Jinder Posted April 30, 2018 Share Posted April 30, 2018 Hi all, Have any of you folks had success in getting rid of “dead” spots on the fretboard by giving a guitar plenty of love and play time? I’m talking about the thumpy notes that have unusually short sustain. Obviously we love the Gibson thump and quick decay, but I mean the notes that don’t quite fit with the rest of the neck. This has happened to me a few times. My first SJ200 back in 2004 had a very quiet/weak on sustain F# on the bottom E, which went away completely after a year of regular gigging. My 2002 AJ was a real case queen and had a dead spot on the 7th fret of the A string and the 3rd fret of the bottom E, neither totally went away with playtime but were greatly reduced. My current SJ200 had a weak C note at the third fret on the A string for a few weeks, but is now supremely smooth and balanced. My recently purchased J180 has a VERY minor weak spot (a dead spot would be an overstatement, it’s barely noticeable) at the G note on the bottom E, which seems to be a common spot. After a week of gigging it’s massively ameliorated though, and is almost gone. It’s definitely a guitar that has barely been played over the four years since it was built, and just needs some road miles on it. I was playing a friend’s Sigma OM today and noticed that it also had a dead spot on the bottom E at the 3rd fret. He’s just had it refretted after nine months of hard road work (the modern Sigmas have frets like toffee from the factory) and I’ll be interested to see if it plays out of a laminated back and sides guitar. In my experience, as all solid guitars dry, cure and settle down, they tend to lose most dead spots and become more even. What are your experiences with it? Apparently more lightly built guitars are more susceptible, and neck weight/machinehead bulk can make a difference, but I’m not sure to what extent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j45nick Posted April 30, 2018 Share Posted April 30, 2018 It sounds to me like it could be either a high spot on the 4th fret, or a low spot on the 3rd fret. I get these from time to time, on the low E string in particular on the first frets, but generally assume it's just my fretting hand technique. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leonard McCoy Posted April 30, 2018 Share Posted April 30, 2018 It sounds to me like you're in need of a fret job if anything. There shouldn't be dead or mute spots anywhere on the fretboard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jinder Posted April 30, 2018 Author Share Posted April 30, 2018 It’s more a resonance issue than a fret thing. As I mentioned, my friend’s Sigma has just had a full refret and plays like butter everywhere, but has the thumpy G note on the bottom E which has the psychoacoustic effect of sounding like it has unnatural decay by virtue of its exaggerated attack transient. Likewise my J180 has probably the most perfect fretjob and setup I’ve come across. Not that the J180 really has an issue, just a very minor thing that’s an observation for me rather than anything else. Martins with forward shifted bracing are apparently more prone to it (HD28/35s particularly, from what I’ve read). But it’s interesting to find out what Gibsons have the issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbpicker Posted May 1, 2018 Share Posted May 1, 2018 “Wolf notes”. Yes, I’ve experienced them. Sometimes they just go away. I’ve found that a tweak of the truss rod will sometimes help to diminish the effect. I’ve noted this over 40 years of playing and adjusting acoustics. Also, try a different string type or gauge. This helps sometimes, but not always. I had a 2009 D18 that I bought new, after it had been hanging at the store for a year and a half. It had a few spots up and down the neck that were dead. After a couple months of tweaking it and changing strings, they all went away or diminished to the point of not being an issue. Good luck and have patience if the guitar is otherwise a winner. Roger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JuanCarlosVejar Posted May 1, 2018 Share Posted May 1, 2018 J, I get what you are saying and agree ...I think this applies to the actual sound of the guitar in general ... I've noticed that when I stop playing a certain guitar for weeks it "falls asleep" then after a few days of picking it up again it sounds glorious .I guess guitars need to be "fired up" too JC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldCowboy Posted May 1, 2018 Share Posted May 1, 2018 My only experience with the phenomenon was with my heavily gigged 1960 J-200 which developed a complete lack of sustain on the high E string at the 3rd fret. Very bad for someone who relies on cowboy chords😨 It doesn't bother me now, because after years of unsuccessfully trying to alleviate the problem, I sold it. Miss nearly everything else about that guitar, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lars68 Posted May 1, 2018 Share Posted May 1, 2018 As for me and my guitars, I'm the dead spot. Lars Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murph Posted May 1, 2018 Share Posted May 1, 2018 I keep playing them until they're ALL dead spots ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted May 1, 2018 Share Posted May 1, 2018 The only time I have experienced it was with an old SJ. The thing had divots the size of Crater Lake in the board. So when you fretted certain notes you were pushing them into a hole. A fairly easy fix though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olie Posted May 1, 2018 Share Posted May 1, 2018 I wonder if RH has something to do with this phenomenon.When the wood absorbs or loses moisture it can react in more than one direction resulting in small twists and turns which could create small regions that are kind of out of agreement with the rest of the neck.The piece of wood isn't as symmetrical as a machined piece of metal,for instance,nor as stable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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