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John Myung Bongo 4

Bongo dead notes

A

aflat

New member
Joined
Jul 19, 2005
Messages
1
My new Bongo5 S/H has a very noticeable dead spot on the B and C notes at the 4th and 5th frets on the G string. The same notes on the D string, 9th and 10th frets, also exhibit the same problem.

The note when struck does not go completely dead but various harmonics, 5th and 3rd, take over very quickly and the fundamental note is strangled. It's OK if you're playing eighth-notes but quarters and longer die very noticeably!

If I move to the same notes on the A string, way up at the 14th and 15th the problem is almost gone. But that could be because of the fatter tone up there.

Some old basses I have had experienced similar but way less pronounced dead spots, 65 P bass for one. But nothing like this!

I have changed strings and intonated a few times and it makes no difference.

Do I have a bad neck! I don't want to place one of those weights on the headstock because it's already a little heavy.

By the way I absolutely love this bass and want to anything I can to make it more perfect!!! My 79 Stingray is now sulking in the corner!

Ab
 
the only dead spot I've noticed on my fretted 5 Bong is the B @ the 9th fret on the D string all others are ok, it is a bit of a pain but the amount of time I end up playing that B is sorta nominal so i just slide up to the B @ the 14th on the A :D TIMBRE!!! hehehehehehehe

but I have put a set of flats on now so I'll go check and see if it's still hap'nin
 
I'm surprised to hear this guys. My SR5 was the first bass I ever owned without any deadspots. If anything I have to becareful to mute notes in quieter parts of a song.

Maybe you have sharper ears. And I don't mean that you look like Spock. ;)
 
I don't think it could possibly be a dead spot in the neck, otherwise it would be in the same frets across the board, not the same notes in different positions. I would be looking for another culprit. Maybe your amplification doesn't translate those particular notes very well?
 
Mobay45 said:
I don't think it could possibly be a dead spot in the neck, otherwise it would be in the same frets across the board, not the same notes in different positions. I would be looking for another culprit. Maybe your amplification doesn't translate those particular notes very well?
Click to expand...

I was thinking the same thing. Does this happen in multiple places, or just one room? My practice room has an italian mask on the wall that vibrates whenever I hit an A anywhere on the neck. Perhaps your room is having a similar effect to mute those notes.

My suggestion is to take your bass to a music store, and try it through an amp with everything set flat. That way you can make sure it's the bass, and not something else in the signal chain, or the environment.
 
bassmonkeee said:
My practice room has an italian mask on the wall that vibrates whenever I hit an A anywhere on the neck.
Click to expand...

When I was a kid, I used to jam with a keyboard player in his parents front room. They had a glass cabinet that vibrated alarmingly whenever I played a D, so much so it was in danger of shattering. Solution? We continued to practice there and I never played a D.
 
Mobay45 said:
I don't think it could possibly be a dead spot in the neck, otherwise it would be in the same frets across the board, not the same notes in different positions. I would be looking for another culprit. Maybe your amplification doesn't translate those particular notes very well?
Click to expand...

I'm thought dead spots were frequency dependent?
 
dlloyd said:
When I was a kid, I used to jam with a keyboard player in his parents front room. They had a glass cabinet that vibrated alarmingly whenever I played a D, so much so it was in danger of shattering. Solution? We continued to practice there and I never played a D.
Click to expand...

Heh--I guess that beats the "shatter-the-cabinet-with-a-hammer-so-it's-not-a-problem, anymore" approach. :D
 
Psychicpet said:
ya, it's like a wolf tone on an upright.
Click to expand...

Supposedly you can "tune" them out by using a Fatfinger...

GVTFFG.jpg


http://www.8notes.com/gear/GVTFFG.asp

They call it a "sustain enhancer" but it works by shifting the dead spot elsewhere... hopefully to a point that's not used.

You can see one on Billy Sheehan's bass in this photo, where Billy has just been attacked by a ninja...

billy_sheehan1.jpg
 
The only bass i owned that had a deadspot was my Essex, and it pissed me off endlessly so i tried a new neck,that one blew too, so i sold it.

My sterling doesnt have any.
 
dlloyd said:
You can see one on Billy Sheehan's bass in this photo, where Billy has just been attacked by a ninja...

billy_sheehan1.jpg
Click to expand...

I thought he was doing some tibetan throat singing. :D
 
Rod Trussbroken said:
Every Bass I've had...a dead spot on the G string around the 5th or 6th fret.
Click to expand...

Same thing here Gav, of my current 11 basses, all have a problem in that G string 5th to 7th fret area. The reason I have 11 basses has been a quest for one without dead spots.

My SR5 has no dead spots, but it too loses the low fundamental a little quicker in that fret area. But all my basses do this in varying degrees, even the ones that cost way more than my SR5. I have one bass with a graphite spine in the neck, same thing. I accept this as part of a bass guitars’ timbre.

To be fair I do have hearing damage, my high and lows are fine but there’s a big dip at 1.6k, and I’ve found that some bass strings are worse than others in dealing with that spot.


Psycho
 
FWIW, I have not had a problem with dead spots on any of my basses using flats. Rounds did. Not sure about the SR 5 cuz I slapped TI flats on it right away.

IMHO

tk
 
both of my SR5's have a somewhat muted C and C# on the G but I don't play too much in that area. my bongo has a dead note on the D at B below the 12th.
that is a little more bothersome to me. however everything else about that bass is great. you just have to be a pro and work with it.
I have had Wals with much worse neck problems. back in the 80"s when I ordered 2 MK2 5 strings at the same time.
 
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