12th fret neck attached strap button?

[InternetAlias]

Have fun with your tuning stability if you drive a strap button/straplock into the actual neck.

Yeah, this is an excellent point I must say... This is why I will probably end up going with a singlecut design rather than sacrificing so much for slight ergonomic advantage.

 

[Bruce Johnson]

Here's the strap button extension plate I fit on vintage Ampeg Devil Basses. It's an aluminum plate that goes on in place of the original rear cover plate, clamped by the four neck attach screws.

The strap button is quite close in to the neck, out to the bass side, and is on the front side of the plate. This position actually works very well geometrically and ergonomically. Your thumb doesn't hit it when playing up high.

On a new design bass, you could locate the strap button like this, but attached to the neck. Assuming that you designed a good reinforcement/attach point into the neck structure.

 

[getBAK]

It seems like hanging the bass directly on the neck would exert a lot of side forces in a not very rigid area. I can imagine a lot of issues with neck-flex and real-time intonation

 

[micguy]

I think he is suggesting on the side of the neck which would only impede if you wrap your thumb around the neck (which you shouldn't do anyway). i think it could work well for some problematic body styles.

For those of us with huge hands , you kinda have to wrap your thumb around the neck - if I put my thumb on the back of the neck, my hand gets all cramped up.

My hands are big enough that I can actually fret the B string on a 5’er with a wide neck, and still have space between my hand and the back of the neck. Ergonomic rules have to be personalized to make sense.

 

[2saddleslab]

I used to make these for all my ASAT basses and sold about a dozen of them around the globe.

 

[Joshua]

Please don't make me decipher tone through the written word; I have no choice but to err on the side of caution. Also, please remember rule 1 which we all agreed to when we joined TB, that of respect.

Thread cleaned, please continue the discussion...

 

[Ric5]

So, I have a question that has bugged me for a while.

A lot of people suggest making the body big enough (if it's a single cut) or making the horn long enough (if it's a double cut) to support having a strap button at the 12th fret's location.

I understand the reasoning for this, but I am wondering why nobody is suggesting to simply add an extension to the side of the neck, such that there's a protrusion at the 12th fret, and a strap button can be attached there?

This would make it possible to have a perfectly balanced thunderbird or similar design of a bass.

Thoughts?

What would be the main risks/problems associated with this?

actually just getting to the 14th fret may be enough

 

[David Jayne]

actually just getting to the 14th fret may be enough

View attachment 3992891

I've done that. It works. But I inevitable object to how it looks so off it goes.

 

[Cutter8]

I make extended strap buttons for all my basses by putting two Dunlop Straplok buttons and a couple of washers together with epoxy and shrink tube. I don’t think it would help much on an Explorer, but on Precision and Jazz style bodies, it moves the strap attachment point well past the 11th fret and makes quite a difference in how a bass balances on a strap.

 

[anton72]

So, I have a question that has bugged me for a while.

A lot of people suggest making the body big enough (if it's a single cut) or making the horn long enough (if it's a double cut) to support having a strap button at the 12th fret's location.

I understand the reasoning for this, but I am wondering why nobody is suggesting to simply add an extension to the side of the neck, such that there's a protrusion at the 12th fret, and a strap button can be attached there?

This would make it possible to have a perfectly balanced thunderbird or similar design of a bass.

Thoughts?

What would be the main risks/problems associated with this?

They do it. It's called single-cut bass.

 

[rwkeating]

I find the strap bar extremely useful for balance. On this bass that I built it works perfectly with regards to balance and from the front you can't even see it.

 

[Claymore]

Why does anything have to stick out at all? It could be a metal anchor point recessed into the side of the neck. Whatever strap you're using could have a short adapter that attaches to it... Button on one end. Clasp that hooks on to the anchor point on the other end. All of it could look really discreet if done correctly.

 

[MYLOWFREQ]

I assume this is a joke.. nobody would want a strap lock on their neck.

 

[JIO]

My Jazz Bass has one on back of headstock but I have never used it!

It was known as a "Hootenanny" peg - not a lot of players used them, but it was an option until the late '60s.

Fenders Freddie Tavares making use of the Hootenanny peg.

 

[Tim Skaggs]

Home made stuff;

 

[Peteyboy]

Home made stuff;

View attachment 3993201 View attachment 3993214

That's resourceful and functional, but I'd cut myself the very first time I used it. And every time thereafter. More of a comment about my own lack of coordination I guess.

 

[Tim Skaggs]

That's resourceful and functional, but I'd cut myself the very first time I used it. And every time thereafter. More of a comment about my own lack of coordination I guess.

All finished aluminum strap from the hardware store. Nothing sharp anywhere, unless you cut yourself on a strap button.

 

[iiipopes]

Country players can just drive a strap button into the back of the neck at the 6th fret.

And wrap duct tape around it as a "strap lock."

 

[JIO]

That 'duct tape on the upper horn' is such a deliberate "antii-style" style...

 

[JIO]

Bottom line is that any bass that needs such an extension to balance correctly is essentially not a functional design. (to put it in didactically) However, some of those ill-designed basses play/sound really good... so it's worth compensating. (to a point)