How to solve neck dive

[Rod Barchetta]

I just buy well engineered basses that balance not matter what strap I use.
I'd sell a bass before jumping through hoops to try to make it balance, way to many nice instruments out there to tolerate dive.

I am a mechanical engineer in my day job, so I totally agree with this approach. But in my case, I wanted to try a fretless. I found a used Squier VM Jazz for $180. I really enjoy playing it, it sounds great, but I don't play it enough to justify investing in a better one. The weighted strap solves the problem and it was light to begin with, win-win. Now when I need it, I have it.

But nothing makes me smile more than a well engineered bass.

 

[Sid Fang]

There is a way to solve neck dive that doesn't require modifying the bass.

View attachment 4378079 View attachment 4378080 You buy a cheap leather guitar strap, cut off the portion with the slots, buy fishing weights as needed and wrap in a neat packet of duct tape, thread the slotted portion over your strap leaving space for the weights, use the long leather portion of the strap to wrap around to hide and secure the weight packet, use a black twist tie to secure the end of the strap.

You can change the weight; you can use it more than one guitar; and the weight is in exactly the right place so it doesn't take too much to balance the guitar. Works like a charm.

This is almost exactly what I worked out but never actually gigged, decades ago for my 60s Epiphone Embassy. Too classic a bass to want to modify, so the idea was a small leather bag full of lead shot attached to the lower strap button. Having the weight more tightly wrapped to the strap is probably more practical, though you do need a bit more total added weight to get it balanced.

 

[yberwaffe]

I used mag wheel balance weights in the control cavity.
Not totally solved, but helped a bit.

View attachment 4378337

You have the best bass for a Led Zeppelin tribute band.

 

[BlackVincent52]

You have the best bass for a Led Zeppelin tribute band.

Best metal for bass?

 

[micguy]

Taking weight off the neck is a far more ergonomic solution than adding it in the back of your strap. Lighter tuners is one thing that'll make a real difference.

 

[arbiterusa]

The other way to skin the cat is moving the rear strap button to an area approximately behind the arm contour (if there):
View attachment 4378551
Source:
Headless bass handmade strap hook (for Steinberger Spirit, Hohner B2, etc..)

I have a Ray4 that dives just a touch. That’s what I did. Works great.

By putting that button where it is, you’ve essentially recreated the Steinberger pivot plate, minus the pivot. Great idea.

 

[Sid Fang]

Best metal for bass?

Depleted uranium.

 

[GIBrat51]

Couple of thoughts, here...
First, as is usual when Neck Dive threads show up (and they show up a lot), I always find that there's a tendency to conflate "Solve" with "Compensate for". Much as we'd like them to be the same, they really are not. So...
Solve - IME, the only way to solve Neck Dive is to change the balance of the bass as it hangs from your shoulder. And, again IME, there are only two ways to change the balance. 1) Remove weight off the headstock; add weight to the other end; or a combination of the two: or 2) change the location of one or both of the strap attachment points... Sometimes, depending on the bass, you may have to do both. However, if "Solve" doesn't quite do the job - or you're not willing to screw with your bass? Then there's always...
Compensate for - This basically consists of all the strap shenanigans; wide straps; grippy straps; wide and grippy straps; dual straps; and so on and so on... Changing the angle you play the bass at sometimes falls in here, too... The main point here is that your bass still neck dives; you just aren't letting it. How well this kind of stuff works depends on the bass - and you...
So... what do I do with a bass that "neck dives"? That depends on the individual bass...
First, I differentiate between 1) basses that really do have neck dive; 2) basses that have what I call "a slight forward bias, weight wise"; and 3) basses that just want to hang at an angle that's playable, but not quite the angle I really prefer. For basses that really do neck dive - and I have a few - moving the strap buttons has worked for a couple of them. For the others, a wide grippy strap compensates for the dive sufficiently well - for most of them. For my '78 Kramer 450B, though, there really is no solution, and nothing can really compensate for it. I just put a wide, slippery strap on it (a grippy one just pulls my shirt up around the back of my neck); hold that heavy aluminum neck up as best I can; and don't play it for more than two songs without a break... For basses with a slight forward bias - and I have a few of these, too - I sometimes use a grippy strap; sometimes I just hold the neck up. I'm not so old and feeble - yet - that holding up the equivalent of a Big Mac is more than I want to deal with. As for the basses that like a particular playing angle? Most of them like to be almost parallel with the ground (my 2 Ricks, for example); that's close enough to the playing angle I prefer, that it's not really a problem. A grippy strap compensates just fine, if it is. My Thunderbird kinda falls into this category. Any neck dive it might have goes away completely if I play it like most T-Bird players do; slung low, with the headstock way up at about a 50 degree angle. It feels like that's how it's supposed to be played, anyway; so I do. And looking kinda badass is cool, too...
As for the rest of my basses? They hang right where I want them to, and stay there until I take them off...

 

[BlueTalon]

There are many who unconsciously push down with the plucking arm and lift with the fretting hand.
And don't know it until they play a bass that doesn't dive.

I have a Thunderbird and a Mockingbird that will nose-down a little. I rest my arm on the body when I play, and it effectively solves the issue for me. Resting my arm on the body is not the same as pushing down with my arm.

But I only speak for myself. Someone else with a different body type may have to push down.

P.S. If I'm going to add weight to a bass, I'll do it with hardware, not weights.

 

[Winton]

This worked for me for a very little while. It keeps it from diving but, for me, it still didn’t take away the weight the neck had over the body. So it still eventually hurt my left shoulder.

 

[Altitude]

“Neck dive” is a thing you contend with if you wear your bass low and with the neck angled upward. Not all bass players do.

The horizontal bass approach is not necessarily more correct but it does avoid this issue in particular. If you wear the bass a bit higher and less vertically, you naturally push down on it with your plucking arm and neck dive is never an issue.

 

[LetItGrowTone]

My worst cases were improved enough with light tuners, and any remaining imbalance I just get used to and find myself not noticing, fortunately.

Best example Gibson SG (EB).

I like improving the balance much better than having the strap tugging downward. So I would consider adding weight, for example with a basswood body. Haven't done it yet.

I have an all-bubinga neck I haven't installed on anything yet. This will be a test.

 

[MattZilla]

Depleted uranium.

everyone and their mother knows it’s chrome-plated pig iron.

 

[Robscott]

I just have my stage riggers run a cable down from a special pulley on the overhead lighting trusses and attach it to a fly point on my headstock. During the show, a roadie is assigned to constantly monitor the angle of my bass and adjust tension as necessary to keep it within 1 degree of nominal.

Yeah, or another way is your SO can do it with a fishing rod sitting in the audience

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

It is best if I do not comment on what I think about fixing neck-dive by making your bass weigh 20 lbs.

Exactly

 

[Ric Vice]

Since around 1993 I had a McIntosh Double Comfort strap. With a strap for both shoulders. I use a Gruv Gear Duo Strap.

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

I've used these guitar gummy with success on my Talman which has some neck dive. Also saw these suede ones that I want to try if I ever run into it again.

With talmans, the light tuners alone fix it right up. Like, no tug whatsoever. The horn is far enough on them that replacing those 2lb tuners with ultra lite hipshots does the trick. No other modifications necessary.

I had a 600

 

[bassliner50]

If my bass's neck dives, I'm going in after it. (So far so good. No dive in more than 50 years).

 

[2cooltoolz]

I moved to a smaller lighter bass after back surgery. I don't want to add more weight! It's not original, but here's what I'm trying:

Balance is right on now, but I'm worried about durability. I'm on hiatus till my back gets better, but I don't expect to be jumping around when I get back onstage. I hope this will hold up. I'm using a long coarse screw to help.

 

[HaphAsSard]

I have a Ray4 that dives just a touch. That’s what I did. Works great.

By putting that button where it is, you’ve essentially recreated the Steinberger pivot plate, minus the pivot. Great idea.

Whenever I spam that picture on these boards (which is whenever the topic of neck dive comes up, because it is the solution that usually no one mentions) I make a point of crediting the author, @jpmcbride, but hadn't this time. I hereby fix it.

 

[BAG]

nothing makes me smile more than a well engineered bass.

I had very little problem with my Franken P and Franken Fretless J as they have very little dive. That is until I got my SR1200 Premium which is almost perfectly balanced. I play it more than any other bass I have as it is just so much more comfortable. I find that it allows me to play longer with less fatigue compared to my other basses and I can play faster lines better than on any other bass I have, most likely due to not having to hold the neck up at all while playing. Now, I won't even consider buying another bass that isn't well balanced.

I moved to a smaller lighter bass after back surgery. I don't want to add more weight! It's not original, but here's what I'm trying:

View attachment 4379340

Balance is right on now, but I'm worried about durability. I'm on hiatus till my back gets better, but I don't expect to be jumping around when I get back onstage. I hope this will hold up. I'm using a long coarse screw to help.

View attachment 4379331

I did the same to my Jag Short Scale. It helped, but there is still a little dive. I have also previously had Gotoh Ultra-lite tuning machines on it. They helped a tiny bit, but not enough.... particularly considering they cost half as much as the bass itself cost.

This 12 String doesn't dive at all because it was well designed with a long upper horn.