 Fretless Bass Dead Spots
This is a technical discussion of the problem of dead spots on the bass neck. Some dead spots are apparently caused simply by natural resonances in the neck in certain spots, which try to mechanically or acoustically cancel out the note you're playing.
When playing a specific note on the neck, the vibration of the neck material when combined with the actual plucked note, can either phase cancel the primary frequency or any of the harmonic orders. The result is a note that appears to sound "dead" or not as pronounced as the other notes around it.
I've read this, and heard it from several people. Those dead spots aren't really 'fixable' through leveling or sanding the fretboard, but can be remedied somewhat by the use of one of those 'Fat Finger' devices that clamp onto the headstock. Which brings us to: Help for Dead Spots!
Groove Tube Fat Finger Bass Sustain Enhancer
The fat finger is an effective and natural sustain enhancer when clamped to the headstock of your bass. Tune out bass dead spots found on almost every bass by simply changing the point of contact to the headstock. The fatfinger installs in seconds and gives instant and amazing results!
The physics of fat finger effectively add 2 to 3 times more mass to the "weak" end of any stringed instrument, allowing the strings to ring out longer, louder, and with more balance. The increased sustain is immediately apparent, but improved balance is the ultimate reward.
Adding the fat finger's mass to the weak end of the stringed instrument effectively lowers the frequency of the harmonic imperfections, or nodes. These dead spots are effectively moved down below the audible range (20hz), and are sonically eliminated! It's a great "fix" for that Fender Jazz Bass with the "disappearing C note" syndrome!
The Groove Tube Fat Finger is made of chrome-plated bell brass which accounts for the mass. Which goes to show ya ... Mass in the head(stock) gets rid of the dead(spot)!
Find the BASS Sustain Enhancer here!
Find the GUITAR Sustain Enhancer here!
Take some time to let us know the amazing results, and how great your fretless bass sings
especially with no fretless bass dead spots along the neck!
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