Dead spots on basses

[Iain Purdon]

tight trousers ... worth a look? Can I take a raincheck?!

[dave robinson]

Checked my JV Precision bass this afternoon and no dead spots there - it's armed with Fender Flatwound strings.
I'll check my Hofner Macca bass when I dig it out of the store room.

[bassboogie]

My 2005ish Macca bass has no flat spots. There again nor has my very cheap Epiphone Viola bass.

Will try mutes.

Just a point of interest, did Jet have mutes on his early P basses ?

Kind regards, Luigi

[George Geddes]

Having installed the pickup cover, I used some very butch self adhesive draft excluder, stuck to the "roof" of the ashtray, which sits tight on the strings as they emerge from the saddles... sustain deadened, and Jet Harris installed!!

Unfortunately, my Squier Affinity bass - a bargain which I love dearly - has no ashtray. As an experiment, i tried palm muting and was amazed at the difference... Not practical all the time, though!

George

[Paulps]

No dead spots on my new Farida "Jazz style" bass, or my Crafter Bass, or my cheap Squier P Bass (Affinity series).
The only dead spot is between my ears when I'm trying to learn a new song!
SWMBO tells me that the Crafter and the Squier have to go, so watch out in the Market-place soon.

[des mcneill]

Hi Guys,
I don't know why some basses have this problem while others don't. I have a few basses,ranging from a 63 Precision to a new Burns,and they all exhibit this problem to some degree,the notes at this part of the neck just seem to "choke". I thought it was my hearing for a long time(my wife says I'm deaf)but too many people are aware of it to be just me. I was in my local music shop last week and mentioned this to their main guy and he said he wasn't aware of it so I picked up a bass(Tokai jazz),hit the notes and he conceeded there was a difference. This happens even if the bass is not amplified,there just seems to be a lack of resonance at this point. I use flat wound strings and usually a mute(the mute helps) but it also happens with roundwounds. I must say I stopped playing for a long time but restarted about 15 years ago and can't remember being aware of the problem in the sixties,-maybe I wasn't aware of lots of things then!!
Des.

[Iain Purdon]

Just a point of interest, did Jet have mutes on his early P basses ?

I believe both Jet and Licorice had mutes which led to the thudding sound - but Jet reads this forum sometimes so he may be able to give us the definitive answer.

I don't know but guess that John did not mute either his Burns or his J-bass.

I understand that a good decade later, Alan Tarney used to have a standard yellow house duster wedged under the strings at the bridge to get a similar effect...

Can anyone confirm or correct?

Iain

[des mcneill]

Hi,
I don't know about Alan Tarney but I have seen John Deacon of Queen doing the same. In the early sixties Fenders came with mutes fitted as standard.
Des.

[cockroach]

At various stages, I've used a small block of foam rubber pushed under the strings just in front of the bridge- it works well, and gives a more solid upright bass type sound.

[ErikMAMS]

I don't know but guess that John did not mute either his Burns or his J-bass.

I seem to remember reading somewhere that John favored worn/dead strings - and was very reluctant changing them (ever).

Erik