Dead Note on PDN Bongo 5HH?

[AndyRage]

Has anyone else noticed any dead notes on their Neptune Blue Bongo 5HH? I just got this monster, and after setting it up I noticed that the A note on the D string is empty, with no sustain or articulation. After the initial thud, it is gone. Hopefully someone else has had this problem, and can give me some ideas on fixing it.

I wonder if I should have kept the BFR Bongo 4HH, as it played slippery smooth and never had a single issue. Hindsight is 20/20.

 

[steevo]

The only cure ive heard of for dead spots is the fat finger. Ive got a slight dead spot on my sterling 5, gonna some sort of metal clamp on the headstock and if it works ill buy a fat finger.

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

 

[djaxup]

In my experience every single bass has deadspots. It's just a question how bad they are and if it affects a note that is played a lot. Some things to try:

- like Steevo suggested, a fat finger will definitely cure it. But it looks gross and adds weight.
-This can happen due to the string being twisted. Unwind it until it becomes loose, make sure the string is not twisted in any way and wind it up again
- change string type / gauge.
- Sometimes the truss rod plays into it somehow. My Stingray had quite a bad deadspot (15th fret somewhere) that disappeared after I loosened the rod and fastened it again after a while.
- My Rickenbacker's deadspots also change their position as soon as I mess with the trussrods.

Good luck.

 

[Golem]

Newer Balls have light weight tuning machines.
Especially with a 5-string this changes the mass
that lives on the head stock. If adding mass does
relieve the problem, you might wanna go back to
the older machines. Also, there is a neater way to
get the Fat Finger effect. All-Parts chrome plated
solid brass thumb rest screwed to the back of
the head stock.

When experimenting as to whether adding mass
does reduce the problem, you can also deploy
any piece of steel that is a bit thicker than the
clearance between the strings' leaders and the
front of the head stock, such that the tension of
the strings holds the metal item tightly against
the wood. I stack giant washers, about 3 inch
diameter and 1/8" thick. The string tree keeps
the strings from rising out of the nut.

FWIW, I've never had to do this to a MM bass.

 

[steevo]

I once read an piece from the bass book about the original precision bass design with the telecaster style head. It said that there was a problem with a dead spot on the g string around the 7th fret that wasnt as apparent when the headstock was bigger, hence why the precision adopted the strat style headstock later on.
Interesting take on the truss rod, i suppose its worth a try.

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

 

[Mu5icM@n]

Both my bongo's had/have a dead spot at the at the B on the 9th fret on the D string. I thought having it on one bass might be a fluke, but twice seems to be a pattern. Interested to hear if anyone else has that issue. I just play around it, work with the pickup height, etc. and it doesn't cause too many problems. No more than the standard dead spot you find on other makes of basses.

Tom

 

[djaxup]

Fenders all have a notorious deadspot on the G-String around the 7th fret. This has affected every single jazz and precision bass I've owned - 5 Jazzes and 5 P-Basses in different quality levels from Squier to US or even Custom Shop.

 

[AndyRage]

I'm definitely feeling better that I didn't just get a lemon. My previous bass, BFR Rosewood Bongo 4HH definitely didn't have any dead notes, so I was a little worried this thing was just a turd. I absolutely love the bass, and since I put Super Slinkys on it, I'm finally getting the tones I want on it. I think we have many years together ahead of us

 

[nhbassguitar]

Fenders all have a notorious deadspot on the G-String around the 7th fret. This has affected every single jazz and precision bass I've owned - 5 Jazzes and 5 P-Basses in different quality levels from Squier to US or even Custom Shop.

Agreed 100%. My current collection includes a Mex Precision, a Yank Precision, and a Cabronita Precision which has the old-style/Telecaster headstock. All 3 "dead out" on the 6th and 7th frets. Just like all the ones I've owned beginning in the early 1970s up until now, with the one exception of that Precision with the heavy maple body that I nicknamed Satan because of how crappy it sounded. Took that pos back to the store after a week. Dead spots was the least of its problems.

Regarding adding headstock mass, I have a neck-through Charvel/Jackson that deads out at the G fret on the E string. I fixed that by clamping one of those large black metal binder clips onto the headstock, with a strip of leather between the jaws and the headstock as cosmetic protection. Then I removed the shiny clip handles so it doesn't look obvious. It added just enough mass to move the resonant frequency below open E. Not saying this is the best way to do it, or even a better way, just another way.

 

[djaxup]

good info, thanks.