Dead string(s) on jaguar

For help with setups and other technical issues.
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Bartonfinkerton
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Re: Dead string(s) on jaguar

Post by Bartonfinkerton » Mon Oct 25, 2021 1:21 pm

Thanks for the reply
I discovered something similar after trawling the internet.
I finally tried a capo over the strings in front of the nut, and this seemed to help.
Taking to another tech tomorrow to see if there is an aesthetic solution.
Cheers again
Simon
Last edited by Bartonfinkerton on Sat Oct 30, 2021 12:02 am, edited 1 time in total.

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chrisrnps
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Re: Dead string(s) on jaguar

Post by chrisrnps » Sat Oct 30, 2021 12:02 am

This a very real “thing” that can effect any stringed instrument made of wood (and acoustic drum shells for that matter) even given “ideal” strings, nuts, bridges, and any other hardware.

The neck, body, combined mass of the instrument with all its hardware and paint on, all make up a whole with resonant frequencies and interactions that can reinforce or counteract string vibrations at different frequencies and different locations along the neck.

Two of the same model of guitar - cheap or expensive - can behave totally differently in this respect. It comes with the territory of loving instruments that are inherently imperfect and usually made of wood.

On instruments with resonant string length behind the bridge (orchestral strings, guitars with significant string length between bridge and tailpiece) it’s even more complicated.

There was a whole product subcategory in the 1990s or so of those “Fat Finger” gizmos that were weights that clamped onto headstocks promising to “eliminate dead spots,” but I haven’t seen them around for a while. Funnily enough, the “Fat Finger” trend seemed to be concurrent with or just after the first wave of popularity of Steinberger and Kubicki headless instruments, so maybe adding more neck dive weight to the headstock wasn’t the answer.
'Excellent! A little more practice will make you a regular whale. Now, if I may trouble you to unlace my back and front plates two holes more, I'll try that fascinating bend that you say is so easy. Won't Painted Jaguar be surprised!' ~ Rudyard Kipling

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Bartonfinkerton
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Re: Dead string(s) on jaguar

Post by Bartonfinkerton » Tue May 17, 2022 6:19 am

Hello
new update

I bought a fender fat finger, it made the dead sound on the frets disappear.
Even the guitar tech is surprised how well it works.
So if anyone has this kind problem, I recommend it totally.
Thanks for all the replies - case closed :)

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