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Hipshot Ultralites for neck dive?

#2
WaywardSoul said:
I have and american special p bass that has a little bit of of neck dive problem (not horrible just annoying as hell). I was wondering if anyone has tried replacing the tuning machines with ultralites to get rid of neck dive and if the ultralites are quality hardware.
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I use Ultralites on all of my Bastard model basses and none of them neck dive, when they should be much more prone to neck dive than a P bass. They are a Tele style single cut with a very light body. The reason they don't neck dive is 100% attributed to the Ultralite tuners. As for quality, like all Hipshot products I have ever used, they are outstanding.

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#7
I went through this same problem a while back and hence chose my username because of it. I made a custom neck out relatively heavier wood but I like the look and feel of it so much, I had to compensate for the neck dive.

Try this experiment:
Assuming you have a 4 string, completely remove the strings and the D and G tuners from the headstock. Now play as normal, standing, sitting, etc, but with only the E and A. Does the bass balance well? You should feel a big difference. The Ultralites are about the half the weight so that's how your bass will balance with 4 of them on it. In addidtion to Hipshots, check out Gotoh GB640s if you want the old style but much less weight than stock tuners.

As far as bridge recommendations, I put a Hipshot A brass on my Jazz which helped with the balance. Although the extra weight was nice and the adjustablility and the string changes were faster, I thought it had a little too much sustain (which is good if that's what you're after). So I eventually opted for an original 70's bridge and covered it with an ashtray cover with fish weight on the underside covered by copper shielding.
 
#8
the mass of the bridge will make way less difference since it's so much closer to the center of gravity, and it makes the whole bass heavier.
 
#9
walterw said:
the mass of the bridge will make way less difference since it's so much closer to the center of gravity, and it makes the whole bass heavier.
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That's true. A 6 ounce weight loss on the headstock will be felt more than a 6 ounce weight gain in the bridge. In my experience, a 6 oz. gain in the bridge probably feels like a 3 oz. loss in the headstock. But both will help with overall balance without adding weight overall to the bass.
 
#10
My Fender P balances a lot better since I swapped the stock tuners (heavy two-pin screw-on-bushing jobs) for hipshot ultralites. The 200 gram or so loss makes more of a difference than you'd think, because, as previous posters have said, the weight is at the end of a fairly long lever.

The tuner holes through the headstock are a bit too large for the hipshots. I just tightened the bushings pretty hard and hoped for the best, and year later, they haven't failed me yet. I suppose the correct approach would be to dowel and redrill proper size holes.
 
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#12
I'm thinking of doing the same thing.

Also, someone mentioned the bushings being too small for the holes on the Am. Spec. I had the same problem. I had some Hipshot HB7s on an MIM Fender P which fit perfectly, but when I went to move them to my Am. Spec. the screw holes lined up, but the bushings were too small. I called Hipshot and they sent me some larger bushings that fit perfectly. I was speaking with them today and I believe they are 18mm bushings. They said they "don't advertise them," but will provide them upon request.

I'm still considering going to the ultralights because there's still the slightest neckdive.

Also, is there a good tutorial on how to install them?
I've only done drop-in replacements and am nervous about getting the tuners straight and even.
 
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#17
They're quality tuners and solved my slight neck dive issue, but I had the same problems with sizing as mentioned previously on the thread. The string posts are a smaller size than advertised and do not fit Fender headstocks--you'll need a workaround of some type.

I wish I would have known Hipshot had secret hush-hush bushings that fix their design flaw (I'd request those from the get-go if I were you). My solution was to wrap the posts in aluminum tape until they were the correct diameter (as recommended elsewhere on TB). Results were great, but pain-in-the-ass factor was unnecessarily high!
 
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