Fender Fatfinger Guitar, Nickel

I had a bit of dead spot on my Squier P bass at the 5th fret of the G string. I tend to use that note a lot in the songs I play and it was really kind of annoying with a thuddy sound when ever I hit it with not much sustain. This was an issue even after spending hours doing a really good set up with trus rod, string height, intonation etc. Raising the string didn't help any and at one time I thought that perhaps I may have a raised fret but not so, there was never any fret buzzing going on. Changing strings didn't help matters either and I was beginning to think I was just going to have to live with it. I decided to do a search on a popular bass forum to see if it was common issue and was shocked to find lots of people reporting it with their Fender basses. They said it was possibly some kind of a frequency vibration in the headstock absorbing and deadening the note. I have been playing bass for over 40 years and have never heard of such a thing. I then read about the Fender Fatfinger and some people seemed to feel it was worthless while others felt it had real value. Just like all things where people disagree I had to decide for myself so bought one. Some people are just not very hearing gifted so that could explain a good part of the varying opinions. After trying it out today I have to say there is definite improvement at that fret, the thuddiness is nearly gone. It's not perfect but any improvement is a good thing and how much do we spend on our amps, strings, pickups, tone pots, chords, bridges, tuning keys etc. just to get a small but noticable improvement in our sound? I feel the Fender fatfinger is a quality item, sensibly priced, does what it states and even looks cool on my headstock. The only question I have is why doesn't Fender who obviously is aware of the issue just fix the problem with a new design in the headstock rather than selling this item? Lastly, Amazon would sell more of these if it were properly labeled as for bass also. On the card inside the Fender box it does state it can be used for bass, but not on the Amazon site. I like it so much I'm planning on getting another one and experimenting with placement of double fatfingers on the Squier or putting one of them on my Ibanez bass .

I have two Fender Player Series basses. One Precision and one Jazz. Both had "dead spots" on the G string. Apparently, this is a common problem. I read on TalkBass that some of my fellow bassists had some success with the Fender FatFinger and so I decided to give it a shot.As it turns out, these little clamps do help by adding mass to the headstock. Now, I do not claim to understand WHY this is, but (in my case anyway) it helped to solve the problems. I get more sustain playing notes on the G string.I was fortunate enough to be able to buy one used from the Amazon Warehouse and paid 50% of retail so I am extra happy about this purchase. I think they are definitely worth a shot if you are experiencing the same lack of sustain on your bass or guitar.

I wish someone told me this and I found the information no where. This is the exact same as the “Bass” version. I looked for the bass version for months and couldn’t find it, I finally just order this one and compared it to the two Bass versions I have and they are the EXACT same. So this can be used on bass as well. I have three, one on each of my Fenders.

I got two of these, one for myself (I mostly play bass) and one for my friend (who mostly plays guitar). Both of us noticed improvements. My tone on my Fender P-Bass became cleaner, so much so that I turned the tone knob all the way in the opposite direction to what would normally be the muffled side. It's now clean and warm, not muffled. My sustain is also improved by a very noticeable margin. My buddy put his FatFinger on his Fender Mustang, and remarked on how natural the FatFinger looks on his guitar. "It looks very 'Fender-y'". He also noticed similar tone and sustain improvements. I'll probably be buying more of these. But since I popped this puppy on my P-Bass, I haven't really been playing anything else.

What more can I say? It does the job. Helps remove the famous Fender dead spot on the 5th fret of bass necks by attaching it to the headstock. You can use it on other instruments for better sustain as well. A solid piece of work, essential for working musicians.

I had one of these years ago before fender owned them and they were just “Fat Fingers” and I remember liking it so out of nostalgia I purchased one. I have a jazzmaster so anything that can help with the lack of sustain (without a $200 bridge) is welcome. It does something. I mean besides making your neck noticeably heavier. I’m just not sure if adding sustain is what it does. I’ll leave it at this. It does have a slight effect on your guitar’s tone. Whether you like it and don’t mind the extra weight on the neck is up to you. I’m keeping it on for now for no other reason than I bought it.

…but not for me. Tried it on my Strat and my Les Paul and there was no noticeable increase in sustain, which the manufacturer stated there would be due to the necks having more bulk with the device. The concept makes sense but at least for me it didn’t do a thing.

I tried it and have not noticed any difference whatsoever. Also, the round piece is hard and not like the piece in the photo. I even tried adding a round piece of felt material like you can buy for cabinets doors, etc. and it made no difference. You'll need one of those felt pieces too because it does not fit all headstocks tightly. Keep in mind, this was just my experience. Yours might be different.