How to Deal with Neck Dive

[Riff Ranger]

This is my unusual solution that I performed on a short-scale Epiphone EB3.

View attachment 7257687

@HaphAsSard would you look at that!

 

[HaphAsSard]

@HaphAsSard would you look at that!

[Shhhh... That's more or less what I do with my Epi EB-3.

The rear button is positioned where it usually is because that's where it pretty much needs to be
...on acoustic guitars, where the tail block is the only area solid enough to support it.
On solid bodies there is zero reason to consider that location as set in stone. Moving the button, or otherwise connect the strap at a spot closer to the center of mass of the instrument, leaving a slice of the body, and its weight, to the right (if northpaw) of the button, can cure the worst neckdiveyness in a much more elegant way than adding weight or front button extenders can.
(Lightweight tuning machines are just as elegant, but more expensive, and not decisive for serious cases.)]

 

[pbass2]

This is the best move. Fighting with an instrument isn't fun, and isn't that why most of us play music?

You simply aren't going to be playing your best if you're having to support the neck while you're playing, even a little bit. I will always choose a heavier bass if that's what it takes to avoid any neck dive, for my main players at least. If it's a bass I'll only use once in a while in the studio or whatever, then anything goes.

 

[humbuckaroo]

I'm a fan of suede back straps. They eliminate neck dive.

 

[Kerplunk]

This is how I fixed it. I simply ordered a strap that is suitable for a solid body electric or an acoustic guitar. The strap came with a loop with a strap button on it. The loop goes around the nut end of the headstock, under the strings, and after the nut. This is normally used on acoustic guitars, in my experience.

I simply attached the loop to the Talman bass as if it was an acoustic guitar -- looping it just beyond the nut under the strings.

This allowed me to balance the bass at the right point on my shoulder to get rid of the neck dive.

Thought I would share as neck dive is often a problem with certain instruments and a gripe that many bass players have when reviewing specific models.

That's okay, as far as dealing with the neck dive, but I've found that it introduces another problem. Any tension on the bass, causes the neck to flex, putting the bass out of tune.

 

[Never2Late]

This is my unusual solution that I performed on a short-scale Epiphone EB3.

I did the same with my EB-0, but used a shoelace string that came with another strap (for acoustic guitars), to attach the strap to the bridge screw. That, combined with a 3.5" wide leather strap, held the neck up.

A second benefit of routing the bottom of the strap across the front of the bass was stopping the top of the EB-0 from falling forward (due to the strap button being on the back-middle of the bass), but that's another topic.

 

[zontar]

My EB 3 copy (seen here with the pickguard I leave off), doesn’t neck dive, never had an issue, and the body is quite light.
Initially I used a regular kind of cloth strap, with no backing.
When the leather ends wore out I got a suede strap.
Maybe the straps are the secret?

 

[mapleglo]

I installed Hipshot Ultralites which helped. I also swapped the rest of the hardware to black. That didn't help the neck dive, but made the bass look cooler...

 

[HaphAsSard]

View attachment 7258254

I installed Hipshot Ultralites which helped. I also swapped the rest of the hardware to black. That didn't help the neck dive, but made the bass look cooler...

The offset design of the body entails that keeping the rear strap button at the body edge but moving it aways up (I would say well into the arm cut, almost where the now-thinned edge meets the imaginary line of the back of the bridge) might give a further, significant help.
Try it with Scotch tape first, see if it works.

 

[lug]

I hate neck dive, so I have tried different options to get rid of it. The most effective one for me has been to add a short extension to the strap button. I replace the screw with a longer one and put some sort of sleeve on it before tightening down. I built the bass below and it had mild neck dive, so I added an extension. The sleeve is from a black ink pen. Problem solved.
View attachment 7257610

Brother from another mother....

Of course I used electrical tape, it was handy.

 

[2saddleslab]

Brother from another mother....

Of course I used electrical tape, it was handy.

Guess we're triplets.