Dead spot

A note on the fingerboard where sustain and response fall away noticeably compared with its neighbours, caused by an instrument resonance absorbing the string's energy.

When a body or neck resonance happens to sit on the frequency of a played note, that note drives the structure instead of the air, and the energy leaves the string quickly. Dead spots are usually worse with lighter hardware and livelier woods, and the traditional fixes are mechanical: adding mass at the headstock, changing the neck joint, or fitting a different bridge or tuners. It is an acoustic property of the instrument, not a wiring fault.

Example: a wolf note around the twelfth fret of the G string on a particular guitar often moves or disappears when a heavier set of tuners is fitted.

Dead spot

See also