Just found a deadspot on my Dingwall. I am annoyed.

[kwmlondon]

Hi. I've had my ABZ since July last year and I am very happy with the thing - damn well should be as it took 8 months to build and cost a pretty penny. However, I was just doing something that needed a noise gate and found something weird happening with the C on the 10th fret of the 2nd string as the note cut out way quicker than the others. When took the gate off I realised that while the note sounds fine it dies away within a couple of seconds, much faster than the surrounding notes. I tried pressing the tip of the headstock against my desk and the issue stopped and the note sustains really nicely, but as soon as I stop pressing the bass into the wood of the desk the note just chokes off.

 

On one level it's not important - when the hell do you need to sutain that note? On the other, I'm feeling peeved. I'll pop Mark at Bass Direct a message tomorrow - they may have a quick fix for it. If not I could just play the rest of my life with the heastock touching a desk or wardrobe or something...

[Hellzero]

The dead spot is inevitable on instruments as it's linked to their resonant frequency and every material has one.

 

You could add some weight on the headstock to move it further away so it won't annoy you, something like the (Fender) FatFinger can do wonders and it's easy to place and remove.

[Killerfridge]

I think some dead spots are just more pronounced than others. I can't find any on the basses that I own (I'm there they're there, just minimal/unnoticeable). I tried a Fender Custom Shop P the other week, and there was a dead spot so bad that I think I would have avoided even playing near that note - it was about half the volume and sustain of everything around it

[kwmlondon]

30 minutes ago, Hellzero said:

The dead spot is inevitable on instruments as it's linked to their resonant frequency and every material has one.

 

You could add some weight on the headstock to move it further away so it won't annoy you, something like the (Fender) FatFinger can do wonders and it's easy to place and remove.

I thought this. I'll ask Mark if Dingwall have any suggestions- they may have come across it before and have some ideas e.g. new strings.

I wonder if putting one of those headstock tuners on would help? Can't do any harm...

[kwmlondon]

22 minutes ago, Killerfridge said:

I think some dead spots are just more pronounced than others. I can't find any on the basses that I own (I'm there they're there, just minimal/unnoticeable). I tried a Fender Custom Shop P the other week, and there was a dead spot so bad that I think I would have avoided even playing near that note - it was about half the volume and sustain of everything around it

Yeah, I had a USA Jazz Pro that had a terrible dead spot on the C of the second fret of the 3rd string... that's a well used note! My Stingray had a slight drop off in sustain on the B at the 7th fret of the 4th string, only noticed it after about 20 years of use so it wasn't exactly bothering me!

 

It's annoying on my Dingwall though as this is a custom job and it's not like I could just swap the neck out, but it's not a huge issue. May even become less pronounced if I change the strings or get a setup. Will ask Mark at Bass Direct. I'll get over it anyway.

[snorkie635]

2 minutes ago, kwmlondon said:

I thought this. I'll ask Mark if Dingwall have any suggestions- they may have come across it before and have some ideas e.g. new strings.

I wonder if putting one of those headstock tuners on would help? Can't do any harm...

Sorry to say that new strings will make no difference. The Fatfinger does work and sometimes, so well, it removes the dreaded dead spot altogether. If you go the FF route, try different positions across the headstock as this can make a difference as well. I have three basses with dead spots and all were fixed by the addition of the FF. obviously, the extra metal will make the neck more prone to dive, but at least your bass will sound as it should. Goodest of luck.

[kwmlondon]

1 minute ago, snorkie635 said:

Sorry to say that new strings will make no difference. The Fatfinger does work and sometimes, so well, it removes the dreaded dead spot altogether. If you go the FF route, try different positions across the headstock as this can make a difference as well. I have three basses with dead spots and all were fixed by the addition of the FF. obviously, the extra metal will make the neck more prone to dive, but at least your bass will sound as it should. Goodest of luck.

Thanks.

 

I just tried clipping one of those woodworking clamps to the headstock, it's small and light but that was enough to give the note a fair bit more sustain so I recon a headstock tuner would probably be enough to mitigate a lot of the issue, but I'll reach out to Dingwall anyway - they may have something a bit more elegant to offer.

[snorkie635]

Just now, kwmlondon said:

Thanks.

 

I just tried clipping one of those woodworking clamps to the headstock, it's small and light but that was enough to give the note a fair bit more sustain so I recon a headstock tuner would probably be enough to mitigate a lot of the issue, but I'll reach out to Dingwall anyway - they may have something a bit more elegant to offer.

Possibly, but best wishes for a happy resolution whatever you decide.

[kwmlondon]

7 minutes ago, snorkie635 said:

Possibly, but best wishes for a happy resolution whatever you decide.

Well, one thing I'm not going to do is play a gig with a Fat Finger on the end of the bass - trust me, with my playing nobody would notice a C not sustaining as long as the other notes but people will ask why I've got that thing stuck on the end of my bass! If it becomes an issue recording then, yes, that'd make sense. Cheers for all the input though - it's much appreciated.

[LowB-ing]

The Fat Finger does not reduce the dead spot, it just moves it. Hopefully to a note that bothers you less in a specific situation. If you're lucky you may get it in between two notes, so that you have two milder "deadish" spots instead of one pronounced dead spot.

 

I recently stumbled on this thing, though, and it intrigues me:

https://wolfterminator.com/dead-spot-eliminator-electric-bass/

 

The concept seems sound.

If kwmlondon is annoyed enough, he might want to take one for the team and try it out. 😃

(And report his findings here, of course)

 

 

Edited 17 hours ago by LowB-ing

[kwmlondon]

2 hours ago, LowB-ing said:

The Fat Finger does not reduce the dead spot, it just moves it. Hopefully to a note that bothers you less in a specific situation. If you're lucky you may get it in between two notes, so that you have two milder "deadish" spots instead of one pronounced dead spot.

 

I recently stumbled on this thing, though, and it intrigues me:

https://wolfterminator.com/dead-spot-eliminator-electric-bass/

 

The concept seems sound.

If kwmlondon is annoyed enough, he might want to take one for the team and try it out. 😃

(And report his findings here, of course)

 

 

Hmmmmmmmmm….. I mean, it’s an interesting idea but I’m going to reach out to Dingwall before making any purchases. Though to be honest, I only noticed the issue when I used a noise gate so is it worth attaching something like that to my headstock. Cheers though!

[police squad]

3 hours ago, kwmlondon said:

Well, one thing I'm not going to do is play a gig with a Fat Finger on the end of the bass - trust me, with my playing nobody would notice a C not sustaining as long as the other notes but people will ask why I've got that thing stuck on the end of my bass! If it becomes an issue recording then, yes, that'd make sense. Cheers for all the input though - it's much appreciated.

trust me, no one will ask. They just wont. No one cares enough or notices stuff like this

[kwmlondon]

22 minutes ago, police squad said:

trust me, no one will ask. They just wont. No one cares enough or notices stuff like this

Nobody cares….

[Machines]

Dead spots are inevitable on wooden necked basses in my experience, it isn't a flaw so much as just physics.

 

My 2025 ABZ has a dead spot on 8th fret of G string. I've found Fender basses often have one around the 6th.

 

Neither BassDirect or Dingwall will be able to help you I'm afraid. The fact you've had it over 6 months before noticing is a worthy point to consider.

Edited 14 hours ago by Machines

[kwmlondon]

40 minutes ago, Machines said:

Dead spots are inevitable on wooden necked basses in my experience, it isn't a flaw so much as just physics.

 

My 2025 ABZ has a dead spot on 8th fret of G string. I've found Fender basses often have one around the 6th.

 

Neither BassDirect or Dingwall will be able to help you I'm afraid. The fact you've had it over 6 months before noticing is a worthy point to consider.

Well, I’ll give it a go. Nothing to lose and while I don’t expect to be return it, I’ve had really good customer service so far and I’d be surprised if they didn’t at least offer some advice. I mean, they know people like me are often repeat customers so it would make sense to give ongoing support. I’ve met Sheldon and I think he’s a good egg. 

[Machines]

1 hour ago, kwmlondon said:

Well, I’ll give it a go. Nothing to lose and while I don’t expect to be return it, I’ve had really good customer service so far and I’d be surprised if they didn’t at least offer some advice. I mean, they know people like me are often repeat customers so it would make sense to give ongoing support. I’ve met Sheldon and I think he’s a good egg. 

 

Yes absolutely he is. I might ask him what he thinks about dead spots as an overall subject as I'd bet it's something he's researched into at depth.

[Chienmortbb]

9 hours ago, Machines said:

 

Yes absolutely he is. I might ask him what he thinks about dead spots as an overall subject as I'd bet it's something he's researched into at depth.

Fender, (when it was Fender), researched into this many years ago and concluded that if you want to eliminate the dead spot, eliminated the headstock. Then change to a composite neck. 

[Hellzero]

15 hours ago, LowB-ing said:

I recently stumbled on this thing, though, and it intrigues me:

https://wolfterminator.com/dead-spot-eliminator-electric-bass/

 

The concept seems sound.

I've read the whole article and it sounds like an audiophile advert, so a lot of bullshīt...

 

According to them a FatFinger will only move the dead spot when their item, which is exactly the same principle, will suppress it: come on...

 

That said Fender's advert comments about their FatFinger (which was not their idea, but they bought the brand) also contain a lot of bullshīt, but at least it's half the price and we know what it really does : it simply adds mass to the headstock, changing the resonance and moving the dead spot to a way less annoying place on the neck.

[kwmlondon]

17 minutes ago, Hellzero said:

I've read the whole article and it sounds like an audiophile advert, so a lot of bullshīt...

 

According to them a FatFinger will only move the dead spot when their item, which is exactly the same principle, will suppress it: come on...

 

That said Fender's advert comments about their FatFinger (which was not their idea, but they bought the brand) also contain a lot of bullshīt, but at least it's half the price and we know what it really does : it simply adds mass to the headstock, changing the resonance and moving the dead spot to a way less annoying place on the neck.

I mean, I've tried putting a small woodworing clamp on the headstock and that makes the issue almost unnoticable so I may just get a headstock tuner as that'd probably do just as well AND be a useful thing at the same time! It's just that the bass has really good balance as it is and looks fabulous so it'd be annoying to add a lot of mass at the end and make it look like an accident. Thanks for the input btw!

[Machines]

@kwmlondon Any chance of a pic ? I am a Dingwall hussy.