A horrid deadspot. It’s a very common problem haunting many Fender basses. Usually on the G-string, somewhere around he C-note. And many have gone to pretty far extremes trying to treat the ailment.

But an ingenious solution from John K of John K Custom Vintage Guitars may just be the simple fix you need.

“Way back in 1979, when I discussed this issue with Leo Fender, he pulled out a small C clamp, clamped it on the headstock and said, ‘Play it now.'” John says in a TalkBass forum thread.

“Sure enough, it was gone. And although it probably moved to a lower note, I sure as heck couldn’t find it.”

That got John thinking last month, so he set to work experimenting with different size and weight “C” clamps on his bass.

But having a clamp attached to your bass all the time is hardly a clean solution. So after discovery that the smallest 3 oz. C clamp got the job done, John was off to the local hobby shop for some 3/8″ tungsten cylinder weights.

Usually used for adding heft to young boys pinewood derby cars, Jon had something different in mind for the weights.

“Figuring that it was going to take at least 2 oz of weight to solve it, I removed two machine heads and bored two 3/8″ holes under each of them to inlay the 1/2oz tungsten cylinders.”

Testing along the way, he arrived at a solution of using four weights, hidden behind the machine heads.

“I tested it again and the dead spot was not only gone, but it didn’t seem to affect any of the other notes. I bored the holes so the weights would sit flush and epoxied them in.”

“The 2oz of added weight has not upset the balance of the bass at all. It’s still very lightweight at 7lbs 11oz, and all of the notes sustain and ring out beautifully (running a set of TI Jazz flats on it)”

“I couldn’t be happier with the bass now.”

It seems like a rather mindbogglingly genius solution to a problem that effects so many basses. Has anyone else given this a go? Doesn’t anyone else have any similar solutions to a problem that might be wrecking havoc on basses? Let us know in the comments.