Lakland 55-02 - B string Woes

[Lamar E Ben]

I have had several 5-string basses over the years and have found 35" scale basses to have better B strings than shorter scale instruments.  I purchased a Lakland 55-02 Skyline online, mainly because I have heard of the legendary tone and I'm on a bit of a budget.  I have to say that I love most every aspect of the bass.  However, it seems to have a dead spot on the B string around the 4th and 5th (Eb and E) frets.  In this range, notes sound tinny and do not have the robust growl the the bass does have below that.  The open B is exhilarating.  Has anyone else observed this on their bass?   Is there a fix?  Or do I need to pony up for the USA model?

[jonno1981]

Worth trying a new B string? 

[MyNameIsMark]

7 hours ago, Lamar E Ben said:

it seems to have a dead spot on the B string around the 4th and 5th (Eb and E) frets.  In this range, notes sound tinny and do not have the robust growl the the bass does have below that.

If it’s a dead spot you should be able to move its position by adding mass to the headstock - Fender sell a “Fatfinger” clamp for this, maybe a capo & something heavy will prove the point, maybe even jamming the headstock into the wall / a table to couple onto it.

 

It could be a badly seated (4th?) fret, or a high (6th?) fret stopping the string from ringing/slapping back with a nasty overtone, or neck relief & string height - if you hold the bridge to your face & sight down each edge of the neck is there a noticeable difference in relief for the B string vs G string? Professional experienced techs are worth every penny IMO, if the neck is a little “warped” one side to the other they may be able to level the fret tops to cover for it.

 

Assuming the string looks consistent - no kinks, winding oddities around that area - and sounds good in other positions.

 

Best of luck, if otherwise sounds like a great buy

[velvetkevorkian]

Would detuning the B string to say A and seeing if the dead spot moves with it help isolate if it's a setup issue or not?

[BigRedX]

IME scale length on its own has little effect on the sound and feel of low B. It is all down to the construction of the bass and the right choice of strings. If I was in the OP's position I would first try another set of strings, maybe one with a taper-wound B string. Remember that strings that work with one bass will not necessarily be the best choice for another. All my basses are fitted with different strings because each has a set that suits that particular bass the best.

 

If the problem persists look first at the neck joint. With the strings fitted but not tuned to pitch very slightly loosen the neck bolts - about half a turn is normally sufficient. Then tune the bass to pitch and leave for a few hours to settle. Then tighten the neck bolts up again. What this does is to use the tension of the strings to pull the neck tightly into the neck pocket which makes the joint as strong as possible. If you are still getting dead spot problems then try a Fat Finger as suggested although be aware that this works by moving the position of the dead spot to somewhere where it is hopefully less obvious rather than removing it.