Dead spot

jezza · #1 06-05-2016, 12:29 AM

Hi,I've got a really bad dead spot on my Taylor GS mini E.This occurs mostly on F#/G especially on the 5th string,but also an octave lower.Any suggestions?

jezza · #2 06-05-2016, 12:36 AM

Hi,I've got a really bad dead spot on my Taylor GS mini E.This occurs mostly on F#/G especially on the 5th string,but also an octave lower.Any suggestions? Sorry,I'm new to the forum and I've just done a quick search to find this is quite a common problem,and that realistically nothing can be done about it.

jansch · #3 06-05-2016, 01:43 AM

See
http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/f.../t-204966.html

The reply to the 1st post is - You need to get a setup. Take it in to a reputable tech and have them check it out. It may need some fret or nut work. Easy fix, Good Luck!

It may work, though nothing helped the dead spots on 2 of the guitars I had, Seagull Mosaic and Stonebridge G42CR and I sold them.

jezza · #4 06-05-2016, 04:06 AM

Thanks for that reply.I can set the guitar up myself,as I've been working on my guitars for 30 + years.My guess is that it's a resonance problem,as sticking a piece of paper over the sound hole makes a slight improvement.However,this is not a good looking solution!I'll try contacting Taylor.The guitar is great apart from this problem,but I stupidly did not notice it when I bought the guitar.Thanks again....Jerry

Mr. Scott · #5 06-05-2016, 04:52 AM

I've experienced this on a couple of occasions and, although I have no scientific proof whatsoever, suspect that it is something to do with unequal (or at least, widely varied) densities in the neck timber. I say the neck as this seems the obvious place too me, but it could be elsewhere too.
I have not had any luck in alleviating the problem with setups, new strings may help but only because they are new and sound brighter for a while, so from my limited experience, if you have this problem you're stuck with it.

Doubleneck · #6 06-05-2016, 04:55 AM

I had a dead spot on a Mini as well, it did help to play it a lot in the dead area and I think it broke in the new wood? Maybe changed the dynamics?

DenverSteve · #7 06-05-2016, 08:02 AM

Sounds like you need to have your frets checked. While you're at it, give it a good set up and be done with the problem.

Bob Womack · #8 06-05-2016, 09:08 AM

I've got a K14c that had a dead spot at F# on the low E string (second fret). It came and went over the first year and made me wonder and then eventually moderated over a few years to the point where it is no longer noticeable.

Bob

TConnelly · #9 06-05-2016, 09:31 AM

I have two guitars with that problem. A Yamaha F335 with a dead spot 12th frt on the a string. And the Warmoth neck I got for my Strat does it on the 12th fret on the g string. It's not a high fret or anything like that. Doesn't buzz or dud out, it's just a lack of sustain at that one spot. The 12th fret harmonic at those spots
Are fine. So it's not an issue with the saddles or nuts. Or my ears 🙂 I'm convinced it's an air pocket under the fret or fretboard at those spots. But it doesn't bother me enough to worry about it. They sound fine just don't ring out as long.

Cheers................Todd

Ted @ LA Guitar Sales · #10 06-05-2016, 09:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jezza

Hi,I've got a really bad dead spot on my Taylor GS mini E.This occurs mostly on F#/G especially on the 5th string,but also an octave lower.Any suggestions?

All guitars have them to some extent, Google wolf tone, tons of good info on the phenomena.

MC5C · #11 06-05-2016, 09:39 AM

My guitar has a dull sounding D on the A string. It is a body resonance issue. Just about all dead notes are resonance issues - the instrument has a natural tendency to ring at certain frequencies and that counter-intuitively sucks the energy out of the note and makes it dull. I suspect every instrument does it to some degree. Part of tap-tuning would seem to be making sure the top and back plates don't resonate naturally at the same pitch.

dmoss74 · #12 06-05-2016, 10:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ted @ LA Guitar Sales

All guitars have them to some extent, Google wolf tone, tons of good info on the phenomena.

^^^^^ the dreaded dead notes.

sympathetic frequencies are funny things.

i've had a few guitars plagued with a couple doozies. and they were usually in the f# or g range, too. i believe that's what a lot of luthiers tune their tops to. and the point you're experiencing it on different strings points right to wolf tones. i've heard of some people who had good results by changing tuners, but i never tried that.

and it's not the frets, if you aren't hearing the note choke out. it's a bugaboo inherent to stringed instruments.

stephenT · #13 06-05-2016, 10:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ted @ LA Guitar Sales

All guitars have them to some extent, Google wolf tone, tons of good info on the phenomena.

I hate disagreeing w/ Ted as I'm a fan.

Wolf tones and dead spots are two different animals. Wolf tone is a sympathetic note that occurs when certain notes are played (usually on bowed instruments) a dead spot is,.. obvious, lower volume on certain notes.

I've got a handful of decent guitars, if they had dead spots they'd belong to someone else. Not all acoustic guitars have dead spots.

dmoss74 · #14 06-05-2016, 10:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by talkgtr

I hate disagreeing w/ Ted as I'm a fan.

Wolf tones and dead spots are two different animals. Wolf tone is a sympathetic note that occurs when certain notes are played (usually on bowed instruments) a dead spot is,.. obvious, lower volume on certain notes.

I've got a handful of decent guitars, if they had dead spots they'd belong to someone else. Not all acoustic guitars have dead spots.

as far as what to call it, i've heard wolf tone, but most articles, etc about wolf tones result in the weird "howl" you get on violins, etc. but the dead note thing on acoustic guitars has been called the same thing, too. at least the last time i checked.

from another forum:
http://theunofficialmartinguitarforu...r#.V1RT1_krK70

Paleolith54 · #15 06-05-2016, 10:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jezza

Hi,I've got a really bad dead spot on my Taylor GS mini E.This occurs mostly on F#/G especially on the 5th string,but also an octave lower.Any suggestions?

Makes sense to check the frets as others have said, though it may turn out to just be the physics of the instrument as some suggested. I had a dead spot on my Crowdster, sent it in to Tom Anderson and it turned out to be a less-than-skillful fret repair someone had done to it before I got it. In the course of discussing this, Tom remarked that his favorite acoustic (an Olson) has a bad dead spot in it, and that there's really nothing to be done about it, but that it doesn't diminish his love for a fine instrument.