A website visitor asks: Many basses have that dreaded "dead spot" around the fifth to seventh fret on the G-string. Can this be lessened in any way?

Roger Sadowsky answers: Dead spots are a fact of life, especially on 34" scale bolt on instruments. In order to reduce dead spots as much as possible we have increased the thickness of our headstocks and increased the overall stiffness of our necks. An all graphite neck will move the dead spot to where you won’t look for it but a graphite neck really changes the tone of the bass. The best aftermarket device for dealing with dead spots is the Groove Tubes Fat Finger, which is a small metal clamp that attaches to the headstock and increases mass at that end of the neck. It really works!