EUREKA! IT WORKS! (GS Axe content)

[Alvaro Martín Gómez A.]

Well, I finally did it. After receiving a Steinberger Synapse Bass Strap Hook I recently bought at Musician's Friend, I went to a local luthier's workshop and asked him about the feasibility of adapting it to my Gene Simmons Cort Axe Bass since the neck dive on that instrument makes me think twice about taking it to a long gig. I showed him the picture of the hook attached to a Synapse bass and he said "Of course it can be done!". And here's the result:

It took him less than fifteen minutes to cut the wood to shape using a router and attach the hook to the bass using the included screws. Presto! No more neck dive. I was thinking of attaching the hook to the upper mini-horn just to get the maximum extension, but he advised me not to do it since it didn't seem safe in case of a hit/fall. I can tell he made the best decision. The hook feels extremely secure and extends enough to barely reach the 12th fret. Now the Axe has become a pleasure to play (unless you plan to play it while seated, of course).

So, for those of you who have a neck dive-prone bass due to a wrong-located strap pin, I can tell you now that this Steinberger part works wonders. I'm very happy now. Thanks for reading!

 

[bassguitarthund]

Hey very cool idea!! I don't like the idea of routing the back but may end up doing that eventually. I still want to try moving the button to one of the neck bolt locaitons. Really though it does not, atleast in the pics, look like it stands out alot (maybe cause it is black). Will have to keep that in mind though.

edit

Also how well does the strap stay on the end of it? I am thinking of putting strap locks on mine. Have them on my other basses.

 

[Alvaro Martín Gómez A.]

Also how well does the strap stay on the end of it? I am thinking of putting strap locks on mine. Have them on my other basses.

The hook feels very secure. The strap stays firmly in place. Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't see a way to put strap locks there.

 

[rh2music]

Hi. I'm thinking of picking up one of these ax basses just for collectors sake. So, how does it really play? thanks, rh2music

 

[rh2music]

Hi, Just got my ax bass. It plays great. May have to look into this Steinberger bass strap to reduce neck dive. Thanks for the info!!

 

[Alvaro Martín Gómez A.]

Hi, Just got my ax bass. It plays great. May have to look into this Steinberger bass strap to reduce neck dive. Thanks for the info!!

Enjoy your new Axe! And I'm pretty sure you'll like it even more with the Steinberger hook.

 

[bassgod76]

Great idea with the hook.

 

[David Jayne]

The hook feels very secure. The strap stays firmly in place. Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't see a way to put strap locks there.

There isn't, but it doesn't matter- the end of the hook functions like a fishhook- should be quite difficult for the strap to come off accidentally.

 

[Growly Lytes]

How can this be done to the Punisher, cause that too has massive neck dive ?

 

[bongomania]

I have these hooks on two of my basses, with an LP style body and a Warlock style body. You really don't need to rout the body, you can just attach the hook with the included screws, it's sturdy enough and doesn't poke you in the ribs or anything. Granted, routing will look slicker and it may provide extra stability, so that's great--but routing is not a requirement. I'll post pics of mine shortly.

 

[bongomania]

With the first one I drilled an extra hole in the neck plate. This is probably the best way because if you decide to sell the instrument later, you can just get a new neck plate for cheap. With the second one I screwed the hook directly into the wood of the upper horn. I did this because it looks cooler from the front, and gets better extension toward the 12th fret, and this particular body is a cheap POS that I didn't mind drilling holes in. Now, for me, I've been using these enough that I probably would make that irreversible mod to a "keeper" bass. But obviously we never really know what's a keeper, in the long view. So you'd have to make the judgment call about whether a future prospective buyer would view the mod as an upgrade or not.