother anyone...

[Oster]

I had an American Series P-Bass with a graphite reinforced neck that had a scarcely if at all noticeable dead spot in that usual place. It was good.

On my Squier Standard Jazz I noticed it alot more. One semi-remedy is to use flatwounds. It seems to make the contrast between that note and others less noticeable.

[Mark Davis]

My Jazz bass has zero dead spots had to look thru alot to find one that didnt.

All my other bass guitars have a dead spot somewhere usually on the g string between 4-5 frets.

[Bob Rogers]

I had a slot head Gibson EB-3 that had so many dead spots I named it after a girlfriend I had in high school. <rimshot>

As noted, you have the classic Fender dead spot. You can try the fat finger, changing strings, changing tension on the neck screws (I've heard people try both loosening or tightening). Now that you know it exists, it's pretty easy to identify and most basses have it to one degree or another.

Who was it who said that the first rule of being a bassist is, "learn to love your dead spot."

[charlie chitlin]

woah!
Thanks fellas.
The more I read, the more I like my 6-string.
Although...I'd probably be in a better band if I played the bass as well as I play the 6-string.
I'll forward this info to my bass player.

[ravindave_3600]

Originally Posted by Chris S.

Here's more than you ever wanted to know about dead spots (but didn't have enough command of technical geekspeak to ask properly...):

http://www.acoustics.org/press/137th/fleischer.html

That's amazing. Interesting, yet dull at the same time

[Dave W]

Originally Posted by Bob Rogers

I had a slot head Gibson EB-3 that had so many dead spots I named it after a girlfriend I had in high school. <rimshot>

Same with my slothead Gibson EB-0L.

And I never even met your old girlfriend. <ba-da-boom>

[Bob Rogers]

Originally Posted by ravindave_3600

That's amazing. Interesting, yet dull at the same time

You've just described my entire career. When you are called "dull" by someone from Boise, the bottom looks a long way up. (My sister lives in Sandpoint, so I know lots of Idaho jokes.)

[Oster]

Originally Posted by Dave W

Same with my slothead Gibson EB-0L.

Wonder if the slothead style had anything to do with it. I have a '66 EB-0 (regular headstock) and there doesn't seem to be a noticeable dead spot on it. It's pretty muffly and thumpy anyway so it's all relative I guess.

I definitely only really notice them on 34" Fender style basses - especially with roundwounds - G string 5th>7th fret.

I don't even want to think about looking where else they might be (and nobody tell me either - I'm only recently recovered from obsessing over intonation on old guitars).

[Dave W]

Originally Posted by Oster

Wonder if the slothead style had anything to do with it. I have a '66 EB-0 (regular headstock) and there doesn't seem to be a noticeable dead spot on it. It's pretty muffly and thumpy anyway so it's all relative I guess.

I definitely only really notice them on 34" Fender style basses - especially with roundwounds - G string 5th>7th fret.

I don't even want to think about looking where else they might be (and nobody tell me either - I'm only recently recovered from obsessing over intonation on old guitars).

I'm sure that particular slothead design had something to do with it. One of the guitar repair books out there mentions it specifically -- I think it was Kamamoto's "Complete Guitar Repair". And even with the lightest gauge strings you can see the headstock twist on those. Yet my old 62 EB-0F (with solid headstock) didn't have any noticeable dead spots.

But it's never just one factor. It's all about the resonant frequencies of the neck coinciding with fretted notes. That's why you can sometimes change the location or reduce or eliminate a dead spot just by changing to strings with more or less pounds of tension, or by adjusting the truss rod. Every time you do that, you're retuning the neck's resonant frequency a little bit, so you may notice a change.

[ravindave_3600]

Originally Posted by Bob Rogers

You've just described my entire career. When you are called "dull" by someone from Boise, the bottom looks a long way up. (My sister lives in Sandpoint, so I know lots of Idaho jokes.)

No, Bob I wasn't calling you dull! But if your sister lives in Sandpoint, I bet you do know a lot about Idaho dullness (sorry, Bob's sister!).

But ID does have the best skiing of any place I've ever lived!