Hipshot Ultralite U.S.A tuners made my six string schecter stiletto studio playable after setting it down for a while because it was just too neckheavy. Elastic guitar straps like what Buckethead has help alleviate some neck dive as well.
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Ultralights did the trick for my CIJ Mustang. I don't imagine the PJ is that much different in terms of headstock mass.
I don't find Mustangs to be tremendously bad w/neck dive, but w/the ultralights there's none at all now.
GT
Yes. See my thread on my fanned-fret custom built bass in the style of a P-Bass. I changed out the "traditional" tuners for Hipshot's Ultralites and literally saved one-half pound of weight, which cured the neck droop and made the bass much more comfortable to play over the course of a long gig.
I bought an SX short scale on CL for next to nothing because a kid had removed the frets (actually did a pretty good job). Anyway, bad neck dive, not much to lose so I tried various things suggested for neck dive, including relocating the strap button. In this case I moved the rear button quite a way forward on the back - see photo. They both work but the one most forward totally eliminated the neck dive. Surprisingly, they don't rub me or get in the way. But it's a hole in the body that I would never do to anything of value that I thought I might try to sell someday. In this case, I didn't care and wanted to find out.
Filled the fret kerfs, tilted the neck a bit and set it up. I now have an OK, fretless, short scale. I'll replace the pots next.
Filled the fret kerfs, tilted the neck a bit and set it up. I now have an OK, fretless, short scale. I'll replace the pots next.
i did both on a build i did. i had to use a 24 fret neck to clear the bigsby. that put too much weight out at the headstock. i moved the strap pin over to the inside of the horn, and ordered the ultralight tuners from hipshot. that took enough weight off the end that now the neck dive is 'almost' non-existent.
To be honest - I've never tried to "solve" neck dive. I only have a couple 3 basses - out of 24 - that I'd consider "perfect", in the sense that they hang where I put them, in any situation. The rest either like to hang in certain positions (which is OK with me), or are so lightly forward- biased that I can "fix" it with a grippy strap - or else just ignore it. I don't consider having to hold up something the weight of an Egg McMuffin all that much of a struggle. And in my book, that ain't really neck dive, anyway. This Kramer 450B is the only bass I own that really is a Neck Diver - and aluminum-necked Kramers are famously bad ones, too. There really is no "Fixing" the Kramer - short of cutting another control-sized cavity in the lower body, and adding about 5 lbs of lead to it. Which, considering that it weighs 10.5 lbs. already, ain't really much of a solution...
I have solved it with a better strap. A strap needs to be at least 4” wide, and the underside can’t be smooth, or shiney. A mesh fabric that can stretch slightly is what I’ve used for the last 10 years.
Yes. The balance on both of my Tacoma ThunderChiefs was improved by switching to Hipshot Ultralights.
Nothing better than this one for doing away with neck dive if you wear it wrong side out.
Sure, it ruins your shirt so I’d suggest cheap T-shirts, but the pain really brings out the best in your playing.
Sure, it ruins your shirt so I’d suggest cheap T-shirts, but the pain really brings out the best in your playing.
I have had luck with wider straps and strap button relocation.
I have nothing against light tuners, but I can move rear strap button
from the center up to about the start of the elbow contour
for zero dollars and expect it to work most of the time.
The downside is that you need to have a feel for just where it goes
and you have to be willing to commit to a small extra hole in your bass body.
Hey Bruce,
if you make your neck plate extensions out of 6061T6, it will be stronger, stiffer
and
you can get a nice polish on it!
I have nothing against light tuners, but I can move rear strap button
from the center up to about the start of the elbow contour
for zero dollars and expect it to work most of the time.
The downside is that you need to have a feel for just where it goes
and you have to be willing to commit to a small extra hole in your bass body.
Hey Bruce,
if you make your neck plate extensions out of 6061T6, it will be stronger, stiffer
and
you can get a nice polish on it!
I think the PJ is overall a bit heavier all around. It has a slightly bigger neck and the bodies on Japanese Mustang always felt impossibly light. Less so on the MIM.
Hey Bill;
That's what I use, 6061T6. If you use a softer alloy like 5052 or 3003, it's not likely to break, but you could bend it.
I generally don't polish up aluminum parts, unless I'm going to have them plated. I've found that, on instruments, polished aluminum parts tarnish up and look bad after a while. Yeah, you can polish and wax them regularly, but most customers don't want be bothered to do that. But the brushed (lightly sanded) finish actually lasts quite well. It dulls down a little bit in the first month or so, and then stays that way for years. It's slightly self-anodizing.
