johnny1982 Posted March 19, 2016 Share Posted March 19, 2016 (edited) Hi everyone! I owned lots of basses and most of them have had a dead spot - from the cheap to the expensive butique Basses. I know - i went through lots of opinions - from internet to luthiers in reality. Most of the answers were something like : "the wood is an organic material and it's normal..." What i've discovered is that almost everyone bass i've ever owned had a "dead spot" on the 7th fret G string. IF this is a dead spot anyway... It just rings out faster, leading to harmonic (you can feel the neck vibrating more as compared on the other notes). Somewhere i read that a dead spot SHOULD HAVE less attack compared to other notes, and THE WOLF is the exact opposite. However - this faster outringing note theoretically doesn't match any of those two. There were some Basses that i owned, without a dead spots. But they were 3 out of cca 20. And no, they weren't Fodera-s or similar! A normal Fender Jazz Bass Standard, Fender Stu Hamm Urge 2 and a Sadowsky RV5 Metro. I played a 5 string 24 fret Monarch who had, again, a "dead" spot on 7th fret, G string - pretty strong one. I noticed (it may be my assumption) that 24 fret Basses have a bigger "chance" of having a dead spot as the others... Still observing tho (Ok, Stu Hamm urge 2 had 24 frets, but it was really a lucky one) It is SO COMMON found thing on all the basses - also on the most expensive ones (custom foderas, ken smiths...) that i really don't know anymore...Do i care too much? Sometimes i think i will go nuts because of that... And after all that written - ARE this dead spots at all, or are those notes really LACKING of attack? Before going nuts - i try to calm me down with a thinking of all the bass stars on the planet... I assume that also they don't have the "perfect" outringing instruments in the universe, or...????? Can somebody discuss/give his opinion on this topic? Thank you and Cheers Edited March 19, 2016 by johnny1982 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted March 19, 2016 Share Posted March 19, 2016 A more or less relevant thread is [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/275271-the-fender-dead-spot-and-strings/"]here[/url]. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ikay Posted March 19, 2016 Share Posted March 19, 2016 PM me with your email an I'll send you an interesting technical paper explaining dead spots Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musashimonkey Posted March 19, 2016 Share Posted March 19, 2016 Sound interesting, PM incoming...! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnny1982 Posted March 19, 2016 Author Share Posted March 19, 2016 [quote name='discreet' timestamp='1458394290' post='3007225'] A more or less relevant thread is [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/275271-the-fender-dead-spot-and-strings/"]here[/url]. [/quote] Ups, excuse me! I am preety new on this Forum...Was searching for dead spot topic and couldn't find one... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted March 19, 2016 Share Posted March 19, 2016 [quote name='johnny1982' timestamp='1458396257' post='3007253'] Ups, excuse me! I am preety new on this Forum...Was searching for dead spot topic and couldn't find one... [/quote] No worries, the search facility on here can be a bit temperamental sometimes. It seems to like very specific search terms for some reason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlungerModerno Posted March 19, 2016 Share Posted March 19, 2016 Thanks for the links - meant to read them but never got around to it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twincam Posted March 20, 2016 Share Posted March 20, 2016 Ive found many dead spots are eliminated or very improved by a shim in the neck pocket or better fret work or both combined. But some are just inherent to the neck construction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dincz Posted March 20, 2016 Share Posted March 20, 2016 Some good stuff here: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/281677122_What_about_dead_spots_of_electric_basses Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ikay Posted March 20, 2016 Share Posted March 20, 2016 This is the same paper that I have, well worth a read for anyone interested in the subject Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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