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Heavy Neck/Light Body Problem

Stoom

Stoom

Sep 1, 2012
91
7
#1
I've noticed that my bass is neck heavy, I'm constantly having to hold the neck up slightly which becomes a strain on my fretting hand and affects my playing.

I've got two ideas

1. Move the strap hook up a bit changing the angle that the bass hangs over my shoulders.
2. Take off the back plate of the body and filling it with something to balance it out.

Wadayafink?
 
#3
Start with a good leather strap that has a grippy under side.

If that's not enough, install lighter tuners.

Not enough? Move the rear strap button up a couple inches.

If that still isn't enough, start adding weight to the furthest point of the body away from the neck until the neck quits diving.
 
#4
Stilettoprefer said:
Start with a good leather strap that has a grippy under side.

If that's not enough, install lighter tuners.

Not enough? Move the rear strap button up a couple inches.

If that still isn't enough, start adding weight to the furthest point of the body away from the neck until the neck quits diving.
Click to expand...
I imagine a strap with more grip would make a difference but according to Guish it's not enough.

I just tried taping the strap down a bit further up the body as if thats where the hook was but it didn't make a noticable difference either.

I then taped a bag of nails where the back plate is to add weight to the body and that DID make a noticeable difference so I'm going to go with that idea, the problem is I can't fill the body with loose nails as their conductive and I can't fit enough bagged nails in and around the electronics so I'm going to have to find something else, any ideas?
 
#5
Stoom said:
I imagine a strap with more grip would make a difference but according to Guish it's not enough.

I just tried taping the strap down a bit further up the body as if thats where the hook was but it didn't make a noticable difference either.

I then taped a bag of nails where the back plate is to add weight to the body and that DID make a noticeable difference so I'm going to go with that idea, the problem is I can't fill the body with loose nails as their conductive and I can't fit enough bagged nails in and around the electronics so I'm going to have to find something else, any ideas?
Click to expand...

A strap isn't enough for HIS bass. Yours is a different instrument.

And before wrecking your bass by filling the body with nails, try the lighter tuners. Even just a little bit of weight saved will make a big difference when it's at the end of a limb.

But if you really wanna fill the body with nails, go for it. Just make sure to post pictures
 
#7
A good leather strap is worth its weight in gold. No comparison with a nylon strap. They suck. Some guys have luck with lighter tuners. You can also add weight to the body in the control cavity or to the cover with flat lead tire weights. Epoxy or glue them where you want (auto supply stores or a local tire place will have them). Sometimes you can get flat lead in longer lengths or solder bars as well and cut to suit your needs. A good wide leather strap will usually even tame a bc rich though. They don't get much worse than that.
 
#10
Stoom said:
...I then taped a bag of nails where the back plate is to add weight to the body and that DID make a noticeable difference....
Click to expand...

If trying light weight tuners and heavier bridge isn't in the budget, how about this. Get some lead fishing weights, attach a small bag to the strap button on the butt of the bass and figure out how many weights it takes to balance the instrument. Take the strap and weights to an upholstery shop and have a pouch made that would be attached with Velcro to the butt end of the strap. The upholstery shop could sew the Velcro onto the strap and pouch. If the pouch is a little large and made with a Velcroed flap, weights could be added or removed if necessary. In my area this would cost about $30.

mech
FWIW, I hate neck heavy instruments. They're a pain in the elbow.
 
#11
mech said:
If trying light weight tuners and heavier bridge isn't in the budget, how about this. Get some lead fishing weights, attach a small bag to the strap button on the butt of the bass and figure out how many weights it takes to balance the instrument. Take the strap and weights to an upholstery shop and have a pouch made that would be attached with Velcro to the butt end of the strap. The upholstery shop could sew the Velcro onto the strap and pouch. If the pouch is a little large and made with a Velcroed flap, weights could be added or removed if necessary. In my area this would cost about $30.

mech
FWIW, I hate neck heavy instruments. They're a pain in the elbow.
Click to expand...
I'm going to go with the lead fishing weights, thanks.
 
#13
Ok, imagine that the strap buttons set up a pivot point, and you need the body side to be heavier/have more leverage that the neck side. As previously noted, you can switch out to ultralite tuners (both schaller and hipshot make good ones) or switch to a heavier, high-mass bridge, or even ad weights somewhere on the body side. Or you can adjust either the location or the angle of the pivot point. To adjust the location of it, move the top strap button to the furthest point up the horn that you can. This was probably done by the manufacturer. To change the angle, move the lower strap button. The tape test is usually not going to be accurate concerning the pivot angle unless you taped it with some slack between the tape point and the button.
 
#14
abemo said:
Ok, imagine that the strap buttons set up a pivot point, and you need the body side to be heavier/have more leverage that the neck side. As previously noted, you can switch out to ultralite tuners (both schaller and hipshot make good ones) or switch to a heavier, high-mass bridge, or even ad weights somewhere on the body side. Or you can adjust either the location or the angle of the pivot point. To adjust the location of it, move the top strap button to the furthest point up the horn that you can. This was probably done by the manufacturer. To change the angle, move the lower strap button. The tape test is usually not going to be accurate concerning the pivot angle unless you taped it with some slack between the tape point and the button.
Click to expand...
I don't see why the slack matters but I have been baffled about why it didn't work and I realised I applied the tape whilst I was wearing the bass and I don't think I let the bass swing a little to adjust to its new centre of gravity so it was probably held up by the friction of the strap...deerp. Yeah this has to work, thanks.
 
#15
Stoom said:
I don't see why the slack matters but I have been baffled about why it didn't work and I realised I applied the tape whilst I was wearing the bass and I don't think I let the bass swing a little to adjust to its new centre of gravity so it was probably held up by the friction of the strap...deerp. Yeah this has to work, thanks.
Click to expand...

just my .02 but that's part of your problem. The bass shouldn't move or swing anywhere, it should stay exactly where you put it on your shoulder. See the strap comment. :rollno:
 
#16
grendle said:
just my .02 but that's part of your problem. The bass shouldn't move or swing anywhere, it should stay exactly where you put it on your shoulder. See the strap comment. :rollno:
Click to expand...
Hmm well I don't know why the tape test didn't seem to work then but I must have been doing something wrong so I'll check it out again.
 
#18
Stoom said:
I imagine a strap with more grip would make a difference but according to Guish it's not enough.

I just tried taping the strap down a bit further up the body as if thats where the hook was but it didn't make a noticable difference either.

I then taped a bag of nails where the back plate is to add weight to the body and that DID make a noticeable difference so I'm going to go with that idea, the problem is I can't fill the body with loose nails as their conductive and I can't fit enough bagged nails in and around the electronics so I'm going to have to find something else, any ideas?
Click to expand...

Lead fishing weights and tape. If you have a propane torch handy, you can melt them into shape so that they fit more snug into your control cavity.

Another option is to buy some scube weights (they come in 1 lb increments, sit relatively flat, and they're about the same width as a strap) and sew a pouch onto your strap to hold one.
 
#20
Probably the fastest, cheapest, most sure-fire way to make the bass balance is to get a shoelace, tie one end to your strap and the other end around the neck, just behind the nut under the strings, just like acoustic players do.

Of course, this may change where the bass hangs and you might not like the position, but it's at least worth a try to see if it works for you. It'll cost you five minutes and a shoe-string budget.

If that's not an option here's the order in which I would go:

Stilettoprefer said:
Start with a good [and very wide] leather strap that has a grippy under side.

If that's not enough, install lighter tuners. [Hipshots Ultralites come in direct-replacement sizes, Gotoh Reso-Lites are really light and they will probably be better than your current tuners]

Not enough? Move the rear strap button up a couple inches. [But maybe use a little Quick Grip clamp to clamp the end of the strp in place as a way of testing if it will help enough before drilling a new hole]
Click to expand...

Be extremely careful about adding weight to the body. Anything that goes into the body that is permanent (or creates permanent marks/damage) can sometimes come loose and cause the entire instrument to rattle, lose vibration to loose parts, etc.

The Axe Balancer straps and blocks looked like decent solutions too.

..and I hate to say it, but the best thing might be to trade in the current bass for one that balances better.

This is probably my favorite post on all of TalkBass. Good form Primakurtz :)

Primakurtz said:
Or, my other favorite, for really fancy gigs:
Link Removed

:D
Click to expand...
 

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