So where are these "Dead Spots" I keep hearing about?

[zerolight]

This is Real - I'm new to PRS, and I happen to be in love with these guitars - so this is not a "well, some people are just gonna bash PRS" - not in my case anyway. But, I experienced for the first time after decades of guitar playing (in full transparency, I've probably played/handled only about 25-35 guitars in that time). G String, 14th fret A note - same issue, slightly less noticeable B String, 10th fret on a new CE24.

I now have a semi-hollow CE24 and similar but not nearly as dramatic of an issue - meaning, I can deal with it because otherwise I f-ing love this thing.

BUT, my question is.... are people seeing this on the 22 Fret PRS guitars - my research led me to conclude that, while it 'could' happen to any guitar... it was the 24 Fret guitar owners that seem to be much MORE likely to experience the dead note.

I am strongly considering an SC 594 at some point in the future. So many guitars out on the Internet (especially Reverb) that are ways for people to get good deals and find good new homes for guitars. But, there is no way to be sure unless you can sit and play that thing listening for the things you care about, before you ultimately BUY. Tricky.

Fret count doesn't matter. My McCarty Rosewood had it. My 24 fret Santana Retro doesn't. Luck of the draw.

 

[jjk]

Disclaimer: I don't own any PRS and haven't played any PRS.

I was bothered a lot by a pretty consistent sustain issue on all the Strandbergs I tried and owned (G string 9-10th fret), so Google led me to this thread when I was searching for more info.

After all the research, I tend to agree with what John Suhr said - all the guitars have a certain frequency that can cause sustain issues. Why some don't? Because the owner hasn't found it yet!

I owned a Strandberg for 2 years and it was my main guitar. I didn't notice anything wrong until recently I sensed a short sustain on a new Strandberg I bought. Then I returned it and tried 4 more. Same issue. I thought there's something wrong with the brand and design. But out of curiosity, I checked all my other guitars, Tom Anderson, Eastman, Yamaha, you name it. All of them have a particular note that suffers from shorter than usual sustain. It can be a C, an Eb, an Ab...anything. Some of the guitars I have owned for over 10 years and has never noticed anything wrong!

At the end I accepted the fact and let go. As long as it is not noticeable in normal playing it's okay. And tbh, there's nothing I can do about it unless I give up on guitar itself.

 

[zerolight]

Disclaimer: I don't own any PRS and haven't played any PRS.

I was bothered a lot by a pretty consistent sustain issue on all the Strandbergs I tried and owned (G string 9-10th fret), so Google led me to this thread when I was searching for more info.

After all the research, I tend to agree with what John Suhr said - all the guitars have a certain frequency that can cause sustain issues. Why some don't? Because the owner hasn't found it yet!

I owned a Strandberg for 2 years and it was my main guitar. I didn't notice anything wrong until recently I sensed a short sustain on a new Strandberg I bought. Then I returned it and tried 4 more. Same issue. I thought there's something wrong with the brand and design. But out of curiosity, I checked all my other guitars, Tom Anderson, Eastman, Yamaha, you name it. All of them have a particular note that suffers from shorter than usual sustain. It can be a C, an Eb, an Ab...anything. Some of the guitars I have owned for over 10 years and has never noticed anything wrong!

At the end I accepted the fact and let go. As long as it is not noticeable in normal playing it's okay. And tbh, there's nothing I can do about it unless I give up on guitar itself.

Yeah. But for some guitars it's not a short sustain issue. On the CU24 I had it was completely dead. The note sounded and decayed to nothing within about a second. All around it ring out, but that one note was like a palm mute. It was a shame because it was killer otherwise. Back it went. I've not had that type of dead note on another guitar except a McCarty.

 

[jjk]

Yeah. But for some guitars it's not a short sustain issue. On the CU24 I had it was completely dead. The note sounded and decayed to nothing within about a second. All around it ring out, but that one note was like a palm mute. It was a shame because it was killer otherwise. Back it went. I've not had that type of dead note on another guitar except a McCarty.

Yeh... <1s seems bad enough and warrants a return. The "dead spots" I have here usually can still last for 2s before dead silence. Just the decays are pretty sudden.

 

[Boogie]

When a guitar seems to have a bunch of “dead spots” it’s usually the setup. Get it back to factory specs and turn up the amp. Nothing cures quick decay like unruly feedback!

 

[Going Modal]

Its ALWAYS the G string. Only a genie can fix it.

Maybe dead spots are just a myth and its really just the G string messing with our heads...

Hell, G-strings have been messing with my head since adolescence...

Now what were we talking about?

 

[jjk]

It's easy to tell if it's the setup - tune the string up or down half a step and try again. If it's the setup the dead spot will remain at the same location, otherwise it will move accordingly since it's related to the guitar's own resonation. Or if have a fat finger or a capo, clamp it at the headstock, the dead spot will move to another place.

 

[Draconomics]

It's easy to tell if it's the setup - tune the string up or down half a step and try again. If it's the setup the dead spot will remain at the same location, otherwise it will move accordingly since it's related to the guitar's own resonation. Or if have a fat finger or a capo, clamp it at the headstock, the dead spot will move to another place.

I think sometimes the dead spot issues that crop up around the middle of the fretboard really are just a setup issue. Most of the time a little tweak of the truss rod takes those away for me. Extra relief seems to help.

 

[Justme_223]

I think sometimes the dead spot issues that crop up around the middle of the fretboard really are just a setup issue. Most of the time a little tweak of the truss rod takes those away for me. Extra relief seems to help.

Personally, I know for sure that unfortunately my dead spot is cause by stupid resonance. I've probably set up my guitar in multiple different configurations and nothing fixes it.

I am going to be making a post soon though about my experience with a dead spot! So keep a watch on it.