Weighing down the body, p bass

[Alan 342]

I recently put a warmoth jazz neck on my old, already modded p bass, and I'm getting some serious neck dive. The heavy neck and the light wood of the body just aren't mixing well, despite how much I like it otherwise.

I'm committed to keeping it the way it is for the moment, but was wondering if there were any quick fixes of this nature. Weighing down the body to balance it out some, until I eventually replace with something heavier. Likely a mex fender p body.

It's just a cheap squire body, bartolini 8s pickups, different hardware, different neck. The body is clearly the weak link, but no money to shell out for a new one just yet.

What have you guys done about this kind of thing?

[brandau]

get a wide leather strap. it really works

[thirtypoint87]

I had a similar experience with a heavy Moses (graphite) neck on a alder Precision body. It sounded great but was no fun to play..... until I replaced it with a lighter neck* from Alllparts.

*i.e. less wood and no steel reinforcement bars

[Benjamin Strange]

You would be better off using lighter tuners rather than weighing down the body. That will make a much bigger difference - leverage, yo.

[PJSShearer]

Originally Posted by brandau

get a wide leather strap. it really works

+1 - at least 3" wide.

Failing that u could try a long strap tied around the headstock with a bootlace a la folk guitars.

Early 60's jazz basses had a strap button on the back of the headstock for this reason.

[Pilgrim]

1) Wide suede or sheepskin strap for more friction
2) Consider lighter tuners
3) If the body is really light, add weight.

I have a Turser bass that's a '54 P clone. It weighed only 6.5 pounds and the 34" neck made it a neck-diver. I added adhesive tire weights on the bridge under the strings, then added a bridge cover and put more adhesive tire weights on the underside of the bridge.

Result: a much better balanced bass that still only weighs 7.5 pounds! So if yours is REALLY light, this might work for you.

Pix:

[Lichtaffen]

That's a pretty good idea. Good thinking.

[walterw]

Originally Posted by Benjamin Strange

You would be better off using lighter tuners rather than weighing down the body. That will make a much bigger difference - leverage, yo.

this.

[Pilgrim]

Originally Posted by Benjamin Strange

You would be better off using lighter tuners rather than weighing down the body. That will make a much bigger difference - leverage, yo.

I agree with Ben, but if the bass is REALLY light and the tuners won't do it, he now has an additional option.

[depalm]

Originally Posted by Benjamin Strange

You would be better off using lighter tuners rather than weighing down the body. That will make a much bigger difference - leverage, yo.

Best answer so far.

Hipshot Ultralites or Gotoh should fix the neck dive problem.

[Alan 342]

Thanks for all the responses, it's good to know this place is still going so strong. It's been quite a while since I've been hanging around here.

I think I'll probably go with a mix of the things that have been listed. Since money is tight right now, I'll start with the strap and see how it works. I do have a nice wide leather one already, but it's found it's home on my mockingbird heritage classic, which is another bass I love but have neck dive problems with. The friction does help somewhat on that, so I'll switch it over and see how much good it does.

I do have to say, the body is noticeably light. Whenever I play a mex or american made fender it's substantially heavier, which is why I'm thinking weights might be necessary on this thing. As much as I really would like lighter hipshot or gotoh tuners (and I really would), I think for the moment I'd be better suited for a quick fix, and a heavier replacement body down the line. Then a better bridge and lighter tuners to come after that. Right now the only holdovers from the original bass are the bridge and body. Light and lighter.

Thanks again for the good ideas. I shouldn't have used such a heavy neck on this thing, but outside of that it's my favorite little project, and it's quite nice to play sitting down.

[Pilgrim]

The main reason I tried weight was that the bass in question was a Jay Turser that I paid $125 for. It's worth more than that and is really a great-sounding bass, but I didn't want to have as much $ in tuners as I did in the bass. Due to its unusually light weight, I was able to make it work with about 11 oz of weight. Perhaps someday I'll find a used set of tuners and that will make it possible to re-balance the equation. I see that searching "ultralite tuners" on Ebay, there are a number of sets available for $75 to $100, which is less than I realized.