Dead spot on 594, B string, 12th fret?

I had a dead spot on my Starla when I got it... a miniscule adjustment to the intonation for that string moved the spot off the problem fret just enough that it pretty much wasn't an issue any more, and tuning was still ok.
 
So I slapped some heavier (11-49) strings on, raised the action (I like it a little high) with a small turn of truss rod and raised the bridge a hair, re-intonated.

Dead spot obviously still there but seems less noticeable. Gonna try to forget it now.

Guitar feels a lot better to me with the 11s though, like it's ready to be dug into.

“Viva 11’s, viva 11’s, viva, viva 11’s”:p
 
Just clip a clip-on tuner to the headstock, like all the cool kids do. Doesn't event have to be real - fill it with lead weights - and you'll be good to go. :cool:
 
So I finally got my Santana Retro for my Birthday. It's been in a case under the bed since we bought it. And of course, dead note on the B 12th fret. Also happens on the G string at 16th fret, same note. Or if I bend the 10th fret B or 14th fret G. I'm so disappointed. I had a Cu24 like this that I had to return. But this has been sitting waiting in its case for the best part of a year and now the most played area of the neck is a disaster. Gutted.
 
This thread is kinda dated now but... The dreaded spot doesn't bother me as much anymore. It is still there but seems to come and go in intensity as the weather changes and I adjust intonation and stuff, like @JJJ said.

Someone should make a TRC from lead and see if that helps without being a fugly hack.
 
I've found most of my guitars have somewhat of a dead spot, often between the 10th and 14th frets, usually on the G string but sometimes on the B. But there are a combination of factors that cause it to be more or less noticeable. Mine usually show up more with gain, almost like a secondary and slightly out of tune frequency that fights the note, often can't hear it at all clean. Believe it or not, the guitar it shows up on most often is also my dearest one, the 594. The good news is, it goes away when turning the tone knob down to about 5 or below, and when I'm playing with enough gain to notice the issue, turning the tone knobs down like that on the 594 is pretty much indistinguishable in sound. The 594 is the brightest sounding of my guitars, my theory is it has to do with high frequency overtones, which is why it happens on the 594, and goes away when turning the tone knob down. The 594 pickups and electronics, fortunately, are tuned so that the body and "push" of the note aren't lost at all when the tone knob is turned down. The sound still fills up with harmonics from the clipping, it just doesn't have that "beat" frequency anymore.

I think it also has to do with imperfections of having a plain 3rd/G string, mass and tension in combination with how short the string is getting around the 12th fret and above, and maybe that carries over to the B string, too. There's some interesting info out there on it, some guys will go to a wound third to get away from it.

Personally, I'm starting to see it more as a guitar being "alive" enough sonically to display the slightly unfortunate idiosyncrasies of guitar string science, rather than a problem with the guitar itself.
 
I dunno. It feels like a problem on my guitar for sure. Anywhere I play a B, whether that's at the 12th fret B string or the equivalent note on the G or high E, it just dies after a second or two. It's not weird overtones, it's silence. This is the 3rd PRS I've owned which exhibits this issue, and the worst. That's 3 out of 4. It feels like something PRS should check during QC and reject if it's too intrusive.
 
I've stuck little neodium magnet cubes on the back if each tuner behind the headstock. Adds a little mass without being too obviously there. Seems to help minimise the dead spot a little.
 
So I finally got my Santana Retro for my Birthday. It's been in a case under the bed since we bought it. And of course, dead note on the B 12th fret. Also happens on the G string at 16th fret, same note. Or if I bend the 10th fret B or 14th fret G. I'm so disappointed. I had a Cu24 like this that I had to return. But this has been sitting waiting in its case for the best part of a year and now the most played area of the neck is a disaster. Gutted.

Please do a video camera clip of this and post it on YouTube. I would really like to hear this for myself. If it's that bad, the guitar has a fault so return it. Please post video.
Much appreciated.
 
Level crown and polish.

Frets are probably dulled out.

Take it to a luthier if you're unfamiliar.
 
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