The head of my bass is too heavy..

[Aaiieeee]

Ive come to a realisation that Im holding up bass up with my fretting hand instead of letting it hang naturally. If I dont hold it, the head slowly goes down and ends up paralell to the floor.
I cannot afford a new bass so have you any tips or suggestions on balancing it out? Some kind of botch job counter weight suggestion!?
Ive been playing 2 years with this bass (self taught) and its taken till now to realise its not the best so I want to do something about it before it impedes my learning.

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

(I spent about 5 mins trying to decide the best place to post this lol, decided here was best)

[DistantTremor]

Is the bass itself very heavy, or is the head-to-body weight ratio just out of balance? Cause if it's a light bass, I'd suggest using a counterweight; I don't have first hand experience, other than the fact that my warwick is just plain heavy.

[T. B. Player]

You could consider redrilling your strap buttons to provide for a more proper balance.

Strap button placement directly at the bottom of the bass is great for symmetry, but I've seen many that are located nearer to the electronics to offset a heavy head.

Your shoulder will also thank you.

Z

[topper]

What you're experiencing is commonly called "Neck Dive". I've seen some products on Ebay that claim to cure it. It usually happens because the upper horn on the bass is too short. Usually, the point where your strap attaches to the horn should be right around the 12th fret. A lot of basses (like Gibsons) don't do this and so experience dive.

The product on Ebay basically was a long screw and spacer that replaced your strap button on the upper horn. I don't see them for sale anymore, but it shouldn't be hard to rig up.

[theshadow2001]

Counter weights can be attached to your strap. Or if there's room they can be secured in the control cavity.

If you want to reposition your strap button use some gaffer tape to stick your strap in different positions until you find something that works.Mark the new position. Be careful though the tape might come away.

[murph.vienna]

i have the same problem on my first bass.
there are two ways of fixing this:
1) removing mass from the head - which is okay if your bass is okay and not too lightweight
2) adding mass to the other side, e.g. the bridge. a badass bridge weighs more than a pound (i think 550 grams) and will do a good job improving the sound.

which bass do you play? if it's a relly low-priced one you should consider get another low-priced, but better one
my "problem-bass" is my first one, i have it for 6 or 7 years now and still didnt get it fixed because I don't play it anymore.
a badass would be around 150-200 €, same would go for lightweight hipshot tuners.
for 300 € you'd get some seriously good basses without balance problems.

$ 0.02

all of my basses were bargains

[Hawaii Islander]

Another alternative is to get a wider strap and/or attaching padding to your current strap to add friction to help hold the bass in place.

[73jbass]

Lightweight tuners help a bunch too.

[Marcury]

You can replace the tuners with lighter ones.

[seanm]

What bass is it? I added an extension on my Hagstrom to fix the neck dive. Works well for G&L Asats to I have been told.

[salcott]

Move the strap button from behind the bridge 2-3inches up the body. I do this to all my EBasses to make them hang right for me.

[theshadow2001]

Originally Posted by Hawaii Islander

Another alternative is to get a wider strap and/or attaching padding to your current strap to add friction to help hold the bass in place.

oddly enough increased surface area doesn't increase frictional force. Not very intuitive but true.

[Aaiieeee]

Sorry its taken ages to reply.

My bass is ... well it says "Westfield" on the head and thats all I know. No other writing.

(I bought it off ebay on impulse and never looked back (I do know its a really cheap low end bass but it does make bass-like noises..)).

I cant do any redrilling or repositioning of components as I dont know how and dont have the equipment.
Nor can I add or change any equipment as it wont be worth it so Im leaning towards adding weights somewhere. I would happily get a saw and take a chunk out of the head but I cant find a saw anywhere! (plus Ill spanner it somehow and end up cutting off the g-string machine head or something)

Oh and the strap does actaully attach to the upper horn level to the 12th fret so that shouldnt be a problem.

Any specific counterweight suggestions? Im thinking of getting some weights and just strapping them to the bass behind the bridge or something!

If this is a big deal then I will look into getting a new bass as I do feel Ill be playing bass for the next 40 or so years - such an awesome instrument! (I will get one eventually just didnt plan on it now)

Edit: Left out a bracket.

[uethanian]

please dont redrill strap buttons into your bass. i had it done to my warwick to help with neck dive and i completely regret it. when i had a pin installed higher up the butt, it made the angle better but made the body tilt upward (capsizing direction, if u can picture that). it turns out the original button was the best place, right down the center line where the left and right sides of the instrument are balanced.

but if its a fender style bolt-on, you may consider installing a pin at the heel, either thru the plate or into the neck. this one i've seen work.

soon im going to find counterweights for both my basses...im looking at either scuba gear (weights come in blocks or shot bags) or wrist/ankle weights.