IMO, neck dive on expensive guitars is absolutely inexcusable

[InternetAlias]

So you got some centuries old wood on the bass you crafted, it has pickups hand wound by fairies, hardware precision cast by the best blacksmith in the universe, as well as blessings from several dieties deities... only to have it neck dive.

My mate ordered a Warwick thumb BO6 from thomann and when it got here it looked great, he strapped it aaaand... headstock wanted to go to China to visit its aunt. This wasn't slight neck dive that you'd see on slightly lighter bodied P and J basses. No, this was EB0 levels of neck dive right there on a 1900e instrument.

He just returned the instrument.

I told him if he liked it enough he could just use the extended screw to make the guitar balance better, but he told me that if his 150e squier doesn't have this issue nor require a workaround like that, then sure as hell his 1900e warwick shouldn't, either.

 

[lug]

If he had no idea Thumbs neck dive, he did very little research before his purchase.

 

[InternetAlias]

If he had no idea Thumbs neck dive, he did very little research before his purchase.

Not all do, some balance well, some are meh, and some headstock dive, but this one was particularly bad. I'ts a QC error at this point, a guitar with a defect this serious should not leave the factory. Also, making the "horn pipe" a default thing on thumbs would make more sense than forcing people to modify their newly bought instruments so that they don't have a serious defect.

 

[two fingers]

Yeah it's factored into the design of that bass. They pretty much all do it.

They also have adoring fans.

So, clearly, the ergonomics, tone and feel trump neck dive.

A good strap solves neck dive as well. All one needs is a strap with some sort of material that "grips" on the inside.

The materials that have worked for me in the past are either "fuzzy" or "textured" (as in unfinished leather).

As stated above, your friend likely read exactly zero reviews on that bass if he was unaware of the issue, especially with the 6 string version. That's a hunk of wood and metal dangling out into space.

Cool basses. Not for everyone.

 

[4sight]

You can mess around with the strap button positioning, but some body designs are just going to be prone to it whatever you do. If your fancy bass is of such a design, then yes, it may dive a little.

 

[lug]

Not all do, some balance well, some are meh, and some headstock dive, but this one was particularly bad. I'ts a QC error at this point, a guitar with a defect this serious should not leave the factory. Also, making the "horn pipe" a default thing on thumbs would make more sense than forcing people to modify their newly bought instruments so that they don't have a serious defect.

I've seen exactly eleventybillion threads on how to cure neck dive on a Thumb. I hate neck dive so a Thumb is a no go for me straight out of the box.

 

[Bolsyo]

He bought a wide neck 6-string(!) bass and is shocked it has neck-dive? How on earth are you supposed to make a 6-string bass without any neck-dive, not to mention a wide neck one? That wide neck with 6 tuners and strings will of course have a lot of weight to it, compared to a Squier. You must have a huge, massive, heavy body or add weights to it to counteract that... And then people would complain about the bass being too heavy

 

[FunkHead]

Maybe your friend should try a Gibson Thunderbird next?

 

[InternetAlias]

He bought a wide neck 6-string(!) bass and is shocked it has neck-dive?

His BTB676 has a neck that's as wide, and a headstock that's bigger, I think the tuners are heavier as well.

How on earth are you supposed to make a 6-string bass without any neck-dive, not to mention a wide neck one?

Dunno man, ask Ibanez. His btb balances perfectly, not sure if it is a general case for those guitars, but his one does work really well.

That wide neck with 6 tuners and strings will of course have a lot of weight to it, compared to a Squier. You must have a huge, massive, heavy body or add weights to it to counteract that... And then people would complain about the bass being too heavy

The BTB I was talking about has a mass of 4.8 kilograms which is kind of on the heavy side, but not that bad for a 6 string, the thumb was just slightly lighter than it. The BTB's body is fairly large compared to the thumb but the biggest, most obvious difference between the two is that the btb has a horn protruding up to the 12th fret.

Maybe your friend should try a Gibson Thunderbird next?

Or an EB0 D:

 

[BruceWane]

Certain bass designs are prone to this problem. I can see being disappointed when you get your hands on a bass of your dreams and it has some shortcomings, but I gotta say buying a Thumb 6 string and being shocked that it has significant neck dive.............. well, it's like buying a chihuahua and then returning it 'cause you don't like small dogs.

Now, the Thumb has THAT sound, so I can see where some players feel the drawbacks of the design are worth dealing with. As already mentioned, a wide strap can help, wearing the bass high enough to easily use your picking arm to hold the body in place against your torso helps a lot too. The wide strap never seemed that helpful to me; the strap would grip my shirt, and my shirt would end up getting pulled into a pretty weird situation. I found holding the bass in place with my arm more effective. This was with a Hamer Blitz Bass, explorer style.

Just recently saw this, which seems like probably the most effective method; I think an improvement would be to make a small hole in the strap near your belt loop and use a carabiner to make putting on/taking off a lot quicker and easier.

 

[DiabolusInMusic]

His BTB676 has a neck that's as wide, and a headstock that's bigger, I think the tuners are heavier as well.



Dunno man, ask Ibanez. His btb balances perfectly, not sure if it is a general case for those guitars, but his one does work really well.



The BTB I was talking about has a mass of 4.8 kilograms which is kind of on the heavy side, but not that bad for a 6 string, the thumb was just slightly lighter than it. The BTB's body is fairly large compared to the thumb but the biggest, most obvious difference between the two is that the btb has a horn protruding up to the 12th fret.



Or an EB0 D:

Unless they changed the BTB, it does not have a wide neck. It is slightly wider than narrow. The bass has 17.5mm spacing, not 19mm. The BTB series also uses "big body, big tone" so they are heavy. 4.8kg/10.5lbs is actually a really good weight for a BTB. My old 676 was pushing 12lbs.

In regards to the question, I don't even think cheap basses should have neck dive.

 

[Bolsyo]

That protruding horn on his BTB should help shift the weight and reduce the dive a lot. The horns are very thin, while the bridge seems heavier with more of its mass placed towards the edge of the bass. Seems like a really clever design for a 6-string

 

[Bodeanly]

I don't even think cheap basses should have neck dive.

^^^^^ding ding ding^^^^^

 

[elgranluis]

I'ts a QC error at this point, a guitar with a defect this serious should not leave the factory.

How on earth is this a defect ? Obviously you have no idea what quality is and what quality isn’t.

Quality means conforming to specification. There is no specification on Warwick’s side for the weight limit on bass , therefore no quality issue.

If anything , this would be labeled a design issue as there is no weight limit Specification.

 

[blowinblue]

At all price points there are so many great choices available in great sounding, well crafted, good looking basses that balance well. In my view there's no need to put up with a bass that doesn't. But I understand why some folks would suffer with an instrument that has significant neck dive. I'm definitely not one of those folks.

M. M.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

Neck divers a pet peeve of mine, can’t abide them, and no reason to. About the best off the shelf ergonomically I’ve seen are the Ibanez SR series, even the cheap ones, T-Birds and most hollow bodies the worst. Hofner’s are terrible neck divers, but so light I don’t notice it much.

 

[AngelDeVille]

Hi, I have a $10,000 guitar and a $3 nylon strap.

How can I fix neck dive without changing my current set up?

 

[4sight]

Hi, I have a $10,000 guitar and a $3 nylon strap.

How can I fix neck dive without changing my current set up?

Don't worry, I've got this one. Put a tort pickguard on it and string it with flats.

 

[fu22ba55]

"Expensive" often means lighter weight, or feather weight. (Not always, but often).

You can't have ultralight AND no neck dive unless you go to short scales (with upper horns).

If you want a 7 pound, 34" scale bass with no neck dive, the upper horn will need to reach the 9th fret.

If you have eyes, and understand how gravity works, you'll instantly understand why Thumb basses neck dive, and why Corvettes and Fortresses have ridonkulous upper horns.

I think any 34" bass under 9.5 pounds is prone to neck dive unless it's exceptionally engineered. (or headless).

 

[lug]

Want no neck dive? Look at where this upper horn aligns to.