What causes dead frets?

[chiro972]

I have an SX sst62 that has a dead fret. Just on the G string at the 7th fret. The string will sound normally and just die away within a second or so. I can't detect any fret buzzing when I do this (although there are some fret buzzes in other places)

 

I know I have a couple of high frets on the guitar, but it doesn't seem like they are high in this region.

 

Are there any other things that can cause just one string to have no sustain just at one fret position?

[Mighty Coogna!]

Well, considering that there is no magic at hand, a dead fret is simply a poorly dressed fret and nothing more or less. Although it's possible a fret above is bad.

 

Really, there is no such thing as a dead fret.

 

It's also possible that the note, that particular frequency at that point is muted or filtered by the materials the neck is made out of. Again, it aint the "fret".

[Highway_61]

 

Originally posted by Mighty Coogna! Well, considering that there is no magic at hand, a dead fret is simply a poorly dressed fret and nothing more or less. Although it's possible a fret above is bad. Really, there is no such thing as a dead fret. It's also possible that the note, that particular frequency at that point is muted or filtered by the materials the neck is made out of. Again, it aint the "fret".

 

 

Semantics

[Mighty Coogna!]

Dead fret/dead spot myths are one of my pet peeves. Never seen or heard one in 21 guitars or so. Maybe I'm just lucky.

[docjeff]

 

Originally posted by Mighty Coogna! Dead fret/dead spot myths are one of my pet peeves. Never seen or heard one in 21 guitars or so. Maybe I'm just lucky.

 

 

I've seen loose frets on imports (my son's Epiphone LP 100 and Hamer Californian). I would describe these frets as "dead." Also, I have seen plenty of guitars with dead spots on the neck for reasons known only to the Almighty. There are just too many variables to pinpoint some of these problems, and when two or more of these variables interact, it gets really messy. I could be the nut, the board (maybe a hollow spot underneath) the bridge saddle, a loose fret, a misaligned neck, a spot in the neck that is more or less dense than the rest of the neck, even the interaction of a tremolo spring and the nut, or various combinations of the above. These things are not confined exclusively to inexpensive guitars, but you see them much less frequently on mid and higher priced instruments.

[chiro972]

 

Originally posted by Mighty Coogna! Well, considering that there is no magic at hand, a dead fret is simply a poorly dressed fret and nothing more or less. Although it's possible a fret above is bad. Really, there is no such thing as a dead fret. It's also possible that the note, that particular frequency at that point is muted or filtered by the materials the neck is made out of. Again, it aint the "fret".

 

 

It may not be the fret, but when I fret THAT string at THAT fret, I have no sustain.

 

If it were the bridge, would it be unlikely to be only one fret?

 

I will check to see if the fret itself is not secure.

 

Any other suggestions besides debating the term "dead fret"

[Armitage]

Dead frets are usually one of two things;

 

1) Poor fretwork. A fret after the one your fretting is a touch high and is touching your string as it vibrates.... or

 

2) Everything that resonates resonates differently at different frequencies. Sometimes it's additive, sometimes it's subtractive. There is a brass clamp-on thing (Fat Finger?) and it is for this problem. It changes the mass of your neck and therefore the resonance for it. It moves that troubled frequency so it no longer is right on a fret. There is NO benefit of using one if you don't have this problem, it may even move the resonant frequancy so it BECOMES a problem.

 

You don't have to buy one to try out the science. Just tape a roll of quarters on your headstock and see if the dead spot goes away.

[LaXu]

 

Originally posted by Armitage 2) Everything that resonates resonates differently at different frequencies. Sometimes it's additive, sometimes it's subtractive. There is a brass clamp-on thing (Fat Finger?) and it is for this problem. It changes the mass of your neck and therefore the resonance for it. It moves that troubled frequency so it no longer is right on a fret. There is NO benefit of using one if you don't have this problem, it may even move the resonant frequancy so it BECOMES a problem.

 

 

I have a slightly dead spot on two of my guitars, both at the 12th fret G-string. Tried a Fat Finger and while it did fix the dead spot, it made the 10th fret G-string sustain poorly. Plus it made the guitar neck heavy so it's not IMO a good cure. You can try it by putting a C-clamp on the headstock for the same effect. I read somewhere that putting more weight on the headstock can move the dead spot to another frequency and the same is true with reducing the weight of the headstock. More weight = dead spot to a lower frequency, less weight = higher frequency.

 

As far as I know it's more of an issue with basses and apparently can be made less worse with adjustments (truss rod, string height etc.). You could also use a wound G-string, this does help but I went back to plain strings because wound G-strings won't go up as much in pitch when bending compared to plain ones. Personally I haven't found a cure for it so I've just decided to live with it, I like those guitars so much otherwise and those frets still sustain decently so it's not that big a deal.

 

Dead spots are caused by resonances/vibrations in the neck (or the whole guitar) at the frequency of the note at a certain fret. High or loose frets are more likely to cause buzz and muting the string instead of diminishing the sustain like dead spots do. Sounds like the dead spot on your SX is the resonance/vibration issue and there's not much you can do about it. If you have just bought it and can have it replaced by another one, then I recommend you do so.

[mattburnside]

 

Originally posted by Mighty Coogna! Dead fret/dead spot myths are one of my pet peeves. Never seen or heard one in 21 guitars or so. Maybe I'm just lucky.

 

 

Would you like me to make a recording of my faded SG so you can hear what a dead spot sounds like? I assure you, they're real. I'm considering selling this guitar at a sizeable loss if I can't fix it.