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Post subject: Fender Fatfinger?
Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2019 2:42 am
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What's this all about then?

https://shop.fender.com/en-US/accessories/miscellaneous/fatfinger-guitar/0992180100.html

Sounds a bit like Snake Oil to me but interested in what my learned friends think, 1st hand experience, etc.

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Post subject: Re: Fender Fatfinger?
Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2019 3:58 am
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what happens if you add 5 of them to the headstock?
all the dead notes are tuned out but the guitar doesn't stop ringing for days?

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Post subject: Re: Fender Fatfinger?
Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2019 7:18 am
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Eracer_Team wrote:
what happens if you add 5 of them to the headstock?
all the dead notes are tuned out but the guitar doesn't stop ringing for days?


Did the 6th one fall off then? ;-)

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Post subject: Re: Fender Fatfinger?
Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2019 7:23 am
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The description is all a bit vague (not really surprising) but it seems it is just a G clamp the you clamp to your headstock and (I assume) , by virtue of it being a lump of metal with an engraved Fender logo, it makes you guitar sound better....All seems very reasonable to me.

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Post subject: Re: Fender Fatfinger?
Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2019 1:42 pm
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Bass players seem to get dead spots more than guitar players, and it seems that different odd measures with weight allocation can (usually just move, but if one is very lucky, even) remove it. So there is some base to the text of Fender Marketing & Confusion Department on dead spots.

On the sustain part, I thought the mass=sustain idea died in the early nineties..?

But the FatFinger™ [or it's predecessor, FatHead™ (no, I'm not kidding - google it if you don't remember...)] doesn't seem to have gained major success among guitar legends, so personally I think I'll get along without one. Or five. Or six.


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Post subject: Re: Fender Fatfinger?
Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2019 3:12 pm
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Turd polish.

No more, no less.

:lol:
Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Fender Fatfinger?
Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2019 8:14 pm
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jmattis wrote:
On the sustain part, I thought the mass=sustain idea died in the early nineties..?

I had not heard that, and honestly, my aluminum necked Kramer would sustain for weeks.
But ya, perhaps mass combined with the proper resonance is the key.

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Post subject: Re: Fender Fatfinger?
Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2019 3:15 am
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CB91710 wrote:
aluminum necked Kramer

Wow, one doesn't see those often. Does it weigh more than a heavy Les Paul?
Anyways, and on the edge of the topic issue, IMHO a guitar with good/gig sustain depends a lot on what's trending. In the seventies/eighties we believed the heavy Strats, preferably with brass embellishments, did the thing. Today, many say it's better to have a lighter guitar, where the body and neck let the strings vibrate to the max.

To me, today, sustain is a) setup, b) technique, c) volume, d) odd tricks & gidgets & magic; not necessarily in that order. :lol:


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Post subject: Re: Fender Fatfinger?
Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2019 5:56 am
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jmattis wrote:
.. sustain is ... gidgets...

Ah! you've got one.

:lol: :lol: :lol:

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Post subject: Re: Fender Fatfinger?
Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2019 7:55 am
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FatFinger has been around since the '80s. Originally a Groove Tubes product and Fender acquired it when they bought GT. So it sells well enough to stay in production, but you never read about anyone actually using them.

I frequently read claims that big headstocks sound different than small heads. Or that heavier/lighter tuners can change a guitar's response.

So a few years ago when I saw a dealer blowing out FatFingers for $5, I figured it was worth an experiment.

It does have a subtle effect. Not a "slap you in the face change". More like a "clamp it on, take it off, put it back on, and try to figure out if it's a real change or if you're just imagining it".

Ended up plucking the open E and letting it ring while tightening/loosening the clamp. The sound does change a little, but it's so minor it takes that sort of A/B comparison to be sure.

Had a ton of guitars back then, and tried it on all of them with same results. Best description I can come up with is "a little less airy, a little chunkier, but not enough different to matter". None of the guitars sounded "better", just slightly different.

Picks have a bigger affect on tone. Steel block vs zinc block on a Strat is a bigger change.

None of my guitars have bothersome dead spots, so maybe it would help with that.

Not a total waste of $5. Experimenting is fun, and at least now I know I don't care about headstock size (other than cosmetics).
----------------------
Oh, I also compared it to similar weight C-clamps. You have to position a C-clamp so that the tightening arm doesn't buzz, but otherwise it has exactly the same affect. So if you're curious, a couple bucks at a hardware store can scratch your itch.

(Put some masking tape or similar on the jaws of the clamp to prevent marring the headstock.)
-------------------
If someone in the northeast Dallas Tx area wants a free FatFinger, PM me. (Too lazy to box it up and ship it even if you pay shipping.)


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Post subject: Re: Fender Fatfinger?
Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2019 8:10 am
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Here's a product idea:

Bell bronze clamp-on headstock tuner. Maybe with removable weights, so you can "tune your sustain while you tune your guitar".


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Post subject: Re: Fender Fatfinger?
Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2019 8:40 am
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strayedstrater wrote:
Here's a product idea:

Bell bronze clamp-on headstock tuner. Maybe with removable weights, so you can "tune your sustain while you tune your guitar".


It is funny you should say that, as it had occurred to me, if the whole clapping stuff to your headstock was a thing clip on tuners would make a difference.

As, and when, I see such tone aficionados the likes of Eric Johnson and others bolting one on then perhaps I will give them some consideration.

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Post subject: Re: Fender Fatfinger?
Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2019 9:01 am
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strayedstrater wrote:
...
Not a total waste of $5. Experimenting is fun, and at least now I know I don't care about headstock size (other than cosmetics)....


I agree, and thank you for the insight. At £/$5 I might have been similarly tempted, even if it would mess with my head in altering the purity of the design of the guitar.

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Post subject: Re: Fender Fatfinger?
Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2019 9:12 am
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CB91710 wrote:
jmattis wrote:
On the sustain part, I thought the mass=sustain idea died in the early nineties..?

I had not heard that, and honestly, my aluminum necked Kramer would sustain for weeks.
But ya, perhaps mass combined with the proper resonance is the key.


Mass does affect dynamics. It's just that we've realized that it's not the only thing, or even the main thing.

Stiffness and resonance are more important.

Graphite necks sound a lot like aluminum necks. Super sustain, very even frequency response. One's lighter than wood, one's heavier, but they're both much stiffer than wood.

Graphite stiffening strips built into a neck do a much better job of reducing dead spots than adding mass does.

Aluminum tailpieces are the "hot ticket" on Les Pauls, preferred over high mass tailpieces. Because of the resonance of aluminum.

I fell prey to the mass/brass craze in the late '70s. My '75 Strat was stoopid heavy to begin with, but I gradually replaced part by part and ended up adding close to a pound. It did change the tone, and I assume that on a normal 8 lb Strat it could be a pretty dramatic change. And for high gain distorted stuff, maybe you can call it "better tone".

But that really is like clamping 5 or 6 Fat Fingers all over the guitar, not all at the head.


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Post subject: Re: Fender Fatfinger?
Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2019 9:26 am
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Gibson stopbars: I try aluminum and zinc on every Gibson I get. Most of them it doesn't make much if any difference, but some sound better with zinc and some sound better with aluminum. No idea why.


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