Anyone Actually Solved Neck Dive with Strap Button Placement or Tuners?

[deste]

I've found a wider strap with a swede or rubber backing will usually keep the bass in place and not dive. It's usually cheaper than replacing parts on basses.

+1

 

[jd56hawk]

Have you guys noticed a change in tone or sustain with light weight tuners?
Things like the fat finger definitely increase the sustain (due to mass) but I have no idea about tone.
OTOH, most electric bass guitars have plenty of sustain for most.
A Mustang is light enough that adding weight may not be a big deal although the gains are not that great.
.02

My L2000 has G&L Ultra-Lite tuners.
Bass weighs 7.3 pounds...swamp ash.
Adding less than half a pound of lead tape to the bottom of my strap didn’t exactly turn my bass into a T-40.
As for sustain, more than I need, actually.

 

[Nick Danger]

My Schecter Baron-H had pretty significant neck dive. I moved the strap button on the butt of the bass up about 3 inches and switched to a 2 1/2" soft leather strap. Much better now!

 

[cheechi]

I really like Hipshot hardware and of course that includes the Ultralites. That being said, the Comfort Strapp makes much more difference than the Ultralites though.

 

[Jim C]

My L2000 has G&L Ultra-Lite tuners.
Bass weighs 7.3 pounds...swamp ash.
Adding less than half a pound of lead tape to the bottom of my strap didn’t exactly turn my bass into a T-40.
As for sustain, more than I need, actually.

I've never seen or played a 7.3 lb bass; congrats
I've spent years finding lightweight Fenders as 8.5 lbs is my max; Id rather make them lighter although I'd be happy at 8.0

 

[mikewalker]

this (perhaps unconventional) approach works perfectly:

( Aluminum neck - otherwise prone to neck-dive...)

 

[jd56hawk]

I've never seen or played a 7.3 lb bass; congrats
I've spent years finding lightweight Fenders as 8.5 lbs is my max; Id rather make them lighter although I'd be happy at 8.0

Thanks.
Sounds every bit as good as it looks.

(I think this must be the 50th time I posted a pic of this thing!)

 

[Ric5]

Anyone Actually Solved Neck Dive with Strap Button Placement or Tuners?

Here's my solution

 

[hennessybass]

I had a Jack Casady bass, and using a wide (3" maybe) leather strap that had an unfinished back made it.
The strap wasn't super expensive, it was pretty comfortable, and the "rough" back didn't seem to inhibit any natural movement when playing.

 

[mongo2]

Hi, I've read a lot about people saying they changed the strap button placement and/or tuners to help with neck dive. However, very rarely people actually says whether or not it had fixed the issue.

I've done both and it helped.

Another option to use in conjunction with lighter tuners and relocating strap buttons is to add weight to the body in the form of a heavy bridge, heavy knobs and weights in the control cavity or on the strap.

 

[silky smoove]

My FenderBird (with Hipshot Ultralite tuners) has the strap buttons through the upper side of the neck plate, and on the back of the body near the rear upper bout. It sits a little tilted forward, but the neck dive is entirely resolved.

 

[David Jayne]

Sometimes ultralights don't help. I have a G&L SB 1 that is extremely light and it dives a bit. The stock tuners are only a tiny bit heavier than ultralights. I tried a set I had on hand anyway. No change.

 

[A9X]

I've found a wider strap with a swede

 

[5StringBlues]

I bought a used Epi hollowbody that someone had put the strap thru the neck plate like this:

No neckdive at all but you'd have to drill a new hole in your bass.





This looks like a good idea but you'd have to get your neck bolt exactly the right length for it not to go in too far.

 

[5StringBlues]

I also have a short scale Kay with the back button very high:

It doesn't dive on me,but I'm a big guy and wear the bass high so that may be part of it.

 

[Nomad5]

Moved from the body to the neck plate on a Borracho, and completely fixed the neck-dive issue. I think it's stronger than ever in this position, just changed the screw to accommodate the strap button & all is well.

 

[superheavyfunk]

I've found a wider strap with a swede or rubber backing will usually keep the bass in place and not dive. It's usually cheaper than replacing parts on basses.

The strap that solved this problem for me cost $125. Much, much more expensive than other ideas to solve the problem

 

[darwin-bass]

I once mounted a recessed strap loc button on the back of the bass body forward of the bridge. This did wonders for balance but had the negative effect of shifting the bass to the right making upper fret access and right hand angle worse.

My final solution was to go to hipshot ultralite tuners which made a noticeable improvement.

At this point my 2 basses were built to specifically reduce weight AND have no neck dive. Both are a success. The formula is actually very simple.

• Ultralite tuners.
• 2x2 headstock is better than 4 in-line.
• Upper horn extends to 12th fret.
• Light weight body with heavy brass bridge.

 

[James Simonson]

I once put a strap lock button on the neck dot 12th fret spot. It actually worked perfectly and my thumb never touched it when I played.

But honestly, if you’re being pushed to extremes, don’t buy it.

 

[Whippet]

get a Scratch Pad from scratchpadusa.com

the velvet on the backside of your bass will keep the neck from diving because your bass will stick to your body. Now please keep in mind that this works on a MILD case of neck dive.

The pros of this product is that if you don't like it, you just peel it off and stick it back onto the plastic backing it came in the package. Personally I use these on some of my more expensive guitars to keep them from getting banged up when I put them into the bass cabinet.

The cons of this product is that if you keep your bass in the sunlight or under very harsh lighting, the color of the back without the scratch pad will change. This is more visible on a natural, open pore finish like the Warwick thumb and vette.

It's a cheap mod that's undoable if you don't like it.